OBJECTIVE Urate-lowering treatment (ULT) is recommended in gout management. However, initiation of ULT during an acute gout flare is still inconclusive. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the ULT febuxostat administered at initiation of an acute gout attack. METHODS A prospective randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted for 12 weeks in primary gout patients who were admitted with acute gout attacks. Subjects were randomly assigned to the febuxostat group in which febuxostat, 40 mg daily, was administered in the primary care setting for attacks, or to the control group in which febuxostat, 40 mg daily, was administered after the attacks. All patients received adequate anti-inflammatory and analgesic therapies. find more Serum urate (SU) levels were monitored throughout the study. Pain, measured using a visual analogue scale (VAS), and gout recurrence rate were used as primary outcomes. Flare-related inflammation biomarkers were selected as secondary outcomes. RESULTS Fifty-two patients completed the study (febuxostat group n = 28; control group n = 24). No significant differences were detected in VAS scores between the two groups over the first 14-day observation period (P > 0.05). Administration of febuxostat decreased SU levels significantly during the first 2-week period. However, the gout recurrent rate or gout flare-related inflammation indicators did not change in the febuxostat or control groups. Treatment-related adverse events were mild and similar between groups. CONCLUSION Initiation of the urate-lowering drug febuxostat during an acute gout attack caused no significant difference in daily pain, recurrent flares, or adverse effects. The treatment significantly decreased SU levels in the early stage and might have potential long-term benefits in these patients. Burkholderia mallei is the etiologic agent of glanders, an infectious disease of solipeds, with renewed scientific interest due to its increasing incidence in different parts of the world. More rapid, sensitive and specific assays are required by laboratories for confirmatory testing of this disease. A microsphere-based immunoassay consisting of beads coated with B. mallei recombinant proteins (BimA, GroEL, Hcp1, and TssB) has been developed for the serological diagnosis of glanders. The proteins’ performance was compared with the OIE reference complement fixation test (CFT) and an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA) on a large panel of sera comprised of uninfected horses (n=198) and clinically confirmed cases of glanders from India and Pakistan (n=99). Using Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analysis and adjusting the cutoff levels, Hcp1 (Se=100%, Sp=99.5%) and GroEL (Se= 97%, Sp=99.5%) antigens exhibited the best specificity and sensitivity. Neither Hcp1 and GroEL proteins, nor iELISA reacted with doubtful and positive CFT samples from glanders free countries which further confirmed the false positive reactions seen in CFT. In the definitive host, a trematode parasite can survive and evade the damage by reactive oxygen species that are generated from its metabolism and the host immune cells. Several anti-oxidant proteins are found in Fasciola spp. which play essential roles in cellular redox balance. One of them is thioredoxin-related protein 14 (TRP14) that has a highly conserved WCPDC motif and serves as a disulfide reductase-like thioredoxin (Trx). In the present study, a cDNA encoding TRP14 from F. gigantica (FgTRP14) was selected and cloned by immunoscreening with a rabbit infected serum. Phylogenetic analysis was performed by MEGA X program showed that FgTRP14 was most highly related to the Fasciola hepatica. Immunoblotting analysis of the polyclonal antibody rabbit serum against recombinant FgTRP14 (rFgTRP14) revealed that the molecular weight of natural FgTRP14 was at 14 kDa from metacercariae, NEJ, 4-week old juvenile and adult stage. The native FgTRP14 was expressed in caecal epithelial cells and preferentially localized on the cells’ surface lamellae of adult stage. By sandwich ELISA assay, the circulating FgTRP14 could be recognized in sera of experimentally F. gigantica metacercariae infection in mice. The native FgTRP14 in the excretory-secretory (ES) and whole body (WB) of adult F. gigantica were detected at the concentrations 6.3 ng/ml, and 45 ng/ml, respectively. Therefore, it could be considered for immunodiagnostic candidate for fasciolosis. Omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids are synthesized from the essential fatty acids alpha-linolenic acid and linoleic acid, respectively. They are pivotal components of all mammalian cells and were found to be useful in prevention and treatment of a variety of health problems owing to their anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties. Omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids are further metabolized to anti-inflammatory mediators, such as lipoxins, resolvins, and protectins. Moreover, these polyunsaturated fatty acids were found to have in vivo and in vitro protective efficacies against some parasitic infections. Therefore, dietary intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids should be encouraged because of their considerable beneficial effects. V.Toxoplasma gondii is an obligatory intracellular parasite that critically depends on active invasion and egress from infected host cells to complete its propagation cycle. T. gondii rhoptry proteins (TgROPs) are virulent factors associated with host cell invasion, growth. In this study, we analyzed the functions of ROP9 in the process of T. gondii infection. The TgROP9 knockout RH strain (RH△ROP9) and its recovery strain (RH-ReROP9) were constructed using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. The invasion, proliferation, and egress efficiency of the RH△ROP9 strain were evaluated and their pathogenicity to mice was analyzed. Compared with RH wild-type (RH-WT) and RH-ReROP9 strains, the invasion percentage of RH△ROP9 to Vero cells was reduced by about 28.0% (p less then 0.01) at 1.5 h, and the relative proliferation percentage was decreased by about 35.0% (p less then 0.01) after infection with 102 or 103 parasites. In addition, the RH△ROP9 strain also showed prolonged egress time from host cells. The survival time of the mice (12.