Jundishapur Journal of Natural Pharmaceutical Products
Volume:10 Issue: 3, Jun 2015

Resistance of Candida species to antifungal agents has potentially serious implications for management of infections. Candida species are now the fourth most common organisms isolated from hospitalized patients. Prevention and control of these infections will require new antimicrobial agents. Plant-derived antifungal agents have always been a source of novel therapeutics.. The aim of this study was to investigate the antifungal effect of pomegranate peel and pulp extracts against Candida species.. Pomegranate pulp and peel were dried and powdered separately. The dried powders were extracted using a soxhlet extractor. The antifungal effect of pomegranate peel and pulp extracts were determined in vitro by using the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against five standard species, including Candida albicans (ATCC 10231), Candida parapsilosis (ATCC 22019), Candida tropicalis (ATCC 750), Candida glabrata (PTCC 5297) and Candida krusei (PTCC 5295).. Maximum inhibitions were attributed to peel extract of the pomegranate cultivar against Candida species. The greatest antifungal inhibition among the eight different cultivars was observed for sour malas, sour white peel and sour summer extracts respectively, against the five Candida strains. The antifungal activity of pulp extracts against Candida species was somewhat negative.. Our work suggested that pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) peel has potential antifungal activity against Candidiasis, and it is an attractive option for the development of new management strategies for candidiasis..

Acne vulgaris is the most common skin disorder, characterized by the inflammation of the pilosebaceous glands. In addition to physical disfigurement, acne vulgaris may be responsible for significant emotional and physiological distress. Many medications involve in prevention and treatment of acne. Benzoyl peroxide could be a potent candidate with special formulation to treat acne.. Benzoyl peroxide foamable emulsion was prepared with the aim of improving the permeation of benzoyl peroxide into skin, reducing skin irritation, and increasing consumer compliance towards treatment of acne by using emu oil as an excellent transdermal carrier.. The formulations were prepared by using different selected emulsifiers, foam stabilizers, and emu oil owing to their emollient with skin sebum compatible properties towards acne treatment.. Micronized benzoyl peroxide with an average particle size of 4.56 ± 0.61 μm was prepared by using solvent evaporation method and dispersed in foamable emulsion. The most stable foamable emulsion (containing 2% emu oil, 2.5% cocamidopropyl betaine, 10% coconut fatty acid diethanolamine (Lauramid), 1% glycerin mono stearate (GMS), and water up to 100%, according to organoleptic appearance was selected and evaluated by various pharmaceutical parameters such as pH, stability to centrifugal stress, freeze-thaw, drug content, and foam stability. Permeation studies were performed in vitro to check the drug permeation through cellulose acetate membrane by diffusion cell with ethanol 70% as the receptor medium at sink condition. In vitro drug release study of the formulation exhibited a controlled drug release for a period of 4.5 hours at sink condition.. According to release exponent n > 1, diffusion mechanism is super case П. The prepared micronized benzoyl peroxide in foamable formulation was stable according to different pharmaceutical evaluation. The emu oil incorporated in this formulation could reduce drawback of BPO (Benzoyl peroxide). This formulation could be a good candidate in acne treatment..

Suppression of the immune responses, using products derived from medicinal plant, as a likely therapeutic measure, has become an important subject of scientific studies, recently. Rosmarinus officinalis (Lamiaceae), known as rosemary, is widely distributed in many parts of the world.. The immunomodulatory effect of carnosol, a natural antioxidant derived from rosemary, was investigated using BALB/c mice.. Carnosol was administered at doses of 0.04, 0.2, 0.8, 2.4 and 4 mg/kg, for 5 days. Another group of mice was treated with 20 mg cyclophosphamide/kg/day (positive control); a final group received solvent only (solvent control). Delayed-type of hypersensitivity response and hemagglutination titer were studied in these groups of animals.. Results showed that three high doses of carnosol (0.8, 2.4 and 4 mg/kg) could significantly suppress both cellular and humoral activity of the immune system. Interestingly, carnosol, at doses of 2.4 and 4 mg/kg, was able to inhibit acquired immunity, higher than cyclophosphamide, which is a known potent immunosuppressant.. Based on its effects, carnosol might be considered a source of drug, showing effective immunosuppression properties. Further studies should be performed on carnosol to develop an effective immunosuppressive drug or coadjuvant for the treatment of disorders caused by an exaggerated or unwanted immune response..

Dendrimers are a new class of polymeric materials with the well-defined structure, composition and architecture. Owing to antibacterial properties of dendrimers, they can be used as alternative water and wastewater disinfection with the minimum adverse side effects.. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of second generation poly propylene imine (PPI- G2) dendrimer on predominant bacteria in drinking water resources.. In this qualitative and interventional study, a total of 764 water samples were collected from rural areas in Qom Province, Iran, and bacteria were isolated and identified using standard procedures. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria were determined according to clinical and laboratory standards institute (CLSI) guideline. Standard discs were prepared using different concentrations of dendrimer on Mueller-Hinton agar plates.. The most important isolated bacteria were Escherichia coli 37 (48.7%), Klebsiella oxytoca 12 (15.8%), Proteus mirabilis 3 (4%), Entrobacter aerogenes 8 (10.5%), Citrobacter freundii 4 (5.2%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 5 (6.6%), Staphylococcus aureus 2 (2.6%), and Bacillus subtilis 5 (6.6%). Moreover, it was found that PPI-G2 showed more potent activity towards the gram-positive bacteria than the gram-negative ones.. The PPI-G2 dendrimer with end amine groups exhibited a positive impact on the removal of dominant bacterial isolated strains. Therefore, it is possible to use these nanodendrimers as a safe and effective material for water disinfection in the future..

Bacteremia is a frequent condition in cancer patients with a significant morbidity and mortality worldwide, which is a medical crisis that needs broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment.. This study examined bacteremia in cancer patients from two medical centers regarding isolates and spectrum of antibiotic resistance pattern..Patients and This was a prospective experimental investigation performed in Tehran and Karaj Cities, Iran. From the blood culture bottles, isolation and identification of the bacteria were performed by conventional microbiological techniques. In vitro antibiotic resistance pattern of the isolates was determined by CLSI guidelines. Genomic DNA was isolated by DNA extraction kit. Each gene was separated by agar gel electrophoresis.. In total, 68 blood culture bottles were received from cancer patients, from which 12 (17.65%) samples had positive results. The most common bacterial pathogen isolated was E. coli, accounting for 5 (33.33%). While each of S. aureus, B. cereus and K. pneumonia accounted for 3 (20%) samples. Penicillin, ampicillin, gentamicin, cefoxitin, trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole and tetracycline were the most resistant antibiotics with 100% resistance to the tested E. coli isolates. Similarly, S. aureus was 100% resistant to gentamicin and sulfamethoxazole. Identification of the 88 bp phoA gene in E. coli isolates was 100%. Similarly, the 310 bp mecA fragment was obtained from all of the resistant S. aureus isolates after DNA amplification.. All the bacterial isolates were associated with a high resistance to various antibiotics and this resistant pattern could be confirmed by detection of a particular gene for each bacterium..

Quince seeds mucilage is recommended for coughs and removal of asthma signs. Chemically, it possesses water in a large quantity and therefore might be degradable and its storage is difficult for a long time. Besides, the drying method interferes with its physicochemical characteristic, therefore changing the therapeutic effect of mucilage.. The aim of this study was to achieve a drying method for promotion of quince seeds mucilage stability and also to study differences in physicochemical and mechanical properties when influenced by the drying method.. To extract mucilage, fresh quince seeds were macerated with water. The alcohol (95%) precipitation method was used to isolate mucilage from filtrate. The mucilage was divided to two equal parts, one group dried by cold and the other by the warm method. The condition for the cold method (lyophilization) was 24 hours for both stages of freezing (-30°C) and drying (-50°C and 50 mTorr pressure). The temperature for drying by an oven was also adjusted to 50°C ± 1. Phytochemical screening was performed, and the physicochemical characteristics of the mucilage such as swelling index, solubility, loss of drying, total ash, acid insoluble ash, microbial load, and pH were evaluated. Finally, the mechanical movement of mucilage powder properties such as angle of repose, moisture content, bulk and tapped densities, Hausner’s ratio and Carr’s index, were examined, for forward tableting.. The yield value of mucilage from the warm method was about three folds greater than the amount from the cold method. The phytochemical, physicochemical, and mechanical properties were well within acceptable limits and better than that of the cold method.. Although quince seeds dried mucilage by lyophilization had less yield amounts yet in view of purity and physicochemical and mechanical properties, it was significantly better than mucilage prepared by the oven method (P < 0.05)..

Apoptosis is an essential process for elimination of damaged and cancerous cells and is also a desired effect for the anti-cancer activity of drugs. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors including celecoxib are a class of drugs with chemopreventive and anti-proliferative properties regardless of their routine anti-inflammatory effects.. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of celecoxib loaded nano-liposomes on the isolated rat hepatocytes and comparing the results with what were obtained from usual form of this chemopreventive agent.. Freshly isolated rat hepatocytes were prepared by two step collagenase perfusion method and, following stabilization in rotary, were exposed to 0, 20, 40 and 100 μM of celecoxib in nano and usual form. Viability was obtained and apoptosis was determined by modified comet technique.. At high concentrations (40 and 100 μM), apoptosis was demonstrated and it was clearly more prominent in hepatocytes exposed to celecoxib loaded liposomes.. Our results showed that celecoxib loaded liposomes robustly induced apoptosis, an action that can potentially make it more relevant than the usual form for chemopreventive strategies and also may raise concerns about its toxicity..

The increasing resistance of human pathogens to the available antimicrobials is a serious threat, resulting in the need for novel antibiotic resources such as plants. Some species of the genus Verbascum have been used by mankind since ancient times as an effective remedy for infectious diseases.. This study was designed to determine the antimicrobial efficacy of the aqueous-alcoholic extracts and the essential oil of Verbascum thapsus L. against different kinds of bacterial and fungal strains, viz. Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, and Aspergillus fumigatus.. The antimicrobial activities of the V. thapsus extracts were examined in the present study on the basis of disc diffusion and microdilution assays, and their potency was quantitatively assessed in terms of inhibition zone diameters and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values.. The disk diffusion test showed that the methanol extract of V. thapsus had more growth inhibitory effects on E. coli and S. pyogenes than the aqueous and ethanol extracts. The methanol and aqueous extracts had no effects on S. aureus. The maximal inhibition zone for the microorganisms sensitive to the methanol extract was in the range of 7 - 16.8 mm, and the MIC value was 31.25 μg/mL. For the ethanol extract, the maximal inhibition zone was 5.3 - 11 mm and the MIC value was 62.5 - 125 μg/mL. The essential oil of V. thapsus did not exhibit any antibacterial and antifungal activities.. The findings of the present study revealed the V. thapsus extract possesses compounds with antibacterial properties that can be used as novel antimicrobial agents in the development of new drugs for the treatment of infectious diseases..

Nowadays, due to the increasing number of immunocompromised patients, mycosis infections caused by Candida species are on the rise, especially among hospitalized patients.. In the current study, the chromogenic medium CHROMagar™ Candida and semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (snPCR) were compared concerning their ability to detect the species of Candida in 65 clinical isolates.. We used snPCR with universal and species-specific primers to detect Candida species in the culture of clinical isolates. By using universal primers, we carried out the amplification of the 3/end of 5.8S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and the 5/end of 28S rDNA, including the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) and production of 350 to 410-bp fragments from 4 Candida species, vis. Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Candida glabrata, and Candida parapsilosis.. The phenotypic identification system identified 60 (92.3%) yeasts isolates, including C. albicans (n = 33), C. glabrata (n = 14), C. tropicalis (n = 11), and C. parapsilosis (n = 2), and 5 isolates were mixed culture. By snPCR, 63 (96.6%) isolates were identified, including C. albicans (n = 37), C. glabrata (n = 11), C. tropicalis (n = 14), and C. parapsilosis (n = 1), and the species of 2 isolates could not be identified. Additionally, snPCR for the specific identification of the Candida species of the 65 clinical Candida isolates revealed 70.3% results agreement with the chromogenic medium CHROMagar™ Candida.. In this study, snPCR was specific and more sensitive than the chromogenic medium CHROMagar™ Candida for the detection of Candida spp. insofar as it failed to identify only a few isolates..