Restoring Ampicillin Sensitivity in Multidrug-Resistant Escherichia coli Following Treatment in Combination with Coffee Pulp Extracts

Laser Speckle Image analysis for identifying the minimum lethal concentration of ampicillin in Escherichia coli liquid cultures

Understanding a pathogen's sensitivity to antimicrobial drugs through Minimum Lethal Concentration (MLC) is crucial for effective treatment planning for bactericidal drugs. In this paper, we propose a novel approach using Laser Speckle Imaging (LSI) to determine the MLC of Escherichia coli (E. coli), a common pathogenic bacterial species. LSI enables the capture and analysis of the dynamic changes in speckle patterns caused by alterations in optical scattering and shape alterations of bacterial cells as a response to antibiotic treatments through a label-free approach. The observed speckle pattern changes are correlated with the gold standard method to determine the MLC, representing the lowest concentration at which E. coli is lethally affected. The results demonstrate the potential of LSI as a reliable and rapid method for determining the MLC of E. coli. This method has much potential for antimicrobial research since it provides a quick, non-destructive evaluation of bacterial responses to various bactericidal antibiotic doses without requiring labor-intensive processes like pour plate tests to calculate the MLC.

Antioxidant, antimicrobial and healing properties of an extract from coffee pulp for the development of a phytocosmetic

Consumer demand for natural, chemical-free products has grown. Food industry residues, like coffee pulp, rich in caffeine, chlorogenic acid and phenolic compounds, offer potential for pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications due to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties. Therefore, the objective of this work was to develop a phytocosmetic only with natural products containing coffee pulp extract as active pharmaceutical ingredient with antioxidant, antimicrobial and healing activity. Eight samples from Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora Pierre were analyzed for caffeine, chlorogenic acid, phenolic compounds, tannins, flavonoids, cytotoxicity, antibacterial activity, and healing potential. The Robusta IAC-extract had the greatest prominence with 192.92 μg/mL of chlorogenic acid, 58.98 ± 2.88 mg GAE/g sample in the FRAP test, 79.53 ± 5.61 mg GAE/g sample in the test of total phenolics, was not cytotoxic, and MIC 3 mg/mL against Staphylococcus aureus. This extract was incorporated into a stable formulation and preferred by 88% of volunteers. At last, a scratch assay exhibited the formulation promoted cell migration after 24 h, therefore, increased scratch retraction. In this way, it was possible to develop a phytocosmetic with the coffee pulp that showed desirable antioxidant, antimicrobial and healing properties.