Antibacterial activity of some Lamiaceae species against Staphylococcus aureus in yoghurt-based drink (Doogh)

Doogh is a dairy drinkable fermented product, whose shelf-life and quality is mostly affected by bacteria such as Staphylococcus spp.. This study investigated the antibacterial activity of essential oils (EOs) from Thymus vulgaris L., Mentha piperita L. and Ziziphora tenuior L., alone or in combination, against Staphylococcus aureus in industrial doogh. A three-level and three-variable face centered central composite design experiment was used. Results showed that EOs significantly inhibited S. aureus growth after 1 and 7 days of storage. According to the model, the maximum inhibition was obtained in the presence of 0.2% of EO, independently of the type, and no synergistic or additive effects were observed. Slightly lower S. aureus survivals were observed at the maximum concentration of Z. tenuior EO. In spite of the antimicrobial activity of these EOs, further research is needed to assess their performance in food matrix and, in particular, in dairy product.

Medicinal Plants Used in the Treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Since the beginning of the epidemic, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has infected around 70 million people worldwide, most of whom reside is sub-Saharan Africa. There have been very promising developments in the treatment of HIV with anti-retroviral drug cocktails. However, drug resistance to anti-HIV drugs is emerging, and many people infected with HIV have adverse reactions or do not have ready access to currently available HIV chemotherapies. Thus, there is a need to discover new anti-HIV agents to supplement our current arsenal of anti-HIV drugs and to provide therapeutic options for populations with limited resources or access to currently efficacious chemotherapies. Plant-derived natural products continue to serve as a reservoir for the discovery of new medicines, including anti-HIV agents. This review presents a survey of plants that have shown anti-HIV activity, both in vitro and in vivo.

Capsaicin protects against testicular torsion injury through mTOR-dependent mechanism

SCOPE

Testicular torsion and subsequent release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) can cause infertility in adults. Oxidative stress following testicular torsion plays an important role in the ýonset and development of apoptotic cell death through dysregulation of the cellular signaling pathways. Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of capsaicin, a bioactive composition present in red peppers, has already been exploited for treatment of the cancer and pain relief. In present work, we evaluated the role of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) in antioxidant effect of capsaicin against reperfusion injury following testicular torsion.

METHODS

Male Wistar rats weighing 200-220 g were randomly assigned into four major groups: (i) a sham operated group, (ii) a testicular torsion (TT) group, (iii) three groups treated with different doses of capsaicin (TT + 100, 500 and 1000 μg/ml Cap), and (iv) three groups of healthy rats treated with different doses of capsaicin (100, 500 and 1000 μg/ml). Western blotting assay was used to examine the anti-apoptotic effects of capsaicin in testicular cells following torsion. H&E and TUNEL methods were used to evaluate testicular morphology and apoptosis activity.

RESULTS

Compared to control group, phosphorylation of mTOR was significantly increased in the TT groups. Capsaicin administration remarkably decreased the phosphorylation of mTOR at the highest dose (P < 0.05). Capsaicin decreased apoptosis and preserved tubular morphology in testes.

CONCLUSION

Our results showed that antioxidant properties of capsaicin minimizes cell death and reperfusion injury following testicular torsion.

Preparation of an optimized ciprofloxacin-loaded chitosan nanomicelle with enhanced antibacterial activity

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of lipid structure on physicochemical properties of chitosan-fatty acid nanomicelles and prepare an optimum ciprofloxacin-loaded formulation from these conjugates which could enhance the antibacterial effects of drug against some important pathogens like P. aeruginosa.

SIGNIFICANCE

Nowadays, resistance in infectious diseases is a growing worldwide concern. Nanocarriers can increase the therapeutic index and consequently reduce the antibiotic resistance. By site-specific delivery of drug, the adverse effects of broad-spectrum antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin would be reduced.

METHODS

Fatty acid grafted chitosan conjugates were synthetized in the presence of 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide. The effects of fatty acid type (stearic acid, palmitic acid, and linoleic acid) on physicochemical properties of conjugates were investigated. Ciprofloxacin was encapsulated in nanomicelles by thin film hydration method. Also, the preparation process was optimized with a central composite design. The antibacterial effect of optimum formulation against P. aeruginosa, K. pneumoniae, and S. pneumoniae species was determined.

RESULTS

All conjugates were synthetized with high yield values and the substitution degrees ranged between 2.13 and 35.46%. Ciprofloxacin was successfully encapsulated in nanomicelles. The optimum formulation showed high drug loading (≈ 19%), with particle size of about 260 nm and a sustained release profile of ciprofloxacin. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of ciprofloxacin in optimum formulation against P. aeruginosa and K. pneumoniae species were 4 and 2 times lower in comparison with the free drug, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The antibacterial effect of ciprofloxacin was improved by encapsulation of drug in chitosan nanomicelles.

Short Communication - Synthesis of drug metal complexes and their influence on human platelet aggregation

During the past few decades the emergence of inorganic medicinal chemistry has been developed novel therapeutic agents. Researcher's perseverance in this branch of chemistry has led them to explore further valuable chemical spaces by synthesizing metal complexes already known pharmacological agents for their potential use. However, it is in its early stage, this methodology has demonstrated metal complexes with better bioactivities than the parent ligand molecules. In this study, transition metal complexes of pyrazinamide (PZ), isoniazid (INH), fluconazole (FCZ), metformin (dimethylbiguanide, DMBG) and losartan potassium (LS-K) were selected to evaluate for their possible anti-platelets aggregation in the light of reports on divalent and trivalent cations like calcium, copper, manganese, magnesium, and cadmium may influence the process of thrombocytic activity and aggregation. The required evaluation was carried out on human plasma through an APACT 4004 platelet aggregation analyzer. Arachidonic acid (ADP) was used to gauge any alteration in platelet shape and aggregation process. The parent drugs showed some anti-platelets aggregation, however, their metal complexes demonstrated better efficacy.

Novel and Efficient Method for Solid Phase Synthesis of Urea-Containing Peptides Targeting Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) in Comparison with Current Methods

The basic chemical structure of most prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) inhibitors which are now in pre-clinical and clinical studies is Glu-Ureido-based peptides. Synthesis of urea-based PSMA inhibitors includes two steps: 1- isocyanate intermediate formation and 2- urea bond formation. In current methods, isocyanate is formed in liquid phase and then reacts with amine existing in liquid phase or bound to solid phase for urea bond formation. In this study, we developed a new facile method for formation of both isocyanate and urea on solid phase under standard peptide coupling conditions. The solid phase-bound isocyanate served as intermediate to form urea bond. To monitor reaction progress qualitative test (Kaiser Test) and On-Bead FT-IR spectroscopy were used. The structure of Glutamate-Urea-Lysine (EUK) was confirmed using LC-Mass and 1H-NMR. This novel method successfully was applied to synthesize of another urea-based peptide containing a sequence of Glu-Urea-Lys (OMe)-GABA-Tyr-Tyr-GABA and the bifunctional linker hydrazinonicotinamide (HYNIC) as well.

Development and Validation of a GC/MS Method for Simultaneous Determination of 7 Monoterpens in Two Commercial Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms

Terpenes are active constituents of many pharmaceutical dosage forms with natural products origin. One of the challenges in developing dosage forms with herbal origin is their standardization as pharmaceutical products. GC-Mass is the most decisive and reliable technique to fulfill the requirements in this regard. In the present study, a reliable, rapid, and accurate method was developed for determination of 7 monoterpenoids in two selected pharmaceutical dosage forms (rowatinex and rowachol soft gelatin capsules) by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry triple quadrupole selected ion monitoring GC/MS-TQ-SIM. The method was validated for various parameters such as precision, linearity, accuracy, solution stability, limit of detection, and quantification. The average recovery of terpens was in the range of 91.6-105.7%. The method was proved to be repeatable with RSD in the range of 0.28-11.18 for all of the concentration levels. The developed method is simple, rapid, and sensitive and was applied for determination of alpha pinene, camphene, beta pinene, cineol, fenchone, borneol, trans-anethol and menthol in a few batches of rowachol and rowatinex capsules purchased from local drug stores.

Biosynthesis and Characterization of Biogenic Tellurium Nanoparticles by Using Penicillium chrysogenum PTCC 5031: A Novel Approach in Gold Biotechnology

Production of nanoparticles has been attractive by biological based fabrication as an alternative to physical and chemical approaches due to exceeding need to develop safe, reliable, clean and eco-friendly methods for the preparation of nanoparticle for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. In the present study, biogenic tellurium nanoparticles (TeNPs) were successfully prepared using potassium tellurite (K₂TeO₃, 3H₂O) via an eco-friendly and simple green approach by exploiting extracellular enzymes and biomolecules secreted from Penicillium chrysogenum PTCC 5031 at room temperature for the first time. The biofabricated TeNPs were characterized by Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectrum. The AFM and SEM images revealed that the TeNPs were fairly uniform in size with a spherical shape and superior monodispersity. Furthermore, the DLS indicated that the average hydrodynamic diameter of TeNPs was around 50.16 nm and polydispersity index (PdI) of 0.012. The EDX results depicted that TeNPs display an absorption peak at 3.8 keV, indicating the presence of the elemental tellurium. Additionally, the FT-IR analysis of TeNPs exhibited the presence of possible functional groups that may have a role as bioreducers and capping agents. Overall, the results strongly suggested that P. chrysogenum can be a potential nanofactory for the preparation of TeNPs due to several advantages including non-pathogenic organism, fast growth rate, and high capacity of elemental ions reduction, as well as facile and economical biomass handling.

Optimization of Growth Conditions of Lentinus edodes Mycelium and Polysaccharides on Walnut Shell by-Products Using Response Surface Analysis

Lentinus edodes (L. edodes) is one of the most widely used traditional Chinese medicines and a high producer of various bioactive compounds such as polysaccharides. It has been shown that L. edodes polysaccharides (LEPLS) have several physiological effects with potential medical applications. In addition, the ability of L. edodes to grow and produce bioactive compounds on industrial by-products makes it an excellent candidate for the lage-scale production of such compounds. The objective of this study was to optimize mycelium and polysaccharide production by L. edodes on walnut shell through a two-step procedure including a one-factor-at-a-time approach to select the most important factors and a response surface methodology design to determine their optimum combinations. Several factors were evaluated in the first step and among them inoculum size, incubation time, and C/N ratio were selected for optimization of using RSM. The RSM model estimated that a maximal yield of biomass and LEPLS (0.043 mg/g and 46.80 mg/g respectively) could be obtained when inoculum size, incubation time, and C/N ratio were set at 23.41, 30, 10 units, respectively. These values were also verified by validation experiments.

Design, Synthesis and Evaluation of Substituted Aryl-2-Nitrovinyl Derivatives as Small Molecules Proteasome Inhibitors

Based on the existing structure activity relationship for proteasome inhibitors, a number of substituted aryl-2-nitrovinyl derivatives have been synthesized as Michael acceptor and their cytotoxicity and proteasome inhibitory effects were evaluated on two cancer cell lines. Compound 2d exhibited IC₅₀ values of 0.71 and 17.79 μM comparable to bortezomib against MCF-7 and PC-3, respectively. The results show that the electronic properties and steric hindrance can affect the interaction of these small molecules with their receptor at the active site of the enzyme while the presence of CH₂OH group on α-carbon of Michael acceptor is favorable, and para substitution of OMe on phenyl ring of β-carbon can increase the inhibitory potencies. Molecular docking studies confirm our experimental findings about mode of binding of our compounds with 20S proteasome.

The Impact of Clopidogrel Resistance on Clinical Outcome of Iranian Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

The aim of current study was evaluating the frequency of clopidogrel resistance and its impact on clinical outcome of patients in Iranian patients. Patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention in Imam Hussein Medical center, Tehran, Iran, who received standard dosage of clopidogrel (Plavix®, Sanofi, France, 600 mg loading dose and 75 mg/day afterward) were recruited. Platelet aggregation was measured using light transmission aggregometer. The patients were categorized as responder (platelet aggregation less than 43%) and non-responder (platelet aggregation more than 43%). All patients were evaluated for major adverse cardio vascular events one month and 3 years after the angioplasty based on MACE criteria by phone contact. One hundred and five patients with average age of 60.30 ± 12.2 years entered the study of whom 26 (24.76%) did not respond to clopidogrel. None of patients experienced cardiac events one month after PCI. Three years after PCI, data were collected from 55 (69.62%) and 10 (38.46%) subjects in responder and non-responder groups, respectively. MACE criteria was positive in 4 patients, 3 (5.45%) in responder and 1 (10%) in non-responder group (p = 0.28). We did not find any significant differences between clopidogrel resistance and past medical history. In drug history 1 (1.26%) and 4 (15.38%) patients received omeprazole with clopidogrel in responder and none-responder group, respectively (p = 0.003). This study showed 24.76% resistance to clopidogrel in Iranian population but, we did not find any correlation between clopidogrel resistance and cardiac events in follow up maybe due to study limitations particularly missed follow-up in non-responder patients.

Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Ketoprofen Conjugated To RGD/NGR for Targeted Cancer Therapy

It is well known that Arginine-Glycine-Aspartic acid (RGD) and Asparagine-Glycine-Arginine (NGR) peptides preferentially bind to integrin receptors and aminopeptidase N respectively and these two receptors play important roles in angiogenesis. Therefore ketoprofen as a non-selective cox Inhibitor was conjugated with linear RGD and NGR to take advantage of targeting capability of these two motifs and delivering ketoprofen to these cancer cells with overexpression of integrin and aminopeptidase N. In order to investigate the impact of possible steric hindrance due to the attachment of the drug to the peptide, a linear six carbon (hexanoic acid) linker was also used as a spacer. Cytotoxic effect of the synthesized compounds was evaluated against a group of cancer cell lines, including MCF-7, A2780 (α_vβ₃ positive), OVCAR3 (high α_vβ₃), HT-1-80 (high CD13) and SKOV-3 (CD13 positive). Both NGR and RGD conjugated forms of ketoprofen showed higher cytotoxic activity against OVCAR3 and HT-1-80 respectively.

Biological Evaluation of the Isolated Compounds from Methanol Fraction of Leutea avicennia Mozaff

Leutea avicennia Mozaff. That belongs to Apiaceae family is an endemic species distributed in the west of Iran. The aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidant activity and acetylcholinestrase (AChE) inhibition of the crude extract, fractions, and isolated compounds from methanol fraction of L. avicenniae. Five compounds were detected from methanol fraction; three phenolic compounds as p-coumric acid, caffeic acid, salicylic acid and also, two flavonoids as quercetin and astragalin. These structures were identified by spectroscopic techniques such as ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, and UV. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by the free radical scavenging assay using 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryl- hydrazyl (DPPH) method. Ellman colorimetric method was used to determine acetylcholinestrase (AChE) inhibition. In the DPPH assay, Quercetin exerted the highest antioxidant activity (IC₅₀ = 10.24 ± 1.3 µg/mL). Caffeic acid inhibited AChE with IC₅₀ = 12.06 ± 2.01µg/mL which were comparable to Galanthamine as positive control (IC₅₀ = 62.44 ± 2.2µg/mL). In conclusion, methanol extract of L. avicenniae contains bioactive components with antioxidant and AChE inhibitory effects.

Exposure Assessment for Some Pesticides through Rice Consumption in Iran Using a Multiresidue Analysis by GC-MS

In communities which consume rice as main food, importance of risk assessment for contaminants is always taken into consideration by health authorities. The present study is an attempt for monitoring of 56 pesticides from different chemical groups in rice samples collected from local markets in Tehran and estimation of daily intake of interested pesticides through this monitoring. A valid method based on spiked calibration curves and QuEChERS sample preparation was developed for determination of pesticides residue in rice by GC/MS. The analytical results of the proposed method were in good agreement with the proficiency test (FAPAS 0969). One-hundred-thirty-five rice samples were analyzed and 11 pesticide residues were found in 10.4% of the samples. Of which 5.2% were contaminated with unregulated pesticides. None of the samples, which were contaminated with regulated pesticides, had contamination higher than maximum residue limit. The mean estimated dose (ED) was calculated with respect of mean of contamination and mean daily consumption of rice. ED of the found pesticides is much lower than the related ADIs.

In vitro toxicity of perfluorooctane sulfonate on rat liver hepatocytes: probability of distructive binding to CYP 2E1 and involvement of cellular proteolysis

Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS), an anthropogenic fluorosurfactant, is one of the most common global pollutants. PFOS is used in various consumer products to provide soil, oil, and water resistance to materials used in clothing, upholstery, and food packaging. PFOS is persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic to mammalian species. In this study, the cellular mechanisms involved in PFOS hepatotoxicity were evaluated. For this purpose, we determined oxidative stress markers including cell lysis, ROS generation, lipid peroxidation, glutathione depletion, mitochondrial membrane potential decrease, lysosomal membrane leakiness, and cellular proteolysis. Our results demonstrated that PFOS liver cytotoxicity was associated with reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation and lipid peroxidation in isolated rat hepatocytes. Incubation of hepatocytes with PFOS caused rapid depletion of hepatocyte glutathione (GSH), an important marker of cellular oxidative stress. Most of the PFOS-induced GSH depletion could be attributed to the expulsion of glutathione disulfide (GSSG). PFOS hepatotoxicity was inhibited by antioxidants and ROS scavengers, mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) pore sealing agents, and endocytosis inhibitors. Our results suggest that PFOS hepatotoxicity might be the result of oxidative stress-induced lysosomal membrane leakiness and cellular proteolysis in rat hepatocytes.