Increasing evidence suggests that the gut microbiota plays a key role in the central nervous system (CNS), and alterations of the gut microbiota composition due to environmental factors can contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders. Animal modeling may help to identify drugs that can normalize the altered gut microbiota and thereby ameliorate abnormal brain signaling pathways. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the therapeutic potency of probiotics such as Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli on glutamate excitotoxicity as a neurotoxic effect induced by clindamycin and propionic acid (PPA) in juvenile hamsters. Fifty young golden Syrian hamsters weighing between 60 and 70 g were enrolled in the study. The hamsters were randomly divided into five groups, each with ten hamsters. The hamsters in the control group only received phosphate-buffered saline orally. The PPA-treated group received a neurotoxic dose of 250 mg PPA/kg body weight (BW)/day for three days. The clindamycin-treated group received 30 mg clindamycin/kg BW as a single orogastric dose on the day the experiment started. The two therapeutic groups received the same doses of PPA and clindamycin followed by 0.2 g probiotic/kg BW for three weeks. Biochemical parameters related to glutamate excitotoxicity were investigated in brain homogenates from each group of hamsters. Additionally, the development of pathogenic bacteria was monitored in stool samples from all groups. The microbiology results of the present study revealed descriptive changes in the fecal microbiota and the appearance of Clostridium species in the hamsters treated with clindamycin and PPA. Additionally, the effectiveness of the probiotic in the restoration of the normal gut microbiota was demonstrated. Moreover, clindamycin and PPA were found to induce a significant depletion of Mg and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and a remarkable increase in the Na/Mg and glutamate/GABA ratios but non-significant changes in the absolute levels of K, Na and glutamate. The bacteria overgrowth induced by PPA and clindamycin in the present study effectively showed signs of neuronal toxicity. The study indicates that probiotics can be used safely to ameliorate glutamate excitotoxicity mostly through increasing depleted GABA and Mg and decreasing the excitatory neurotransmitter, glutamate.

The randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) patterns of whole-cell lysates from five Aspergillus niger isolates, including one reference strain, two isolated from deep freeze, and two environmental strains from soil and plant infections, were investigated. PCR-RAPD analysis of genomic DNA was performed using eight primers (Tube-A1, Tube-A6, Tube-A17, Tube-B8, Tube-B11, Tube-B15, Tube-C5, Tube-C6). The RAPD assay discriminated between all strains. Comparison of deep freeze isolates showed identical RAPD patterns in some of the reference and environmental isolates. The data indicates that the RAPD technique is useful for fingerprinting A. niger.

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The present investigation was conducted, to identify and characterize bacterial communities including starter bacteria as well as pathogenic ones, on some local cheese products produced in Saudi Arabia in order to ensure human health. The isolated strains were characterized by phenotypic, physiological and biochemical methods, including API 20 Strep. kit. The results showed that high counts of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were found. The dominated species found were Streptococcus salivaius ssp. thermophilic (50%), Leuconostc spp. (24%), Lactococcus lactic ssp. lactic (4%), Streptococcus mitis (2%), Enterococcus faecium (12%), Streptococcus acidominimus (4%), and Enterococcus durans (4%). The results obtained demonstrated that the pathogenic bacteria in five examined products are Enterobacter Cloacae, Enterococcus faealis, Pseudomonas spp., staphylococcus aureus, Klebsilla sp., Bacillus spp., and Corynebacterium (Diptheroid) spp.

In this study, hair and nails levels of iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) were determined in healthy adult women (No. 20) ages 18-21 year. The hair and nails contain high concentrations of zinc 15.39  0.64; 14.48  0.31 followed by iron 4.73  0.16; 14.23  0.43 respectively. The level of Fe and Zn were found to be lower than that reported at different places in the world. Many genera of microorganisms were isolated from the tested samples. Hair and nails can be considered as useful parameters for measurement of the accumulation of trace elements in the human body.