Browsing by Author "Zinnu Rain"

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Case Report: Nocardia amamiensis Infection Leading to Worsening of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Symptoms in an Elderly Man
(American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2023) Ahalya Kanakan; Amit Kumar; Upinder Kaur; Prity Narwade; Zinnu Rain; Nidhi Yadav; Ishan Kumar; Deepak Kumar; Sankha Shubhra Chakrabarti
Nocardiosis is a rare opportunistic infection mostly affecting the lungs, brain, or skin of immunocompromised individuals. Most pulmonary nocardiosis patients present with nonspecific clinical features such as productive cough, exertional dyspnea, and fever. The disease is uncommonly suspected, especially in tuberculosis-endemic regions, and clinical diagnosis is often delayed, resulting in high mortality. Pulmonary nocardiosis in apparently immunocompetent individuals is uncommon. Here, we present the case of an elderly gentleman with a background history of poorly controlled diabetes but no history of systemic steroid use who presented with worsening symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the form of productive cough and dyspnea. The patient had diffuse crepitations in bilateral lung fields and an arterial oxygen saturation of 86% at admission. Sputum microscopy revealed gram-positive filamentous bacteria that could be successfully cultured and identified as Nocardia amamiensis on 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography of the lungs revealed cavitary nodules and consolidation. The patient responded well to treatment with specific antibiotics based on sensitivity patterns. Because of the nonspecific clinical and radiological findings in pulmonary nocardiosis, a high index of suspicion is required, especially in tuberculosis-endemic regions. © 2023 American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. All rights reserved.
Design, Synthesis, Antimicrobial Activities, and Molecular Docking Studies of New Glyco-Conjugates of Amino Acid Derivatives
(John Wiley and Sons Inc, 2025) Sajida Banoo; Zinnu Rain; Abhinetra Jagdish Bhopale; Rajnish Kumar; Pradyot Prakash; Ram Sagar; Arun Kumar Manna
The existence of MDR and XDR strains of bacteria is a serious threat to mankind. Therefore, the development of new drug molecules with different modes of action is the need of the hour. Medicinal chemists and chemical biologists around the globe are making continuous efforts to combat this challenging health issue. In this effort, we have designed and efficiently synthesized amino acid glycoconjugates of D-glucose as new glycohybrids. These novel glyconjugates were screened against Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis Gram (+) ve and Escherichia coli Gram (−) ve bacterial strains. The antibiofilm properties of these glyconjugates were also studied. Furthermore, these compounds were evaluated for their antifungal property against two fungal strains, namely Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis. The detailed antimicrobial activity is presented here. The molecular docking of selected active glycoconjugates is carried out with bacterial gyrase and fungal α-demethylase and compared with standard drugs novobiocin and fluconazole, respectively, which revealed some interesting molecular interactions. © 2025 Wiley-VCH GmbH.
Fabrication of dual drug-loaded polycaprolactone–gelatin composite nanofibers for full thickness diabetic wound healing
(Newlands Press Ltd, 2024) Manjit Manjit; Manish Kumar; Krishan Kumar; Madhukiran R. Dhondale; Abhishek Jha; Kanchan Bharti; Zinnu Rain; Pradyot Prakash; Brahmeshwar Mishra
Aim: Design of moxifloxacin and ornidazole co-loaded polycaprolactone and gelatin nanofiber dressing for diabetic wounds. Materials & methods: The composite nanofibers were prepared using electrospinning technique and characterized for in vitro drug release, antibacterial activity, laser doppler and in vivo wound healing. Results: The optimized nanofiber demonstrated an interconnected bead free nanofiber with average diameter <200 nm. The in vitro drug release & antimicrobial studies revealed that optimized nanofiber provided drug release for >120 h, thereby inhibiting growth of Escherichia coli and Stapyhlococcus aureus. An in vivo wound closure study on diabetic rats found that optimized nanofiber group had a significantly higher wound closure rate than marketed formulation. Conclusion: The nanofiber provided prolonged drug release and accelerated wound healing, making it a promising candidate for diabetic wound care. Plain language summary: This article is about making a wound dressing material of tiny fibres that have antibiotic properties to kill microbes at the wound site and make wounds heal faster. This is particularly important for people with diabetes, whose wounds often take longer to heal. The designed nanofibrous dressing releases antibiotic drugs at the wound site for more than 120 h, killing harmful microbes and thus avoiding their invasion at wound site. Also, animal experiments showed that the nanofibers shorten the time wounds take to heal by providing a suitable surface and a favourable environment for wound healing. The study concludes that the fabricated nanofiber dressing helps complex wounds heal faster, and could be a strong new dressing material for diabetic wound care. C 2023 Newlands Press.
Isolation, functional characterization and antibiofilm properties of a lytic Enterococcus phage RG1 against multidrug resistant E. faecium
(Nature Research, 2025) Rakesh Kumar Singh; Riya Anand; Ajeet Kumar Singh; Zinnu Rain; Pradyot Prakash; Ganesh Kumar Maurya
Enterococcus faecium, a multidrug-resistant (MDR), commensal human pathogen, frequently causes nosocomial infections and imposes serious threat to public health, which demanded more research for the development of alternative therapeutics against them. Bacteriophage therapy as an alternative to antibiotics has reappeared as therapeutics against MDR bacterial infections. Here, we isolated and characterized a novel lytic phage, RG1, from the Ganga River against E. faecium ATCC 35667 and checked their efficacy against several clinical isolates of E. faecium. Whole genome sequencing revealed that the RG1 belongs to genus Efemquintavirus, and has a dsDNA genome of 41,364 base pairs with 35.54% GC content, which encodes 65 putative open reading frames without any virulence, antibiotic resistance or lysogeny genes. Bacteriophage RG1 displayed high stability across different pH, temperatures and chloroform concentrations. The phage RG1 exhibited antibacterial and antibiofilm activity over both ATCC and clinical isolates of E. faecium likely due to its wider host range, which paves the way inside the precision phage therapy. Interestingly, the presence of ribose, maltose and trehalose sugars showed more suppression of bacterial growth of MDR E. faecium isolate in presence of the phage RG1, while sugar alcohols synergistically supported host lysis by this phage. These findings highlight the therapeutic potential of the phage RG1 against the MDR E. faecium under clinical setup. © The Author(s) 2025.