Background: Entamoeba histolytica is the causative agent of amoebic dysentery and hepatic abscesses. Despite the efficacy of metronidazole in alleviating infectious diseases, the global dissemination of drug-resistant parasites raises the possibility that Punica granatum could serve as an effective natural alternative treatment. Objective: To evaluate the effect of P. granatum methanolic and aqueous extracts of various parts against E. histolytica trophozoites in an in vitro setting. Methods: Various concentrations (0.14, 0.7, 1.4, and 2.8 mg/ml) of P. granatum extracts of the flowers, leafs, peels, and seeds were chosen for this purpose. A culture medium containing 0.05x106/ml E. histolytica trophozoites was treated with different concentrations of these extracts. The incubation period was 48 hours at 37°C. For every set, an untreated control was also performed. The standard medication metronidazole (17 μg/ml) was employed as a comparative control. Results: All parts of P. granatum showed high efficacy against E. histolytica trophozoites, but utilization of the methanolic extract proved to be quite effective compared to aqueous extract. Under a light microscope, several morphological changes were also seen. These include changes to the plasma membrane, reorganization of vacuoles that hold cell waste, and major changes to the cytoplasmic granules. Conclusions: The leaf, seed, flower, and peel extracts of P. granatum effectively inhibit the growth of E. histolytica trophozoites in vitro. The use of methanolic extract was more effective compared to the aqueous extract, and can be used as a natural alternative treatment for amoebic dysentery.
The effects of temperature on an exotic aquatic snail Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck, 1819) collected from the Shatt Al-Arab intertidal zone were investigated. A series of laboratory experiments were conducted during the summer period of 2017. Individuals of new born snails hatched in the laboratory from adult snails were collected from Shatt Al-Arab intertidal zone, and subjected to five fixed temperatures: 15, 25, 35, 40 and 45 Cº, after short term thermal acclimation. The heartbeats (HB) were counted at each temperature level. The results showed significant direct increase of HB from 15 Cº (19.8 HB/min) up to 25 Cº (76 HB/min) (P<0.05) as well as from 25 Cº to 35 Cº (93 HB/min). At 40 Cº the snail HB
... Show MoreThe current study has beenconduced to evaluate the effect of extracted crude terpens at the concentrations of 6,8% of seeds of Eucalyptuscamaldulensison the 4th larval instar oftheCallosobruchusmaculates and the percentage of the cowpea seed germination.The Results showed that the terpens extract of the concentration of 8% increases the mortality rate of the fourth larval instar and it reach to 63.3%, and then decrease of to 26.6,20% at concentration of 6%and forcontrol treatment respectively The percentage of adult emergence reduces to 0% at the concentration of 8% compared with control treatment in which it reach to 66.6%. The extraction atbothconcentrations 6,8% does not affect the germination rate
The present study was conducted to determine the optimum conditions required for lipase enzyme activity extracted from germinated sunflower seeds, including temperature, pH, agitation, time of incubation, enzyme concentration, substrate type, and concentrations of mineral salts and EDTA. Optimum pH, temperature and time of incubation required for lipase stability were also determined. The results showede optimum lipase activity (3.251U/ml) wasund at 30 ÌŠC and pH 7 after 20 minutes of incubation when using 1 ml lipase enzyme with 0.02 ml of CaCl2 (10 mM) at 100 rpm of agitation and in the presence of olive oil as the substrate for enzyme reaction. EDTA appeared to have inhibitory effects, while Ca+2 and Mg+2 have stimulatory effec
... Show MoreThe main purpose of this investigation is to evaluate the concentrations of six essential metals (Na+, Mg2+, K+, Ca2+, Fe2+ and Zn2+) in saffron and a farm soil using the neutron activation analysis (NAA) as a nuclear spectrometry method. The stratified random sampling method was used here. The NAA results showed the well uptake of Mg2+, K+, Ca2+, Fe2+, and Zn2+ in saffron, which is lower than the toxicity range. Based on the contamination factor and geoaccumulation index, soil contamination levels were determined uncontaminated by Zn, moderately contaminated by Na+ and Fe2+, and strongly contamin
... Show MoreTitanium dioxide TiO2 has been widely utilized in cleaning and sterilizing material for many clinical tools sanitary ware, food tableware and cooking and items for use in hospitals. Titanium dioxide TiO2 non toxicity and long term physical and chemical stability. It has been widely used decomposition of organic compounds and microbial organisms such as cancer cell, viruses and bacteria as well as its potential application in sterilization of medical devices. The aim of the study the effect of titanium dioxide TiO2 on some Gram negative bacteria and study their effects on some virulence factors and chromosomal DNA.In this study, we obtained (E. coli ? Proteus mirabilis, Proteus vulgaris ? Pseudomonas aeruginosa ? Klebsiella pneumonia and Ac
... Show MoreUrsolic acid (UA, 3 ?-hydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid) are isomeric triterpenic acids. The high quantities of pentacyclic triterpenoids in Scabiosa species seems to be obvious and there is an evidence that most of pentacyclic triterpenoids that have been isolated are saponins. This is one of the most important characteristic of the genus Scabiosa, the main aglycones are ursolic acid and oleanolic acid. In the current study, isolation from the aerial part and roots of Scabiosa palaestina L. was performed using Preparative HPLC. Furthermore, detection and quantitation of ursolic acid was performed by high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). The identification of isolated triterpenoid involves two methods including FT-IR coupl
... Show MoreThis research was conducted to measure the safety of heat stable enterotoxin a (STa) produced by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, through studying its toxic effect on human blood lymphocyte, since it showed a promising effect in reducing the proliferation of colorectal cancer cells. the cytogenetic effects of (STa) by using five different concentrations (100, 200, 400, 800 and 1600μg/ml) in comparison with negative (PBS, Phosphate buffer saline) and positive (MMC, Mitomycin C) at concentration of 5μg/ml, controls on human blood lymphocytes obtained from both (10) normal healthy persons and (20) colorectal cancer patients was measured by employing the following parameters: mitotic index, blast index, chromosomal aberrations and micronucle
... Show MoreThe experiment was conducted in the glass house in a nursery at the growth season 2013.The experiment was designed by the Completely Randomized Blocks Design(CRBD).The seeds of two varieties of eggplant were studied.They were : 1.Lot (Number)Melaneana an American species,2.Aydinsiyah a Turkish species.We used three periods of water stress(1,8 ,16)days respectively, and three concentrations of proline acid (0,50,100) ppm using three frequents for each treatment.The experiment contained 54 experimental unit.The seeds were planted on the 30th/8/2013 in the glass house of the nursery, a month later, we put the plantelet in pots with good fertilized soil in the glass house.Some growth features were
... Show MoreNeural stem cells (NSCs) are progenitor cells which have the ability to self‑renewal and potential for differentiating into neurons, oligodendrocytes, and astrocytes. The in vitro isolation, culturing, identification, cryopreservation were investigated to produce neural stem cells in culture as successful sources for further studies before using it for clinical trials. In this study, mouse bone marrow was the source of neural stem cells. The results of morphological study and immunocytochemistry of isolated cells showed that NSCs can be produced successfully and maintaining their self‑renewal and successfully forming neurosphere for multiple passages. The spheres preserved their morphology in culture and cryopreserved t
... Show MoreAlthough the number of implants has increased gradually and consistently over the years to around one million per year globally, there is still far more potential for advancement in the field of dental implantology which is typically growing quickly. This study investigates the effect of nanofiller reinforcement high-performance polymer matrix to enhance mechanical and physical characteristics. Calcium silicate (CS)/Polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) biomedical composite (G0 as a control group) is reinforced with different weight percentages (G1-G4) of tellurium dioxide nanoparticles (TeO2NPs) ( n = 5). This research uses ethanol as a binder for mixing various weight percentages (wt%) of TeO2NPs w
... Show More