The human gut microbiome mediates bidirectional interaction within the gut-liver axis, while liver diseases, including liver cirrhosis, are very closely related to the state of the gut environment. Thus, improving the health of the gut-liver axis by targeting the intestinal microbiota is a potential therapeutic approach in hepatic diseases. This study examines changes in metabolomics and microbiome composition by treating bacteria derived from the human gut in mice with liver cirrhosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Pollut Res Int
April 2023
Legionella, the causative agent of Legionnaires' disease, is an emerging concern for water utilities. Passaic Valley Water Commission (PVWC) is a public drinking water supplier, which provides treated surface water to approximately 800,000 customers in New Jersey. To evaluate the occurrence of Legionella in the PVWC distribution system, swab, first draw, and flushed cold water samples were collected from total coliform sites (n = 58) during a summer and winter sampling event.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAbout half a billion people worldwide are infected with herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2). Prolonged treatment with acyclovir (ACV) and its analogs leads to the development of resistant strains. The aim of this study was to investigate the antiviral potential of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) from and a stable analog EGCG-stearate (EGCG-S) against HSV-2 in cultured Vero cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHerpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) causes a wide range of infections from mild to life-threatening in the human population. There are effective treatments for HSV-1 infections that are limited due HSV-1 latency and development of resistance to current therapeutics. The goal of this study was to investigate the antioxidant and antiviral effects of embelin on HSV-1 in cultured Vero cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntibiotics (Basel)
January 2021
Biofilm, a stress-induced physiological state, is an established means of antimicrobial tolerance. A perpetual increase in multidrug resistant (MDR) infections associated with high mortality and morbidity have been observed in healthcare settings. Multiple studies have indicated that the use of natural products can prevent bacterial growth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAs contact with high concentrations of pathogens in a waterbody can cause waterborne diseases, Escherichia coli is commonly used as an indicator of water quality in routine public health monitoring of recreational freshwater ecosystems. However, traditional processes of detection and enumeration of pathogen indicators can be costly and are not time-sensitive enough to alarm recreational users. The predictive models developed to produce real-time predictions also have various methodological challenges, including arbitrary selection of explanatory variables, deterministic statistical approach, and heavy reliance on correlation instead of the more rigorous multivariate regression analyses, among others.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF() is the main etiological bacteria present in the oral cavity that leads to dental caries. All of the in the oral cavity form biofilms that adhere to the surfaces of teeth. Dental caries are infections facilitated by the development of biofilm.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe ability of cyanobacteria to survive many environmental stress factors is a testament to their resilience in nature. Of these environmental stress factors, overexposure to zinc is important to study since excessive zinc intake can be a severe hazard. Zinc toxicity in freshwater has been demonstrated to affects organisms such as invertebrates, algae and cyanobacteria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol
December 2015
Objective: Previous in vitro and in vivo studies indicated that catechins from the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) have a therapeutic effect on herpes simplex virus infections. The aim of this study was to clinically evaluate a topical proprietary formulation containing lipophilic catechins (AverTeaX, Camellix, LLC, Evans, GA, USA) on recurrent herpes labialis.
Study Design: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial with 40 participants, initially in two groups.
Tea is the second most consumed drink in the world. The beneficial effects of tea have been mostly attributed to its catechin content. Black tea is derived from the leaves of Camellia sinensis plant, and it is rich in theaflavin polyphenols, in particular theaflavin (TF1), theaflavin-3-monogallate (TF2A), theaflavin-3'-monogallate (TF2B), and theaflavin-3,3'-digallate (TF3).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHarmful algal blooms (HABs) are a serious environmental problem globally. The ability of cyanobacteria, one of the major causative agents of HABs, to grow in heavy metal polluted areas is proving a challenge to environmental restoration initiatives. Some cyanobacteria secrete toxins, such as microcystin, that are potentially dangerous to animals and humans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGreen tea polyphenol epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is a strong antioxidant that has previously been shown to reduce the number of plaques in HIV-infected cultured cells. Modified EGCG, palmitoyl-EGCG (p-EGCG), is of interest as a topical antiviral agent for herpes simplex virus (HSV-1) infections. This study evaluated the effect of p-EGCG on HSV-infected Vero cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResistance to heavy metals is important for the survival of bacteria in contaminated environments. In this study, we show that the unicellular cyanobacterial species Synechococcus sp. IU 625 adapts to growth in the presence of mercuric chloride, recovering from pigmentation and morphological defects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSynechococcus sp. IU 625 is one of the freshwater cyanobacteria responsible for harmful algal blooms (HAB). Cyanophages can serve as natural control agents and may be responsible for algal bloom prevention and disappearance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: It has been reported that some marine cyanophage are temperate and can be induced from a lysogenic phase to a lytic phase by different agents such as heavy metals. However, to date no significant reports have focused on the temperate nature of freshwater cyanophage/cyanobacteria. Previous experiments with cyanophage AS-1 and cyanobacteria Anacystis nidulans have provided some evidence that AS-1 may have a lysogenic life cycle in addition to the characterized lytic cycle.
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