UNASSIGNED: Vaginitis is a common infection in women, with approximately 75% of women experiencing at least one episode during their lifetime. Although antimicrobial agents are widely used to treat vaginitis, recurrent vaginitis occurs in some patients. Resistance to these agents is the major cause of recurrent vaginitis. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel drugs.
UNASSIGNED: We investigated the efficacy of a new biological bacteriostatic agent (BBA), composed of lysozyme, phytoalexin, chitosan oligosaccharide, sinensetin, 18β/20α-glycyrrhizin, and betaine, against vaginitis using in vitro and in vivo studies. First, we evaluated the antibacterial effects of BBA against 13 microbial strains commonly present in aerobic vaginitis, bacterial vaginosis, vulvovaginal candidiasis, and healthy vaginas. Second, we assessed the safety of various doses of BBA administered orally for 4 weeks in female mice. Third, we examined the in vivo anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory effects of BBA in Candida albicans-, Candida glabrata-, and Gardnerella-induced vaginitis models. Finally, we evaluated the anti-vaginitis effect of a BBA gel prepared with 0.5% (w/v) ammonium acryloyldimethyltaurate/Vp copolymer.
UNASSIGNED: BBA effectively suppressed the growth of the main causative pathogens of vaginitis in vitro. BBA, either undiluted or diluted two-fold, inhibited all microorganisms cultured for 8 h. No obvious organ damage was detected when BBA was administered to mice. Both BBA alone and 70% BBA in a gel formulation effectively inhibited the proliferation of C. albicans, C. glabrata, and Gardnerella in vaginal lavage samples and alleviated tissue inflammation in mice with vaginitis. The 70% BBA gel performed better than BBA alone at treating vaginitis in mice infected with Gardnerella vaginalis.
UNASSIGNED: BBA alone and a 70% BBA gel inhibited the growth of pathogens and effectively alleviated inflammation caused by C. albicans, C. glabrata, and G. vaginalis.

Malassezia globosa, a lipophilic pathogen, is known to be involved in various chronic skin diseases. Unfortunately, the available treatments have unwanted side effects and microbial drug resistance is evolving. As the antimicrobial activity of propolis is outstanding, this study aimed to examine the potential of propolis from the stingless bee Geniotrigona thoracica against the yeast. Anti-M. globosa growth activity was ascertained in agar well diffusion and broth microdilution assays and the inhibitory concentration value at 50 % (IC50) was determined. Since the yeast cannot synthesize its own fatty acids, extracellular lipase is important for its survival. Here, anti-M. globosa extracellular lipase activity was additionally investigated by colorimetric and agar-based methods. Compared to the crude hexane and crude dichloromethane extracts, the crude methanol partitioned extract (CMPE) exhibited the best anti-M. globosa growth activity with an IC50 of 1.22 mg/mL. After CMPE was further enriched by silica gel column chromatography, fraction CMPE1 (IC50 of 0.98 mM or 184.93 μg/mL) presented the highest activity and was later identified as methyl gallate (MG) by nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. Subsequently, MG was successfully synthesized and shown to have a similar activity, and a minimal fungicidal concentration of 43.44 mM or 8.00 mg/mL. However, lipase assay analysis suggested that extracellular lipase might not be the main target mechanism of MG. This is the first report of MG as a new anti-Malassezia compound. It could be a good candidate for further developing alternative therapeutic agents.

In this study, a straightforward electrochemical aptasensor was developed to detect sulfadimethoxine (SDM). It included a glassy carbon electrode decorated by boron nitride quantum dots (BNQDs) and aptamer-functionalized nanoporous carbon (APT/CZ). CZ was first synthesized by calcinating a zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8). Then, the electroactive dye methylene blue (MB) was entrapped inside its pores. By attaching aptamer to the CZ surface, APT/CZ acted as a bioguard, which prevented the MB release. Therefore, the electrochemical signal of the entrapped MB was high in the absence of SDM. Introducing SDM caused the conformation of aptamers to change, and a large number of MB was released, which was removed by washing. Therefore, the detection strategy was done based on the change in the electrochemical signal intensity of MB. The aptasensor was applied to detect SDM at a concentration range of 10-17 to 10-7 M with a detection limit of 3.6 × 10-18 M.

Vitex L. is the largest genus of the Lamiaceae family, and most of its species are used in the traditional medicinal systems of different countries. A systematic review was conducted, according to the PRISMA methodology, to determine the potential of Vitex plants as sources of antimicrobial agents, resulting in 2610 scientific publications from which 141 articles were selected. Data analysis confirmed that Vitex species are used in traditional medicine for symptoms of possible infectious diseases. Conducted studies showed that these medicinal plants exhibited in vitro antimicrobial activity against Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. Vitex agnus-castus L. and Vitex negundo L. have been the most studied species, not only against bacterial strains but also against fungi such as Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans, viruses such as HIV-1, and parasites such as Plasmodium falciparum. Natural products like agnucastoside, negundol, negundoside, and vitegnoside have been identified in Vitex extracts and their antimicrobial activity against a wide range of microbial strains has been determined. Negundoside showed significant antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (MIC 12.5 µg/mL). Our results show that Vitex species are potential sources of new natural antimicrobial agents. However, further experimental studies need to be conducted.

Weaned dairy heifers are a relatively understudied production group. Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is the most common cause of antimicrobial drug (AMD) use, morbidity, and mortality in this production group. The study of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is complicated because many variables that may affect AMR are related. This study generates hypotheses regarding the farm- and animal-level variables (e.g., vaccination, lane cleaning, and AMD use practices) that may be associated with AMR in respiratory isolates from weaned dairy heifers. A cross-sectional study was performed using survey data and respiratory isolates (Pasteurella multocida, Mannheimia haemolytica, and Histophilus somni) collected from 341 weaned dairy heifers on six farms in California. Logistic regression and Bayesian network analyses were used to evaluate the associations between farm- and animal-level variables with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) classification of respiratory isolates against 11 AMDs. Farm-level variables associated with MIC classification of respiratory isolates included the number of source farms of a calf-rearing facility, whether the farm practiced onsite milking, the use of lagoon water for flush lane cleaning, and respiratory and pinkeye vaccination practices. Animal-level variables associated with a MIC classification included whether the calf was BRD-score-positive and time since the last phenicol treatment.

Salmonella are intracellular bacterial pathogens for which, as with many of the other Enterobacteriaceae, antibiotic resistance is becoming an increasing problem. New antibiotics are being sought as recommended by the World Health Organization and other international institutions. These must be able to penetrate macrophages, and infect the major host cells and the Salmonella-containing vacuole. This study reports screening a small library of Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs for their antibacterial effect in macrophages infected with a rapid-multiplying mutant of Salmonella Enteritidis. The most effective drug that was least toxic for macrophages was Nifuratel, a nitrofuran antibiotic already in use for parasitic infections. In mice, it provided 60% protection after oral infection with a lethal S. Enteritidis dose with reduced bacterial numbers in the tissues. It was effective against different serovars, including multidrug-resistant strains of Salmonella Typhimurium, and in macrophages from different host species and against Listeria monocytogenes and Shigella flexneri. It reduced IL-10 and STAT3 production in infected macrophages which should increase the inflammatory response against Salmonella. IMPORTANCE Salmonella can keep long-term persistence in host\'s macrophages to evade cellular immune defense and antibiotic attack and exit in some condition and reinfect to cause salmonellosis again. In addition to multidrug resistance, this infection circle causes Salmonella clearance difficult in the host, and so there is a great need for new antibacterial agents that reduce intramacrophage Salmonella survival to block endogenous Salmonella reinfection.

UNASSIGNED: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is a common causative pathogen in healthcare settings and displays increasing levels of resistance to common antimicrobial drugs. Its capacity to resist has been reported in multiple locations across the world. This study evaluates current levels of antibiotic resistance and seeks to understand antibiotic resistance patterns in the context of the clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa.
UNASSIGNED: All clinical isolates were cultured at 37 °C for 24 h in different media: blood sheep agar, McConkey agar, and cystine-lactose-electrolyte-deficient agar (CLED), bacterial identification and antibiotic susceptibility patterns were determined using the Vitek-2 (bioMérieux) automated system.
UNASSIGNED: In total, there were 61,029 patient specimens, of which 5534 were identified as non-duplicated P. aeruginosa clinical isolates, most being from males aged over 60 years. The research findings revealed that the maximum antibiotic resistance associated with P. aeruginosa isolates was found in colistin (97%), which was followed by piperacillin/tazobactam (75.8%). The maximum resistance rates in P. aeruginosa isolates were found in relation to cefepime (42.7%,) which was followed by ciprofloxacin (34.3%).
UNASSIGNED: The antibiotic resistance rate during the first six years of the research period was notably higher than in the last years, due to the application of infection control protocols and strict policies to control antibiotic prescriptions in all Saudi hospitals.

This dataset expresses the experimental data on the batch adsorption of ciprofloxacin and lamivudine from synthetic solution using jamun seed (JS) (Syzygium cumini) biochar. Independent variables including concentration of pollutants (10-500 ppm), contact time (30-300 min), adsorbent dosage (1-1000 mg), pH (1-14) and adsorbent calcination temperature (250,300, 600 and 750 °C) were studied and optimized using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Empirical models were developed to predict the maximum removal efficiency of ciprofloxacin and lamivudine, and the results were compared with the experimental data. The removal of polutants was more influenced by concentration, followed by adsorbent dosagage, pH, and contact time and the maximum removal reached 90%.

RNA helicases represent attractive drug targets as their activity is linked to several human diseases and impacts microbial infectious processes. While some inhibitors of human RNA helicases demonstrated therapeutic potential as anticancer and antiviral drugs in preclinical trials, chemical inhibition of microbial RNA helicases is less investigated. Here, we address this matter by focusing on the RhlE proteobacterial group of RNA helicases. Having previously shown that the RhlE2 RNA helicase is important for the virulence of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, we screened a library of 1280 molecules for inhibitors of RhlE2 RNA-dependent ATP hydrolytic activity. The most potent inhibitor is the diazo compound Chicago Sky Blue (CSB). Using hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry and biochemical assays, we mapped CSB binding to RhlE2 catalytic core and defined its inhibitory mechanism. Targeting microbial RNA helicases as therapeutic strategy is challenging due to potential side-effects linked to protein conservation across life kingdoms. Interestingly, our structure-activity relationship analysis delineates other diazo dyes closely related to CSB differentially affecting RhlE homologs. Our work could thus be exploited for future drug development studies, which are extremely timely considering the increasing spread of antibiotic resistance among bacterial pathogens.

Dr Bugarin is currently an Associate Professor of Chemistry and Physics at Florida Gulf Coast University. He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed publications (h-index = 18). His research group is developing new methodology to improve or reveal novel reactivity of triazenes, N-Heterocyclic carbenes, heterobimetallic catalysts, and other versatile molecules. In addition, he recently joined research efforts to build on the isolation, characterization, and biological evaluation of natural products.