BackgroundBiobanks and biospecimen collections are becoming a primary means of delivering personalized diagnostics and tailoring individualized therapeutics. This shift towards precision medicine (PM) requires interactions among a variety of stakeholders, including the public, patients, healthcare providers, government, and donors. Very few studies have investigated the role of healthcare students in biobanking and biospecimen donations. The main aims of this study were (1) to evaluate the knowledge of senior healthcare students about biobanks and (2) to assess the students’ willingness to donate biospecimens and the factors influencing their attitudes.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among senior healthcare students at King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Saudi Arabia. The data were obtained using a self-administered questionnaire in English. In addition to the respondents’ biographical data section, the questionnaire assessed the respondents’ general knowledge about biobanking, the factors influencing their willingness to donate biospecimens to biobanks and their general attitudes towards biomedical research.ResultsA total of 597 senior healthcare students were included in the study. The general knowledge score was 3.2 (±1.6) out of 7. Only approximately 44% and 27% of students were aware of the terms “Human Genome Project” (HGP) and “biobank,” respectively. The majority of the students (89%) were willing to donate biospecimens to biobanks. Multiple factors were significantly associated with their willingness to donate, including their perceived general health (p < 0.001), past experience with both tissue testing (p < 0.04) and tissue donation (p < 0.001), biobanking knowledge score (p < 0.001) and biomedical research attitude score (p < 0.001). The main reasons for students’ willingness to donate were advancement of medical research and societal benefits, whereas misuse of biospecimens and confidentiality breaches were the main reasons for a reluctance to donate.ConclusionDespite their strong willingness to donate biospecimens, students exhibited a notable lack of knowledge about biobanking and the HGP. To expedite the transition towards PM, it is highly recommended to enhance healthcare curricula by including more educational and awareness programmes to familiarize students with OMICs technologies in addition to the scope of research and clinical applications.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common chronic progressive neurodegenerative disorder in elderly people. A consistent neurochemical abnormality in PD is degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra pars compacta, leading to a reduction of striatal dopamine (DA) levels. As tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) catalyses the formation of L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA), the rate-limiting step in the biosynthesis of DA, the disease can be considered as a TH-deficiency syndrome of the striatum. Problems related to PD usually build up when vesicular storage of DA is altered by the presence of either α-synuclein protofibrils or oxidative stress. Phosphorylation of three physiologically-regulated specific sites of N-terminal domain of TH is vital in regulating its kinetic and protein interaction. The concept of physiological significance of TH isoforms is another interesting aspect to be explored further for a comprehensive understanding of its role in PD. Thus, a logical and efficient strategy for PD treatment is based on correcting or bypassing the enzyme deficiency by the treatment with L-DOPA, DA agonists, inhibitors of DA metabolism or brain grafts with cells expressing a high level of TH. Neurotrophic factors are also attracting the attention of neuroscientists because they provide the essential neuroprotective and neurorestorative properties to the nigrostriatal DA system. PPAR-γ, a key regulator of immune responses, is likewise a promising target for the treatment of PD, which can be achieved by the use of agonists with the potential to impact the expression of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines at the transcriptional level in immune cells via expression of TH. Herein, we review the primary biochemical and pathological features of PD, and describe both classical and developing approaches aimed to ameliorate disease symptoms and its progression.

Today cancer is a leading cause of death among the developed countries. Its highly complex nature makes it difficult to understand as it entails multiple cellular physiological systems such as cell signaling and apoptosis. The biggest challenges faced by cancer chemoprevention/chemotherapy is maintaining drug circulation and avoiding multidrug resistance. Overall there is modest evidence regarding the protective effects of nutrients from supplements against a number of cancers. Numerous scientific literatures available advocate the use of polyphenols for chemoprevention. Some groups have also suggested use of combination of nutrients in cancer prevention. However, we have yet to obtain the desired results in the line of cancer chemotherapy research. Nanotechnology can play a pivotal role in cancer treatment and prevention. Moreover, nanoparticles can be modified in various ways to prolong circulation, enhance drug localization, increase drug efficacy, and potentially decrease the chances of multidrug resistance. In this communication, we will cover the use of various polyphenols and nutrients in cancer chemoprevention. The application of nanotechnology in this regard will also be included. In view of available reports on the potential of nanoparticles, we suggest their usage along with different combination of nutrients as cancer chemotherapeutic agents.

Multidrug-resistance due to "β lactamases having the expanded spectrum" (ESBLs) in members of Enterobacteriaceae is a matter of continued clinical concern. CTX-M is among the most common ESBLs in Enterobacteriaceae family. In the present study, a nanoformulation of cefotaxime was prepared using gold nanoparticles to combat drug-resistance in ESBL producing strains. Here, two CTX-M-15 positive cefotaxime resistant bacterial strains (i.e., one Escherichia coli and one Klebsiella pneumoniae strain) were used for testing the efficacy of "cefotaxime loaded gold-nanoparticles." Bromelain was used for both reduction and capping in the process of synthesis of gold-nanoparticles. Thereafter, cefotaxime was conjugated onto it with the help of activator 1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide. For characterization of both unconjugated and cefotaxime conjugated gold nanoparticles; UV-Visible spectroscopy, Scanning, and Transmission type Electron Microscopy methods accompanied with Dynamic Light Scattering were used. We used agar diffusion method plus microbroth-dilution method for the estimation of the antibacterial-activity and determination of minimum inhibitory concentration or MIC values, respectively. MIC values of cefotaxime loaded gold nanoparticles against E. coli and K. pneumoniae were obtained as 1.009 and 2.018 mg/L, respectively. These bacterial strains were completely resistant to cefotaxime alone. These results reinforce the utility of conjugating an old unresponsive antibiotic with gold nanoparticles to restore its efficacy against otherwise resistant bacterial pathogens. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 2802-2808, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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BackgroundPreterm birth (PTB), birth at <37 weeks of gestation, is a significant global public health problem. World-wide, about 15 million babies are born preterm each year resulting in more than a million deaths of children. Preterm neonates are more prone to problems and need intensive care hospitalization. Health issues may persist through early adulthood and even be carried on to the next generation. Majority (70 %) of PTBs are spontaneous with about a half without any apparent cause and the other half associated with a number of risk factors. Genetic factors are one of the significant risks for PTB. The focus of this review is on single nucleotide gene polymorphisms (SNPs) that are reported to be associated with PTB.ResultsA comprehensive evaluation of studies on SNPs known to confer potential risk of PTB was done by performing a targeted PubMed search for the years 2007–2015 and systematically reviewing all relevant studies. Evaluation of 92 studies identified 119 candidate genes with SNPs that had potential association with PTB. The genes were associated with functions of a wide spectrum of tissue and cell types such as endocrine, tissue remodeling, vascular, metabolic, and immune and inflammatory systems.ConclusionsA number of potential functional candidate gene variants have been reported that predispose women for PTB. Understanding the complex genomic landscape of PTB needs high-throughput genome sequencing methods such as whole-exome sequencing and whole-genome sequencing approaches that will significantly enhance the understanding of PTB. Identification of high risk women, avoidance of possible risk factors, and provision of personalized health care are important to manage PTB.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-3089-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The incidence of Candida infections have increased substantially in recent years due to aggressive use of immunosuppressants among patients. Use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and intravascular catheters in the intensive care unit have also attributed with high risks of candidiasis among immunocompromised patients. Among Candida species, C. albicans accounts for the majority of superficial and systemic infections, usually associated with high morbidity and mortality often caused due to increase in antimicrobial resistance and restricted number of antifungal drugs. Therefore, early detection of candidemia and correct identification of Candida species are indispensable pre-requisites for appropriate therapeutic intervention. Since blood culture based methods lack sensitivity, and species-specific identification by conventional method is time-consuming and often leads to misdiagnosis within closely related species, hence, molecular methods may provide alternative for accurate and rapid identification of Candida species. Although, several molecular approaches have been developed for accurate identification of Candida species but the internal transcribed spacer 1 and 2 (ITS1 and ITS2) regions of the rRNA gene are being used extensively in a variety of formats. Of note, ITS sequencing and PCR-RFLP analysis of ITS region seems to be promising as a rapid, easy, and cost-effective method for identification of Candida species. Here, we review a number of existing techniques ranging from conventional to molecular approaches currently in use for the identification of Candida species. Further, advantages and limitations of these methods are also discussed with respect to their discriminatory power, reproducibility, and ease of performance.

New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM-1) is a novel broad spectrum carbapenemase with ability to inactivate all β-lactams except aztreonam. However, most of the NDM-1-producers also produce aztreonam hydrolysing-β-lactamases thereby making these pathogens absolutely resistant to all β-lactams. The bla(NDM-1) gene encodes a 27.5 kDa protein of 269 amino acids. It shares very little identity with other metallo-β-lactamases. Maximum identity has been observed to VIM-1/VIM-2 (32.4%). This mini-review is an update of the scientific literature for the said enzyme. Following the recommendation of David livermore, we further propose to combine "aztreonam" and "inhibitor of the most frequently encountered aztreonam hydrolysing-β-lactamases in a given setting" as a possible strategy against NDM-1-producers. The inhibitor should be 'versatile' as well, i.e. it should have the ability to inhibit most of the variants of aztreonam hydrolysing-β-lactamases prevalent in the concerned setting. We strongly recommend surveillance studies using aztreonam/NXL-104-combination against NDM-1-producing pathogens in different geographical regions across the globe.