Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic bacterium that produces various types of toxins, resulting in serious food poisoning. Staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) are heat-stable and resistant to hydrolysis by digestive enzymes, representing a potential hazard for consumers worldwide. In the present study, we used amino-acid sequences encoding SEA and SEB-like to identify their respective template structure and build the three-dimensional (3-D) models using homology modeling method. Two natural compounds, Betulin and 28-Norolean-12-en-3-one, were selected for docking study on the basis of the criteria that they satisfied the Lipinski’s Rule-of-Five. A total of 14 and 13 amino-acid residues were present in the best binding site predicted in the SEA and SEB-like, respectively, using the Computer Atlas of Surface Topology of Proteins (CASTp). Among these residues, the docking study with natural compounds Betulin and 28-Norolean-12-en-3-one revealed that GLN43 and GLY227 in the binding site of the SEA, each formed a hydrogen-bond interaction with 28-Norolean-12-en-3-one; while GLY227 residue established a hydrogen bond with Betulin. In the case of SEB-like, the docking study demonstrated that ASN87 and TYR88 residues in its binding site formed hydrogen bonds with Betulin; whereas HIS59 in the binding site formed a hydrogen-bond interaction with 28-Norolean-12-en-3-one. Our results demonstrate that the toxic effects of these two SEs can be effectively treated with antitoxins like Betulin and 28-Norolean-12-en-3-one, which could provide an effective drug therapy for this pathogen.

Bovine mastitis is very common in cows of both developed and developing countries. The prevalence of clinical and subclinical mastitis (SCM) varies from region to region. Hence, the present study was carried out to determine the prevalence of mastitis using three diagnostic tests by considering different risk factors like age, lactation, breed, season, quarters, and herd. The results showed that surf field mastitis test (SFMT) is the most sensitive test for diagnosis of bovine mastitis, the older age and cows with later part of lactation period were more prone to bovine mastitis, and exotic breeds likeHolstein freshen(HF) were more susceptible to bovine mastitis. The highest incidence of mastitis was recorded in monsoon season. The prevalence of subclinical and clinical mastitis was more in single and two quarters, respectively, and the rate of bovine mastitis was more in unorganized herds. The study concluded that SCM is directly associated with age, lactation period, and environmental factors of the cow and clinical mastitis is more associated with breed of the cow and environmental conditions.

Antibiotics are successful in promoting health quality by preventing various infectious diseases and minimizing mortality and morbidity all over the world. However, the indiscriminate use of antibiotics has led to the emergence of multi-drug-resistant bacteria, which pose a serious threat to health care sector. Therefore, it is necessary to develop novel antimicrobial agents with versatile characteristics, such as antibacterial activity, low toxicity, wound healing potency, and antioxidant property. In this context, silver chitosan nanoparticles were synthesized in the present study, and their physical characterization revealed that the size of synthesized chitosan–silver nanoparticles was 14–25 nm, with positive surface charge. The functional groups and crystalline nature of the nanoparticles were confirmed by FT-IR and XRD analysis. Further, the silver chitosan nanoparticles showed antibacterial activity against two important clinical pathogens, S. aureus and E. coli. The MTT assay carried out in the present study showed that the synthesized nanoparticles are non-toxic to host cells. A scratch assay on fibroblast cells (L292) demonstrated that the silver chitosan nanoparticles showed promising wound healing activity. A fluorescent DCFH-DA staining assay revealed anantioxidant property of the synthesized nanoparticles. Overall, the study emphasizes the versatile nature of synthesized chitosan–silver nanoparticles, suggesting their great compatibility for biomedical applications.

Background and Aims: Early diagnosis of sepsis is crucial. The primary objective of this study was to explore the role of uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) in diagnosing sepsis and septic shock. Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted over 19 months. All adult patients aged more than 18 years with a diagnosis of sepsis or septic shock based on quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA) score were enroled. Blood was drawn for procalcitonin (PCT) and UCP2 on days 0, 3, 7 and 28. Blood samples from 50 healthy volunteers were used as controls. An electrochemiluminescence test was done for PCT. A quantitative enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay was used for UCP2. The Chi-square test was used for qualitative variables and the independent t -test for quantitative variables. The receiver operator characteristic curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of UCP2. Results: A total of 128 subjects were included in the study. Out of these, 78 patients (qSOFA score ≥2) were subcategorised into the infection group, sepsis or septic shock group based on the PCT levels. The UCP2 levels in the infection, sepsis or septic shock group were significantly higher than in the control group ( P > 0.001). The UCP2 levels correlated with PCT on admission, day 3 and day 7. Conclusion: The UCP2 levels were significantly higher in sepsis and septic shock groups compared to controls and hence could be a potential diagnostic biomarker of sepsis.

The purpose of this study is to deal with aetiology causing bovine mastitis; bovine herpes virus is also responsible for causing bovine mastitis but studies on viruses have been neglected as historical mastitis research has concentrated only on bacterial pathogens. Therefore, present study aims to make anin silicoidentification and characterization of potential drug targets in bovine herpes virus 4 by computational methods using various bioinformatics tools. In the current investigation 5 proteins of BoHV 4 were found to be nonhomologous to the hostBos taurus; these nonhomology proteins were believed to be inevitable proteins of BoHV 4 as they were specific to the virus; however 378 proteins were homologous to the host protein. Thein silicophysicochemical characterization of 5 proteins of BoHV 4 indicated that all the proteins of the virus were having more or less similar characteristics. Perhaps the knowledge of the present study may help in drug discovery which have high affinity to target site. Possible drug discovery to manage bovine mastitis with a help of bioinformatics tool is more significant and, specific and, reduces time and complications involved in clinical trials.