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.
Background: Diabetes mellitus a major factor that has adverse effects on the vascular system and the heart. It causes an increase in cardiac muscle thickness, resulting in decreased compliance and increased peripheral arterial stiffness. This study aims to assess the left ventricular mass (LVM) and left ventricular hemodynamic changes in diabetic patients measured by Doppler echocardiography. Patients and Methods: The study included 50 diabetic patients ranging in age between 25 and 80 years, (mean age: 54.1 ± 15.10, 19 males, 31 females) and 50 healthy subjects, aged 25 to 80 years (mean age: 48.52 ± 14.45, 11 males, 39 females). Doppler echocardiography was used to assess left ventricular function. The measurements included
... Show MoreBackground: The clinical examination is one of the best suitable methods for diagnosis of low backache. Backache is one disease that the signs, clinical examination finding, and the results on imaging modalities not always related. The straight leg raising (SLR) and slump tests, can be used for diagnosis of lumber disc herniation. Objectives: To compare the result of the slump test and SLR test in the diagnosis of lumber disc herniation. Subjects and Methods: A prospective comparative study conducts on 280 patients in Al-Kindy teaching and private clinics complaints of backache, aging between 18-70 years old with acute or recurrent backache, sciatica pain, or low back and sciatica pain for last 12 weeks, while patients
... Show MoreSeveral adipokines are produced and secreted from adipose tissue, such as retinol binding protein-4, which triggers metabolic syndromes and insulin resistance. Retinol binding protein-4 transfers vitamin A or retinol in the blood. Higher levels of retinol binding protein-4 are interrelated with progress of metabolic disease, comprising obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The present study investigates the role of retinol-binding protein-4 levels in type 2 diabetic Iraqi patients with metabolic syndrome. Sixty type 2 diabetic patients aged 40–53 years were examined. Of these 30 patients has metabolic syndrome and 30 without metabolic syndrome. The patients sampled were from the National Diabetes Center/ Mustansiriyah
... Show MoreWe report herein an innovative approach to prostate tumor therapy using tumor specific radioactive gold nanoparticles (198Au) functionalized with Mangiferin (MGF). Production and full characterization of MGF-198AuNPs are described. In vivo therapeutic efficacy of MGF-198AuNPs, through intratumoral delivery, in SCID mice bearing prostate tumor xenografts are described. Singular doses of the nano-radiopharmaceutical (MGF-198AuNPs) resulted in over 85% reduction of tumor volume as compared to untreated control groups. The excellent anti-tumor efficacy of MGF-198AuNPs are attributed to the retention of over 90% of the injected dose within tumors for long periods of time. The retention of MGF-198AuNPs is also rationalized in terms of the higher
... Show MoreMetaphor is one of the most important linguistic phenomena of the artistic text, as it is the expression of the author’s emotions and evaluations, the result of a deep inner transformation of the semantic words and visual means of reflecting the national culture of each people. This paper examines the concept of linguistic metaphors and analyzes its types in the Russian and Arabic linguistics, provides a comparative analysis of metaphors in Russian and Arabic — all this allows to conclude that metaphorization is characteris- tic of different parts of speech. In the Russian language stylistic differentiation of the metaphors expressed more than in Arabic, so translation of many “sty- listic” metaphors from Russian into Arabic due to
... Show MoreA new results for fusion reactivity and slowing-down energy distribution functions for controlled thermonuclear fusion reactions of the hydrogen isotopes are achieved to reach promising results in calculating the factors that covered the design and construction of a given fusion system or reactor. They are strongly depending upon their operating fuels, the reaction rate, which in turn, reflects the physical behavior of all other parameters characterization of the system design
This work represents study the rock facies and flow unit classification for the Mishrif carbonate reservoir in Buzurgan oil Field, which located n the south eastern Iraq, using wire line logs, core samples and petrophysical data (log porosity and core permeability). Hydraulic flow units were identified using flow zone indicator approach and assessed within each rock type to reach better understanding of the controlling role of pore types and geometry in reservoir quality variations. Additionally, distribution of sedimentary facies and Rock Fabric Number along with porosity and permeability was analyzed in three wells (BU-1, BU-2, and BU-3). The interactive Petrophysics - IP software is used to assess the rock fabric number, flow zon
... Show MoreBackground: Dental caries is a localized, progressive destructive, largely irreversible microbial based disease of multifactorial nature; these factors include (host, microbes and food) they influence differently on the initiation and progression of dental caries. The aims of the study: was to evaluate the effect of smoking on salivary flow rate, secretory immunoglobulin (SIgA) level and viable count of mutans streptococci (M.S) bacteria in oral cavity and their relation to dental caries experience. Material and method: The samples were collected from 80 male students ranging in ages from 18-22 years old. Where they divided in to two groups, 40 non-smokers (control group) and 40 smokers (study group). Unstimulated salivary samples were c
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