Obesity prevalence is becoming a serious global health and economic issue and is a major risk factor for concomitant diseases that worsen the quality and duration of life. Therefore, the urgency of the development of novel therapies is of a particular importance. A previous study of ours revealed that the natural pterocarpan, maackiain (MACK), significantly inhibits adipogenic differentiation in human adipocytes through a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ)-dependent mechanism. Considering the observed anti-adipogenic potential of MACK, we aimed to further elucidate the molecular mechanisms that drive its biological activity in a Caenorhabditis elegans obesity model. Therefore, in the current study, the anti-obesogenic effect of MACK (25, 50, and 100 μM) was compared to orlistat (ORST, 12 μM) as a reference drug. Additionally, the hybrid combination between the ORST (12 μM) and MACK (100 μM) was assessed for suspected synergistic interaction. Mechanistically, the observed anti-obesogenic effect of MACK was mediated through the upregulation of the key metabolic regulators, namely, the nuclear hormone receptor 49 (nhr-49) that is a functional homologue of the mammalian PPARs and the AMP-activated protein kinase (aak-2/AMPK) in C. elegans. Collectively, our investigation indicates that MACK has the potential to limit lipid accumulation and control obesity that deserves future developments.

The Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturing Network coordinated a multi-laboratory study funded by the US National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals to assess the performance of the Pertussis Serological Potency Test (PSPT) in the laboratories of seven whole-cell pertussis vaccine (wP) manufacturers and three National Control Laboratories based in Southeast Asian countries. To this end, common protocols for the immunization of mice and serological testing by ELISA were shared with all laboratories. Each laboratory used their own wP vaccines and the reference vaccine routinely used in the regulatory required mouse protection test (MPT) and assayed the products both in the MPT and PSPT. Whereas in all laboratories the PSPT showed decreased serum IgG levels after immunization with sub-potent compared to potent final batches, some issues were encountered during execution of the assay, which prevented drawing of definitive conclusions on assay performance. Nevertheless, the study provided the participants with the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the PSPT protocols and revealed the next steps to be addressed for implementation of the method.