Comparative evaluation of the binding properties of two species of Khaya gum polymer in a paracetamol tablet formulation

A study was made of the comparative effects of polymers obtained from two species of khaya tree - Khaya senegalensis and Khaya grandifoliola - as binding agents in a paracetamol tablet formulation. The mechanical properties of the tablets were assessed using the tensile strength (T), brittle fracture index (BFI) and friability (F) of the tablets while the drug release properties of the tablets were assessed using disintegration and dissolution times. The tensile strength, disintegration and the dissolution times of tablets increased with the increase in binder concentration while F and BFI decreased. K. senegalensis gum produced tablets with stronger mechanical properties with less tendency to laminate, and longer disintegration and dissolution times than K. grandifoliola gum. The results suggest that the polymer gum from K. senegalensis will be more appropriate as a binding agent than the gum from K. grandifoliola when higher mechanical strength and slower release profiles of tablets are desired.     

The Effects of Almonds on Gut Microbiota,Glycometabolism, and Inflammatory Markers in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials

The use of nutritional interventions for managing diabetes is one of the effective strategies aimed at reducing the global prevalence of the condition, which is on the rise. Almonds are the most consumed tree nut and they are known to be rich sources of protein, monounsaturated fatty acids, essential minerals, and dietary fibre. Therefore, the aim of this review was to evaluate the effects of almonds on gut microbiota, glycometabolism, and inflammatory parameters in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis was carried out according to the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA). EBSCOhost, which encompasses the Health Sciences Research Databases; Google Scholar; EMBASE; and the reference lists of articles were searched based on population, intervention, control, outcome, and study (PICOS) framework. Searches were carried out from database inception until 1 August 2021 based on medical subject headings (MesH) and synonyms. The meta-analysis was carried out with the Review Manager (RevMan) 5.3 software. Results: Nine randomised studies were included in the systematic review and eight were used for the meta-analysis. The results would suggest that almond-based diets have significant effects in promoting the growth of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing gut microbiota. Furthermore, the meta-analysis showed that almond-based diets were effective in significantly lowering (p < 0.05) glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels and body mass index (BMI) in patients with type 2 diabetes. However, it was also found that the effects of almonds were not significant (p > 0.05) in relation to fasting blood glucose, 2 h postprandial blood glucose, inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein and Tumour necrosis factor α, TNF-α), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA–IR), and fasting insulin. The biological mechanisms responsible for the outcomes observed in this review in relation to reduction in HbA1c and BMI may be based on the nutrient composition of almonds and the biological effects, including the high fibre content and the low glycaemic index profile. Conclusion: The findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis have shown that almond-based diets may be effective in promoting short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria and lowering glycated haemoglobin and body mass index in patients with type 2 diabetes compared with control. However, the effects of almonds were not significant (p > 0.05) with respect to fasting blood glucose, 2 h postprandial blood glucose, inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein and TNF-α), GLP-1, HOMA–IR, and fasting insulin.     

Persistent Mycoplasma genitalium Infection of Human Endocervical Epithelial Cells Elicits Chronic Inflammatory Cytokine Secretion

Infection with Mycoplasma genitalium has been associated with male and female urogenital disease syndromes, including urethritis, cervicitis, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), and tubal factor infertility. Basic investigations of mucosal cytotoxicity, microbial persistence, and host immune responses are imperative to understanding these inflammatory urogenital syndromes, particularly in females, considering the potential severity of upper tract infections. Here, we report that M. genitalium can establish long-term infection of human endocervical epithelial cells that results in chronic inflammatory cytokine secretion and increased responsiveness to secondary Toll-like receptor (TLR) stimulation. Using a novel quantitative PCR assay, M. genitalium was shown to replicate from 0 to 80 days postinoculation (p.i.), during which at most time points the median ratio of M. genitalium organisms to host cells was ≤10, indicating that low organism burdens are capable of eliciting chronic inflammation in endocervical epithelial cells. This observation is consistent with clinical findings in women. Persistently secreted cytokines predominately consisted of potent chemotactic and/or activating factors for phagocytes, including interleukin-8 (IL-8), monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1), and macrophage inflammatory protein 1β (MIP-1β). Despite persistent cytokine elaboration, no host cell cytotoxicity was observed except with superphysiologic loads of M. genitalium, suggesting that persistent infection occurs with minimal direct damage to the epithelium. However, it is hypothesized that chronic chemokine secretion with leukocyte trafficking to the epithelium could lead to significant inflammatory sequelae. Therefore, persistent M. genitalium infection could have important consequences for acquisition and/or pathogenesis of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and perhaps explain the positive associations between this organism and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) shedding.     

Full adoption of the most effective strategies to mitigate methane emissions by ruminants can help meet the 1.5 °C target by 2030 but not 2050

To meet the 1.5 °C target, methane (CH₄) from ruminants must be reduced by 11 to 30% by 2030 and 24 to 47% by 2050 compared to 2010 levels. A meta-analysis identified strategies to decrease product-based (PB; CH₄ per unit meat or milk) and absolute (ABS) enteric CH₄ emissions while maintaining or increasing animal productivity (AP; weight gain or milk yield). Next, the potential of different adoption rates of one PB or one ABS strategy to contribute to the 1.5 °C target was estimated. The database included findings from 430 peer-reviewed studies, which reported 98 mitigation strategies that can be classified into three categories: animal and feed management, diet formulation, and rumen manipulation. A random-effects meta-analysis weighted by inverse variance was carried out. Three PB strategies—namely, increasing feeding level, decreasing grass maturity, and decreasing dietary forage-to-concentrate ratio—decreased CH₄ per unit meat or milk by on average 12% and increased AP by a median of 17%. Five ABS strategies—namely CH₄ inhibitors, tanniferous forages, electron sinks, oils and fats, and oilseeds—decreased daily methane by on average 21%. Globally, only 100% adoption of the most effective PB and ABS strategies can meet the 1.5 °C target by 2030 but not 2050, because mitigation effects are offset by projected increases in CH₄ due to increasing milk and meat demand. Notably, by 2030 and 2050, low- and middle-income countries may not meet their contribution to the 1.5 °C target for this same reason, whereas high-income countries could meet their contributions due to only a minor projected increase in enteric CH₄ emissions.

Global food systems contribute up to 30% of the worldwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (1). The goal of the Paris Agreement, to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above preindustrial levels, is unlikely to be achieved if food systems continue operating on a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario (1). Among food-related GHG emissions, methane (CH₄) from livestock contributes 30% of the global anthropogenic CH₄ emissions (2), 17% of the global food system GHG emissions, and 5% of global GHG emissions (2, 3). Of the global livestock CH₄ emissions, 88% is contributed by enteric fermentation (4).Methane is a short-lived climate pollutant. Given its perturbation lifetime in the atmosphere of around 12.5 y, CH₄ contributes significantly to near-term global warming (5). Its global warming potential is 84 or 28 for 20- or 100-y time horizons, respectively (5). When evaluating the contribution of global food systems to CH₄ emissions over a 20-y period instead of the commonly used 100-y time period for national GHG inventories, the contribution of CH₄ to food system GHG emissions more than doubles, from 17 to 36% (3, 5).The realization of nationally determined contributions and 2050 climate neutrality goals depends upon the reduction of CH₄ emissions. Within sectoral reductions of CH₄ emissions, technical solutions to decrease CH₄ from agricultural production—especially strategies to mitigate CH₄ from enteric fermentation by ruminant livestock—are integral to meeting these climate targets, but quantitative data on mitigation potentials are scarce (6). Based on 2010 GHG emission levels and different mitigation scenarios to limit global warming to 1.5 °C, agricultural CH₄ emissions need to be decreased by 11 to 30% by 2030 and by 24 to 47% by 2050 (7).The global population is projected to increase by 23% between 2010 and 2030, with most of the increase occurring in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) (8). Ruminants contribute about half of the animal protein produced by livestock (4). In LMIC, ruminant livestock play a crucial role in food security (9). Ruminants can convert human-inedible feeds, like those from pastures and grain commodity by-products produced on marginal lands or from subsistence agricultural production systems, into nutritionally dense human-edible foods. Ruminants also provide other benefits, such as traction and manure for fuel and fertilizer (10). In addition, human population growth is generally high in LMIC, while consumption of animal-sourced food is often below recommended dietary levels or reliant upon ruminant meat and milk for livelihoods and nutrition security (10, 11). Thus, from a feed-food competition perspective, ruminant production increases in LMIC should rely on human inedible feeds (i.e., forage and by-products). In contrast, in high-income countries (HIC) population growth is much lower and the consumption of animal protein is often above recommended dietary levels (9, 11).Sustainable strategies for enteric CH₄ mitigation that align with the 1.5 °C target should preferably avoid socioeconomic and environmental tradeoffs (12) and, ideally, increase production yield per unit of input. Reductions in both CH₄ emissions intensity (i.e., emissions per unit of milk and gain [CH₄I_M and CH₄I_G, respectively]) and absolute CH₄ emissions are therefore needed. Strategies that reduce CH₄I and increase production per unit of input could be used to expand food production from the existing ruminant population without increasing total CH₄ emissions (13–15), and thus contribute to the 1.5 °C target as well as to sustainable development goals. Several reviews indicate that animal and feed management, diet formulation, and rumen manipulation strategies could significantly decrease enteric CH₄ emissions (12, 16, 17). However, previous studies consisted of qualitative reviews (12), examined the quantitative effects of a single mitigation strategy (18–20), or compared CH₄ yield (CH₄Y; CH₄ per unit of feed intake) between multiple mitigation strategies (17). Methane yield is only one relevant measure, and other major CH₄ emission and animal performance metrics must be considered to determine the effectiveness and feasibility of mitigation strategies. Only one recent publication examined the quantitative effects of multiple mitigation strategies on CH₄ emission and animal performance metrics, but the analysis was limited to Latin America (21). Important CH₄ emission metrics include daily CH₄ emissions, CH₄Y, or CH₄-energy conversion factor [Y_m; CH₄ energy as a proportion of gross energy intake; a component of the tier 2 calculation for national GHG inventories recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (22)], CH₄I_G, and CH₄I_M. Important animal performance metrics include feed intake, nutrient digestibility, and animal productivity (AP).The objective of this study was to conduct a comprehensive meta-analysis of enteric CH₄ mitigation strategies published in peer-reviewed journals by examining their quantitative effect on the aforementioned in vivo CH₄ emissions and animal performance metrics and to estimate their potential to contribute to the 1.5 °C target. As outlined above, there is an urgent need for strategies that can effectively mitigate enteric CH₄ emissions without negatively affecting AP by focusing exclusively on strategies that decouple CH₄ emissions from animal production (23). Mitigation effects were quantified on a global level as well as on a regional level. The African and European regions were selected to represent LMIC and HIC, respectively.     

Travel-Related Monkeypox Outbreaks in the Era of COVID-19 Pandemic: Are We Prepared?

Several neglected infectious pathogens, such as the monkeypox virus (MPXV), have re-emerged in the last few decades, becoming a global health burden. Despite the incipient vaccine against MPXV infection, the global incidence of travel-related outbreaks continues to rise. About 472 confirmed cases have been reported in 27 countries as of 31 May 2022, the largest recorded number of cases outside Africa since the disease was discovered in the early 1970s.     

Intake of Dairy Products in Relation to Periodontitis in Older Danish Adults

This cross-sectional study investigates whether calcium intakes from dairy and non-dairy sources, and absolute intakes of various dairy products, are associated with periodontitis. The calcium intake (mg/day) of 135 older Danish adults was estimated by a diet history interview and divided into dairy and non-dairy calcium. Dairy food intake (g/day) was classified into four groups: milk, cheese, fermented foods and other foods. Periodontitis was defined as the number of teeth with attachment loss ≥3 mm. Intakes of total dairy calcium (Incidence-rate ratio (IRR) = 0.97; p = 0.021), calcium from milk (IRR = 0.97; p = 0.025) and fermented foods (IRR = 0.96; p = 0.03) were inversely and significantly associated with periodontitis after adjustment for age, gender, education, sucrose intake, alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity, vitamin D intake, heart disease, visits to the dentist, use of dental floss and bleeding on probing, but non-dairy calcium, calcium from cheese and other types of dairy food intakes were not. Total dairy foods (IRR = 0.96; p = 0.003), milk (IRR = 0.96; p = 0.028) and fermented foods intakes (IRR = 0.97; p = 0.029) were associated with reduced risk of periodontitis, but cheese and other dairy foods intakes were not. These results suggest that dairy calcium, particularly from milk and fermented products, may protect against periodontitis. Prospective studies are required to confirm these findings.     

High protein diet promotes body weight loss among Brazilian postpartum women

There is evidence in the general population that adhering to a high protein and low carbohydrate diet may help in losing weight. However, there is little evidence among postpartum women. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of a high protein diet on weight loss among postpartum women. A parallel‐randomized controlled trial with 94 postpartum women was conducted in a maternity ward in Mesquita county (recruitment from February 2009 to December 2010) and in a polyclinic in Rio de Janeiro city (recruitment from December 2010 to December 2011). Women were randomized to the intervention group (IG) or control group (CG), and both groups received an isocaloric diet (1,800 kcal). Additionally, the IG received approximately 25 g of protein obtained from 125 g per week of sardine to increase daily dietary protein content and was advised to restrict carbohydrate intake. The CG received nutritional counselling to follow the national nutrition guidelines (15% protein, 60% carbohydrates, and 25% lipids). A linear mixed‐effects model was used to test the effect of high protein intake and macronutrient intake on weight loss during the postpartum period. Body weight decreased in the IG compared with the CG (ß = ?0.325; p = 0.049) among overweight and obese postpartum women. The percentage of energy intake from lipid (ß = ?0.023; p = 0.050) was negatively associated with body weight, and carbohydrate intake (ß = 0.020; p = 0.026) was positively associated with body weight over time among all women. Protein intake and lower carbohydrate intake may be used as a dietary strategy to improve body weight loss during the postpartum period.     

Periodontal diseases and HIV infection

The workshop considered six related questions about periodontal changes seen in HIV infection. 1) To what extent are specific periodontal changes associated with HIV? 2) Are conventional periodontal diseases modified by HIV infection? The changes associated with HIV appear to be modified presentations of conventional diseases. Research should identify initiation and progression factors for necrotizing diseases. 3) What is the role of geography and transmission groups? These questions cannot be answered without greater standardisation of research methods. 4) Has the epidemiology of these changes changed with the advent of new therapies? The data required to answer this question should be available soon but this question is irrelevant to the vast majority of people with HIV. 5) What pathogens are involved in periodontal changes seen in HIV infection? The role of Candida spp. and other potential pathogens requires further investigation. 6) What management protocols are suitable for the periodontal diseases? The significance of periodontal diseases among people with HIV in developing countries is not known. Further research is needed of the effectiveness of interventions especially necrotizing disease in developing countries. The quality of research of these diseases would be enhanced by standardized approaches. A list of relevant variables might prevent their omission from studies.