Background Streptococcus pneumoniae (SPN) is the agent responsible for causing respiratory diseases, including pneumonia, which causes severe health hazards and child deaths globally. Antibiotics are used to treat SPN as a first-line treatment, but nowadays, SPN is showing resistance to several antibiotics. A vaccine can overcome this global problem by preventing this deadly pathogen. The conventional methods of wet-laboratory vaccine design and development are an intense, lengthy, and costly procedure. In contrast, epitope-based in silico vaccine designing can save time, money, and energy. In this study, pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA), one of the major virulence factors of SPN, is used to design a multi-epitope vaccine. Methods For designing the vaccine, the sequence of PspA was retrieved, and then, phylogenetic analysis was performed. Several CTL epitopes, HTL epitopes, and LBL epitopes of PspA were all predicted by using several bioinformatics tools. After checking the antigenicity, allergenicity, and toxicity scores, the best epitopes were selected for the vaccine construction, and then, physicochemical and immunological properties were analyzed. Subsequently, vaccine 3D structure prediction, refinement, and validation were performed. Molecular docking, molecular dynamic simulation, and immune simulation were performed to ensure the binding between HLA and TLR4. Finally, codon adaptation and in silico cloning were performed to transfer into a suitable vector. Results The constructed multi-epitope vaccine showed a strong binding affinity with the receptor molecule TLR4. Analysis of molecular dynamic simulation, C-immune simulation, codon adaptation, and in silico cloning validated that our designed vaccine is a suitable candidate against SPN. Conclusion The in silico analysis has proven the vaccine as an alternative medication to combat against S. pneumoniae. The designated vaccine can be further tested in the wet lab, and a novel vaccine can be developed.
The present study was conducted to evaluate the status of chromium concentration in broiler feeds with the risk assessment of chromium in broiler meat. Seven broiler farms were selected to collect the feed and meat samples of broiler. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) was used to determine the chromium concentration in broiler feed and meat samples. The highest concentration of chromium in broiler meat samples was 1.31±0.20 µg/g and in feed samples was 1.71±0.24µg/g. In this study, the mean (± SE) concentration of chromium in feed samples from Gazipur Sadar, Gazipur; Sreepur, Gazipur and Tangail Sadar, Tangail were 1.71(± 0.24) µg/g,1.64(±0.61) µg/g and 1.64(±0.61) µg/g respectively. The mean (± SE) concentration of chromium in meat samples from Gazipur Sadar, Gazipur; Sreepur, Gazipur and Tangail Sadar, Tangail were 1.139 (±0.26) µg/g, 1.31 (±0.20) µg/g and 0.61 (±0.23) µg/g respectively. The concentrations of chromium in broiler edible tissues were much higher than permissible levels determined by FAO and WHO. Precocious steps must be taken to avoid use of such health hazardous concentrations of heavy metals in poultry feeds. Considering these findings, there is a critical need to set legal limits and surveillance system for detection of heavy metals in poultry industry of Bangladesh.
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