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.
Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.), a leafy plant used for fresh food, medicinal purposes, and aromatic purposes (including the extraction of volatile essential oil and active compounds), was the subject of a worker experiment at the College of Education for Pure Sciences Ibn Al-Haitham / University of Baghdad during the 2023 growing season. The experiment aimed to determine the effects of spraying the basil plant’s vegetative system with aqueous extracts of watercress and parsley on the plant’s growth characteristics and the production of active compounds. The experiment included two factors, the first factor, the aqueous extract of the watercress plant in three concentrations (0, 5, 10
Abstract: This study was aimed to investigate the effect of two doses of pregabalin (PGB) on hormonal level and sexual activity in female albino rats. Ninety female rats with age (9-10 weeks) and weight (200±20 g) were divided into three major groups of thirty rats. First group was considered as control G1, the second G2 and third G3 groups were exposed to PGB into two doses 150, and 300 mg/kg body weight per day respectively. Each major group was divided into three subgroups (subgroup A, B, and C of each has ten rats), the treatments last for one month for subgroup A, two months for subgroup B, and three months for subgroup C. Five rats from each subgroup were placed separately into two breeding cages with two isolated males and wait
... Show MoreIn this study, the aqueous extract of (Typha domingensis Pers.) pollen grain (qurraid) to know its ability to manufacture silver nanoparticles. Qurraid is a semi-solid yellow food substance, sold in Basra markets and eaten by the local population. It is made from the pollen of the T. domingensis Pers. plant after being pressed and treated with water vapor. The Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) reaction was done to identify the active compounds of qurraid aqueous extract. The ability of the aqueous extract of qurraid to manufacture silver nanoparticles was tested, and the construction of silver nanoparticles was inferred by the reaction mixture's color, which ranged from yellow to dark brown. The synthesi
... Show MoreToday, the architecture field is witnessing a noticeable evolution regarding the used tools that the designer should invest in a peculiar way that is made available in architecture through the concept of synergy generally and algorithmic synergy specifically. The synergy is meant to study and analyze the cooperative behavior of complex systems and self-organizing systems that leads to different outputs referred to by the synergy as the (whole), which is bigger than the sum of parts and in architecture, it's translated as the architectural form. This point resulted in a need of a specific study regarding the concept of synergy that focuses on the cooperative, synergistic relations within the trilogy of (form, structure, and material) and
... Show MoreEnzyme activity were studied in the sera of children with leukemia than healthy children, where 31 cases were studied, including 21 cases of patients with acute lymphatic leukemia
Herein, an efficient inorganic/organic hybrid photocatalyst composed of zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) decorated with Cd0.5Zn0.5S solid solution semiconductor was constructed. The properties of prepared ZIF- [email protected] nanocomposite and its components (ZIF-67 and Cd0.5Zn0.5S) were investigated using XRD, FESEM, EDX, TEM, DRS and BET methods. The photocatalytic activity of fabricated [email protected] nanocomposite were measured toward removal of methyl violet (MV) dye as a simulated organic contaminant. Under visible-light and specific conditions (photocatalyst dose 1 g/l, MV dye 10 mg/l, unmodified solution pH 6.7 and reaction time 60 min.), the acquired [email protected] photocatalyst showed advanced photocatalytic activity
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