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Introduction: The present study aimed to optimize the doses and schedule of specific bacteriophage cocktails in freshwater fish infections as prophylactic and therapeutic measures. Methods: The three most active phages against Aeromonas hydrophila (A. hydrophila) (φAHBHU12, φAHBHU16, and φAHBHU19) were characterized phenotypically and genotypically. Intramuscular and water immersion routes were used to calculate the absolute lethal dose of A. hydrophila in Pangasius buchanani. Phage therapy was given simultaneously and after 6, 12, and 24 h of bacterial challenge through intramuscular and water immersion routes. Results: The prophylactic and early phage administration could save the fish. Furthermore, the dose of intramuscular 1.0 × 104 plaque-forming unit (PFU)/fish and water immersion 1.0 × 106 PFU mL-1 of the phage cocktail was optimal. Discussion: The efficacy of bacteriophage therapy as preventive or curative measures practical when administered simultaneously or early hours of A. hydrophila infection in aquaculture systems. Phage-based approaches may be used as an alternative to antibiotics in aquaculture to reduce antibiotic use as a part of the "One Health" approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, effects of ovariectomy (Ovx) and estradiol-17β (E2) replacement on the brain steroid levels were investigated in the resting and prespawning phases of the female catfish Heteropneustes fossilis. The study showed that Ovx resulted in significant decreases in plasma levels of estradiol-17β (E2) and its precursors, and the effect varied with the reproductive stage and duration. Our study showed that E2 supplementation reversed the effect of Ovx in 3-week Ovx fish group, either restored or increased according to the dose. In contrast, E2 levels increased in the brain after Ovx in the resting stage and produced a biphasic effect of significant decreases on week 1 and 2, and significant increases on week 3, 4 and 5 in the pre-spawning stage. The brain E2 levels significantly inhibited in E2 supplementation groups. The testosterone (T) levels showed biphasic effects, an initial decrease (up to 3 weeks Ovx) and an increase later (week 4, 5) in the resting stage. In the pre-spawning stage, the T levels increased significantly after Ovx. The E2 supplementation significantly inhibited the T levels, more severely in the low dose group in the resting and pre-spawning stages. Brain 17-hydroxyprogesterone(17-OHP4) levels increased (week 1, 2, 3) but decreased on week 4 and 5 of Ovx in the resting stage and increased throughout Ovx in the pre-spawning stage except in the 5th week (though compared to other steroids, level was very low; almost negligible). The E2 replacement significantly decreased the steroid levels further down compared to the Ovx control group. Brain progesterone (P4) and pregnenolone (P5) levels decreased initially (week 1 and 2 Ovx) and recovered later. The E2 replacement significantly decreased P4 levels in the Ovx fish in the pre-spawning stage and in the lower dose group in the resting stage. The P5 levels remained inhibited after the E2 supplementation in the resting stage but unchanged or increased it in the pre-spawning stage. Brain cortisol (F) levels were inhibited initially (1 and 2 weeks and later increased after OVX in the resting stage. In the pre-spawning stage, the F levels increased in the week 1, 2 and 3 of Ovx and decreased in the 4th and 5th weeks. The E2 supplementation inhibited the cortisol (F) levels in both phases. The results show that ovarian steroids influence neurosteroidogenesis in a reproductive stage-dependent manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Endometriosis is an oestrogen dependent gynaecological disease, having endometrial glands and stromal tissues outside the intrauterine locations. The etiology and pathogenesis of endometriosis is still unclear and it affects a large proportion of reproductive age women. It's a heterogeneous disease and is found to be associated with hormonal and histological alterations. Studies indicate that mutation in aromatase (CYP19) gene is involved in a number of inflammatory diseases and CYP19 rs 2470152 site polymorphism may help to find its relation to susceptibility to endometriosis. Aim: To ascertain the relationship between changes in histological architecture in endometrial cells during endometriosis with circulating hormone levels, stress parameters and aromatase (CYP19A1) gene polymorphism {Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) rs 2470152}. Materials and Methods: This was a hospital-based casecontrol study where all patients and controls were recruited from the Outpatient Department (OPD) of the Sir Sunderlal Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi, India from March 2016-March 2019, and a total 300 subjects, 120 endometriosis patients and 180 healthy controls were studied. Histological studies were done by Haematoxyline-Eosin (H&E) staining in the endometrial tissues of patients and controls. Genotyping of SNP rs 2470152 was conducted by Polymerise Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method on genomic Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) isolated from patients and control blood. Student's t-test was used to compare the mean for the two independent groups. Allele and genotype distribution among groups were evaluated using the Chi-squared test and Fisher's exact test. Results: In the present study, all the subjects were in the age group of 20-50+ years where 20-40 years age group were premenopausal and 40-50+ year were perimenopausal. Significant histological changes were observed in the endometrial glands and stroma of the endometrium tissues of the diseased women compared to the healthy controls. Various pathological entities were altered in circulating blood plasma of patients than to control. For polymorphism studies allele (T,C) (p=0.002*) and genotypic (TT, TC and TT) (p<0.001*) frequencies were found significantly variable in endometriosis patients in comparison of controls. Conclusion: This study showed that endometrial tissue undergoes a lot of pathological changes during a disease and this may be due to significantly altered expression of aromatase gene leading to higher oestrogen level, causing this disease and its proliferation. Aromatase (CYP19A1) gene polymorphism was found significantly associated, and other factors may be affecting aromatase directly or indirectly in steroidogenic pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]