Vol. 27 No. 6 (2022): Romanian Biotechnological Letters
This journal is dedicated to publishing original research papers, reviews, rapid and short communications. The covered topics and subjects include biotechnology (i.e., green, red, white, blue, bioinformatics) and interdisciplinary research in medicine, neuroscience, agriculture, animal husbandry, ecology and environmental protection.
Full Issue
Articles
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Assessment of the performance of Romanian Public Health Units in identifying and conducting antimicrobial susceptibility testing for healthcareassociated infection-causing pathogens
Abstract
Detecting healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) is crucial as HAIs can pose a significant threat to patient safety, particularly among vulnerable populations such as the elderly, immunocompromised individuals, and those undergoing invasive medical procedures. Also, it is important to monitor the effectiveness of antibiotics and identify the resistance patterns of microorganisms to ensure appropriate treatment options. Bacteriology external quality control programs provide a means for laboratories to
assess their performance and identify areas that require improvement. By participating in such programs, laboratories can evaluate their procedures, equipment, and personnel to ensure that they are producing reliable and accurate results because the External Quality Control (EQC) programs are carried out by medical laboratories using identical procedures as those used for handling patient samples. Our investigation centered on the performance of Romanian Public Health Units in identifying bacteria
and conducting antimicrobial susceptibility testing in Bacteriology EQC programs associated with some of the most prevalent HAIs, such as blood infections, respiratory infections, and postoperative infections. -
Emerging antimicrobial susceptibility methods in monitoring colistin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae
Abstract
One of the most important essential pillars in the fight against antibiotic resistance is to optimise antibiotic treatment by developing and optimizing appropriate methods to establish the antibiotic susceptibility profiles of a specific microbial strain. Moreover, this will contribute to the surveillance and limitation of antimicrobial resistance transmission and spread. Therefore, it is also imperative to harmonize different approaches and techniques and to perform suitable antimicrobial susceptibility tests in microbiology laboratories to achieve precise, reproducible, and comparable results. However, the conventional methods for antimicrobial susceptibility testing are usually based on bacterial culture methods, which are time-consuming, complicated, and labor-intensive. Therefore, other approaches are needed to address these issues. In this mini-review, we will present the common and future perspectives in antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Microfluidic technology and electrochemical devices have recently gained significant attention in infection management. These advantages include rapid detection, high sensitivity and specificity, highly automated assay, simplicity, low cost, and potential for point-of-care testing in low-resource areas.
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Immunohistochemical evaluation of cellular activities in canine osteoblastic osteosarcoma
Abstract
Osteosarcoma is the most frequently occurring malignant bone tumor in animals and humans. A better understanding of the etiopathogenetic mechanisms of osteosarcoma, especially biomolecular ones, is fundamental to improving diagnosis and prognosis of the disease. Autophagy is a self-degrative process that removes dysfunctional cellular components, eliminates intracellular pathogens, and promotes cellular senescence. In neoplastic cells, autophagy suppresses tumorigenesis by inhibiting cancer cell survival mechanisms and promoting cell death. The aim of this study was to use immunohistochemistry to identify alterations in the expression of several apoptotic and proliferative biomarkers in multiple cases of canine osteosarcoma. Bcl-2, an intracellular membrane protein, inhibits cell death by blocking the p53-mediated pathway of apoptosis. While Bcl-2 overexpression has been described in many different premalignant lesions, it has yet to be analyzed in canince osteosarcoma. Our group investigated 10 primary canine osteoblastic osteosarcoma cases from the University of Perugia Department of Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital. Immunohistochemical analyses of proteins Bcl-2, Ki-67, and p53 have revealed interesting results as described in this paper. Expression of Bcl-2 was increased in all cases investigated while expression of p53 and Ki-67 was variable and no statistical association was observed between the expression patterns of p53, Bcl-2 and Ki-67.
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MicroRNA 138 upregulation is associated with decreasing levels of CCND1 gene expression and promoting cell death in human prostate cancer cell lines
Abstract
This research intended to discover the significance of miR-138 on the expression profile proliferation, and the associated regulatory mechanisms in prostate cancer (PCa). RT-qPCR was applied to compare the expression of miR-138 in the PCa cells with a non-cancer cell line, as well as PCa tissue samples with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) samples. The expression of miR-138 notably diminished in PCa tissues and cell lines. Afterward, formerly documented genes, along with bioinformatics analysis, suggested seven possible target genes of miR-138. Among them, CCND1 seemed to have higher expression in the PCa cell lines and tissues. Also, the negative correlation of miR-138 and CCND1 in PCa cell line and tissues was validated using Pearson correlation. CCDN1 was revealed to be the target gene of miR138 in the PC3 cell line based on the results of the luciferase reporter gene assay. Over-expression of miR138-5p suppressed the expression of CCDN1 in PCa cell lines as exhibited by RT-qPCR. Finally, the results of the MTT assay exhibited the inhibitory impact of miR-138 on the proliferative capacities in PCa cell lines. Our research introduces miR-138 as a negative regulator of CCDN1 in the progression of PCa with an inhibitory impact on the proliferation rate of prostate cancer (PCa) cell lines. This regulatory mechanism could be utilized for the design and target selection of remedial miRNA-based approaches.
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Study on the performance of medical laboratories in Romania: microbial etiological agents identification
Abstract
Medical laboratories must offer reliable services to the patient, and the way to guarantee this is by demonstrating their performance. External Quality Control (EQC) is a tool that helps the laboratories measure their performance, identify possible errors, and improve their activity. The aim of our research has been divided into three segments, which included the evaluation of the accuracy rate in pathogen identification, examining the unsatisfactory results, and investigating the identification methods utilized by the laboratories in Romania. As the analyses of pharyngeal exudate and urine are the most commonly requested in medical laboratories and also in External Quality Control, we have focused on the findings obtained from these programs.
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Torque teno viruses implications on chronic myeloid leukemia
Abstract
Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a hematological malignancy characterized by the presence of BCR-ABL+ and Ph+. According to recent studies, CML occurence and evolution are influenced by a series of risk factors, including viruses. Multiple studies suggested that Torque teno viruses (TTVs) could modulate the treatment response ant the evolution of hematological diseases. this study focuses on identifying the prevalence and clinical significance of TTVs in CML patiennts. The main aim was to determine if TTVs presence can be correlated with the onset of disease. We performed a retrospective study (2018-2022) that included 72 blood samples from patients diagnosed with CML. All the 3 anelloviruses were detected using hemi-nested PCR. The overall frequency of TTVs in blood samples was 93%. In our study group, most patients were carriers for the Torque teno virus (TTV), Torque teno midi virus (TTMDV) and Torque teno mini virus (TTMV) in 88%, 57% and 63% of samples. The largest group of carriers was represented by patients with all 3 anelloviruses (51,38%), followed by TTV (22,22%). In our study group represented by CML patients at diagnosis, the prevalence of TTVs is correlated with the molecular load of BCR-ABL. Further research and follow-up of patients with TTV are needed in the future, as well as the identification of new factors that can help to personalize treatment.
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Insights into the roles of microbiome in non-sterile cavities cancers
Abstract
The human microbiome represents the entire genome assembly of microorganisms colonizing the human body and comprises more than three million genes that encode thousands of metabolites, which cover several functions essential for the host health condition. Anatomical sites colonized by microorganisms include the skin, gastrointestinal, respiratory, urogenital, and reproductive tract, establishing commensal, mutual, or pathogenic relationships with the organism. The human microbiota is considered a dense ‘organ’ with multiple roles in nutrition, gastrointestinal tract development, and innate immunity training.
Depending on the genetic predisposition, type of diet, health status, and lifestyle, this ‘organ’ seems to have a specific, unique signature, maintained quasi-stable, stablishing symbiotic relationships with the host organism. The disruption of the dynamic balance is established between the human body and its microbiota leads to dysbiosis, which in its turn, could be the origin of a comprehensive spectrum of diseases, ranging from inflamatory, infectious, and cardiovascular diseases to cancer. In this review, we will present several types of malignancies (e.g., head and neck cancers, esophageal, colorectal, cervical, lung, bladder, and skin
cancers) and the appearance of the resistance to antitumor therapies. In this minireview we present some insights regarding the implication of human microbiota in non-sterile cavities cancers.
