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Typing of herpes simplex virus (HSV) into its serotypes plays a major role in epidemiology and management of reactivation. To develop and evaluate a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was employed using Hae III and Taq I against neutralization test, allele-specific PCR and DNA sequencing for the detection of HSV serotypes. Neutralization test, allele-specific PCR, DNA sequencing and PCR-based RFLP were applied simultaneously to 2 standard strains (HSV-1 and HSV-2) and 23 clinical isolates. PCR-based RFLP was applied further to 20 culture negative PCR positive clinical specimens. The 179 bp product of the clinical isolates and specimens amplified using the type-common primers of HSV was subjected to DNA sequencing and PCR-based RFLP. Allele-specific PCR was absolutely specific and highly sensitive. All the typing methods differentiated concordantly 23 clinical isolates into 12 HSV-1 and 11 HSV-2. DNA sequencing did not reveal any nucleotide variations within the serotypes among the isolates sequenced. PCR-based RFLP typed a further 20 culture negative clinical specimens into 15 HSV-1 and 5 HSV-2. PCR-based RFLP was a reliable, less laborious and cost-effective molecular biological tool for the determination of HSV serotypes both for the clinical isolates and culture negative specimens. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Atrial Epicardial Adipose Tissue (EAT) is presumably involved in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation (AF). The transient nature of postoperative AF (POAF) suggests that surgery-induced triggers provoke an unmasking of a pre-existent AF substrate. The aim is to investigate the association between the volume of EAT and the occurrence of POAF. We hypothesise that the likelihood of developing POAF is higher in patients with high compared to low left atrial (LA) EAT volumes., Methods: Quantification of LA EAT based on the Hounsfield Units using custom made software was performed on pre-operative coronary computed tomography angiography scans of patients who underwent cardiac surgery between 2009 and 2019. Patients with mitral valve disease were excluded., Results: A total of 83 patients were included in this study (CABG = 34, aortic valve = 33, aorta ascendens n = 7, combination n = 9), of which 43 patients developed POAF. The EAT percentage in the LA wall nor indexed EAT volumes differed between patients with POAF and with sinus rhythm (all P > 0.05). In multivariable analysis, age and LA volume index (LAVI) were the only independent predictors for early POAF (OR: 1.076 and 1.056, respectively)., Conclusions: As expected, advanced age and LAVI were independent predictors of POAF. However, the amount of local EAT was not associated with the occurrence of AF after cardiac surgery. This suggests that the role of EAT in POAF is rather limited, or that the association of EAT in the early phase of POAF is obscured by the dominance of surgical-induced triggers., Competing Interests: The authors report no relationships that could be construed as a conflict of interest., (© 2022 The Authors.)

Microbial surfactants are amphipathic molecules that consist of hydrophilic and hydrophobic domains, which allow partition of two fluid phases of varying degree of polarity. They are classified into two main groups: bioemulsifier and biosurfactant, depending on their molecular weight. Microbial surfactants occur in various categories according to their chemical nature and producing organisms. These biomolecules are produced by diverse groups of microorganisms including fungi, bacteria, and yeasts. Their production is significantly influenced by substrate type, fermentation technology and microbial strains. Owing to inherent multifunctional properties and assorted synthetic aptitude of the microbes, microbial surfactants are mostly preferred than their chemical counterparts for various industrial and biomedical applications including bioremediation, oil recovery; as supplements in laundry formulations and as emulsion-stabilizers in food and cosmetic industries as well as therapeutic agents in medicine. The present review discusses on production of microbial surfactants as promising and alternative broad-functional biomolecules for various biotechnological applications., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2020 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University.)

The data present in this article is related to evaluation of standardized methanolic extract of Vernonia elaeagnifolia aerial parts [MEVE] , a species of Asteraceae family for antiulcer potential. Antiulcer activity of MEVE (200 and 400 mg/kg, b.w., p.o. ) was evaluated with ethanol and aspirin induced ulcer models and pylorus ligation induced gastric ulcer model. The antioxidant potential of MEVE was evaluated with nitric oxide radicals, hydroxyl radical and H 2 O 2 radical scavenging assay against standard ascorbic acid to correlate antioxidant and antiulcerogenic action. MEVE significantly protects the gastric mucosa against the ethanol and aspirin induced ulcer and pylorus ligation induced ulcer challenge. MEVE had shown significant [normal control: p < 0.0001, disease control: p < 0.0001, standard: p < 0.0001] decrease in the ulcer index produced by all three models in rats as compared to the standard drug omeprazole [20 mg/kg, b.w., p.o. ]. The present data suggest that aerial parts of Vernonia elaeagnifolia possess significant antiulcer activity, which may attributed to its antioxidant mechanism of action.

Lamotrigine is a BCS class II drug with pH dependent solubility. The bilayered gastric mucoadhesive tablets of lamotrigine were designed such that the drug and controlled release polymers were incorporated in the upper layer and the lower layer had the mucoadhesive polymers. The major ingredients selected for the upper layer were the drug and control release polymer (either HPMC K15M or polyox) while the lower MA layer predominantly comprised of Carbopol 974P. A 2(3) full factorial design was constructed for this study and the tablets were optimized for parameters like tablet size, shape, ex vivo mucoadhesive properties and unidirectional drug release. Oval tablets with an average size of 14 mm diameter were set optimum. Maximum mucoadhesive bond strength of 79.3 ± 0.91 * 10(3) dyn/cm(2) was achieved with carbopol when used in combination with a synergistic resin polymer. All the tested formulations presented a mucoadhesion time of greater than 12 h. The incorporation of methacrylic polymers in the lower layer ensured unidirectional drug release from the bilayered tablets. The unidirectional drug release was confirmed after comparing the dissolution results of paddle method with those of a modified basket method. Model independent similarity and dissimilarity factor methods were used for the comparison of dissolution results. Controlled drug release profiles with zero order kinetics were obtained with polyox and HPMC K15M which reported t 90% at 6th and 12th hours, respectively. The "n" value with polyox was 0.992 and that with HPMC K15M was 0.946 indicating an approximate case II transport. These two formulations showed the potential for oral administration of lamotrigine as bilayered gastric mucoadhesive tablets by yielding highest similarity factor values, 96.06 and 92.47, respectively, between the paddle and modified basket method dissolution release profiles apart from reporting the best tablet physical properties and maximum mucoadhesive strength.