Antifungal activity of essential oils and their potential synergistic effect with amphotericin B.

Candida albicans is a common opportunistic pathogen, causing infections ranging from superficial to bloodstream infections. The limited antifungal options and rising drug resistance challenge clinical treatment. We screened 98 essential oils and identified 48 with antifungal activity against Candida albicans at 1% concentration, determining their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC).

Advances in Blood Biomarkers for Alzheimer's Disease: Ultra-Sensitive Detection Technologies and Impact on Clinical Diagnosis.

Alzheimer's disease has escalated into a critical public health concern, marked by its neurodegenerative nature that progressively diminishes cognitive abilities. Recognized as a continuously advancing and presently incurable condition, AD underscores the necessity for early-stage diagnosis and interventions aimed at delaying the decline in mental function. Despite the proven efficacy of cerebrospinal fluid and positron emission tomography in diagnosing AD, their broader utility is constrained by significant costs and the invasive nature of these procedures.

Antimicrobial and Antibiofilm Effects of Bithionol against .

() is a multidrug-resistant nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) that is responsible for a wide spectrum of infections in humans. The lack of effective bactericidal drugs and the formation of biofilm make its clinical treatment very difficult. The FDA-approved drug library containing 3048 marketed and pharmacopeial drugs or compounds was screened at 20 μM against type strain 19977 in 7H9 medium, and 62 hits with potential antimicrobial activity against were identified.

Identification of essential oils with strong activity against stationary phase .

Purpose: To identify essential oils (EOs) active against non-growing stationary phase and multidrug-resistant strains.

Methods: The activity of EOs against both stationary and log phase was evaluated by colony forming unit (CFU) assay and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) testing.

Results: We assessed the activity of 80 EOs against stationary phase and found 12 EOs (Cinnamon, Satureja montana, Palmarosa, Lemon eucalyptus, Honey myrtle, Combava, Health shield, Mandarin, Thyme, Rosewood, Valerian Root and Basil) at 0.

Longitudinal gut fungal alterations and potential fungal biomarkers for the progression of primary liver disease.

Liver disease, a major health concern worldwide, is a serious and progressive disorder. Herein, we not only established a mouse model of DEN+CCl-induced primary liver disease but also collected clinical human samples to investigate longitudinal alterations in the gut mycobiome. As liver disease advanced, gut integrity was disrupted, and the mycobiota was disturbed in the mouse models.

Whole-genome sequencing provides insights into a novel species: associated with urinary tract infections.

is a clinically significant opportunistic pathogen that is involved in urinary tract infections. Due to the resolution limitations of identification, distinguishing from closely related species is challenging by commercial biochemical test systems. Here, we first reported a novel species, , which had been misidentified as .

The past, present and future of tuberculosis treatment.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an ancient infectious disease. Before the availability of effective drug therapy, it had high morbidity and mortality. In the past 100 years, the discovery of revolutionary anti-TB drugs such as streptomycin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, ethambutol and rifampicin, along with drug combination treatment, has greatly improved TB control globally.

Osteopontin Exacerbates High-Fat Diet-Induced Metabolic Disorders in a Microbiome-Dependent Manner.

The gut microbiome is involved in metabolic disorders. Osteopontin (OPN), as a key cytokine, contributes to various inflammation-related diseases. The underlying role of OPN in the microbiome remains poorly understood.

Phospholipid metabolites of the gut microbiota promote hypoxia-induced intestinal injury via CD1d-dependent γδ T cells.

Gastrointestinal dysfunction is a common symptom of acute mountain sickness (AMS). The gut microbiota and γδ T cells play critical roles in intestinal disease. However, the mechanistic link between the microbiota and γδ T cells in hypoxia-induced intestinal injury remains unclear.

IL-17A produced by invariant natural killer T cells and CD3 CD56 αGalcer-CD1d tetramer T cells promote liver fibrosis in patients with primary biliary cholangitis.

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is characterized as interlobular bile duct injury and fibrosis, which results from the loss of tolerance to self-antigens. However, the exact pathologic mechanism leading to injury and fibrosis in PBC patients is not fully understood. Therefore, in this study, we examined the role of the T cell subsets in PBC patients and healthy controls (HCs).

Lamina propria interleukin 17 A aggravates natural killer T-cell activation in autoimmune hepatitis.

Autoimmune hepatitis is an interface hepatitis characterized by the progressive destruction of the liver parenchyma, the cause of which is still obscure. Interleukin (IL)-17A is a major driver of autoimmunity, which can be produced by innate immune cells against several intracellular pathogens. Here, we investigated the involvement of IL-17A in a mice model of immune-mediated hepatitis with the intestine exposed to Salmonella typhimurium.

Influenza A virus NS1 protein hijacks YAP/TAZ to suppress TLR3-mediated innate immune response.

The Hippo signaling pathway, which is historically considered as a dominator of organ development and homeostasis has recently been implicated as an immune regulator. However, its role in host defense against influenza A virus (IAV) has not been widely investigated. Here, we found that IAV could activate the Hippo effectors Yes-associated protein (YAP) and transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) through physical binding of the IAV non-structural protein 1 (NS1) with C-terminal domain of YAP/TAZ, facilitating their nuclear location.

Interleukin-33 as an early predictor of cetuximab treatment efficacy in patients with colorectal cancer.

Background: Cetuximab is used for colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment. However, the early biomarker of treatment efficacy of cetuximab has not been identified.

Methods: After 1 year of cetuximab treatment, patients were divided into an effective group and an ineffective group.

RBM15-mediated N6-methyladenosine modification affects COVID-19 severity by regulating the expression of multitarget genes.

Severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is characterized by symptoms of lymphopenia and multiorgan damage, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. To explore the function of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modifications in COVID-19, we performed microarray analyses to comprehensively characterize the m6A epitranscriptome. The results revealed distinct global m6A profiles in severe and mild COVID-19 patients.

Critical role of microRNAs in host and influenza A (H1N1) virus interactions.

As a type of non-coding RNA, microRNAs are considered to be a new regulator in viral infections. Influenza A (H1N1) virus infection is a serious threat to human health. There is growing evidence supporting that microRNAs play important roles in various cellular infection stages and host antiviral response during H1N1 infection.

Hepatitis B virus P protein initiates glycolytic bypass in HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma via a FOXO3/miRNA-30b-5p/MINPP1 axis.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a crucial risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its underlying mechanism remains understudied.

Methods: Microarray analysis was conducted to compare the genes and miRNAs in liver tissue from HBV-positive and HBV-negative HCC patients.

In-depth characterization of the biomarkers based on tumor-infiltrated immune cells reveals implications for diagnosis and prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an immune-related tumor, that the type and number of tumor-infiltrated immune cells can serve as biomarkers for the clinical application. In this study, we constructed the immune model for diagnostic and prognostic prediction of HCC based on the systematic bioinformatics analyses on the component of immune cells from large samples transcriptome. CIBERSORT analysis found that the component of immune cells between 513 HCC and 473 adjacent normal tissues was different.

Comprehensive Study of Tumor Immune Microenvironment and Relevant Genes in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Identifies Potential Prognostic Significance.

The tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) is an external immune system that regulates tumorigenesis. However, cellular interactions involving the TIME in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are poorly characterized. In this study, we used multidimensional bioinformatic methods to comprehensively analyze cellular TIME characteristics in 735 HCC patients.

MicroRNAs Regulate Intestinal Immunity and Gut Microbiota for Gastrointestinal Health: A Comprehensive Review.

MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs regulating gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. The regulation of microRNA expression in the gut intestine is gradually recognized as one of the crucial contributors of intestinal homeostasis and overall health. Recent studies indicated that both the microRNAs endogenous in the gut intestine and exogenous from diets could play influential roles in modulating microbial colonization and intestinal immunity.

Identification of prognostic biomarkers of hepatocellular carcinoma via long noncoding RNA expression and copy number alterations.

This study aimed to identify long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) with potential to be prognostic biomarkers of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by analyzing copy number alterations (CNAs). RNA Sequencing data of 369 HCC patients was downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database and analyzed with a series of systematic bioinformatics methods. LncRNA-CNA association analysis revealed that many lncRNAs were located in sites frequently amplified or deleted.

Identifying Hepatocellular Carcinoma Driver Genes by Integrative Pathway Crosstalk and Protein Interaction Network.

In this study, we mined out hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) driver genes from MEDLINE literatures by bioinformatics methods of pathway crosstalk and protein interaction network. Furthermore, the relationship between driver genes and their clinicopathological characteristics, as well as classification effectiveness was verified in the public databases. We identified 560 human genes reported to be associated with HCC in 1074 published articles.