Thymus vulgaris Essential Oil in Beta-Cyclodextrin for Solid-State Pharmaceutical Applications

: Antimicrobial resistance related to the misuse of antibiotics is a well-known current topic. Their excessive use in several fields has led to enormous selective pressure on pathogenic and commensal bacteria, driving the evolution of antimicrobial resistance genes with severe impacts on human health. Among all the possible strategies, a viable one could be the development of medical features that employ essential oils (EOs), complex natural mixtures extracted from different plant organs, rich in organic compounds showing, among others, antiseptic properties. In this work, green extracted essential oil of Thymus vulgaris was included in cyclic oligosaccharides cyclodextrins (CD) and prepared in the form of tablets. This essential oil has been shown to have a strong transversal efficacy both as an antifungal and as an antibacterial agent. Its inclusion allows its effective use because an extension of the exposure time to the active compounds is obtained and, therefore, a more marked efficacy, especially against biofilm-producing microorganisms such as P. aeruginosa and S. aureus, was registered. The efficacy of the tablet against candidiasis opens their possible use as a chewable tablet against oral candidiasis and as a vaginal tablet against vaginal candidiasis. Moreover, the registered wide efficacy is even more positive since the proposed approach can be defined as effective, safe, and green. In fact, the natural mixture of the essential oil is produced by the steam current method; therefore, the manufacturer employs substances that are not harmful, with very low production and management costs

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

A Pilot Study on Clinical Scores, Immune Cell Modulation, and Microbiota Composition in Allergic Patients with Rhinitis and Asthma Treated with a Probiotic Preparation

Background: Specific drugs and/or immunotherapies are widely used to treat allergies, but drug-induced adverse effects recently led to explore new additional strategies. We studied whether a probiotic preparation (iPROB®; Anallergo SpA, Florence, Italy) is effective in allergic patients and the mechanisms underlying clinical outcomes. Methods: Eligible patients (n = 28), all suffering from allergic rhinitis with/without bronchial asthma, were consecutively recruited at the Allergology Medical Unit (Novara, Italy) and treated with this probiotic. From each patient, we collected blood and stool samples at the baseline, after 60 days of probiotic supplementation, and after 60 days from probiotic discontinuation. In each blood sample, the percentage of hematopoietic stem cells, eosinophils, and basophils was measured by FACS. To analyze stool microbiota composition, genomic DNA was extracted, bacterial 16S DNA libraries sequenced by Illumina platform (Miseq), and raw sequences processed. Generated data were statistically analyzed. Results: Probiotic-treated patients showed a significant decrease in Average Rhinitis Total Symptom Score (d = -10.5714), and Visual Analog Scale (d = -2.00) clinical indices, as well as important improvements in quality of life. In whole blood, a significant reduction in the percentage of activated eosinophils and basophils was determined, and this effect persisted after specific cell stimulation. Consistently, the serum levels of IL-4 and IL-5 decreased after probiotic treatment, suggesting a reduction in the Th2 cytokine profile. In addition, microbiome genomic analysis (n = 6) showed an increase in microbiome biodiversity, which positively correlates with clinical and cellular data. Conclusion: Present study suggests that iPROB® preparation has clinical/biological properties to be a valid add-on supplementation in allergic patients with asthma and rhinitis

Vitamin D serum levels and the risk of digital ulcers in systemic sclerosis: A longitudinal study

Low levels of vitamin D (25OHD) have been found to associated with digital ulcers (DUs) in systemic sclerosis (SSc), although only cross-sectional studies have been performed. We aimed to investigate if variations in vitamin D serum levels over time affect DU in SSc

Extracts from Cabbage Leaves: Preliminary Results towards a "Universal" Highly-Performant Antibacterial and Antifungal Natural Mixture

Simple Summary The large antibiotic consumption in the clinical, veterinary, and agricultural fields has resulted in a tremendous flow of antibiotics into the environment. This has led to enormous selective pressures driving the evolution of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria and yeasts. For this reason, the World Health Organization is promoting research to discover new natural products competitive with synthetic drugs in clinical performances. Compared with conventional drugs, the production of natural pharmaceuticals often has a lower environmental impact and lower economic costs of processes, especially when they originate from agricultural wastes. In the context of a circular economy, we aimed to successfully present preliminary results for the valorization of agricultural waste produced in cabbage cultivation by isolating a highly performant antibacterial and antifungal lipophilic natural mixture from cabbage leaves. As dramatically experienced in the recent world pandemic, viral, bacterial, fungal pathogens constitute very serious concerns in the global context of human health. Regarding this issue, the World Health Organization has promoted research studies that aim to develop new strategies using natural products. Although they are often competitive with synthetic pharmaceuticales in clinical performance, they lack their critical drawbacks, i.e., the environmental impact and the high economic costs of processing. In this paper, the isolation of a highly performant antibacterial and antifungal lipophilic natural mixture from leaves of savoy and white cabbages is proposed as successful preliminary results for the valorization of agricultural waste produced in cabbage cultivation. The fraction was chemically extracted from vegetables with diethyl ether and tested against two Candida species, as well as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus reference strains. All the different fractions (active and not active) were chemically characterized by vibrational FT-IR spectroscopy and GC-MS analyses. The extracts showed high growth-inhibition performance on pathogens, thus demonstrating strong application potential. We think that this work, despite being at a preliminary stage, is very promising, both from pharmaceutical and industrial points of view, and can be proposed as a proof of concept for the recovery of agricultural production wastes

Host–Guest Inclusion Complexes of Essential Oils with Strong Antibacterial and Antifungal Features in Beta-Cyclodextrin for Solid-State Pharmaceutical Applications

Essential oils are widely recognized as natural alternatives to pharmaceutical antibacterial and antifungal agents. With respect to standard pharmaceutics, the advantages of essential oils are their (i) low production costs, (ii) lack of chemical and biochemical drawbacks that are intrinsic to the synthetic production process and (iii) good tolerance by humans. On the other hand, the liquid nature of essential oils poses concerns about their actual application in different therapeutic issues regarding their persistence and the ability to control or prolong drug release. In this study, two essential oils from oregano and winter savory showing antibacterial and antifungal features were complexed in a solid state with beta-cyclodextrin. Host–guest inclusion complexes were characterized using FT-IR spectroscopy, ESI-MS and GC-MS techniques. Manyfold terpenic and non-terpenic components of the oils could be observed and unambiguously identified as being included inside the carbohydrate hosts. Many of them provided a specific biocidal action. Indeed, essential oil host–guest inclusion products were tested against two Candida species and an S. aureus reference strain, showing that the oils effectively maintained their liquid performances. Solid-state tablets of the essential oil inclusion complexes embedded in polyvinylpyrrolidone could be obtained. These results pave the way for the solid-state application of essential oils in antibacterial and antifungal pharmaceutical treatments

Targeting microbiota in dietary obesity management: a systematic review on randomized control trials in adults

Obesity is an alarming public health problem. Tailored nutritional therapy is advisable since emerging evidence on complex cross-talks among multifactorial agents. In this picture, the gut microbiota is highly individualized and intricately dependent on dietary patterns, with implications for obesity management. Most of the papers on the topic are observational and often conflicting. This review aimed to systematically organize the body of evidence on microbiota deriving from dietary trials in adult obesity giving the most certain phylogenetic, and metabolomic signatures in relation to both the host metabolism and phenotype changes published until now. We retrieved 18 randomized control trials on 1385 subjects with obesity who underwent several dietary interventions, including standard diet and healthy dietary regimens. Some phyla and species were more related to diets rich in fibers and others to healthy diets. Weight loss, metabolism improvements, inflammatory markers decrease were specifically related to different microorganisms or functions. The Prevotella/Bacteroides ratio was one of the most reported predictors. People with the burden of obesity comorbidities had the most significant taxonomic changes in parallel with a general improvement. These data emphasize the possibility of using symbiotic approaches involving tailored diets, microbiota characteristics, and maybe drugs to treat obesity and metabolic disorders. We encourage Authors to search for specific phylogenetic associations beyond a too generally reported Firmicutes/Bacteroides ratio

Analysis of Toll-Like Receptors in Human Milk: Detection of Membrane-Bound and Soluble Forms

The bioactive and anti-inflammatory role of human milk components has been recognized; active milk components include soluble forms of Toll-like receptors (TLRs). Preterm babies are more susceptible to infections and may succumb to necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a gastrointestinal disease which is exacerbated by an excessive inflammatory response after TLR activation. Here, we investigated the presence of Toll-like receptors TLR1/2/4/6 in colostrum and mature milk of women who delivered before (preterm) or after (term) 37 weeks of gestational age, integrating classical immune-related techniques with proteomic LC-MS/MS analysis. We have detected immunoreactivity for TLRs mostly in preterm samples, even for TLR1 and TLR6, until now not described in human milk. We demonstrated the presence of only TLR2 in the milk fat globule membrane, while the immunoreactivity of TLR1/4/6 was ascribed to crossreaction with some interesting milk proteins sharing leucine-rich repeat domains. These results will provide new insights into the definition of the role of TLRs in intestinal immune regulation of the newborns

Proteome and Physiological Characterization of Halotolerant Nodule Endophytes: The Case of <i>Rahnella aquatilis</i> and <i>Serratia plymuthica</i>

Bacterial endophytes were isolated from nodules of pea and fava bean. The strains were identified and characterized for plant beneficial activities (phosphate solubilization, synthesis of indole acetic acid and siderophores) and salt tolerance. Based on these data, four strains of Rahnella aquatilis and three strains of Serratia plymuthica were selected. To shed light on the mechanisms underlying salt tolerance, the proteome of the two most performant strains (Ra4 and Sp2) grown in the presence or not of salt was characterized. The number of proteins expressed by the endophytes was higher in the presence of salt. The modulated proteome consisted of 302 (100 up-regulated, 202 down-regulated) and 323 (206 up-regulated, 117 down-regulated) proteins in Ra4 and Sp2, respectively. Overall, proteins involved in abiotic stress responses were up-regulated, while those involved in metabolism and flagellum structure were down-regulated. The main up-regulated proteins in Sp2 were thiol: disulfide interchange protein DsbA, required for the sulfur binding formation in periplasmic proteins, while in Ra4 corresponded to the soluble fraction of ABC transporters, having a role in compatible solute uptake. Our results demonstrated a conserved response to salt stress in the two taxonomically related species

Prevalence, Correlates and Outcomes of Gastric Antral Vascular Ectasia in Systemic Sclerosis: A EUSTAR Case-control Study

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence, determine the subgroups at risk, and the outcomes of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and gastric antral vascular ectasia (GAVE). METHODS: We queried the European League Against Rheumatism Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) network for the recruitment of patients with SSc-GAVE. Each case was matched for cutaneous subset and disease duration with 2 controls with SSc recruited from the same center, evaluated at the time the index case made the diagnosis of GAVE. SSc characteristics were recorded at the time GAVE occurred and the last observation was collected to define the outcomes. RESULTS: Forty-nine patients with SSc and GAVE were included (24 with diffuse cutaneous SSc) and compared to 93 controls with SSc. The prevalence of GAVE was estimated at about 1% of patients with SSc. By multivariate analysis, patients with SSc-GAVE more frequently exhibited a diminished (< 75%) DLCO value (OR 12.8; 95% CI 1.9-82.8) despite less frequent pulmonary fibrosis (OR 0.2; 95% CI 0.1-0.6). GAVE was also associated with the presence of anti-RNA-polymerase III antibodies (OR 4.6; 95% CI 1.2-21.1). SSc-GAVE was associated with anemia (82%) requiring blood transfusion (45%). Therapeutic endoscopic procedures were performed in 45% of patients with GAVE. After a median followup of 30 months (range 1-113 months), survival was similar in patients with SSc-GAVE compared to controls, but a higher number of scleroderma renal crisis cases occurred (12% vs 2%; p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: GAVE is rare and associated with a vascular phenotype, including anti-RNA-polymerase III antibodies, and a high risk of renal crisis. Anemia, usually requiring blood transfusions, is a common complication