Heterosexual transmission of novel CRF01_AE and subtype B recombinant forms of HIV type 1 in northern Thailand

The increased proportion of CRFO1_AE/subtype B recombinant infections among injecting drug users raised a concern that such recombinant forms may also spread in a heterosexual population in Thailand. Using the BootScan method, we reanalyzed pol gene sequences among 114 heterosexually infected individuals in northern Thailand, who were tested for a drug-resistance genotype between July 2000 and July 2001. Two individuals were suspected of carrying a recombinant HIV-1. Thus we analyzed a nearly full-length HIV genome in the two individuals and their spouses. An identical recombinant form of CRF01_AE and subtype B was found in one couple, indicating that this recombinant virus was heterosexually transmitted. Interestingly, this recombinant form had multiple breakpoints in the core protein of Gag and both infected individuals had a high CD4+ cell count without antiretroviral therapy. CRFO1/subtype B recombinant forms exist in a heterosexual population in northern Thailand. Some recombinant virus may be associated with a slow rate of HIV disease progression.     

Prevalence of oral soft tissue lesions in out-patients at two Malaysian and Thai dental schools

At the Faculties of Dentistry in Chiang Mai, Thailand (CM), and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (KL), 234 and 233 consecutive out-patients of mean ages 33.8 and 31.0 yr, respectively, were examined for the presence of oral mucosal lesions. Tobacco in some form was regularly used by 31.7% and 27.5% of the study populations in CM and KL, respectively. Cigarette smoking was the predominant habit. In CM three persons chewed betel quids and nine smoked banana leaf cigars daily. In addition, there were 24 habitual chewers of tea leaves (miang). In KL six persons chewed betel quids daily. In CM and KL three cases each (1.3%) of tobacco-associated leukoplakias were found. In KL an additional idiopathic leukoplakia was registered. One and three cases of betel related lesions were found in CM and KL, respectively. One case of a squamous cell carcinoma was found in a 45-yr-old Indian woman in KL who had been chewing betel with tobacco daily for many years. High prevalence figures were found for lichen planus, 3.8% in CM and 2.1% in KL, and an extremely high one, 48.3%, in CM for episodes of aphthous ulcers experienced during the last 2 yr. Comparatively low prevalence figures were found for herpes labialis. As could be expected melanin pigmentation was prevalent while only low figures were encountered for denture-related lesions and amalgam tattoos.     

Thermotolerant bacteriocin-producing lactic acid bacteria isolated from thai local fermented foods and their bacteriocin productivity

Twenty-one samples of Thai local fermented foods were screened for thermotolerant bacteriocin-producing lactic acid bacteria. From 529 isolates of lactic acid bacteria, 121 isolates were able to inhibit the growth of certain bacterial strains. Of these 121 isolates, only 11 produced antibacterial agents that were capable of inhibiting the growth of multiple bacterial strains in a liquid medium. One strain (KKU 170) of these 11 isolates produced an antibacterial agent that could strongly inhibit the growth of selected strains of gram-positive bacteria including Listeria sp. The antibacterial agent produced by the strain KKU 170 was identified as a bacteriocin since it was inactivated by proteinase K treatment. The strain KKU 170 was identified as Pediococcus acidilactici by both biochemical tests and molecular biological techniques. Optimal production of bacteriocin by the strain KKU 170 was found in culture medium containing 0.2% glucose, at an initial culture pH of 6.5, and temperature of 45 oC. The maximum bacteriocin activity (1600 AU ml(-1)) was reached at the late exponential phase of growth and displayed primary metabolite production. The partially purified bacteriocin of the strain KKU 170 was tolerant to heat treatment at 121 oC for 30 min.     

Transepithelial calcium transport in prolactin-exposed intestine-like Caco-2 monolayer after combinatorial knockdown of TRPV5, TRPV6 and Ca<Subscript>v</Subscript>1.3

The milk-producing hormone prolactin (PRL) increases the transcellular intestinal calcium absorption by enhancing apical calcium uptake through voltage-dependent L-type calcium channel (Ca_v) 1.3. However, the redundancy of apical calcium channels raised the possibility that Ca_v1.3 may operate with other channels, especially transient receptor potential vanilloid family calcium channels (TRPV) 5 or 6, in an interdependent manner. Herein, TRPV5 knockdown (KD), TRPV5/TRPV6, TRPV5/Ca_v1.3, and TRPV6/Ca_v1.3 double KD, and TRPV5/TRPV6/Ca_v1.3 triple KD Caco-2 monolayers were generated by transfecting cells with small interfering RNAs (siRNA). siRNAs downregulated only the target mRNAs, and did not induce compensatory upregulation of the remaining channels. After exposure to 600 ng/mL PRL, the transcellular calcium transport was increased by ~2-fold in scrambled siRNA-treated, TRPV5 KD and TRPV5/TRPV6 KD monolayers, but not in TRPV5/Ca_v1.3, TRPV6/Ca_v1.3 and TRPV5/TRPV6/Ca_v1.3 KD monolayers. The results suggested that Ca_v1.3 was the sole apical channel responsible for the PRL-stimulated transcellular calcium transport in intestine-like Caco-2 monolayer.     

Bioactive Compounds and Encapsulation of Yanang (Tiliacora Triandra) Leaves

Background

Yanang (Tiliacora triandra) has been known as vegetable and herbal in northeast Thailand and Lao People''s Democratic Republic. Extracts from Yanang leaves contain high amounts of polyphenol constituents possessing antioxidant activity.

Materials and Methods

This work investigated bioactive compounds of Yanang extracts prepared by infusion with water, ethanol and acetone. Furthermore, this paper reports the design of the experimental method for optimization of Yanang encapsulation using three independent variables: the ratio of core material (Yanang), to wall material (gum Arabic), gum Arabic concentration and inlet temperature of spray drying on bioactive compounds stability. The stability of bioactive compounds was evaluated using phenolic compounds, total antioxidant, carotenoids and chlorophyll.

Results

The study of the bioactivity of Yanang extracts found that extraction with water was the appropriate application. The study of Yanang encapsulation demonstrated that gum Arabic, as coating agents, protected bioactive compounds of Yanang. Optimized condition for the encapsulation was at the ratio of core to wall {1:4}, in gum Arabic concentration 10% (w/v), and inlet temperature at 160▯C. The results show that the bioactive compounds were mainly affected by the ratio of core to wall material. Besides, moisture content and particle size of encapsulation depend on inlet temperature of spray drying, and gum Arabic concentration, respectively. This optimization reveals that the encapsulation process did not lose the bioactive compounds.

Conclusion

Yanang extract with water was the main phenolic compound and showed high antioxidant activities. This study demonstrates the potentials of using spray drying process and optimization for the encapsulation of herbal products.     

Targeting Human Osteoarthritic Chondrocytes with Ligand Directed Bacteriophage-Based Particles

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease characterized by progressive deterioration and loss of articular cartilage. There is currently no treatment to reverse the onset of OA. Thus, we developed a targeted delivery strategy to transfer genes into primary human chondrocytes as a proof-of-concept study. We displayed a chondrocyte-affinity peptide (CAP) on the pIII minor coat protein of the M13 filamentous bacteriophage (phage)-based particle carrying a mammalian transgene cassette under cytomegalovirus CMV promoter and inverted terminal repeats (ITRs) cis elements of adeno-associated virus serotype 2 (AAV-2). Primary human articular chondrocytes (HACs) were used as an in vitro model, and the selectivity and binding properties of the CAP ligand in relation to the pathogenic conditions of HACs were characterized. We found that the CAP ligand is highly selective toward pathogenic HACs. Furthermore, the stability, cytotoxicity, and gene delivery efficacy of the CAP-displaying phage (CAP.Phage) were evaluated. We found that the phage particle is stable under a wide range of temperatures and pH values, while showing no cytotoxicity to HACs. Importantly, the CAP.Phage particle, carrying a secreted luciferase (Lucia) reporter gene, efficiently and selectively delivered transgene expression to HACs. In summary, it was found that the CAP ligand preferably binds to pathogenic chondrocytes, and the CAP.Phage particle successfully targets and delivers transgene to HACs.