Multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria are widespread in hospitals and have been increasingly isolated from aquatic environments. The aim of the present study was to characterize extended-spectrum ...β-lactamase (ESBL) and quinolone-resistant Enterobacteriaceae from a hospital effluent, sanitary effluent, inflow sewage, aeration tank, and outflow sewage within a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), as well as river water upstream and downstream (URW and DRW, respectively), of the point where the WWTP treated effluent was discharged. β-lactamase (bla) genes, plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR), and quinolone resistance-determining regions (QRDRs) were assessed by amplification and sequencing in 55 ESBL-positive and/or quinolone-resistant isolates. Ciprofloxacin residue was evaluated by high performance liquid chromatography. ESBL-producing isolates were identified in both raw (n=29) and treated (n=26) water; they included Escherichia coli (32), Klebsiella pneumoniae (22) and Klebsiella oxytoca (1). Resistance to both cephalosporins and quinolone was observed in 34.4% of E. coli and 27.3% of K. pneumoniae. Resistance to carbapenems was found in 5.4% of K. pneumoniae and in K. oxytoca. Results indicate the presence of blaCTX-M (51/55, 92.7%) and blaSHV (8/55, 14.5%) ESBLs, and blaGES (2/55, 3.6%) carbapenemase-encoding resistance determinants. Genes conferring quinolone resistance were detected at all sites, except in the inflow sewage and aeration tanks. Quinolone resistance was primarily attributed to amino acid substitutions in the QRDR of GyrA (47%) or to the presence of PMQR (aac-(6′)-Ib-cr, oqxAB, qnrS, and/or qnrB; 52.9%) determinants. Ciprofloxacin residue was absent only from URW. Our results have shown strains carrying ESBL genes, PMQR determinants, and mutations in the gyrA QRDR genes mainly in hospital effluent, URW, and DRW samples. Antimicrobial use, and the inefficient removal of MDR bacteria and antibiotic residue during sewage treatment, may contribute to the emergence and spreading of resistance in the environment, making this a natural reservoir.
•β-lactamase-producing bacteria and quinolone resistance are found in both raw and treated water.•CTX-M is the prevalent β-lactamase among isolated resistant bacteria.•GES-5 carbapenemase is found in hospital effluent.•Sewage treatment does not efficiently remove multidrug-resistant bacteria.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder. Levodopa (L-DOPA) remains the gold-standard drug available for treating PD. Curcumin has many ...pharmacological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anti-amyloid, and antitumor properties. Copolymers composed of Poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) and biodegradable polyesters such as Poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) can self-assemble into nanoparticles (NPs). This study describes the development of NH
-PEO-PCL diblock copolymer positively charged and modified by adding glutathione (GSH) on the outer surface, resulting in a synergistic delivery of L-DOPA curcumin that would be able to pass the blood-brain barrier.
The NH
-PEO-PCL NPs suspensions were prepared by using a nanoprecipitation and solvent displacement method and coated with GSH. NPs were submitted to characterization assays. In order to ensure the bioavailability, Vero and PC12 cells were treated with various concentrations of the loaded and unloaded NPs to observe cytotoxicity.
NPs have successfully loaded L-DOPA and curcumin and were stable after freeze-drying, indicating advancing into in vitro toxicity testing. Vero and PC12 cells that were treated up to 72 h with various concentrations of L-DOPA and curcumin-loaded NP maintained high viability percentage, indicating that the NPs are biocompatible.
NPs consisting of NH
-PEO-PCL were characterized as potential formulations for brain delivery of L-DOPA and curcumin. The results also indicate that the developed biodegradable nanomicelles that were blood compatible presented low cytotoxicity.
The cowpea weevil, Callosobruchus maculatus (F.), is a storage pest that mainly infects cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp), spending part of its life cycle inside the grains. Depending on the ...region, the decrease in cowpea production by cowpea weevils can exceed 70% during a six-month storage period. This study investigated the fumigant effect of lemongrass essential oil (Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf.) and citral on the reproductive cycle, sexual behavior, lipid composition and the enzymatic activity of biotransformation enzymes in cowpea weevils. Mortality (61.43%, 85.00%), oviposition (4.00%, 29.51%) and emergence (10.32%, 1.51%) were observed for lemongrass essential oil and citral treatments, respectively. Exposure to lemongrass essential oil led to changes in behavior for both sexes, decrease in triacylglycerol content of virgin and mated females, and reduction of the activities of acetylcholinesterase (females and males) and β-esterase (females). These changes may affect the survival, energy resource transfer during oogenesis and oviposition, which are likely mechanisms involved with essential oil toxicity.
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•C. maculatus is susceptible to fumigant effect of lemongrass essential oil and citral.•Lemongrass essential oil affects C. maculatus sexual behavior and lipids content.•Xenobiotic enzymes may be a target involved with lemongrass essential oil toxicity.•Effect of lemongrass essential oil gives new perspectives to the C. maculatus control.
•This HILIC-MS/MS method is the first for simultaneous determination of levodopa, carbidopa, 3-o-methyldopa, and dopamine in human plasma.•A fast and simple sample preparation procedure using protein ...precipitation was also developed.•The method was fully validated according to US FDA and ANVISA bioanalytical method validation guidelines.•The method has been used successfully for therapeutic drug monitoring.
Monitoring of the plasmatic levels of levodopa (LEV) and carbidopa (CAR) is necessary to adjust the dose of these drugs according to the individual needs of Parkinson's disease patients. To support drug therapeutic monitoring, a method using HILIC mode and LC–MS/MS was developed for the simultaneous determination of carbidopa, levodopa, and its metabolites (3-o-methyldopa (3-OMD) and dopamine (DOPA)) in human plasma. A triple quadrupole mass spectrometry was operated under the multiple reaction-monitoring mode (MRM) using the electrospray ionization technique. After straightforward sample preparation via protein precipitation, an Atlantis HILIC (150×2.1mm, 3μm, Waters, USA) column were used for separation under the isocratic condition of acetonitrile/water (79:21, v/v) containing 0.05% formic acid and 3mmol/L ammonium formate and the total run time was 7min. Deuterated LEV was used as internal standard for quantification. The developed method was validated in human plasma with a lower limit of quantitation of 75ng/mL for LEV, 65ng/mL for CAR and 3-OMD, and 20ng/mL for DOPA. The calibration curve was linear within the concentration range of 75–800ng/mL for LEV, 65–800ng/mL for CAR and 3-OMD, and 20–400ng/mL for DOPA (r>0.99). The assay was accurate and precise, with inter-assay and intra-assay accuracies within ±13.44% of nominal and inter-assay and intra-assay precision≤13.99%. All results were within the acceptance criteria of the US FDA and ANVISA guidelines for method validation. LEV, CAR, 3-OMD and DOPA were stable in the battery of stability studies, long-term, bench-top, autosampler, and freeze/thaw cycles. Samples from patients undergoing treatment were analyzed, and the results indicated that this new method is suitable for therapeutic drug monitoring in Parkinson's disease patients.
In this study, we developed and validated a HPLC-MS/MS method capable of simultaneously determining levodopa, carbidopa, entacapone, tolcapone, 3-O-methyldopa and dopamine in human plasma. RESULTS & ...METHODOLOGY: Chromatographic separation was achieved using a C8 column with a mobile phase consisting of a gradient of water and acetonitrile:methanol (90:10 v/v), both containing 0.1% formic acid. The developed method was selective, sensitive (LD<7.0 ng ml(-1)), linear (r>0.99), precise (RSD<11.3%), accurate (RE<11.8%) and free of residual and matrix effects. The developed method was successfully applied in plasma patients with Parkinson's disease using Stalevo®.
The new method can be used for the clinical monitoring of these substances and applied to adjustments in drug dosages.
Purpose: In this article we presented the main aspects of world mushroom market emphasizing the major opportunities for Brazil producers.
Theoretical framework: A recent market research shows that ...it is foreseen to increase significantly from 2018 until 2026 with a compound annual growth rate of 6.41%. China is the major player in the world mushroom market and their products with low prices are gaining space in the Brazilian market resulting in problems to national producers.
Design/Methodology/Approach: The article was designed via bibliographic survey of international publications with scientific recognition using Scopus, Web of Science and Scholar Google. Books and recent news also were used as a source of information. Topics researched were mushrooms, world mushroom market, Brazilian mushroom market e the use of spent mushroom substrate (SMS) in industrial chain.
Findings: One of the most promising opportunities is the integration between agri-food industries and mushroom production via exchange of waste and spent mushroom substrate (SMS) in a circular economy model.
Conclusion: The use of SMS could be the key to reduce the cost of Brazilian mushroom production and, consequently increase its competitiveness, associated with a reduction of environmental impacts of the industrial activities.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is frequently indicated for panic disorder. The aim here was to evaluate the efficacy of a model for cognitive-behavioral therapy for treating panic disorder with ...agoraphobia.
Randomized clinical trial at Instituto de Psiquiatria da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.
A group of 50 patients with a diagnosis of panic disorder with agoraphobia was randomized into two groups to receive: a) cognitive-behavioral therapy with medication; or b) medication (tricyclic antidepressants or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors).
Although there was no difference between the groups after the treatment in relation to almost all variables with the exception of some items of the Sheehan disability scale and the psychosocial and environmental problems scale, the patients who received the specific therapy presented significant reductions in panic attacks, anticipatory anxiety, agoraphobia avoidance and fear of body sensations at the end of the study, in relation to the group without the therapy. On the overall functioning assessment scale, overall wellbeing increased from 60.8% to 72.5% among the patients in the group with therapy, thus differing from the group without therapy.
Although both groups responded to the treatment and improved, we only observed significant differences between the interventions on some scales. The association between specific cognitive-behavioral therapy focusing on somatic complaints and pharmacological treatment was effective among this sample of patients with panic disorder and the response was similar in the group with pharmacological treatment alone.
Background
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder. Levodopa (L-DOPA) remains the standard gold drug available for the treatment of PD. Curcumin has ...a wide range of pharmacological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anti-amyloid, antitumor properties. Copolymers composed of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and biodegradable polyesters like poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) that can self-assemble into nanoparticles (NP). This study describes the development of NH2-PEO-PCL diblock copolymer positively charged and modified by the addition of glutathione (GSH) on the outer surface, resulting in a synergistic delivery of L-DOPA and curcumin that would be able to pass the blood-brain barrier.
Methods
The NH2-PEO-PCL nanoparticles suspensions were prepared using a nanoprecipitation and solvent displacement method and were coated with GSH. NP was submitted to various characterizations assays, and to ensure the bioavailability, Vero and PC12 cells were treated with various concentrations of the loaded and unloaded NP to observe cytotoxicity.
Results
NP has successfully loaded L-DOPA and curcumin was stable after freeze-drying, capable of advancing into in vitro toxicity testing. After being treated up to 72 hours of various concentrations of L-DOPA and curcumin loaded NP Vero and PC12 cells, the viability of the treated cells maintained a high percentage indicating that the NPs are biocompatible.
Conclusions
NP consisting of NH2-PEO-PCL have been characterized as potential formulations for brain delivery of L-DOPA and curcumin, and obtained results also indicate that the developed biodegradable nanomicelles were blood compatible, presented low cytotoxicity even in longer exposure times.
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