Hari Abdul Samad

Probiotics in Curing Allergic and Inflammatory Conditions - Research Progress and Futuristic Vision

BACKGROUND Probiotics constitute the viable and beneficial microbes, which offer a dietary means to sustain the balance of gastro-intestinal (GI) microflora. Owing to their multiple health benefits, these have recently gained wide attention among researchers for exploring their potential in safeguarding the health of humans and animals. Probiotics could also modulate host-immune responses, thereby help in counteracting the immunological dysfunctions. Probiotics can inhibit the systemic invasion of pathogens entering through the GI mucosa/ oral cavity and have been found to possess effective prophylactic and therapeutic utilities against various infectious pathogens as well as non-infectious diseases and disorders. OBJECTIVE The present review expedites the role of probiotics in curing the ailments related to allergic and inflammatory disease conditions. METHOD A thorough reviewing of the literature and patents available on probiotics and their role in countering inflammation and allergy was conducted using authentic published resources available on Medline, PubMed, PubMed Central, Science Direct and other scientific databases. The information retrieved has been compiled and analysed pertaining to the theme of the study. RESULTS Various micro-organisms have been evaluated for their probiotic efficacy, among these, the lactic acid bacteria viz. Lactobacillus sp. and Bifidobacterium sp. have extensively been studied and widely exploited. In the current post-globalized era of self and complementary medicines, the concept of probiotics and their therapeutic as well as prophylactic usage is gaining wide acceptance. As more and more bacterial strains are being proven for their pronounced influence on down regulation of immune regulation, atopic, inflammatory conditions, the use of probiotics is getting increased especially in the developed countries where such indications are high in prevalence. Apart from usage in immune related disorders, probiotics have been found to be effective in treating pouchitis, infantile diarrhoea due to infections, bacterial vaginosis, urinary tract infections, dental carries, diabetes, cancers as well augmenting the gut mucosal tolerance to various antibiotics and lactose intolerance. CONCLUSION The resent review gives an insight towards potent utility of this branch of beneficial microbial therapy in allergy and inflammations, which is still in the emerging phase and more scientific evidences need to be explored regarding exploration of the mechanisms of action, further experimental trials and validation of controlled clinical studies in humans along with designing novel strategies for monitoring the possible microbial changes in their composition and metabolism associated with their interaction upon host immune system.

Herbal immunomodulators, a remedial panacea for the designing and developing effective drugs and medicines: Current scenario and future prospects

BACKGROUND Constant exposure to various stressors, such as immune pressure, rapidly increasing population, deleterious changes in the ecosystem, climate change, infection with emerging and re-emerging pathogens, and fast-paced lifestyle, is a critical factor in the globally increasing incidences of immunocompromising health conditions, as well as stress. Synthetic chemotherapeutic agents, which are widely available in the commercial market, may be highly efficacious, but most are immunosuppressive and exert many side effects. METHODS Herein, we comprehensively reviewed current literature from various scientific databases such as Bentham Science, PubMed, Scopus, Elsevier, Springer, etc. The inclusion/exclusion criteria based on literature with high importance was adopted to analyze and compile salient information from the authentic bibliographic sources. RESULTS Undoubtedly, the pivotal characteristics of immunostimulants and immunomodulators in the maintenance of the health and productivity of humans, as well as animals, cannot be overlooked. Numerous herbs used in ethnoveterinary medicine can be successfully employed as adjuvant rehabilitators to negate the deleterious effects of chemotherapeutics. The sources of these medicinal remedies are part of long traditions in different regions of the world, such as Indian Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine, which have been developed through empirical experience. Traditional medicine employs a holistic approach to the prevention of disease, and traditional herbal medicines are a source of many components with a high therapeutic value that are used in modern allopathic medicine. Globally, many studies have been conducted on these herbs and have revealed unique active constituents that activate the innate immune system through the stimulation of macrophages and lymphocytes, and modulation of the cytokine profile, which leads to a state of alertness with a subsequent reduction in the incidence of infection. Immunomodulatory constituents with herbal origins are termed as phytochemicals, including flavonoids, glycosides, polysaccharides, terpenoids, essential oils, various bitters, and alkaloids; all these compounds exert vital, multidimensional effects. Efforts have focused on screening plant preparations to identify adjuvant immune properties; furthermore, several potent phytol adjuvants have been experimentally proven to downregulate inflammatory reactions in addition to enhance specific adaptive responses to vaccines. CONCLUSIONS In summary, this review summarizes the current status and future prospects regarding the immunomodulatory potential of various herbs and plants and their promising utility for designing and developing effective drugs and medicines in safeguarding the health of humans, animals, and poultry.

Expression Dynamics of Heat Shock Proteins (HSP) in Livestock under Thermal Stress

Increased ambient temperature increases heat gain by animal which results in heat stress and reduced performance, leading to decreased efficiency of livestock farming. In addition to adaptive biochemical, endocrine and physiological responses, the molecular events that underlie thermotolerance involve the coordinated synthesis of series of heat stress responsive genes, which are responsible for amelioration of deleterious effects of heat stress. Heat Shock Proteins (HSP) are the key players in the adaptive responses to the stress. Intracellular HSP70 confers cytoprotection against thermal and oxidative stress induced cellular damage. Heat Shock Factor (HSF) are the regulatory proteins that is activated by heat stress and control transcription of HSP by binding to Heat Shock Elements (HSE) in HSP genes. Heat shock causes profound modulation in cell signaling pathways that lead to transcription of Nitric oxide synthases (NOS), Toll like receptors and Interleukins. Studies on heat stress in livestock and model animals indicate that TLR 2/4 and IL 2/6 possibly play a vital role via activation of the JAK-STAT pathway. Crosstalk between HSP90, iNOS and eNOS play an important role in mitigating thermal insults and confer thermo tolerance during long term heat stress exposure in livestock. Recent study indicates important roles of Vitamin C, Vitamin E plus Selenium and Betaine as an antioxidant in maintenance of cellular homeostasis. Positive correlation has been found between melatonin and HSP, which explains its importance in heat stress adaptation. These mechanisms possibly work in an orchestrated manner to minimize the devastating effect of heat stress and play pivotal role in the thermotolerance by blocking heat stress-induced cellular death, which helps livestock in acclimation to heat stress.

Significance of Body Condition Scoring System to Optimize Sheep Production

Body condition scoring (BCS) is a reliable measure of relative body fatness. Animals are systematically described and categorized into different groups based on the differences in BCS. BCS is a subjective system of scoring the animals. However, it also serves as a reliable tool for assessing body composition. The procedure of BCS is both simple and beneficial and provides an efficient way to make management strategies regarding the feed and nutrient requirements for better animal performance. The nutritional status of sheep at different production phases can be estimated with the BCS system, which allows the farmers to make decisions regarding the time and in what way to supplement the flock to attain a productive goal in an economic way. It is desirable to have ewes with 3.0 or 3.5 BCS at the time of mating to get higher lambing rates as well as higher birth weight of lambs per lambing. Similarly, the rams with BCS between 3.0 and 3.5 BCS also exhibited better reproductive efficiency than those with lower and higher BCS. The additional energy supplementation to obtain a higher BCS did not bring significant improvement in the reproductive performance of ewes and rams. This clearly indicates that maintaining an optimum BCS in sheep by providing optimum nutrition will reduce the feed wastage as well as the additional costs for the supplementary feeding. In this chapter, moderate BCS (3.0–3.5) is established as adequate for optimal performance at both mating and lambing stage of sheep maintained in hot, tropical areas. Hence, this proves that in order to get optimum return from sheep farms, efforts should be made to maintain optimum BCS in sheep rather than attempting to attain higher BCS.

Cytotoxic T cells and Cancer Therapy

The cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL, Tc) is a type of T lymphocyte/ white blood cell involved in the host’s cell-mediated immune response against cancerous cells, abnormal cells and cells infected with viruses. Signals from infected cells or cancer cells lead to the release of cytotoxins: perforin, granzymes, and granulysin by the TC cells. The activation of CTLs is mediated by the interaction of various costimulatory molecules as well as immune cells. Pre-eminent role of CTLs in combating cancer can be effectively applied for the active and passive immunotherapeutic approaches. Various recombinant cytokines viz., interleukins (IL)-2, 4, 7, 10, 12, 15; tumor necrosis factor (TNF) have been found to augment the production of CTL. CTLs can also be stimulated in antigen specific manner through tumor antigens which are the molecular derivatives over expressed in tumorcells due to differentiation, point mutations or viral origin. Designing and development of vaccines based on such immunogenic candidates can be executed and in majority of cases such antigens are targets for CTLs. Identification as chemotherapy and CTL-mediated killing. and validation of these CTL-specific antigens require * Corresponding author KEYWORDS