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.
The present study aimed to evaluate the concentration of Malon dialdehyde (MDA) in pregnant women during different stages of pregnancy (stage of pregnancy, abortion, contraceptives and parity number).The study included (120) blood samples from normal pregnant women in age of the procreating were subdivided into three trimesters of pregnancy (40/group), and (40) samples from non-pregnant women as a control group. The results showed a significant increase in MDA in three stages of pregnancy compared with the control group. The concentration of MDA increased significantly in pregnant women with multipregnancy when compared with pregnant women for the first time, and in pregnant women whom was using contraceptions compared with p
... Show MoreTo overcome the problems which associated with the standard multiple daily doses (MDD)
of aminoglycosides (AGs) like high incidence of toxicity(nephrotoxicity, ototoxicity)(5-25%) and high cost, an alternative approach was developed which was single daily dose (SDD).This new regimen was designed to maximize bacterial killing by optimizing the peak concentration/minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC)ratio and to reduce the potential for toxicity. The study includes 75 patients selected randomly, 50 of them received SDD regimen of age range of 17-79 years and the remaining received MDD regimen of age range of 13-71 years. The study was designed to evaluate the safety of SDD regim
... Show MoreHydroxychloroquine (HQC) and chloroquine drugs belong to a class of drugs known as 4-aminoquinoline, its structure weak bases due to the presence of the essential side chain, and this chain contributes to the accumulation of drugs in the intracellular parts. A 21 mice were taken and divided into three groups, the first group (A) was the control group that administered oral distilled water for 30 days, and the second group (B) treated group that was dose with 15 mg/kg/day of drug for 30 days, and the third group (C) was the treated group by injected drug with a concentration of 30 mg/kg/day for 30 days also. The result of amino acids studied in the kidney of adult white mice (Mus musculus) showed the presence of (18) amino acid represented:
... Show MoreRecently, many materials have shown that they can be used as alternatives to chemicals materials in order to be used to improve the properties of drilling fluids. Some of these materials are banana peels and corn cobs which both are considered environmentally- friendly materials. The results of the X-ray diffraction examination have proved that the main components of these materials are cellulose and hemicellulose, which contribute greatly to the increasing of the effectiveness of these two materials. Due to their distinct composition, these two materials have improved the rheological properties (plastic viscosity and yield point) and reduced the filtration of the drilling fluids to a large extent. The addition rates used for each o
... Show MorePotentiostatic polarization and weight loss methods have been used to investigate the corrosion behavior of carbon steel in sodium chloride solution at different concentrations (0.1, 0.4 and 0.6) M under the influence of temperatures ( 293, 298, 303, 308 and 313) K. The inhibition efficiency of the amoxicillin drug on carbon steel in 0.6 M NaCl has also been studied based on concentration and temperature. The corrosion rate showed that all salt concentrations ( NaCl solution) resulted in corrosion of carbon steel in varying ratio and 0.6 M of salt solution was the highest rate (50.46 g/m².d). The results also indicate that the rate of corrosion increases at a temperature of 313 K.. Potentiodynamic polarization studi
... Show MoreOcular drug delivery is challenging due to the presence of anatomical and physiological barriers. These barriers can affect drug entry into the eye following multiple routes of administration (e.g., topical, systemic, and injectable). Topical administration in the form of eye drops is preferred for treating anterior segment diseases, as it is convenient and provides local delivery of drugs. Major concerns with topical delivery include poor drug absorption and low bioavailability. To improve the bioavailability of topically administered drugs, novel drug delivery systems are being investigated. Nanocarrier delivery systems demonstrate enhanced drug permeation and prolonged drug release. This review provides an overview of ocular barr
... Show MoreAs part of our research on efficiency improvement of PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Solar Cell), achieving very low reflectivity values of solar cell surface is a must. One of the most advance technologies to do so is the use of advanced texturing for the front surface of the cells. This texture, also known as Black Silicon, consists of peaks and valleys of nano metric dimensions and capable of dramatically reducing the reflectance of the front surface. A reflectance around 5% was reached ,using simulation, when using a Black-Silicon texturing with height of 50nm with peak rounding of 5nm. Even though this texturing may affect other parameters such as series resistance or surface recombination, as a starting point
... Show MoreIn our research, several different Statics solutions have been implemented in the processing of seismic data in the south of Iraq for (2D) line seismic survey (AK18) of Abu-khama project with length 32.4 Km and their corresponding results have been compared in order to find optimum static solutions. The static solutions based on the tomographic-principle or combining the low frequency components of field statics with high frequency ones of refraction statics can provide a reasonable static solution for seismic data in the south of Iraq. The quality of data was bad and unclear in the seismic signal, but after applying field statics there is an enhancement of data quality. The Residual static correction improved the qualities of seis
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