Due to the continuous increase in polystyrene microplastics (PS MPs) incorporation in the environment, growing number of adverse effects on living organisms and ecosystem have become a global concern. Therefore, current study was planned to elucidate the impacts of 5 different concentrations control, 2, 20, 200, and 2000 μgL-1 of PS MPs on testicular tissues of rats. PS MPs significantly reduced the activities of antioxidant enzymes (catalase, superoxide dismutase and peroxidase) as well as total protein contents, while elevated the level of lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species. Moreover, expressions of steroidogenic enzymes (3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and steroidogenic acute regulatory protein) as well as the levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) in plasma, intra-testicular testosterone and plasma testosterone were reduced and a significant ( P < 0.05) reduction was noticed in the sperm count, motility and viability. Furthermore, PS MPs significantly up-regulated the expressions of Bax and caspase-3, while down-regulated the Bcl-2 expression. The histomorphological assessment revealed significant damages in the testicles as well as decrease in the number of germ cells (spermatogenic, spermatocytes and spermatids). Collectively, PS MPs generated oxidative stress (OS) and caused potential damage to the testicles of rats in a dose-dependent manner.

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With the increasing world population, demand for industrialization has also increased to fulfill humans’ living standards. Fungi are considered a source of essential constituents to produce the biocatalytic enzymes, including amylases, proteases, lipases, and cellulases that contain broad-spectrum industrial and emerging applications. The present review discussed the origin, nature, mechanism of action, emerging aspects of genetic engineering for designing novel proteases, genome editing of fungal strains through CRISPR technology, present challenges and future recommendations of fungal proteases. The emerging evidence revealed that fungal proteases show a protective role to many environmental exposures and discovered that an imbalance of protease inhibitors and proteases in the epithelial barriers leads to the protection of chronic eosinophilic airway inflammation. Moreover, mitoproteases recently were found to execute intense proteolytic processes that are crucial for mitochondrial integrity and homeostasis function, including mitochondrial biogenesis, protein synthesis, and apoptosis. The emerging evidence revealed that CRISPR/Cas9 technology had been successfully developed in various filamentous fungi and higher fungi for editing of specific genes. In addition to medical importance, fungal proteases are extensively used in different industries such as foods to prepare butter, fruits, juices, and cheese, and to increase their shelf life. It is concluded that hydrolysis of proteins in industries is one of the most significant applications of fungal enzymes that led to massive usage of proteomics.

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Background: Chronic ulcers are one of the challenges of treatment today and cost a lot to the health system. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of Lucilia sericata maggot therapy in chronic wound treatment. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted as a clinical trial study with 90 eligible patients. Patients were randomly assigned to two equal intervention and control groups. Both groups received routine treatments for chronic ulcers. Patients in the intervention group received maggot therapy with larvae of Lucilia sericata. For all patients, a smear and culture of wound discharges were acquired. The condition of wound healing, the type of infection, and the reduction of microorganisms were compared between the two groups. Results: Staphylococcus aureus was present in 68.9% of the patients and was the most abundant infection among all patients. Results of culturing after larval treatment at different times revealed a decrease in the number of all bacteria, especially Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and S. aureus, but the response rate for Enterococcus was the lowest. Also, the wound healing rate and reduction in necrotic tissue at the end of the second week (p=0.041) and the third week (p=0.012) was significantly higher in the intervention group. Conclusion: Larvae of L. sericata have the highest effects on P. aeruginosa and had the least effect on the growth of Enterococcus. Also, our results showed larvae of L. sericata therapy can significantly improve wound healing rate.