<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Antimicrobial resistance is becoming a paramount health concern nowadays. The increasing drug resistance in microbes is due to improper medications or over usage of drugs. Bacteria develop many mechanisms to extrude the antibiotics entering the cell. The most prominent are the efflux pumps (EPs). EPs play a significant role in intrinsic and acquired bacterial resistance, mainly in Gram-negative bacteria. EPs may be unique to one substrate or transport several structurally different compounds (including multi-class antibiotics). These pumps are generally associated with multiple drug resistance (MDR). EPs are energized by a proton motive force and can pump a vast range of detergents, drugs, antibiotics and also β-lactams, which are impermeable to the cytoplasmic membrane. There are five leading efflux transporter families in the prokaryotic kingdom: MF (Major Facilitator), MATE (Multidrug And Toxic Efflux), RND (Resistance-Nodulation-Division), SMR (Small Multidrug Resistance) and ABC (ATP Binding Cassette). Apart from the ABC family, which utilizes ATP hydrolysis to drive the export of substrates, all other systems use the proton motive force as an energy source. Some molecules known as Efflux Pump Inhibitors (EPI) can inhibit EPs in Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. EPIs can interfere with the efflux of antimicrobial agents, leading to an increase in the concentration of antibiotics inside the bacterium, thus killing it. Therefore, identifying new EPIs appears to be a promising strategy for countering antimicrobial drug resistance (AMR). This mini-review focuses on the major efflux transporters of the bacteria and the progress in identifying Efflux Pump Inhibitors.</p>
</abstract>

Multidrug Efflux Pumps in Bacteria and Efflux Pump Inhibitors

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>A new class of feed additives and nutritional supplements, known as probiotics, include bacterial, fungal, and yeast cultures from various sources. Overall, probiotics are believed to promote the health and well-being of animals, birds, and humans in a variety of settings. Incorporating probiotics into the diets of cattle and poultry has been demonstrated to improve growth, feed conversion efficiency, immunological responses, and the animal's ability to manage enteric infections. The use of probiotic-enriched chicken feed has been shown to enhance egg production by as much as 30% among laying chickens. Probiotics may be used to fight off harmful microorganisms, create antibacterial compounds (such as bacteriocins or colicins), and alter the immunological response of the host, according to the National Institutes of Health. Pathogenic microbial strains such as <italic>Lactobacillus</italic>, <italic>Streptococcus</italic>, <italic>Bacillus</italic>, <italic>Enterococcus</italic>, <italic>Pediococcus</italic>, <italic>Aspergillus</italic>, and <italic>Saccharomyces</italic> are employed in the making of chicken products. The use of subtherapeutic doses of antimicrobial agents, including antibiotics, to combat or remove harmful bacteria and promote animal growth and feed efficiency has resulted in the accumulation of antibiotic residues in animal feed as well as the emergence of drug-resistant microbes in the feed supply chain. As a result of public health concerns, there has been a renewed emphasis on the use of probiotics in chicken production rather than antibiotics in recent years. This research examines the effects of probiotics and direct-fed microorganisms (DFM) on chicken health and performance, with a particular emphasis on the favourable effects they have on poultry health and performance.</p>
</abstract>

Department of Animal Nutrition and Nutritional Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Cholistan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences

Department of Surgery and Pet Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences

University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences

Department of Animal Nutrition and Nutritional diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

A Review of Probiotic Applications in Poultry: Improving Immunity and Having Beneficial Effects on Production and Health

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<sec><h3>Background</h3><p>The World Health Organizations (WHO) scientific brief on the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and asthma from 2021, states individuals with asthma to be at a higher risk of respiratory infections as recorded in the annual influenza season. However, existing data from the COVID-19 pandemic does not till date establish an association of the disease with asthma. The disease burden of COVID-19 among asthmatic patients has not been very evident. This paucity of information forms the main rationale of our literature review, which is focused on collecting scattered literature around transmission, risks, as well as disease characteristics of COVID-19 among asthmatics world over including Saudi Arabia.</p></sec>
<sec><h3>Methodology</h3><p>This study report has been generated after detailed literature survey using keywords “asthma”, “coronavirus”, “COVID-19” and SARS-CoV-2 including quality high impact publications on relevant focus area through Google Scholar, Web of Science, and PubMed. Publication between year 2019 and 2021 were selected in specific to ensure the focus of the current literature review does not lose relevance in space of time.</p></sec>
<sec><h3>Results</h3><p>Our literature review identified elderly to have been reported to have high susceptibility to COVID-19; the risk being exacerbated among those with comorbidities. Further, no specific directives on asthma being one of the risk factors was found to be reported, especially with the current disease management strategy for COVID-19. The severely diseased COVID-19 patients also have been reported to exhibit increase in multiple cytokines, which may increase airway inflammation and exacerbate asthma attacks. However, contrary literature reports indicate an increase in T cells to reduce the disease impact of COVID-19.</p></sec>
<sec><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>There is paucity in significant evidence as of writing this review article to highlight exclusive negative impact of COVID-19 on asthmatics. Asthma patients however need to be recommended care pertaining to having their controller medication as new data continue to emerge on the clinic-pathological factors of the novel coronavirus.</p></sec>
</abstract>

Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine

Prince Sattam Research Chair for Epidemiology and Public Health, College of Medicine

Covid-19 Transmission, Risks Factors and Disease Characteristics in Asthmatics Patients

<trans-abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Whooping cough is a contagious and typically childhood disease transmitted via droplets. Pertussis is especially dangerous for infants, but adults have become more susceptible. A pathognomonic symptom of pertussis is a severe spasmodic and unproductive cough that worsens at night and is accompanied by vomiting, apnea and cyanosis. The symptoms among vaccinated children, adolescents and adults, are milder, less characteristic, and therefore more difficult to diagnose. Whole-cell pertussis vaccine (DTwP) has been highly effective in reducing morbidity and mortality. However, in many countries DTwP vaccines, due to their reactogenicity, have been completely or partly replaced, by acellular pertussis vaccines (DTaP) that contain several purified bacterial protein antigens. In spite of the sustained high coverage of vaccinations, there is an increase of whooping cough cases in all age groups. The main cause of the increase is the lack of full protection from acellular vaccine in preventing transmission of <italic>Bordetella pertussis</italic>, which is the main etiological factor of whooping cough. Moreover, new diagnostic methods allow to identify other <italic>Bordetella</italic> species that cause pertussis-like symptoms, i.e. <italic>B. parapertussis</italic> and <italic>B. holmesii</italic>. The currently used vaccines do not provide a cross-protection against <italic>B. holmesii</italic> that has now become the second etiological factor of pertussis. Imperfections of existing vaccines are the reason for an intense development of improved anti-pertussis vaccines. Several research directions can be distinguished, such as identifying new components, designing an acellular vaccine based on the outer membrane vesicles or the renewed interest in whole cell vaccines.</p>
</trans-abstract>

Pertussis and the Red Queen Effect

AHEAD OF PRINT

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Advancements of Microbiology

 The Advancements of Microbiology (formerly Postępy Mikrobiologii) is a quarterly of the Polish Society of Microbiologists. The journal was founded in 1961, initially under the patronage of the Microbiology Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and in 1989 it became the organ of the PSM. The following professors have served as Editors-in-Chief of Postępy Mikrobiologii during the period: Prof. Edmund Mikulaszek 1962 – 1972, Prof. Władysław Tomasz Dobrzański 1972 – 1982, Prof. Zdzislaw Ilczuk 1983 – 1991, Prof. Jerzy Hrebenda 1991 – 2009, Prof. Jacek Bielecki 2009 – 2022. Journal implements the Society’s main goals, like promoting the development of microbiological sciences, popularizing the achievements of microbiology among members of the Society and broad circles of readers.   Advancements of Microbiology is topical journal for scientists in several microbiological fields and often the place where the first works of young researchers are published. Advancements of Microbiology include review articles from all areas of microbiology that are not printed in other journals. Please send manuscripts with attachments to the editor's e-mail address: editorial.office@am-online.org   Due to the great thematic diversity of the articles sent to the editorial office, it is not possible to print monographic volumes. Most of the papers currently published in Advancements of Microbiology are review articles in the field of bacterial physiology, microbial genetics, environmental microbiology, applied microbiology and virology; the work in the field of epidemiology, classification and identification of bacteria and applications of molecular biology techniques in microbiological research are particularly extensive.   The editors of Advancements of Microbiology strive to print works – ordered by eminent scientists – regarding currently fashionable problems of modern science. We especially encourage Authors to write articles in the field of their expertise, which guarantees the highest scientific level. The high scientific level of the journal was reflected in the progress of the JCR citation index and the presence of our journal on the Philadelphia list. It is especially important for young Authors, for whom Advancements of Microbiology often open the way to a scientific career. The current activity of Advancements of Microbiology is based mainly on publishing reviews related to the latest scientific achievements in the field of microbiology, which, at present is characterized by unusual dynamics of development and comprehensive application possibilities. The selection of current and relevant research topics and their presentation at a high scientific level in our journal is the basis for the existence of the quarterly, Advancements of Microbiology.   Open Access Policy   This journal provides immediate open access to its content under the Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license　on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license users are free to share the work (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format), if the contribution is properly attributed and used for non-commercial purposes. The material published in the journal may not be altered or built upon.   ABOUT SOCIETY   The origin of microbiology in Poland goes back to the XIX century. Professor Odo Feliks Kazimierz Bujwid (1857 – 1942) – was the first Polish bacteriologist, who graduated from the University of Warsaw and gained experience in Berlin working with Robert Koch, and in Paris at the Ludwik Pasteur Institute.   The Polish Society of Microbiologists (PSM), formerly the Polish Society of Microbiologists and Epidemiologists, was established in Warsaw on October 31, 1927 at the first Congress of Polish microbiologists. Professor Zygmunt Szymanowski was elected the first President of PSM. The same year, PSM also became cofounder of Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) and since 2005 PSM is a member of European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID).   Within over 95 years of activity, 29 Congresses of PSM were organized and 16 professors were elected as Presidents of PSM. About 900 ordinary members and 19 honorary members, associated in 14 PSM branches all over Poland, belong to the Society.   The aims of PSM have been the same since its very beginnings: to promote the development of microbiological sciences and to popularize the achievements of microbiology among the Society’s members and the broad public. PSM organizes congresses, scientific meetings, courses and lectures and competitions of scientific papers. Two quarterly journals, the Polish Journal of Microbiology and the Advancements in Microbiology are issued by PSM. The Society formulates opinions on the conditions and needs of Polish microbiology and applies in these cases to the state authorities; cooperates with related associations in the country and abroad.   Archiving   Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico – a digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.   Plagiarism Policy   The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System’s users to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 