No abstract

Extremophilic actinomycetes species are capable of surviving in extreme environment and producing antibiotics. In this study, we hypothesize that extremophiles produce antimicrobial compounds that are potentially novel agent(s) effective against drug resistant pathogens. The goal of this study is to test inhibitory activity of the extracts derived from extremophilic actinomycetes species against the most prevalent drug-resistant bacteria in Kazakhstani hospitals, and preliminarily analyze chemical composition of the active extracts. Actinomycetes species isolated from the soil of Kazakhstan were cultured in modified media mimicking extreme environment the species were isolated from. Antimicrobial compound(s) extracted with organic solvent were tested against conditionally pathogenic and multi-drug resistant pathogens Acinetobacter baumanni and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Our study generated promising results regarding the potential discovery of novel components effective against drug resistant pathogens. Future studies will focus on further chemical analysis to identify the active component within these extremophilic extracts.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has various etiologies, making it impossible to fully understand its complex pathophysiology. Elevated levels of plasma creatinine, proteinuria, and albuminuria and declined eGFR are traits observed in CKD patients. The current study attempts to highlight the collagen triple helix repeat containing 1 (CTHRC1) protein as a putative blood biomarker for CKD in addition to existing recognized indicators of CKD progression. Methods: A total of 26 CKD patients and 18 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Clinical characteristics and complete blood and biochemical analyses were collected, and human ELISA kits were used to detect possible CKD biomarkers. Results: The study’s findings showed that CTHRC1 correlates with key clinical markers of kidney function such as 24 h urine total protein, creatinine, urea, and uric acid. In addition, CTHRC1 demonstrated a strong significant difference (p ≤ 0.0001) between the CKD and control group. Conclusions: Our research demonstrates that the plasma level of CTHRC1 can distinguish between those with CKD and healthy patients. Plasma CTHRC1 levels may aid in the diagnosis of CKD given the current state of knowledge, and these results call for further investigation in a wider, more diverse patient group.