Evaluation of Antibiogram, Genotype and Phylogenetic Analysis of Biofield Treated Nocardia otitidis

What is it about?

Nocardiosis is a soil-borne aerobic infection caused by Nocardia species commonly affects the respiratory tract. Nocardia otitidis (N. otitidis) is the key organism for non-mycobacterial tuberculosis. The current study was attempted to investigate the effect of Mr. Trivedi’s biofield energy treatment on N. otitidis and analyzed for antimicrobial susceptibility pattern, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), DNA polymorphism by Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and 16S rDNA sequencing. The strain of N. otitidis (ATCC 14630) was divided into two parts, control and treated. Antimicrobial susceptibility was studied using the broth microdilution technique. Overall, the MIC values of 16.67% antimicrobials were changed in the treated group of N. otitidis as compared to the control. Moreover, MIC value of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole was reduced by two-fold (0.5/9.5 to 0.25/4.75 µg/mL) in the biofield energy treated sample as compared to the control without alteration in the sensitivity spectrum. The 16S rDNA analysis showed that the treated sample was detected as Enterobacter aerogenes strain NCTC10006T (GenBank Accession No: AJ251468) with 98% identity of gene sequencing data. However, the nearest homolog genus-species was found as Kluyvera cryocrescens (GenBank Accession No: AM184245). Using RAPD biomarkers, the sample showed an average range of 34 to 53% of polymorphism among treated samples as compared to the control. The 16S rDNA sequencing of treated sample was carried out to correlate the phylogenetic relationship of N. otitidis with other bacterial species. These results suggested that Mr. Trivedi’s biofield energy treatment has a significant impact on N. otitidis.

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Why is it important?

The genus Nocardia is associated with the group of microorganisms known as the aerobic actinomycetes and belongs to the family of Mycobacteriaceae. Nocardia contains tuberculostearic acids but that differ from the mycobacteria by the possession of short-chain (40 to 60 carbons) mycolic acids [1]. Nocardia otitidis (N. otitidis) is a weak filamentous Gram-positive, catalase-positive, branching rods shaped bacterium that appears similar to Actinomyces species. However, it can usually be differentiated from Actinomyces by acid-fast staining [2]. The taxonomic history of the genus Nocardia is controversial [3]. Nocardia typically exhibits varying degrees of acid fastness due to the presence of cell wall mycolic acid. The genus is typically similar to the genus of Mycobacterium. Mordarska et al. had studied the short-chain fatty acids content in the cell wall of Nocardia and Mycobacterium genera based on gas-liquid chromatography analysis did not find any difference between two genera [4]. Based on immunoblot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) techniques that detect specific antibodies that appear as common in various Nocardia and Actinomadura species. These antigens do not react with the antibodies produced in response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections [5]. Most of Nocardial infections occur in the United States due to inhalation of airborne spores or mycelial fragments from the environmental sources [6]. The most common manifestation of Nocardial disease is pulmonary nocardiosis [7], extrapulmonary disease [8], and ocular nocardiosis [9] in immunocompromised patients. Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) reported that between 500 and 1,000 cases of Nocardial infections are recognized in the United States each year, of which 85% are serious pulmonary or systemic infections [10]. Since 1940s, the sulfonamides have been the drugs of choice for the treatment of nocardiosis [11]. Due to high mortality rate (50%) in patients with central nervous system (CNS) Nocardia infections (Nocardia brain abscess) and patients with non-CNS overwhelming or disseminated disease, the treatment strategy is inadequate. However, the combination of sulfamethoxazole with trimethoprim is often used as the drug of choice for the treatment of nocardiosis [12]. Therefore, some alternative strategies are needed to treat against nocardiosis. Biofield energy has been known as an alternative approach which may be useful as an alternative treatment to Nocardia infected patients. National Institute of Health/National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NIH/NCCAM) have reported that biofield (putative energy fields) or electromagnetic based energy therapies were commonly used to promote the health and healing [13]. Harold Saxton Burr had performed the detailed studies on the correlation of electric current with the physiological process and concluded that every single process in the human body had an electrical significance [14]. Recently, it was discovered that all the electrical processes happening in the human body have strong relationship with the magnetic field as required by Ampere’s law, which states that the moving charge produces magnetic fields in the surrounding space [15,16]. Thus, a human body emits the electromagnetic waves in the form of bio-photons that is also known as ultra-weak photon emissions (UPE). It surrounds the body and it is commonly known as biofield. Therefore, the biofield consists of an electromagnetic field, being generated by moving electrically charged particles (ions, cell, molecule, etc.) inside the human body [17]. The transfer of information from cell to cell or DNA or storage by biophotons has been demonstrated in plants, bacteria, animal neutriophil granulocytes and kidney cells [18]. Prakash et al. in 2015 reported that the various scientific instruments such as Kirlian photography, polycontrast interference photography (PIP) and resonance field imaging (RFI) can be extensively used to measure the biofield of human body [19]. Thus, human has the ability to harness the energy from the environment or universe and can transmit into any living or nonliving object(s) around the Globe. The objects always receive the energy and responding into the useful way that is called biofield energy and the process is known as biofield energy treatment. Mr. Mahendra Trivedi’s unique biofield energy treatment (The Trivedi Effect®) has been known to improve the overall productivity of crops [20,21], altered characteristics features of microbes [22-24], alter the structural, physical and thermal properties of several metals [25,26], and improved growth and anatomical characteristics of various medicinal plants [27,28]. Based on clinical significance of N. otitidis and significant impact of Mr. Trivedi’s biofield energy modality on microbes, the present work was undertaken to evaluate the impact of Mr. Trivedi’s biofield energy on N. otitidis in relation to antimicrobials susceptibility, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis (RAPD) and 16S rDNA sequencing.

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