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Topic Review
Pathogenesis of Urinary Tract Infections
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections worldwide, occurring in both community and healthcare settings. Although the clinical symptoms of UTIs are heterogeneous and range from uncomplicated (uUTIs) to complicated (cUTIs), most UTIs are usually treated empirically. Bacteria are the main causative agents of these infections, although more rarely, other microorganisms, such as fungi and some viruses, have been reported to be responsible for UTIs.
  • 2.9K
  • 21 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Bacterial Resistance to Antimicrobial Agents
Bacterial pathogens as causative agents of infection constitute an alarming concern in the public health sector. In particular, bacteria with resistance to multiple antimicrobial agents can confound chemotherapeutic efficacy towards infectious diseases. Multidrug-resistant bacteria harbor various molecular and cellular mechanisms for antimicrobial resistance. These antimicrobial resistance mechanisms include active antimicrobial efflux, reduced drug entry into cells of pathogens, enzymatic metabolism of antimicrobial agents to inactive products, biofilm formation, altered drug targets, and protection of antimicrobial targets. These microbial systems represent suitable focuses for investigation to establish the means for their circumvention and to reestablish therapeutic effectiveness.
  • 2.9K
  • 01 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Human Schistosomiasis in Nigeria
Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia, is a major parasitic disease caused by blood flukes (trematode worms) of the genus Schistosoma that live in fresh waterways in tropical and subtropical zones. Over 200 million people are infected globally, 90% of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria has the highest burden of schistosomiasis in this region. Elimination programmes have focused on human infections, with limited attention on infections in livestock that could be transmissible to humans, i.e. zoonotic schistosomiasis. This is now recognized as a risk factor for increased transmission and recrudescence of infection of more than one schistosome species, as well as of potential hybrid variants. Members of farming communities who herd grazing cattle, goats and sheep in proximity to rivers containing Bulinus freshwater snails that are the intermediate host of asexual lifecycle stages are particularly at risk of becoming infected through daily contact with contaminated water.
  • 2.9K
  • 21 Feb 2023
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Effects of in Utero SARS-CoV-2 Exposure on Newborn Health Outcomes
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected over 600 million people worldwide, including millions of pregnant women. While newborns exposed to other viruses in utero are sometimes at high risk for vertical transmission, a substantial body of literature since early 2020 has demonstrated that vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from infected mother to neonate is rare, and that newborns who do become infected with SARS-CoV-2 generally have favorable outcomes. In this review, the authors evaluate the existing literature on vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and its potential mechanisms and discuss short- and long-term health outcomes in newborns who were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 in utero. The authors conclude that vertical transmission and adverse neonatal and infant/child outcomes are unlikely, but that neonates exposed to prenatal maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection may be at slightly higher risk for preterm birth, possibly related to increased risk of severe COVID-19 disease in pregnant women, placental changes, or infection timing. Ultimately, the need for additional and longer-term follow-up data in this population is highlighted.
  • 2.8K
  • 12 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Biosynthesis Investigations of Terpenoids Antimicrobial Agents
Terpenoids, also known as isoprenoids, are one of the largest natural product families, constituting more than 40,000 primary and secondary metabolites, including monoterpenes (53%), diterpenoids (1%), sesquiterpenes (28%), and others (18%). The basic unit of terpenes is the isoprene unit (C5H8), which is a simple hydrocarbon. It is the main precursor and could be post-modified through the cytosolic mevalonate (MVA) pathway or the plastid methyl erythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway. Terpenoids are a major source of bioactive natural products. 
  • 2.8K
  • 07 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing
Antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) specifies effective antibiotic dosage and formulates a profile of empirical therapy for the proper management of an individual patient’s health against deadly infections. Therefore, rapid diagnostic plays a pivotal role in the treatment of bacterial infection.
  • 2.8K
  • 03 Jan 2022
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Kidney Issues Associated with COVID-19 Disease
Infection with SARS-CoV-2 and the resulting COVID-19 can cause both lung and kidney damage. SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect renal cells expressing ACE2 receptors, resulting in kidney damage, and acute kidney injury (AKI) has been reported in COVID-19 hospitalized patients. The pathophysiology of COVID-19-associated AKI is multifactorial. Local and systemic inflammation, immune system dysregulation, blood coagulation disorders, and activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) are factors that contribute to the development of AKI in COVID 19 disease. COVID-19 patients with kidney involvement have a poor prognosis, and patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) infected with SARS-CoV-2 have an increased mortality risk. CKD patients with COVID-19 may develop end-stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring dialysis. In particular, patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and requiring dialysis, as well as patients who have undergone kidney transplantation, have an increased risk of mortality and require special consideration. Nephrologists and infectious disease specialists face several clinical dilemmas in the prophylaxis and treatment of CKD patients with COVID-19. This entry presents recent data showing the effects of COVID-19 on the kidneys and CKD patients and the challenges in the management of CKD patients with COVID-19, and discusses treatment strategies for these patients.
  • 2.7K
  • 05 Sep 2023
Topic Review
Schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis is a common neglected tropical disease of impoverished people and livestock in many developing countries in tropical Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. 
  • 2.5K
  • 02 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Clavulanic Acid
Clavulanic acid is an irreversible β-lactamase enzyme inhibitor with a weak antibacterial activity produced by the filamentous actinomycete Streptomyces clavuligerus (S. clavuligerus) and, in a lesser extent, by other streptomyces species. Clavulanic acid is typically co-formulated with broad-spectrum β‑lactam antibiotics such as amoxicillin and ticarcillin, conferring them high potential to treat infectious diseases caused by β‑lactam-resistant bacteria like Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Streptococcus pneumonia.
  • 2.4K
  • 22 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Nipah Virus
Nipah virus (NiV) is a highly lethal zoonotic paramyxovirus that emerged in Malaysia in 1998. It is a human pathogen capable of causing severe respiratory infection and encephalitis. The natural reservoir of NiV, Pteropus fruit bats, remains a continuous virus source for future outbreaks, although infection in the bats is largely asymptomatic. NiV provokes serious disease in various mammalian species.
  • 2.3K
  • 28 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Antimicrobial Effects of Antimicrobial Peptides
The growing emergence of antimicrobial resistance represents a global problem that not only influences healthcare systems but also has grave implications for political and economic processes. As the discovery of novel antimicrobial agents is lagging, one of the solutions is innovative therapeutic options that would expand our armamentarium against this hazard. Compounds of interest in many such studies are antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which actually represent the host’s first line of defense against pathogens and are involved in innate immunity. They have a broad range of antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, fungi, and viruses, with specific mechanisms of action utilized by different AMPs.
  • 2.2K
  • 18 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Computational Drug Design of TB
Developing new, more effective antibiotics against resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis that inhibit its essential proteins is an appealing strategy for combating the global tuberculosis (TB) epidemic. Finding a compound that can target a particular cavity in a protein and interrupt its enzymatic activity is the crucial objective of drug design and discovery. Such a compound is then subjected to different tests, including clinical trials, to study its effectiveness against the pathogen in the host. In recent times, new techniques, which involve computational and analytical methods, enhanced the chances of drug development, as opposed to traditional drug design methods, which are laborious and time-consuming. The computational techniques in drug design have been improved with a new generation of software used to develop and optimize active compounds that can be used in future chemotherapeutic development to combat global tuberculosis resistance.
  • 2.2K
  • 17 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Overview of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) α, β, and γ are nuclear receptors that orchestrate the transcriptional regulation of genes involved in a variety of biological responses, such as energy metabolism and homeostasis, regulation of inflammation, cellular development, and differentiation. The many roles played by the PPAR signaling pathways indicate that PPARs may be useful targets for various human diseases.
  • 2.2K
  • 16 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Arboviruses in Australia
In excess of 75 arboviruses have been identified in Australia, some of which are now well established as causative agents of debilitating diseases. These include Ross River virus, Barmah Forest virus, and Murray Valley encephalitis virus, each of which may be detected by both antibody-based recognition and molecular typing. For most of the remaining arboviruses that may be associated with pathology in humans, routine tests are not available to diagnose infection. A number of these so-called ‘neglected’ or ‘orphan’ arboviruses are considered likely to have infected humans at a regular rate for decades. Some may be associated with undifferentiated febrile illness — fever, the cause of which is not obvious — for which around half of all cases each year remain undiagnosed. Ongoing research aims to better understand the distribution, epidemiology, and transmission ecology of these mosquito-transmitted viruses that are currently unique to Australia.
  • 2.1K
  • 22 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Leptospirosis Kidney Disease
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic and waterborne disease worldwide. Leptospirosis emerges as a leading cause of acute febrile illness along with hepatorenal injury in many countries, including Thailand. Although acute kidney injury in the spectrum of interstitial nephritis is a well-described characteristic in severe leptospirosis, chronic kidney disease from leptospirosis is widely discussed. Early recognition of severe leptospirosis leads to reduce morbidity and mortality. 
  • 2.1K
  • 22 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Pathophysiology and Clinical Assessment of DFI
In the past 30 years, diabetic foot infections (DFI) have become increasingly prevalent due to the rising incidence of diabetes mellitus (DM). Twenty percent of diabetes-related hospital admissions in the U.S. are from DFI, which is typically introduced by direct inoculation through a traumatic entry site in an insensate foot.
  • 2.1K
  • 28 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Itxasol© in Treatment of Urinary Tract Infections
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) represent a health problem of the first magnitude since they affect large segments of the population, cause increased mortality and comorbidity, and have a high incidence of relapse. Therefore, UTIs cause a major socioeconomic concern. Current antibiotic treatments have various limitations such as the appearance of resistance to antibiotics, nephrotoxicity, and side effects such as gastrointestinal problems including microbiota alterations that contribute to increasing antibiotic resistance. In this context, Itxasol© has emerged, approved as an adjuvant for the treatment of UTIs. Designed with biomimetic principles, it is composed of arbutin, umbelliferon, and N-acetyl cysteine.
  • 2.1K
  • 02 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Chronic Wounds
The chronicity of wounds is affected by several contributory factors, including hormonal imbalances, cytokines, invasive microbial infections, and growth factors. More importantly, bacterial infections have been implicated as the predominant feature in most chronic wound microenvironments, including Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These bacteria exist in polymicrobial forms forming biofilms that afford them protection against the host’s immunity and conventional antibiotics. S. aureus biofilms are sometimes present close to the surface of chronic wounds, while P. aeruginosa biofilms appear deep within wound tissue. The recalcitrant disposition of these microbes has been implicated as one of the causalities of antimicrobial resistance.
  • 2.1K
  • 17 May 2022
Topic Review
Combinatory Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy (c-aPDT)
Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) has become a fundamental tool in modern therapeutics to combat localized infections. Thanks to the expanding versatility of photosensitizers and the many possible combinations with other antimicrobial treatments, aPDT is evolving from a conceptually simple methodology towards a much more sophisticated, integrated, and innovative technology.
  • 2.1K
  • 11 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Marine Cyclic Peptides
Oceans are a rich source of structurally unique bioactive compounds from the perspective of potential therapeutic agents. Marine peptides are a particularly interesting group of secondary metabolites because of their chemistry and wide range of biological activities. Among them, cyclic peptides exhibit a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activities, including against bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and viruses. Moreover, there are several examples of marine cyclic peptides revealing interesting antimicrobial activities against numerous drug-resistant bacteria and fungi, making these compounds a very promising resource in the search for novel antimicrobial agents to revert multidrug-resistance.
  • 2.0K
  • 04 Jul 2022
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