Antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of the extracts from Origanum vulgare L. growing wild in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Antifungal, antimicrobial, insecticidal and antioxidant activities of Origanum vulgare L. provide the basis for suggesting that oregano plant extracts may be useful for prevention and treatment of many infection. The main goal of this study was to determine antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of methanolic and aqueous extracts from the leaves and flowers of Origanum vulgare. Antimicrobial testing of plant extracts was done using well diffusion method. Activity of extracts were tested against Gram positive bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) ATCC 33591, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 and five Gram-negative bacteria: Salmonella abony ATCC 6017, Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis ATCC 31194, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing Escherichia coli ATCC 35218 and fungi Candida albicans ATCC 1023. Antibiotics ampicillin, streptomycin and antimycotic nystatin were used as positive controle. The antioxidant activity was determined by using the DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) method. The highest values for inhibition zone for methanolic and aqueous extracts were recorded for Gram positive Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA. Methanolic extracts exhibited antibacterial activity against tested Gram negative bacteria in variable degree while the growth of these bacteria was not inhibited by aqueous extracts. Tested fungi Candida albicans was not susceptible to investigated oregano extracts. All the extracts showed moderate to potent antioxidant activity, among which the methanolic flower extract demonstrated the strongest antioxidant activity with the IC50 value of 0.205 mg/mL. Therefore it can be concluded that flower and leaf oregano extracts have great antibacterial and antioxidant potential

HPLC Analysis of Phytosterols in Prunus spinosa L. Extracts and Their Antiproliferative Activity on Prostate Cancer Cell Lines

Sloe (Prunus spinosa L.) extracts are a good source of natural bioactive compounds, including phytosterols. Phytosterols are known to be applied in the treatment of various prostate diseases. The in vitro antiproliferative activity of sloe ethanolic extracts (flower, leaf, and fruit), collected from three areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina, were investigated against human prostate cancer cell lines PC-3 and DU145 using MTT assay. β- sitosterol, campesterol and stigmasterol were quantified by HPLC-PDA analysis using Symmetry C18 chromatographic column. The results of the analysis proved the presence of phytosterols, mostly β-sitosterol in all extracts. All extracts possess antiproliferative activity. The highest activity against PC-3 and DU145 was gathered from leaf extracts obtained by different extraction methods (microwave-assisted extraction and ultrasound-assisted extraction). To the best of our knowledge, no other studies have presented results on antiproliferative activity of ethanol sloe extracts. Based on these results, further investigation should be recommended on other cancer cell lines as well

PROTEIN CHARACTERISTICS OF LEPTOSPIRAS AFTER IN VITRO SUBCULTIVATION

Leptospirosis is a zoonosis of worldwide distribution. Current methods for the direct detection of leptospires are either slow or of limited reliability so that serology is often the most appropriate diagnostic method. The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) using live bacteria is the reference serological test. For long-term preservation leptospiras are usually maintained by periodic subculture into fresh media because the conventional methods such as freeze-drying have reported inconsistent results for storing leptospiras. Although this technique is very simple the question is to which extent such procedure affects the protein structure of the outer membrane with its key antigens. The aim of the study was to identify potential protein variations of serovars Hardjo and Grippotyphosa after thirty consecutive subcultivations by Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS). The overall analysis of the leptospiral proteins by SDS-PAGE demonstrated minor differences in the intensities of some bands, while changes in protein expression were not detected.Key words: leptospira, subcultivation, SDS-PAGE, protein variations</p