Methicillin-resistant
(MRSA) continues to be one of the main causes of hospital-acquired infections in all regions of the world, while linezolid is one of the only commercially available oral ...antibiotics available against this dangerous gram-positive pathogen. In this study, the antibacterial activity from 32 analogues of synthetic gamma-lactam heterocycles against MRSA was determined. Amongst screened analogues for the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay, compound
displayed good inhibitory activity with MIC values of 7.8-15.6 µg/mL against 30 MRSA and 12 methicillin-sensitive
(MSSA) clinical isolates, while cytotoxicity evaluations displayed a mean inhibitory concentration (IC
) value of > 625 µg/mL, displaying a potential to becoming as a lead compound. In subsequent animal studies for
, a single-dose oral acute toxicity test revealed an estimated mean lethal dose (LD
) value of <5000 mg/kg, while in the mice infection test, a mean effective dose (ED
) value of 29.39 mg/kg was obtained via oral administration. These results suggest that gamma-lactam carbon skeleton, particularly
, is highly recommended to be evaluated further as a new safe and efficacious orally delivered antibacterial agent against MRSA.
Moringa oleifera infusion is a popular drink among herbal infusion consumers. Although M. oleiferais claimed to have medicinal value and promoted health benefits, it does not be simply considered ...safe if no specific study is conducted to determine Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) content in commercial M. oleifera herbal drink. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate 10 PAHs content in M. oleiferadried leaves and in its infusion. The second objective was to assess the effect of mass-volume ratio on PAHs content in M. oleifera infusion. PAHs extraction procedure was performed using QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe) method. PAHs determination and quantification were performed using Gas Chromatography and Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID). The mean of total 10 PAHs (∑10PAH) in M. oleifera dried leaves and infusion ranged from 1.06 µg/kg to 5.51 µg/kg and 0.62 µg/kg to 4.80 µg/kg, respectively. Four different mass-volume ratios were used in this study to determine PAHs content that could be extracted from M. oleifera dried leaves into an infusion; 2:250, 20:250, 10:100, and 10:50. The ratio of 2:250 showed the lowest PAHs content in comparison with other ratios. The PAHs content in M. oleifera dried leaves and infusion have statistically significantly different (p > 0.01) from each other. The toxic equivalency quotient (TEQ) value of M. oleifera dried leaves and infusion ranged from 0.01 to 0.09 and 0.00 to 0.07, respectively. PAHs content in M. oleifera dried leaves and infusions complied with the maximum limit set by Commission Regulation (EU) No. 2015/1933.
Previously we have discovered a synthetically derived pyrrolidone alkaloid, MFM501, exhibiting good inhibitory activity against 53 MRSA and MSSA isolates with low cytotoxicity against three normal ...cell-lines with IC50 values at >625 µg/ml. Time-kill assay, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, in vivo oral acute toxicity test, and mice peritonitis model were carried out in this study. In the time-kill study, MFM501 showed a less than 3 log10 decrease in bacterial colony concentration value (CFU/ml) which represented a bacteriostatic action while displaying a time-dependent inhibitory mechanism. Following that, SEM analysis suggested that MFM501 may exert its inhibitory activity via cytoplasmic membrane disruption. Moreover, MFM501 showed no toxicity effect on treated mice at an estimated median acute lethal dose (LD50) value of more than 300 mg/kg and less than 2000 mg/kg. For the efficacy test, a mean effective dose (ED50) of 87.16 mg/kg was obtained via a single dose oral administration. Our data demonstrated that MFM501 has the potential to be developed further as a new, safe, and effective oral-delivered antibacterial agent against MRSA isolates.
In line with the growing health trend in Malaysia, more consumers drink herbal tea for medicinal benefits. However, herbal tea products could be contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ...(PAHs) from various production sources. There is a little study focused on the detection of PAHs in herbal tea species distributed in Malaysia. This study was performed to investigate PAHs content and toxicity in selected commercial herbal teas in Malaysia. A total of seven different Malaysian herbal tea samples were extracted using QuEChERS extraction method and the contamination level of PAHs were evaluated using gas chromatography (GC) with a flame ionization detector (FID). The total content of 10 PAHs (∑10PAHs) in the herbal tea samples ranged from 2.53 to 9.39 µg/kg. Acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene and anthracene were the most abundant compounds with 53% contribution of all PAHs content. All tested herbal teas species showed low toxic equivalency (TEQ) values ranging from 0.0027 to 0.1148. The least contaminated samples were Strobilanthes crispus, Senna alata, Orthosiphon aristatus, Clinacanthus nutans, and Stevia rebaudiana.
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•Optimized TiO2 photocatalyst prepared at 5.42 pH and 1.75 g/L dosage.•The ANN modelling perfectly fitted the photocatalytic degradation reaction.•The designed model fits well with ...Pseudo-first-order and Langmuir Isotherms.
The epidemic growth of the pharmaceuticals industries over the years in order to meet the human demands had exerted substantial pressure on the global environment, particularly water pollutions crisis. Herein, the photocatalytic degradation of phenol was investigated via commercial TiO2 nanoparticles. The Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was employed for scrutinizing the suitable modelling and optimized condition of the TiO2 nanoparticles in yielding a profound rate of phenol removal. The parameters of investigation involved pH, phenol concentration, catalyst doses and degradation time. The RSM data shows the profound rate of phenol removal ˜ 99.48% was achieved by TiO2 NPs in a designed photocatalytic system that set at 5.42 pH, 15.21 mg/L phenol concentration, 1.75 g/L TiO2 dosage and 540 min irradiation time. The designed system fits well with the Pseudo-First-Order and the Langmuir isotherm model with R2 > 0.999. On the other hand, the ANN study revealed that the predicated model was perfectly fitted with the experimental data giving the highest value of R2. This work provides an insight into two different statistical modelling and optimization which could provide exposure for developing an optimized nanomaterial towards the removal of hazardous pollutant.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) continues to be one of the main causes of hospital-acquired infections in all regions of the world, while linezolid is one of the only commercially ...available oral antibiotics available against this dangerous gram-positive pathogen. In this study, the antibacterial activity from 32 analogues of synthetic gamma-lactam heterocycles against MRSA was determined. Amongst screened analogues for the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay, compound MFM514 displayed good inhibitory activity with MIC values of 7.8-15.6 µg/mL against 30 MRSA and 12 methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) clinical isolates, while cytotoxicity evaluations displayed a mean inhibitory concentration (ICsub.50) value of > 625 µg/mL, displaying a potential to becoming as a lead compound. In subsequent animal studies for MFM514, a single-dose oral acute toxicity test revealed an estimated mean lethal dose (LDsub.50) value of <5000 mg/kg, while in the mice infection test, a mean effective dose (EDsub.50) value of 29.39 mg/kg was obtained via oral administration. These results suggest that gamma-lactam carbon skeleton, particularly MFM514, is highly recommended to be evaluated further as a new safe and efficacious orally delivered antibacterial agent against MRSA.
Functional bioengineered tooth regeneration using autologous or allogeneic alternative differentiated cells sources are thought to have a great potential in replacing conventional dentures. This ...study investigated the potential of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) conditioned medium for odontoblastic differentiation of Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJMSCs). The DPSCs derived from healthy adult permanent first molars were cultured at high confluence prior to conditioned medium collection. The WJMSCs were cultured in six different treatments, with varying ratios of culture media to DPSCs-conditioned medium. MTT assay was used to measure the rate of proliferation of WJMSCs, while immunocytochemistry staining was utilised to detect the expression of dental matrix protein 1 (DMP-1). The deposited calcium was detected and analysed via Alizarin-Red Staining (ARS).
It was found that the proliferation of WJMSCs cultured under the mixture of complete medium and DPSCs conditioned medium showed significantly lower than the control; presumably the cells started to exit proliferative state prior differentiation. In 14 days of induction, the cells in all treatments showed osteoblastic-like morphology, calcium compound deposits were observed at day 7, 10 and 14 of differentiation suggested that DPSCs conditioned medium could lead to osteoblastic/odontoblastic differentiation. However, the DMP-1 protein can be seen only expressed minimally at day 14 of conditioned medium induction.
In conclusion, DPSCs conditioned medium appeared as a potential odontoblastic induction approach for WJMSCs. To further investigate the stimulatory effects by DPSCs conditioned medium, specific signalling pathway need to be elucidated to enhance the differentiation efficiency.
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•Pt@BiVO4/g-C3N4 photocatalyst shows a remarkable photodegradation performance.•The photocatalyst was evaluated using real industrial poultry wastewater.•The Pt@BiVO4/g-C3N4 shows a ...good photostability over 3 cyclic activity.
The discharge of a high concentration of contaminants from industrial poultry wastewater has caused a major catastrophic towards environmental remediation. Herein, different amounts of platinum nanoparticles were successfully incorporated into Pt@BiVO4/g-C3N4 photocatalyst via wet-impregnation technique. The crystallographic, morphological and optical properties of the photocatalysts were comprehensively analysis via several characterization techniques. The photocatalytic degradation performance of Pt@BiVO4/g-C3N4 photocatalyst was evaluated using real industrial poultry wastewater under solar light irradiation. The effects of the pH wastewater and the amount of platinum loading were systematically studied using response surface methodology (RSM). The Pt@BiVO4/g-C3N4 photocatalyst prepared at 1.5 wt. % platinum with the pH of 8 exhibited superior photodegradation performance with 93.5% rate of COD removal within 3 h. The FESEM micrograph analysis suggested that the intimate contact between Pt, BiVO4, and g-C3N4 in the as-developed photocatalyst allows a smooth migration and separation of photogenerated charge carriers. In addition, the XRD, EDX and XPS analysis further confirmed the successful formation of the as-prepared Pt@BiVO4/g-C3N4 photocatalyst. Moreover, the as-prepared photocatalyst showed very good recyclability and photostability up to 3 cycles, indicating that the as-developed photocatalyst successfully inhibits the fast recombination rate between photogenerated charge carriers. This work serves as solid evidence of the photocatalyst technology readiness to be put in the real practical application in treating the industrial wastewater.
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