• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.212-219
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• 2020

Objectives: Nowadays cancer treatment is an important challenge in the medical world that needs better therapies. Many active secretions produced by insects such as honey bees used to discover new anticancer drugs. Bee venom (BV) has a potent anti inflammatory, anti cancer and tumor effects. The aim of present study is evaluation of anticancer effects induced by Apis mellifera venom (AmV) on cell Lines. Methods: AmV was selected for study on cancer cell lines. Total protein, molecular weight and LD50 of crude venom were determined. Then, cells were grown in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum and 1% antibiotics. The A549, HeLa and MDA-MB-231 cell Lines were exposed by different concentration of AmV. The morphology of cells was determined and cell viability was studed by MTT assay. Evaluation of cell death was determined by and DNA fragmentation. Results: The results from MTT assay showed that 3.125 ㎍/mL of A549, 12.5 for HeLa and 6.25 ㎍/mL of MDA-MB-231 killed 50% of cells (p < 0.05). Morphological analysis and the results from hoescht staining and DNA fragmentation indicated that cell death induced by AmV was significantly apoptosis. Conclusion: The data showed that using lower dosage of AmV during treatment period cause inhibition of proliferation in time and dose dependant manner. Findings indicated that some ingredients of AmV have anticancer effects and with further investigation it can be used in production of anticancer drugs.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.817-826
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• 2018

The bursa of Fabricius (BF) is a central humoral immune organ unique to birds. Four bursal peptides (BP-I, BP-II, BP-III, and BP-IV) have been isolated and identified from the BF. In this study, the immunoadjuvant activities of BPs I to IV were examined in mice immunized with H9N2 avian influenza virus (AIV) vaccine. The results suggested that BP-I effectively enhanced cell-mediated immune responses, increased the secretion of Th1 (interferon gamma)- and Th2 (interleukin-4)-type cytokines, and induced an improved cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response to the H9N2 virus. BP-II mainly elevated specific antibody production, especially neutralizing antibodies, and increased Th1- and Th2-type cytokine secretion. BP-III had no significant effect on antibody production or cell-mediated immune responses compared to those in the control group. A strong immune response at both the humoral and cellular levels was induced by BP-IV. Furthermore, a virus challenge experiment followed by H&E staining revealed that BP-I and BP-II promoted removal of the virus and conferred protection in mouse lungs. BP-IV significantly reduced viral titers and histopathological changes and contributed to protection against H9N2 AIV challenge in mouse lungs. This study further elucidated the immunoadjuvant activities of BPs I to IV, providing a novel insight into immunoadjuvants for use in vaccine design.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.221-230
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• 2023

Objectives: The second wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in Indonesia, during which the Delta variant predominated, took place after a vaccination program had been initiated in the country. This study was conducted to assess the impact of COVID-19 vaccination on unfavorable clinical outcomes including hospitalization, severe COVID-19, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and death using a real-world model. Methods: This single-center retrospective cohort study involved patients with COVID-19 aged ≥18 years who presented to the COVID-19 emergency room at a secondary referral teaching hospital between June 1, 2021 and August 31, 2021. We used a binary logistic regression model to assess the effect of COVID-19 vaccination on unfavorable clinical outcomes, with age, sex, and comorbidities as confounding variables. Results: A total of 716 patients were included, 32.1% of whom were vaccinated. The elderly participants (≥65 years) had the lowest vaccine coverage among age groups. Vaccination had an effectiveness of 50% (95% confidence interval [CI], 25 to 66) for preventing hospitalization, 97% (95% CI, 77 to 99) for preventing severe COVID-19, 95% (95% CI, 56 to 99) for preventing ICU admission, and 90% (95% CI, 22 to 99) for preventing death. Interestingly, patients with type 2 diabetes had a 2-fold to 4-fold elevated risk of unfavorable outcomes. Conclusions: Among adults, COVID-19 vaccination has a moderate preventive impact on hospitalization but a high preventive impact on severe COVID-19, ICU admission, and death. The authors suggest that relevant parties increase COVID-19 vaccination coverage, especially in the elderly population.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.4.1-4.14
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• 2024

Background: Lawsonia intracellularis is the causative agent of proliferative enteropathy and is associated with several outbreaks, causing substantial economic loss to the porcine industry. Objectives: In this study, we focused on demonstrating the protective effect in the mouse model through the immunological bases of two vaccine strains against porcine proliferative enteritis. Methods: We used live-attenuated Salmonella Typhimurium (ST) secreting two selected immunogenic LI antigens (Lawsonia autotransporter A epitopes and flagellin [FliC]-peptidoglycan-associated lipoprotein-FliC) as the vaccine carrier. The constructs were cloned into a Salmonella expression vector (pJHL65) and transformed into the ST strain (JOL912). The expression of immunogenic proteins within Salmonella was evaluated via immunoblotting. Results: Immunizing BALB/c mice orally and subcutaneously induced high levels of LI-specific systemic immunoglobulin G and mucosal secretory immunoglobulin A. In immunized mice, there was significant upregulation of interferon-γ and interleukin-4 cytokine mRNA and an increase in the subpopulations of cluster of differentiation (CD) 4⁺ and CD 8⁺ T lymphocytes upon splenocytes re-stimulation with LI antigens. We observed significant protection in C57BL/6 mice against challenge with 10^6.9 times the median tissue culture infectious dose of LI or 2 × 10⁹ colony-forming units of the virulent ST strain. Immunizing mice with either individual vaccine strains or co-mixture inhibited bacterial proliferation, with a marked reduction in the percentage of mice shedding Lawsonia in their feces. Conclusions: Salmonella-mediated LI gene delivery induces robust humoral and cellular immune reactions, leading to significant protection against LI and salmonellosis.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.443-450
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• 2006

To demonstrate their possibilities as an enhanced vaccine delivery system, protein-loaded Poly lactide glycolide copolymer (PLGA) microspheres were prepared with different physical characteristics. Ethyl acetate (EA) solvent extraction process was employed to prepare microspheres and the effects of process parameters on drug release properties were evaluated. The biodeuadability of microspheres was also evaluated by the pH change and GPC (Gel permeation chromatography). Primary IgG antibody responses in BALB/c mice were compared with protein saline solutions as negative controls and adsorbed alum suspensions as positive controls after single subcutaneous injection for in vivo studies. The microspheres showed a erosion with a highly porous structure and did not keep their spherical shape at 45 days and this result could be confirmed by GPC. In vitro release of proteinous drug showed initial burst effect in all batches of microspheres, followed by gradual release over the next 4 weeks. PLGA microspheres were degraded until 45 days and the secondary structure of OVA was not affected by the preparation method. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays demonstrated that the single subcutaneous administrations of OVA-loaded PLGA microspheres induced enhanced serum IgG antibody response in comparison to negative and positive controls. These results demonstrated that microspheres providing the controlled release of antigens might be useful in advanced vaccine formulations for the parenteral carrier system.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.1273-1280
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• 2019

Edwardsiella piscicida is the causative agent of edwardsiellosis, which has caused enormous economic losses worldwide. In our previous research, an attenuated live vaccine known as WED and based on the virulent strain E. piscicida EIB202 can effectively protect turbots against edwardsiellosis via intraperitoneal injection, while vaccination by immersion exhibits a weaker effect. During the development of the immersion vaccine, we surprisingly found the counts of ${\Delta}pEIB202/EIB202$ colonized on zebrafish were 100 times lower than those of EIB202. However, pEIB202 carries 53 predicted ORFs and has several copies in E. piscicida EIB202, impeding the study of its function. Thus, the replication region is located at a 1,980 bp fragment (from 18,837 to 20,816 bp), containing a transcriptional repressor and a replication protein. Moreover, the minimal replication plasmid, named pRep-q77, has low copies in both E. coli and E. piscicida, but is more stable in E. piscicida than in E. coli. This work lays a foundation for further examination of the function of the virulence plasmid pEIB202.

• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.48-53
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• 2022

The current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been a particular challenge for diabetes patients. Since these patients are at a higher risk of COVID-19, they have been prioritized for vaccination. In this report, we describe the case of a patient scheduled for diabetic foot amputation who received the first dose of ChAdOx1 nCov-19 vaccine and subsequently developed severe purpura in his genitalia and both of his hands and feet, accompanied by acute renal failure. The operation had to be postponed as severe limb purpura appeared just before the operation. With adequate management for acute renal failure and topical steroid application for the severe purpura lesions, a successful outcome could be obtained after the delayed first ray amputation. We recommend that COVID-19 vaccination should be carefully administered in patients with a diabetic foot requiring amputation.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.91-113
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• 2024

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, unsubstantiated information concerning vaccines and the coronavirus has proliferated on various social media platforms. Consequently, we have considered viable actions to mitigate the impact of such unverified content, enabling individuals to use social media platforms more effectively and minimize any ensuing confusion. Recent measures in this area have included YouTube's practice of labeling vaccine or corona videos as authoritative when emanating from reputable organizations and Twitter's practice of flagging vaccine-related content as potentially misleading or taken out of context. This study seeks to explore how such contrasting labeling practices influence users' believability and engagement differentially, while also examining the moderating impact of regulatory focus. The results indicate that authoritative labeling positively influenced users' believability and engagement, whereas misleading labeling adversely affected users' believability and engagement. Additionally, our findings revealed that authoritative labeling has a stronger impact on promotion-focused individuals, while misleading labeling has a more pronounced effect on prevention-focused individuals. Our findings offer insights into how social media platforms can design and present information to their users, taking into account their regulatory focus.

• Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.121-126
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• 2023

Purpose: Sublingual immunotherapy is currently promoted by various companies, with administration schedules variable in the different products even though almost all are standardized immunologically. So, this study was planned to examine the efficacy of simple nondaily dosing of sublingual immunotherapy instead of the widely used daily schedule. Materials and Methods: Fifty-two patients with allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma were enrolled. Sublingual immunotherapy (manufactured at the allergen immunotherapy preparation unit at Mansoura University) was given in suitable bottles with a dropper mechanism that permits comfortable dosing under the tongue. The physician recommended that the patient put the drops under his/her tongue and leave the drops beneath the tongue for 2 minutes before swallowing. This was repeated every 3 days, with the drop number and concentration gradually rising. Results: After 2 months of follow-up, 65.8% responded partially to the symptom score and 26.3% responded completely to the medication score. There was a significant decline in the symptom and medication scores from the baseline scores (p<0.0001). After 4 months of follow-up, 95.8% responded partially to symptom scores and no one has not responded; 54.2% responded completely to medication scores; and 81% of studied patients had no side effects. However, the most frequent side effect was a sore throat. Conclusion: Our nondaily schedule of sublingual immunotherapy is tolerable, safe, and effective in patients with allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.325-334
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• 2018

Toxoplasma gondii is an apicomplexan zoonotic protozoan parasite that infects most species of warm-blooded animals, including humans. The heavy incidence and severe or lethal damage caused by T. gondii infection clearly indicate a need for the development of an effective vaccine. T. gondii GRA8 is a member of the dense granules protein family and is used as a marker of acute infection. In the present study, we evaluated the protective immunity induced by DNA vaccination based on a recombinant eukaryotic plasmid, pDsRed2-GRA8, against acute toxoplasmosis in mice. BALB/c mice were intramuscularly immunized with the pDsRed2-GRA8 plasmid and then challenged by infection with the highly virulent GFP-RH strain of T. gondii. The specific immune responses and protective efficacy against T. gondii of this vaccine were analyzed by measuring cytokine and serum antibody titers, splenocyte proliferation assays, and the survival times of mice after challenge. Our results showed that mice immunized with pDsRed2-GRA8 demonstrated specific humoral and cellular responses, induced higher IgG antibody titers with predominant IgG2a production; increased levels of IL-10, IL-12 (p70), $IFN-{\gamma}$, $TNF-{\alpha}$, and splenocyte proliferation; and prolonged survival times compared to those of control mice. The present study showed that DNA immunization with pDsRed2-GRA8 induced humoral and cellular immune responses, and all immunized mice showed greater Th1-type immune responses and longer survival times than those of control mice. These results indicated that T. gondii GRA8 DNA immunization induces a partial protective effect against acute toxoplasmosis.