The use of vaccines have resulted in a remarkable improvement in global health. It has saved several lives, reduced treatment costs and raised the quality of animal and human lives. Current traditional vaccines came empirically with either vague or completely no knowledge of how they modulate our immune system. Even at the face of potential vaccine design advance, immune-related concerns (as seen with specific vulnerable populations, cases of emerging/re-emerging infectious disease, pathogens with complex lifecycle and antigenic variability, need for personalized vaccinations, and concerns for vaccines’ immunological safety -specifically vaccine likelihood to trigger non-antigen-specific responses that may cause autoimmunity and vaccine allergy) are being raised. And these concerns have driven immunologists toward research for a better approach to vaccine design that will consider these challenges. Currently, immunoinformatics has paved the way for a better understanding of some infectious disease pathogenesis, diagnosis, immune system response and computational vaccinology. The importance of this immunoinformatics in the study of infectious diseases is diverse in terms of computational approaches used, but is united by common qualities related to host–pathogen relationship. Bioinformatics methods are also used to assign functions to uncharacterized genes which can be targeted as a candidate in vaccine design and can be a better approach toward the inclusion of women that are pregnant into vaccine trials and programs. The essence of this review is to give insight into the need to focus on novel computational, experimental and computation-driven experimental approaches for studying of host–pathogen interactions and thus making a case for its use in vaccine development.

The emergence and spread of Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) is seriously posing threats in effective healthcare delivery. The aim of this study was to ascertain the emergence of CRE at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH) Awka. Biological samples were collected from 153 consenting patient from 5 clinics in the hospital. The isolates were identified using standard microbiological protocols. Susceptibility to meropenem was done using Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method on Mueller Hinton Agar. A total of 153 patients were recruited in this study. About one half of those from rural, 63.64% from Sub-urban and 42.27% from urban areas had significant E. coli and Klebsiella spp infections. The male: female ratio of the Enterobacteriaceae infection was 1:1. Almost as much inpatient as outpatient study participants had the infections. The infections were observed mostly on participants with lower educational status. The unmarried individuals were most infected compared to their married counterparts. Enterobacteriaceae infection rate was 50.98%. Of this, 28.21% had CRE infection while the overall prevalence of the CRE in the studied population was 14.38% (22/153). This study shows that CRE is quickly emerging in both community and hospital environments. Klebsiella spp was the most common CRE in this hospital especially Klebsiella oxytoca. Hospitalization was a strong risk factor in the CRE infections. Rapid and accurate detection is critical for their effective management and control.

Malignant tumors, characterized by uncontrolled cell proliferation, are a leading global health challenge, responsible for over 9.7 million deaths in 2022, with new cases expected to rise to 35 million annually by 2050. Immunotherapy is preferred to other cancer therapies, offering precise targeting of malignant cells while simultaneously strengthening the immune system’s complex responses. Advances in this novel field of science have been closely linked to a deeper knowledge of tumor biology, particularly the intricate interplay between tumor cells, the immune system, and the tumor microenvironment (TME), which are central to cancer progression and immune evasion. This review offers a comprehensive analysis of the molecular mechanisms that govern these interactions, emphasizing their critical role in the development of effective immunotherapeutic products. We critically evaluate the current immunotherapy approaches, including cancer vaccines, adoptive T cell therapies, and cytokine‐based treatments, highlighting their efficacy and safety. We also explore the latest advancements in combination therapies, which synergistically integrate multiple immunotherapeutic strategies to overcome resistance and enhance therapeutic outcomes. This review offers key insights into the future of cancer immunotherapy with a focus on advancing more effective and personalized treatment strategies.

Purpose: Biosurfactants are applied in drug formulations to improve drug solubility and in some cases, treat diseases. This study is focused on generating, extracting, purifying and then characterizing biosurfactants from bacterial isolates of palm oil wastes and abattoir soil origins. Methods: Eight (8) bacteria were isolated from the soil and sludge samples, out of which four (50 %) were found to produce biosurfactants. Bacillus subtilis (37.5 %) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (50%) were isolated and identified from these samples using mineral salt medium, nutrient agar and Cetrimide agar. Mutant isolates of Bacillus subtilis BS3 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PS2 were used to produce biosurfactants using mineral salt medium as enrichment medium and extraction was done using membrane filter. Results: The mutant strains Bacillus subtilis BS3 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PS2generated biosurfactants that displayed significant solubility and dissolution properties by enhancing the percentage solubility of piroxicam to 62.86 and 54.29 % respectively, and achieved 51.71 and 48.71 % dissolution of the drug in 0.1N HCl. Conclusion: From the results obtained, the produced biosurfactants could serve as a better alternative to conventional surfactants. Notably, the study indicated that the biosurfactant produced by mutant strain of Bacillus subtilis produced more potent activities (surface tension reduction ability, high emulsification) than those of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Keywords: Biosurfactant production; Bacillus subtilis; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Microbial Biotechnology; Palm oil wastes; Abattoir soil

Dietary proteins shape gut microbial ecology, yet the taxonomic and functional consequences of plant- versus animal-based proteins remain poorly defined. Although digestibility and fermentation profiles differ by protein type, a systematic evaluation of how these differences influence microbial diversity, community structure, and metabolic capacity is lacking. This study represents a systematic integrative re-analysis of raw 16S rRNA sequencing datasets derived from independent controlled animal feeding studies. Following PRISMA guidelines, we analyzed 16S rRNA sequencing data from 10 murine studies (n = 187) comparing plant- and animal-protein diets. Alpha diversity was assessed using Shannon, Inverse Simpson, and Chao1 indices, and beta diversity with Aitchison distances. Differentially abundant taxa were identified using LEfSe and class-weighted Random Forest models. Functional potential was inferred with PICRUSt2, and taxon-pathway relationships were explored using correlation and network analyses. Plant-protein diets increased gut microbial diversity across all alpha diversity metrics and were associated with higher representation of saccharolytic and nitrogen-recycling genera such as Bacteroides, Muribaculaceae, and Allobaculum. Animal-protein diets favored proteolytic taxa, including Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and Colidextribacter. Microbial community structure differed significantly between diets (ANOSIM R = 0.663, p < 0.001). Random Forest models achieved >88% accuracy (AUC = 0.995) in predicting dietary groups, and LEfSe identified consistent discriminating taxa. Functional profiling showed that plant-based diets enriched pathways linked to short-chain fatty acid and aromatic amino acid metabolism, whereas animal-based diets favored sulfur- and branched-chain amino acid-associated pathways. Network analysis identified Muribaculaceae as a plant-associated hub and Lactobacillus as an animal-associated hub. Dietary protein source significantly influences gut microbiota composition and functional potential in mice. Plant- and animal-based proteins generate distinct metabolic signatures with implications for nitrogen cycling, sulfur metabolism, and microbial ecology. Future controlled dietary studies that harmonize protein source with other macronutrient variables are needed to isolate protein-specific effects. This study presents the first standardized systematic integrative re-analysis of murine protein-intervention microbiome datasets, integrating taxonomic, machine learning, and predicted functional profiling to identify robust microbial and metabolic signatures that differentiate plant- from animal-based protein diets. By harmonizing raw sequencing data across diverse experimental contexts, this work clarifies foundational ecological responses to protein source and provides mechanistic hypotheses to guide future controlled nutrition and microbiome research.

Aim: This study tries to find new antimicrobial agents using some Nigerian plants. Background: Antimicrobial compounds from fungi endophytes have shown great promise in mitigating the threats of resistant pathogens. Objective: The study evaluated the in vitro antimicrobial property of secondary metabolites of endophytic fungi isolated from Newbouldia laevis and Cassia tora leaves. Methods: Ten endophytic fungi were isolated from the two plants’ leaves and later fermented on local rice for 21 days. Thereafter, their secondary metabolites were extracted using ethyl acetate. The antibacterial activity of the extracts on the test organisms were determined using agar diffusion and agar dilution methods, while the bioactive constituents were identified using high performance liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detector. Results: Nine of the crude extracts (NL1, NL3, NL6, NL10, NL12, CT2, CT7, CT9 and CT10) of the fungi isolates inhibited at least one of the microorganisms studied with maximum and minimum inhibition-zone-diameter of 14 mm and 2 mm, respectively while CT1 did not inhibit any of the tested microorganisms at tested concentrations. The extracts exhibited good antifungal activity, inhibiting the growth of both C. albicans and Trichophyton tested with an inhibition-zone-diameter ranging between 4-8 mm and 7-14 mm, respectively. The endophytic fungi extracts-CT2 and NL1-exhibited the best antimicrobial activity, inhibiting most of the tested microorganisms. HPLC-DAD analysis of the endophytic fungal extracts identified some classes of compounds such as catechin derivatives, benzoic acid derivatives and apigenin, which were previously reported to have antimicrobial potentials. Conclusion: Newbouldia laevis and Cassia tora leaves house endophytic fungi capable of yielding secondary metabolites with potential as anti-infective agents.