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Byline: Myfanwy. D'Souza, Ganesh. Hundi, Sukumar. Dandekeri, Jyothi. Jayaraman Context: Many therapeutic modalities have been reported for the treatment of warts: a common bothersome condition; however, no single treatment is [...]

Paediatric pneumonia is a respiratory infection that affects infants and young children under the age of 3. This disease is the leading cause of infant and child mortality in developing countries because of the weak immune system of young children. The difficulty and length of time required to identify the pathogen and causative agent are the main reasons for this high mortality rate. In addition, the identification of certain causative agents is particularly important for the treatment of paediatric pneumonia. In this study, we explored the possible mechanisms by which pathogenic Enterococcus faecalis induced pneumonia in vivo. The potential virulence factors of bacteria isolated from the intestines of paediatric pneumonia patients were determined. Taken together, the results suggested that lysophosphatidic acid (LTA) from pathogenic E. faecalis decreases the expression of platelet-activating factor receptor (PAFR), which in turn disrupts the function of intestinal tight junctions (Occ and Ccldn1), leading to the entry of LE-LTA into the bloodstream because of the disruption of the intestinal barrier. Although LTA can enter circulation, it cannot directly infiltrate the lungs, which indicates that lung inflammation in mice is not caused by the direct entry of LE-LTA into the lungs. We further found that LTA activates immune cells, such as CD8 + T cells and type 2 innate lymphocytes, in vivo. Interleukin-6 and interleukin-17 can produce large amounts of inflammatory factors and thus promote the development of pneumonia. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that the LTA of pathogenic E. faecalis in the intestine is a virulence factor that can cause paediatric pneumonia. This study found that intestinal bacterial virulence factors can induce immune responses in the lungs and blood. These findings could provide further insight into the mechanism of infectious diseases in the lung that are caused by bacteria in the intestine. Keywords: Enterococcus faecalis, Type 2 innate lymphocyte, Lipoteichoic acid, Paediatric pneumonia, Virulence factor, Author(s): Zhiying Tian[sup.1], Asif Iqbal Khan[sup.1], Ata Ur Rehman[sup.1], Ting Deng[sup.1], Chao Ma[sup.1] and Liang Wang[sup.2] Introduction Bacteria in the intestinal tract have evolved over a long period of coexistence [...]

Summary This article discusses long-term urethral catheterisation, focusing on the relevant anatomy and physiology, indications for the procedure, catheter selection and catheter care. It is important that nurses have a [...]

A herbal cream containing a methanolic HPLC standardized extract of Melia azedarach flowers has been prepared and found potent against bacterial skin diseases like cellulitis, pustules, pyogenic infections, etc. in children. The results obtained are comparable to those with neomycin. Keywords: Bacterial skin diseases; Cream; Melia azedarach flowers; Meliaceae; Neomycin, Introduction The occurrence of skin diseases in developing countries is highly correlated with poor hygiene, over crowding, malnourishment, non-availability of potable water, high temperature and humidity. Further, drugs used to [...]

Four experiments were conducted to characterize the interactions between fumaric (FA), malic (MA), or citric acid (CA) and NaHC|O.sub.3^. In two experiments, seven diets were formulated containing 2.5% FA, MA, and CA, with or without 2.3, 1.9, or 1.4% NaHC|O.sub.3^, respectively, as well as a control diet (no addition of organic acids or NaHC|O.sub.3^) for 28-d-old pigs (Exp. 1, corn-soy protein concentrate-based diet) and 1-wk-old chicks (Exp. 4, corn-soy-based diet). In Exp. 1, at 2 and 4 wk, the FA + NaHC|O.sub.3^ treatment resulted in greater average daily gain (ADG) and feed intake (ADFI) compared with the control (P |is less than^ .05). In Exp. 2, 28-d-old pigs were fed corn-soy diets with .9, 1.6, and 2.3% NaHC|O.sub.3^ in addition to 2.5% FA. After wk 2, there was a quadratic response in ADG (P |is less than^ .08) and ADFI (P |is less than^ .05) when increasing levels of NaHC|O.sub.3^ were added to the diet. This was true at wk 4 for both ADG and ADFI (P |is less than^ .05). In Exp. 3, finishing pigs were fed corn-soy diets containing 2.5% FA or 2.5% FA + 2.3% NaHC|O.sub.3^ added to a control diet. No effect (P |is less than^ .05) of FA or NaHC|O.sub.3^ was observed. In Exp. 4, the combination of CA + NaHC|O.sub.3^ or MA + NaHC|O.sub.3^ was superior to FA + NaHC|O.sub.3^ for ADG (P |is less than^ .08) and ADFI (P |is less than^ .05) when fed to young chicks.