Blastocystis is one of the most common eukaryotic organisms found in humans and many types of animals. Several reports have identified its role in gastrointestinal disorders, although its pathogenicity is yet to be clarified. Blastocystis is transmitted via the fecal-to-oral route and colonizes the large intestines. Epithelial cells lining the intestine secrete antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), in...

BACKGROUND This study was conducted to compare and evaluate the effect of adding lornoxicam or nitroglycerine as adjuncts to lidocaine in intravenous regional anesthesia (IVRA). METHODS 60 patients were randomly separated into three groups, lidocaine group (group L), lidocaine+lornoxicam group (group LL), and lidocaine+lornoxicam+transdermal nitroglycerine group (group LL-N). Hemodynamic para...

The relative capacities for testicular macrophages and resident peritoneal macrophages to secrete the pro-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin 1 (LL-1), in response to stimulation by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), were compared in vitro. Macrophages were isolated from adult male rat testicular interstitial cells or peritoneal lavage by adherence to glass coverslips or plastic culture dishes....

STUDY DESIGN This investigation consisted of a cross-sectional study and a retrospective multicenter case series. OBJECTIVE This investigation sought to identify the ideal lumbar lordosis (LL) angle for restoring an optimal pelvic tilt (PT) in patients with adult spinal deformity (ASD). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA To achieve successful corrective fusion in ASD patients with sagittal imbalanc...

Recently a dapF mutant of Escherichia coli lacking the diaminopimelate epimerase was found to have an unusual large LL-diaminopimelic acid (LL-DAP) pool as compared with that of meso-DAP (C. Richaud, W. Higgins, D. Mengin-Lecreulx, and P. Stragier, J. Bacteriol. 169:1454-1459, 1987). In this report, the consequences of high cellular LL-DAP/meso-DAP ratios on the structure and metabolism of pept...

Enzymatic pathways involving catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) catabolize circulating catecholamines. A G-to-A polymorphism in the fourth exon of the COMT gene results in a valine-to-methionine amino acid substitution at codon 158, which leads to thermolability and low ("L"), as opposed to high ("H"), enzymatic activity. We enrolled 260 patients postbypass surgery to test the hypothesis that ...

Leonotis leonurus (L. leonurus) R. Br. (Lamiaceae) is used by healers in South Africa. The present study was conducted to determine if the L. leonurus effect on isolated rat heart is due to ionic changes in the perfusion fluid. Isolated rat hearts were perfused after Langendorff at 74 mmHg with modified Krebs–Henseleit buffer (K-H) and three test solutions: Ll (2 mg/ml dried crude aqueous leaf ...

LL-37 is a human cationic host defense peptide that is an essential component of innate immunity. In addition to its modest antimicrobial activity, LL-37 affects the gene expression and behavior of effector cells involved in the innate immune response, although its mode of interaction with eukaryotic cells remains unclear. The interaction of LL-37 with epithelial cells was characterized in tiss...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial property of peptide LL-37 sequences. MATERIAL AND METHODS Humanized antibacterial peptide LL-37 and the mutant were prepared by chemical synthesis. The physicochemical properties of antibacterial peptide LL-37 were analyzed by SWISS-MODEL online prediction tool. Molecular docking between antibacterial peptide LL-37 fragments ...

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) strains are among the most prevalent causative agents of urinary tract infections. To establish infection, UPEC must overcome the bactericidal action of host antimicrobial peptides. Previously, the enterohaemorrhagic E. coli outer membrane protease, OmpT, was shown to degrade and inactivate the human antimicrobial peptide LL-37. This study aims to investiga...