Nosocomial infections pose a significant threat to patient health and healthcare systems globally. This study explores the synergistic potential of green-synthesized NiFe₂O₄@Ag core-shell nanoparticles in enhancing the efficacy of conventional antibiotics against multidrug-resistant nosocomial pathogens. The NiFe₂O₄@Ag nanoparticles were synthesized using a green method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), revealing particle sizes of 36.4 nm for NiFe₂O₄ and 51.54 nm for NiFe₂O₄@Ag. The antibacterial activity of these nanoparticles was evaluated alone and in combination with antibiotics—ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, and chloramphenicol—against five antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains associated with nosocomial infections, including Gram-negative Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Klebsiella pneumoniae, as well as Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus. NiFe₂O₄@Ag nanoparticles exhibited potent antimicrobial activity, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 256–512 mg/L). Notably, the combination of NiFe₂O₄@Ag nanoparticles with chloramphenicol and ciprofloxacin resulted in fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) values ranging from 0.25 to 0.75, indicating significant synergistic or additive effects, against most of tested gram-negative pathogens. While combination of NiFe₂O₄@Ag with ciprofloxacin exhibited the strongest enhancement, no synergistic effects were observed using NiFe₂O₄@Ag nanoparticles and tetracycline combinations for most tested pathogens (except for E. coli). The core-shell structure of NiFe₂O₄@Ag nanoparticles effectively integrates the magnetic properties of NiFe₂O₄ with the antimicrobial activity of silver, enabling potential magnetic separation and reducing environmental impact. Additionally, the nanoparticles exhibited low cytotoxicity in HFF-2 cells, suggesting good biocompatibility. These findings highlight the potential of NiFe₂O₄@Ag nanoparticles as a promising therapeutic strategy to combat multidrug-resistant nosocomial pathogens.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer that frequently spreads to other parts of the body, with a low chance of recovery and a high mortality rate. Long non-coding RNAs are considered significant prognostic and diagnostic indicators because they are dysregulated in various cancers and have distinctive expression patterns and high tissue- and cell-specificity. VLDLR-AS1 lncRNA deregulation has been associated with several malignancies. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the expression levels of VLDLR-AS1 in CRC. It was the first time this assessment was conducted. Methods: We studied 188 samples, including 94 tumor samples and 94 paired adjacent non-tumor tissues. Total RNA was extracted, and its quantity and purity were assessed. TaKaRa PrimeScript 1st Strand cDNA Synthesis Kit (Kusatsu, Japan) was used for the reaction. The StepOnePlus Real-Time PCR System (Applied Biosystems) was set up to assess the relative expression of VLDLR-AS1. Results: According to the qRT-PCR data, the VLDLR-AS1 expression levels in CRC tissues were significantly lower than in tumor margins (P < 0.0001). In addition, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated that VLDLR-AS1 expression can discriminate between tumor and non-tumor samples with the sensitivity and specificity of 72.34% and 51.06%, respectively (P = 0.03, AUC = 0.6274). However, no significant association was found between the expression levels of VLDLR-AS1 and clinicopathological features in CRC patients. Conclusions: The results of this study indicated that VLDLR-AS1 lncRNA is significantly downregulated in the tumor tissues of CRC patients compared to healthy tumor margin tissues. This evidence shows the potential of this gene as a promising biomarker for the early detection of CRC development.

Millions of people worldwide, especially young adults, are affected by multiple sclerosis (MS), a demyelinating and autoimmune condition of the central nervous system (CNS). Many studies have focused on the diagnostic value of miRNAs circulating in body fluids of MS patients. Thus, this study aimed to assess the expression of miR-128 and its potential as a biomarker for MS in the Iranian population. This study recruited 85 MS patients and 30 healthy matched controls. Following the collection of blood samples, serum was isolated. RNA was then extracted, cDNA was synthesized, and miR-128 expression was measured by real-time PCR. There was significant overexpression of miR-128 in MS patients in comparison with healthy controls (p-value <0.0001). In addition, there was a rather notable association between the subtypes of MS samples and the expression levels of miR-128. ROC analysis showed an AUC of 0.9111 (95%CI 0.85-0.97, p-value <0.0001) with sensitivity and specificity of 80.00% and 93.33%, respectively. The expression of miR-128 was significantly higher in PBMCs of MS patients in comparison with healthy controls. Additionally, miR-128 could be an excellent biomarker for MS patient diagnosis.