Detection of Enterobacteriaceae in cerebrospinal fluid fluid of neonates with meningitis from tertiary care hospitals

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to determine the bacteriological profile of childhood acute bacterial meningitis in Pakistan.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The study included a total of 100 children aged between 1 month and 5 years, who were admitted with a diagnosis of meningitis based on clinical findings and positive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tests. Out of the 100 CSF samples collected, 21 isolates were confirmed to contain Enterobacteriaceae. The most prevalent Enterobacteriaceae species were Pseudomonas (n=8, 38.09%), Klebsiella (n=4, 19.04%), E. coli (n=4, 19.04%), and Acinetobacter (n=4, 19.04%), while Citrobacter (n=1, 4.76%) was less common. Antibiotic susceptibility patterns were analyzed for these isolates.

RESULTS

Pseudomonas (n=8) exhibited 25% resistance to cefepime and 38% resistance to imipenem. Klebsiella (n=4) showed 75% resistance to imipenem. Acinetobacter (n=4) demonstrated 50% resistance to imipenem, along with varying resistance to cefepime, amikacin, ciprofloxacin, and gentamicin. E. coli (n=4) showed 0% resistance to imipenem and amikacin. However, Citrobacter (n=1) showed 0% resistance to ciprofloxacin, aztreonam, gentamicin, amikacin, levofloxacin, and cefepime. Acute bacterial meningitis primarily affects children under 1 year of age.

CONCLUSIONS

CSF culture revealed that Gram-negative bacteria, specifically Pseudomonas spp., were the predominant pathogens in this family based on Pakistani data.

Scrutinizing the therapeutic response of Phyllanthus exmblica's different doses to restore the immunomodulation potential in immunosuppressed female albino rats

OBJECTIVE

Immunosuppression and microbial resistance are the major drawbacks in conventional pharmaceutics. The present research work was planned to screen and characterize phytochemical constituents present in Phyllanthus emblica and to explore the immunomodulation potential of P. emblica by evaluating stress markers and different biochemical parameters in animals.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The phytochemical analysis explored the presence of antioxidant profiles and revealed the radical scavenging activities. In the second phase, an animal trial was performed using female albino rats. Female rats (n=18) were administered three different doses of P. emblica (low dose 100 mg/kg, intermediate 200 mg/kg, and high dose 300 mg/kg) for three weeks. After a significant change (p<0.05) in antioxidant status i.e., TOS and TAS, hematological, biochemical parameters, and immunoregulation i.e., IgM and IgG were elevated. Statistical analysis (ANOVA) illustrates that these selected plants have a great impact on microbial resistance and immunosuppression and have shown highly significant results.

RESULTS

The results of all in vitro and in vivo assays conducted as part of the recent research work offer considerable evidence that the chosen medicinal plant has the ability to induce specific hormone release and boost the immune system.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on our findings, it is proposed that medicinal herbs may be isolated using cutting-edge approaches to tackle the issues of immunosuppression and microbial resistance.