Antibiotic resistance is the major growing threat facing the pharmacological treatment of bacterial infections. Therefore, bioprospecting the medicinal plants could provide potential sources for antimicrobial agents. Mimusops, the biggest and widely distributed plant genus of family Sapotaceae, is used in traditional medicines due to its promising pharmacological activities. This study was conducted to elucidate the antimicrobial effect of three unexplored Mimusops spp. (M. kummel, M. laurifolia and M. zeyheri). Furthermore, the mechanisms underlying such antibacterial activity were studied. The Mimusops leaf extracts revealed significant antibacterial activities against the five tested bacterial strains with a maximum inhibition zone diameter of 22.0 mm against B. subtilis compared with standard antibiotic ciprofloxacin. The minimal inhibitory and bactericidal concentration values against tested Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains ranged from 3.15-12.5 µg/ml. However, weak antifungal effect was recorded against Candida albicans with MIC value ˃25 µg/ml. The 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay showed that M. caffra was the best antioxidant (IC50=14.75±0.028 µg/ml), while M. laurifolia was the least one (IC50=34.22±0.014 µg/ml). The phenolics in plant leaves extracts were identified and quantified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) which revealed the presence of seven phenolic acids and four flavonoids. The abundant phenolic compounds were rutin (5.216±0.067 mg/g dried wt.) and gallic acid (0.296±0.068 mg/g) followed by myricetin (0.317±0.091 mg/g) then kaempferol (0.113±0.049 mg/g) as flavonoids. The antibacterial mechanism of M. laurifolia extract, as a representative species, induces ultrastructural changes in the model bacterium Staphylococcus aureus with cell wall and plasma membrane lysis as revealed by transmission electron microscopy. Overall, Mimusops species (M. laurifolia, M. kummel and M. zeyheri) are promising natural alternative sources for antimicrobial agents.
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of respiratory airways characterized by distinctive history of respiratory symptoms due to variable airflow obstruction which reverses either spontaneously or in response to certain medications. Acetylcholine is a parasympathetic neurotransmitter which plays fundamental roles in the development of persistent asthma. Treatment guidelines recommend using medium doses of inhaled corticosteroids in addition to another controller bronchodilator instead of using high doses inhaled steroid alone for treatment of moderate to severe persistent asthma. The inhaled long acting muscarinic antagonist, tiotropium, was approved recently to control unresponsive asthma to inhaled corticosteroid with or without a long
... Show MoreThe cyclophosphamide is commonly used for the treatment of cancer and immunosuppressive diseases in young and old age and can induce oxidative stress in reproductive organs, therefore has adverse effects on sperm quality and quantity. In this study, the effects of a single dose of cyclophosphamide on sperm parameters in adult male mice that treated with 10 mg/kg of this drug on the 11th embryonic day were investigated. Adult female pregnant NMRI mice were divided into 2 groups; the control group received saline and the cyclophosphamide group received cyclophosphamide at a dose of 10 mg / kg on day 11th of gestation (i.p). 60 days after the birth of the infants, male mice were sacrificed and the sperm collected from
... Show MoreAIM: To evaluate the short-term effectiveness of Gamma knife radiosurgery as a modality of treatment of brain arteriovenous malformation. METHODS: Sixty-three patients with arteriovenous brain malformations underwent Gamma knife radiosurgery included in this prospective study between April 2017 and September 2018 with clinical and radiological with MRI follow up was done at three months and six months post-Gamma knife radiosurgery. By the end of the 12th-month post-Gamma knife radiosurgery, the patients were re-evaluated using digital subtraction angiography co-registered with M.R.I. During the 12 months follow up, CT scan or MRI was done at any time if any one of the patients᾽ condition deteriorated or developed signs and s
... Show MoreObjectives: To assess the quality of life for adult patients with peptic ulcers in the city of Sulaimani.
Methodology: A descriptive study, using the assessment approach was conducted on patients with peptic ulcer
disease from January 12th, 2009 to September 30th, 2009. A purposive "non-probability" sample of (100) paƟents
(males and females) with peptic ulcers who attended Kurdistan Center for Gastroenterology and Hepatology were
selected for the study. A questionnaire was adapted from the World Health Organization quality of life questionnaire
(1998) for the purpose of the study. It is comprised of (3) parts that included sociodemographic characteristics form,
medical history form and adult peptic ulcers patients' qu
The civil engineering field currently focus on sustainable development. It is important to develop new sustainable and economic generations of concrete, using eco-friendly materials in the construction industry with a fair amount of costs and minimizing the impact upon the environment by reducing CO2 emissions from the cement industry as a whole while still obtaining high cement quality and strength. The main objective of this research is to clarify the mechanical behavior and ability to use Portland limestone cement in producing self compacted concrete, due to the beneficious effec of the limestone cement economically and enviromently. The research investigates the effect of using steel and polymer meshs as reinforcement, where the results
... Show MoreA comparative study was carried out to evaluate alkaloid antibacterial activity which was extracted from the root bark Punica granatum L. by liquid membrane techniques (SA) and organic solvent traditional techniques (SB). The screening of the antimicrobial activity was conducted by agar well diffusion method against Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Proteus mirabilis at three concentration levels (5, 10 and 15 mg/ml). Alkaloid extracts were analyzed by a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. Among the tested extractions, SB showed the highest antibacterial activity against all five bacterial strains, especially at 15 mg/ml concentration. However, all the B type solution
... Show MoreThis study aims to evaluate and compare the cytotoxicity and biocompatibility of a modified heat-cured acrylic denture base material containing 15% phosphoric acid 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate ester (PA2HEME) with those of nonmodified PMMA. Discs with a diameter of 12 mm and a thickness of 2 mm were prepared using a heat-cured PMMA denture base material and divided into control and experimental groups. The experimental group was modified with 15% phosphoric acid 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate ester (PA2HEME). The modified and nonmodified materials were tested via FTIR, and the effect of modification on surface roughness was evaluated with AFM. An in vitro test was conducted to examine the cytotoxicity and biocompatibility of heat-cured acry
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