Rapid diagnosis and treatment application in the early stages of H. pylori infection plays an important part in inhibiting the transmission of this infection as this bacterium is involved in various gastric pathologies such as gastritis, gastro-duodenal ulcer, and even gastric neoplasia. This review is devoted to a quick overview of conventional and advanced detection techniques successfully applied to the detection of H. pylori in the context of a compelling need to upgrade the standards of the diagnostic methods which are currently being used. Selecting the best diagnostic method implies evaluating different features, the use of one or another test depending on accessibility, laboratories equipment, and the clinical conditions of patients. This paper aims to expose the diagnosis methods for H. pylori that are currently available, highlighting their assets and limitations. The perspectives and the advantages of nanotechnology along with the concept of nano(bio)sensors and the development of lab-on-chip devices as advanced tools for H. pylori detection, differentiation, and discrimination is also presented, by emphasizing multiple advantages: simple, fast, cost-effective, portable, miniaturized, small volume of samples required, highly sensitive, and selective. It is generally accepted that the development of intelligent sensors will completely revolutionize the acquisition procedure and medical decision in the framework of smart healthcare monitoring systems.

Reducing cardiovascular risk (CVR) is the main focus of diabetes mellitus (DM) management nowadays. Complex pathogenic mechanisms that are the subject of this review lead to early and severe atherosclerosis in DM patients. Although it is not a cardiovascular disease equivalent at the moment of diagnosis, DM subjects are affected by numerous cardiovascular complications, such as acute coronary syndrome, stroke, or peripheral artery disease, as the disease duration increases. Therefore, early therapeutic intervention is mandatory and recent guidelines focus on intensive CVR factor management: hyperglycaemia, hypertension, and dyslipidaemia. Most important, the appearance of oral or injectable antidiabetic medication such as SGLT-2 inhibitors or GLP-1 agonists has proven that an antidiabetic drug not only reduces glycaemia, but also reduces CVR by complex mechanisms. A profound understanding of intimate mechanisms that generate atherosclerosis in DM and ways to inhibit or delay them are of the utmost importance in a society where cardiovascular morbidity and mortality are predominant.

IL-17 inhibitors (IL-17i) are medicines used to treat dermatological and rheumatic diseases They belong to a class of medicines called biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs). This class of drugs has had a major impact on the therapy of autoimmune diseases, being much safer and more effective than treatment with small molecules. At the same time, they have highly beneficial effects on skin and joint changes, and their efficacy has been extensively monitored and demonstrated in numerous clinical trials. More and more such drugs are still being discovered today to ensure the best possible treatment of these patients, but more frequently and relatively constantly three agents are used. Two of them (Secukinumab and Ixekizumab) inhibit IL-17A directly, and the third, Brodamulab, inhibits the IL-17A receptor. Although they are extremely effective in the treatment of these diseases, sometimes their administration has been associated with paradoxical effects, i.e., there is an exacerbation of the inflammatory process. Tough, clinical trials of IL-17i have described cases of exacerbation or even onset of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, after administration of these drugs in patients previously diagnosed with psoriasis (PS), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), or ankylosing spondylitis (AS). The pathophysiological mechanism of action is not well understood at present. One explanation would be that this hyperreactive inflammatory process would be triggered by Interferon 1 derived from dendritic plasma cells. Even though there are many reports in the recent literature about the role of IL17i in the onset of IBD, conclusions of studies do not converge. Some of them show an increased incidence of IBD in patients treated with IL17i, while some others affirm their safety of them. In the near future we will surely have more data emerging from ongoing meta-analyses regarding safety of use IL17i in patients who are at risk of developing IBD. Clinical and paraclinical evaluation (inflammatory intestinal markers) are carefully advised before recommending treatment with IL-17i and after initiation of treatment, and prospective surveillance by clinical and biomarkers of patients treated with IL-17i is absolutely essential to capture the onset of IBD.

The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection remains significant worldwide and it depends on many factors: gender, age, socio-economic status, geographic area, diet, and lifestyle. All successful infectious diseases treatments use antibiotic-susceptibility testing, but this strategy is not currently practical for H. pylori and the usual cure rates of H. pylori are lower than other bacterial infections. Actually, there is no treatment that ensures complete eradication of this pathogen. In the context of an alarming increase in resistance to antibiotics (especially to clarithromycin and metronidazole), alternative and complementary options and strategies are taken into consideration. As the success of antibacterial therapy depends not only on the susceptibility to given drugs, but also on the specific doses, formulations, use of adjuvants, treatment duration, and reinfection rates, this review discusses the current therapies for H. pylori treatment along with their advantages and limitations. As an alternative option, this work offers an extensively referenced approach on natural medicines against H. pylori, including the significance of nanotechnology in developing new strategies for treatment of H. pylori infection.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease of global public health importance caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment, this disease has worsened with the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains of tuberculosis. We aim to present and review the history, progress, and future directions in the diagnosis of tuberculosis by evaluating the current methods of laboratory diagnosis of tuberculosis, with a special emphasis on microscopic examination and cultivation on solid and liquid media, as well as an approach to molecular assays. The microscopic method, although widely used, has its limitations, and the use and evaluation of other techniques are essential for a complete and accurate diagnosis. Bacterial cultures, both in solid and liquid media, are essential methods in the diagnosis of TB. Culture on a solid medium provides specificity and accuracy, while culture on a liquid medium brings rapidity and increased sensitivity. Molecular tests such as LPA and Xpert MTB/RIF have been found to offer significant benefits in the rapid and accurate diagnosis of TB, including drug-resistant forms. These tests allow the identification of resistance mutations and provide essential information for choosing the right treatment. We conclude that combined diagnostic methods, using several techniques and approaches, provide the best result in the laboratory diagnosis of TB. Improving the quality and accessibility of tests, as well as the implementation of advanced technologies, is essential to help improve the sensitivity, efficiency, and accuracy of TB diagnosis.