Although Escherichia coli can be an innocuous resident of the gastrointestinal tract, it also has the pathogenic capacity to cause significant diarrheal and extraintestinal diseases. Pathogenic variants of E. coli (pathovars or pathotypes) cause much morbidity and mortality worldwide. Consequently, pathogenic E. coli is widely studied in humans, animals, food, and the environment. While there are many common features that these pathotypes employ to colonize the intestinal mucosa and cause disease, the course, onset, and complications vary significantly. Outbreaks are common in developed and developing countries, and they sometimes have fatal consequences. Many of these pathotypes are a major public health concern as they have low infectious doses and are transmitted through ubiquitous mediums, including food and water. The seriousness of pathogenic E. coli is exemplified by dedicated national and international surveillance programs that monitor and track outbreaks; unfortunately, this surveillance is often lacking in developing countries. While not all pathotypes carry the same public health profile, they all carry an enormous potential to cause disease and continue to present challenges to human health. This comprehensive review highlights recent advances in our understanding of the intestinal pathotypes of E. coli.

Recent Advances in Understanding Enteric Pathogenic Escherichia coli

Coumarin (2H-1-benzopyran-2-one) is a plant-derived natural product known for its pharmacological properties such as anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anticancer, antihypertensive, antitubercular, anticonvulsant, antiadipogenic, antihyperglycemic, antioxidant, and neuroprotective properties. Dietary exposure to benzopyrones is significant as these compounds are found in vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, coffee, tea, and wine. In view of the established low toxicity, relative cheapness, presence in the diet, and occurrence in various herbal remedies of coumarins, it appears prudent to evaluate their properties and applications further.

https://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2013/963248.pdf

Review on natural coumarin lead compounds for their pharmacological activity

Persistent inflammation is known to promote and exacerbate malignancy. Primary liver cancer, mostly hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is a clear example of inflammation-related cancer as more than 90 % of HCCs arise in the context of hepatic injury and inflammation. HCC represents the fifth most common malignancy and the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide with about one million new cases diagnosed every year with almost an equal number of deaths. Chronic unresolved inflammation is associated with persistent hepatic injury and concurrent regeneration, leading to sequential development of fibrosis, cirrhosis, and eventually HCC. Irrespective of the intrinsic differences among various etiological factors, a common denominator at the origin of HCC is the perpetuation of a wound-healing response activated by parenchymal cell death and the resulting inflammatory cascade. Hence, the identification of fundamental inflammatory signaling pathways causing transition from chronic liver injury to dysplasia and HCC could depict new predictive biomarkers and targets to identify and treat patients with chronic liver inflammation. This chapter critically discusses the roles of several major cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, transcription factors, and enzymes as well as a distinct network of inflammatory signaling pathways in the development and progression of HCC. It also highlights and analyzes preclinical animal studies showing innovative approaches of targeting inflammatory mediators and signaling by a variety of natural compounds and synthetic agents to achieve effective therapy as well as prevention of hepatic malignancy. Additionally, current limitations and potential challenges associated with the inhibition of inflammatory signaling as well as future directions of research to accelerate clinical development of anti-inflammatory agents to prevent and treat liver cancer are presented.

The role of inflammation and liver cancer.

Potential chemoprevention of N-nitrosodiethylamine-induced hepatocarcinogenesis by polyphenolics from Acacia nilotica bark.

Context: Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO Nps) have potential application in piezoelectric nanogenerator and in biotechnology.Objective: The antibacterial activity of ZnO Nps on Klebsiella pneumoniae ...

Antimicrobial activity of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle against Klebsiella pneumoniae

Attenuation of N-nitrosodiethylamine-induced hepatocellular carcinogenesis by a novel flavonol-Morin.

Protective effect of grape seed proanthocyanidins against cholesterol cholic acid diet-induced hypercholesterolemia in rats

Morin fosters apoptosis in experimental hepatocellular carcinogenesis model.

Differential expression of ompC and ompF in multidrug-resistant Shigella dysenteriae and Shigella flexneri by aqueous extract of Aegle marmelos, altering its susceptibility toward β-lactam antibiotics

Lectins are a class of ubiquitous proteins/glycoproteins that are abundantly found in nature. Lectins have unique carbohydrate binding property and hence have been exploited as drugs against various infectious diseases. We have isolated one such novel lectin from the fruit pulp of Aegle marmelos. The isolated lectin was partially characterised and its effect against Shigella dysenteriae infection was evaluated. The isolated lectin was found to be a dimeric protein with N-acetylgalactosamine, mannose and sialic acid binding specificity. The effect of Aegle marmelos fruit lectin on the adherence of Shigella dysenteriae to human colonic epithelial cells (HT29 cells) was evaluated by Enzyme Linked Immune Sorbent Assay and invasion was analysed. The protective nature of the Aegle marmelos fruit lectin was assessed by analyzing apoptosis through dual staining method. Aegle marmelos fruit lectin significantly inhibited hemagglutination activity of Shigella and its minimum inhibitory concentration is 0.625 µg/well. Further, at this concentration lectin inhibited Shigella dysenteriae adherence and invasion of HT29 cells and protects the HT29 cells from Shigella dysenteriae induced apoptosis. To conclude, isolated lectin dimeric protein with N-acetylgalactosamine, Mannose and sialic acid binding specificity and inhibits adherence and invasion of Shigellae to HT29 cells thus, protects the host.

/pdf/isolation-and-partial-characterisation-of-a-novel-lectin-pre2jxwzky.pdf

Isolation and partial characterisation of a novel lectin from Aegle marmelos fruit and its effect on adherence and invasion of Shigellae to HT29 cells.

Sivasitambaram Niranjali Devaraj

Papers

Attenuation of N-nitrosodiethylamine-induced hepatocellular carcinogenesis by a novel flavonol-Morin.

Protective effect of grape seed proanthocyanidins against cholesterol cholic acid diet-induced hypercholesterolemia in rats

Morin fosters apoptosis in experimental hepatocellular carcinogenesis model.

Differential expression of ompC and ompF in multidrug-resistant Shigella dysenteriae and Shigella flexneri by aqueous extract of Aegle marmelos, altering its susceptibility toward β-lactam antibiotics

Isolation and partial characterisation of a novel lectin from Aegle marmelos fruit and its effect on adherence and invasion of Shigellae to HT29 cells.