Paratuberculosis (pTB) is a chronic granulomatous enteritis caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) in a wide variety of domestic and wild animals. Control of pTB is difficult due to the lack of sensitive, efficacious and cost-effective diagnostics and marker vaccines. Microscopy, culture, and PCR have been used for the screening of MAP infection in animals for quite a long time. Besides, giving variable sensitivity and specificity, these tests have not been considered ideal for large-scale screening of domestic livestock. Serological tests like ELISA easily detects anti-MAP antibodies. However, it cannot differentiate between the vaccinated and infected animals. Nanotechnology-based diagnostic tests are underway to improve the sensitivity and specificity. Newer generation diagnostic tests based on recombinant MAP secretory proteins would open new paradigm for the differentiation between infected and vaccinated animals and for early detection of the infection. Due to higher seroreactivity of secretory proteins vis-a-vis cellular proteins, the secretory proteins may be used as marker vaccine, which may aid in the control of pTB infection in animals. Secretory proteins can be potentially used to develop future diagnostics, surveillance and monitoring of the disease progression in animals and the marker vaccine for the control and eradication of pTB.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles have attracted significant interest in a number of applications ranging from electronics to biomedical sciences due to their large exaction binding energy (60 meV) and wide bandgap of 3.37 eV. In the present study, we report the low-cost bacterium based "eco-friendly" efficient synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles by using the zinc-tolerant bacteria Serratia nematodiphila. The physicochemical characterization of ZnO nanoparticles was performed by employing UV-vis spectroscopy, XRD, TEM, DLS, Zeta potential, and Raman spectroscopy. The antimicrobial and antifungal studies were investigated at different concentrations using the agar well-diffusion method, whereby the microbial growth rate decreases with the increase in nanoparticle concentration. Further, photocatalytic performance studies were conducted by taking methyl orange (MO) as a reference dye.

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Neuroinflammation, the condition associated with the hyperactivity of immune cells within the CNS (central nervous system), has recently been linked to a host range of neurodegenerative disorders. Targeting neuroinflammation could be of prime importance as recent research highlights the beneficial aspects associated with modulating the inflammatory mediators associated with the CNS. One of the main obstructions in neuroinflammatory treatments is the hindrance posed by the blood-brain barrier for the delivery of drugs. Hence, research has focused on novel modes of transport for drugs to cross the barrier through drug delivery and nanotechnology approaches. In this Review, we highlight the therapeutic advancement made in the field of neurodegenerative disorders by focusing on the effect neuroinflammation treatment has on these conditions.

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These results show that PB pretreatment induced microsomal enzyme activity in all stages studied (as measured directly or by decreased sedation time), induction of microsomal enzymes by DDT was inconsistent in the enzyme assays and pretreatment with DDT and its analogs increased sedation time of PB inin vivo tests, an apparent inhibition of microsomal enzymes. Dieldrin and insecticides of a similar mode of action were found to decrease the sedation time of PB in young chicks, but dieldrin did not alter the sedation time of PB in mature birds. Addition of DDT-DDE to the food of laying hens had no effect on eggshell calcium. These experiments lend additional support to the hypothesis that alteration of oxidative enzyme activity and/or calcium deposition by chlorinated hydrocarbons does not appear to be a general phenomenon among the class Aves.

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In the present study, Indirect Fluorescent antibody test (iFAT) has been used as the "screening test" for the detection of MAP bacilli in the milk samples of lactating domestic livestock. A total of 372 milk samples from lactating animals were screened by iFAT and results were compared with microscopy of milk samples and milk ELISA test. Comparative analysis of the results of three tests showed that iFAT had fairly good sensitivity (84.7%) and specificity (90.4%), with respect to ZN staining (microscopy) with kappa value of 0.735 and "good" strength of agreement. Similar comparison with milk ELISA test revealed, sensitivity (73.3%) and specificity of (72.6%) with kappa value of 0.443 and strength of agreement was moderate. Lower or higher difference in sensitivity and specificity of iFAT with respect to ZN staining and milk ELISA may be due to the difference in detection "target" of the test i.e., antigen or antibody. It was concluded that iFAT was a reliable and sensitive diagnostic test for the detection of MAP in milk and can also be used for the "mass screening" of the milk samples.