Search

Inducing phagocytic capacities of tumour-associated macrophages to eliminate cancer cells is a promising immunotherapy. Here, the authors show that engineered macrophages overexpressing CDKN1A/p21 reduce leukaemic tumour burden and increase survival in preclinical mouse models of human T-ALL.

Objective: To compare the effect of age, gender and duration of diabetes mellitus on thyroid dysfunction in patients of diabetic Study Design: Comparative cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Medicine department, Combined Military Hospital, Peshawar, from Oct 2015 to Oct 2017. Methodology: The study was conducted after taking permission from hospital ethical review committee. Information was entered in the proforma, which included demographic information like age in years, gender, duration of disease and type of diabetes mellitus (DM) type. Already diagnosed patients with diabetes mellitus were included in the study. Thyroid function tests were carried out by standard laboratory procedure. Results: A total of 179 patients were included in our study, 114 (63.7%) were female and 65 (36.3%) were male. Mean body mass index in our study was 29.85 ± 3.88 kg/m2. Out of 179 patients 46 (25.7%) had thyroid dysfunction (TD). Out of the 46 patients with thyroid dysfunction, 14 patients (7.8%) had clinical hypothyroidism, while subclinical hypothyroidism was seen in 25 patients (14%). Clinical hyperthyroidism was reported in 3 (1.7%), while subclinical hyperthyroidism in 4 (2.2%) patients respectively. Conclusion: Age of patients, gender and duration of disease affect thyroid functions in patients with diabetes mellitus. Thyroid profile should be carried out in diabetic patients whose blood sugar level is difficult to control.

Background: Insufficient antimicrobial-related training for physicians during their undergraduate education could have a negative impact on their prescribing. Unlike previous studies, this study not only explored the understanding and perception of Pakistani medical students about antibiotics and resistance, but also their preparedness towards antimicrobial stewardship programs.Methods: An online cross-sectional study was undertaken with final-year medical students using a validated questionnaire from January 2021 to May 2021. Descriptive and inference statistics were applied for data analysis.Results: Of 411 students, only 6.3% had undergone antimicrobial resistance (AMR) training. 16.1% of students believed that antibiotics are effective for viral ailments. More than half of the students agreed that AMR is a major healthcare problem in Pakistan (65.9%). Most students viewed poor infection control practices (66.9%), the use of too many broad-spectrum antibiotics (68.4%) for a longer duration (62.8%) with inadequate doses (67.9%) as the causes of AMR. The student’s preparation was insufficient in interpreting microbiological and pathological results (26.3%), selecting the correct antibiotics (22.1%), and awareness of the antibiotic spectrum (20.9%). The median preparedness score showed significant differences with sex (p = 0.049), age (p < 0.001), institute type (p = 0.014), and family income (p = 0.006).Conclusion: Pakistani medical students showed adequate understanding of antibiotics, but lacked preparedness for several components of ASPs, including interpretation of microbiological results and spectrum of antibiotics. More steps need to be taken to prepare medical students for AMR and stewardship initiatives adequately.

The present review summarizes recent experimental evidences about the existence of the non-cell-autonomous death entosis in physiological and pathophysiological contexts, discusses some aspects of this form of cell death, including morphological, biochemical and signaling pathways that distinguish non-cell-autonomous demises from other death modalities and propose to define this new modality of death as type IV programmed cell death.

There are many human oral antimicrobial peptides responsible for playing important roles including maintenance, repairing of oral tissues (hard or soft) and defense against oral microbes. In this review we have highlighted the biochemistry, physiology and proteomics of human oral histatin peptides, secreted from parotid and submandibular salivary glands in human. The significance of these peptides includes capability for ionic binding that can kill fungal Candida albicans. They have histidine rich amino acid sequences (7–12 family members; corresponding to residues 12–24, 13–24, 12–25, 13–25, 5–11, and 5–12, respectively) for Histatin-3. However, Histatin-3 can be synthesized proteolytically from histatin 5 or 6. Due to their fungicidal response and high biocompatibility (little or no toxicity), these peptides can be considered as therapeutic agents with most probable applications for example, artificial saliva for denture wearers and salivary gland dysfunction conditions. The objectives of current article are to explore the human histatin peptides for its types, chemical and biological aspects. In addition, the potential for therapeutic bio-dental applications has been elaborated.

Summary: Purinergic receptors and nucleotide-binding domain leucine-rich repeat containing (NLR) proteins have been shown to control viral infection. Here, we show that the NLR family member NLRP3 and the purinergic receptor P2Y2 constitutively interact and regulate susceptibility to HIV-1 infection. We found that NLRP3 acts as an inhibitory factor of viral entry that represses F-actin remodeling. The binding of the HIV-1 envelope to its host cell receptors (CD4, CXCR4, and/or CCR5) overcomes this restriction by stimulating P2Y2. Once activated, P2Y2 enhances its interaction with NLRP3 and stimulates the recruitment of the E3 ubiquitin ligase CBL to NLRP3, ultimately leading to NLRP3 degradation. NLRP3 degradation is permissive for PYK2 phosphorylation (PYK2Y402∗) and subsequent F-actin polymerization, which is required for the entry of HIV-1 into host cells. Taken together, our results uncover a mechanism by which HIV-1 overcomes NLRP3 restriction that appears essential for the accomplishment of the early steps of HIV-1 entry. : Paoletti et al. identified a constitutive interaction between NLRP3 and P2Y2 that regulates HIV-1 entry into target cells. They revealed that NLRP3 represses viral entry by impairing F-actin reorganization. HIV-1 overcomes this host cellular resistance by inducing NLRP3 degradation through the activation of P2Y2-dependent signaling pathway. Keywords: NLRP3, P2Y2, CBL, inflammasome, viral entry, HIV

Climate change due to global greenhouse gas emissions poses a severe threat, and energy sectors contribute about two‐thirds of the emissions. However, energy plays an important role in the well‐being of the aging population, which is increasing in Asian countries. Therefore, this study aims to discern how the male and female populations of different age groups affect carbon emissions in Asian economies. The findings from the panel quantile regression reveal that economic growth escalates emissions across all quantiles along with energy use. The female population in the 0–14 years age group reduces emissions at all quantiles, while the male population of the same age group enhances the emissions. However, the male and female population between 15 and 64 years increases carbon emissions across all Asian economies. Furthermore, the male population above 65 years is responsible for low emissions, while the female counterparts are responsible for high emissions. Finally, we offer a set of policy recommendations based on our findings. For instance, there is a need to educate the male population between 0 and 14 years on environmental degradation to encourage an environment‐friendly lifestyle. Also, policies should aim to persuade the 15–64 age group to use renewables, which can help mitigate CO2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]