Stability Studies of Some Antifungal Agents Activities Against Selected Phytopathogenic Fungi (Aspergillus niger) Spores

Fungi infections have been implicated as one source of yam tuber (genus Dioscorea) spoilage. The effects of temperature, pH and storage duration on antifungal activities of selected combined antifungal agents were investigated using the agar-well diffusion and agar dilution method against Aspergillus niger spores. The test combine antifungal agents are:  Fluconazole/Sodium propionate (1/1µg/ml), Terbinafine Hcl/ Sodium propionate (1/10µg/ml), ketoconazole / Sodium propionate (1/2.5µg/ml), Fluconazole / Griseofulvin (1/1µg/ml), ketoconazole / Griseofulvin(1/2.5µg/ml) and Terbinafine Hcl/ Griseofulvin (1/10µg/ml). The combined antifungal agents activities at 25 - 70 ºC varies while at neutral and alkaline pH (pH 9) the antifungal activities of the chemical agents remained relatively unaffected. There was no significant changes in the antifungal activities of the test combined agents against Aspergillus niger spores at p>0.05 throughout the period of the six months of investigation.  The significant of these finding with relation to stability of the chemical for preserving yam tubers is discussed in this work. Keywords: Biological control, fungi, Antifungal Agents, Nigeri

Antibiotic Susceptibility and Plasmid Profile of Escherichia coli from Door Handles in Two Tertiary Institutions in Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Aim: This study is aimed at isolation, antibiotic susceptibility and plasmid study of Escherichia coli isolates from door handles in the study location. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted in Nasarawa State University, Keffi and Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa, both in Nasarawa state, Nigeria between March 2016 to October 2016. Methodology: A total of 200 door handles (100 each from the two locations) were sampled and screened for the presence of E. coli. Antibiotics susceptibility study, Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) of the antibiotics, -Lactamase production, conjugation and plasmid profile was studied on the bacterial isolates using standard microbiological protocols. Results: A total of 62 E. coli were isolated out of 200 door handles sampled and their susceptibilities to ten different commonly used antibiotics were determined. All the isolates had 87 – 100% resistance to all tested antibiotics with the highest susceptibility (13%) exhibited to only Gentamicin and Imipenem. Thirty-two of the isolates have Multiple-Antibiotic Resistance (MAR) index of 1.0 and 21(65.6%) of them produced β-lactamase enzymes. Thirteen (59.09%) of the multiple antibiotics resistant E. coli isolates transferred resistance plasmid to Proteus mirabilis via conjugation. Electrophoresis of plasmid DNA in the test multi-antibiotics resistant E. coli isolates showed varying number of plasmids with molecular weights ranging between 1200 and 3000 base pairs. Conclusion: This study has showed that multi-antibiotic resistance genes from test E. coli could be transmitted to pathogenic bacteria which can result in serious health hazard. Thus, improved hygiene practices should be encouraged and constant microbiological surveillance of door handles in these higher institutions should be encouraged to determine effective antibiotics to solve the health hazard that may arise from E. coli infections

Determination of the rate of kill, mode of action, and the bioactive components from the ethyl acetate sub-fraction of methanol extract of Phyllanthus amarus.

The time-kill rate of methanol extract of Phyllanthus amarus was determined in this study which showed that the extract caused a reduction of the viable cells of all the test bacteria after a contact time of 30 mins and there were virtually no surviving cells of all the test bacteria after a contact time of 180 mins. The extract was also found to cause leakages of cellular materials such as potassium ions, sodium ions, protein and nucleic acids from the test bacteria which led to the loss of cell viability. The ethyl acetate sub-fraction of the extract was analyzed by GC-MS and FTIR analysis and the result revealed the presence of Phytochemicals such as 1, 2-Benzenedicarboxilic acid mono (2-Ethylhexyl) ester, Columbin, 2-(6-Methylpyridin-2-ylmethyl) cyclohexane, 2(1H) Naphthalenone,3,5,6,7,8,8a-hexahydro-4,8a-dimethyl-6-(1-methylethenyl) which have all been reported to possess antibacterial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The result of this study will contribute to the baseline data on the pharmacodynamics of the extract if applied as herbal medicine for human treatment thereby reducing the dosage and period of treatment. The finding also revealed that the ethyl acetate sub-fraction of methanol extract of P. amarus contains antibacterial phytochemicals that may be used to develop more potent, safe and cheap antimicrobial agents using nanotechnology. &nbsp

Plasmid mediated resistance in multidrug resistant bacteria isolated from children with suspected septicaemia in Zaria, Nigeria

Septicaemia is a common cause of morbidity and mortality among children in the  developing world. The knowledge of the  epidemiological and antimicrobial pattern of common pathogens that cause septicaemia is useful for prompt treatment of patients. Fifty-five (55) clinical isolates from children with suspected septicaemia were used for the study. The isolates include Coagulase negative Staphylococcus, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., Klebsiella spp., Citrobacter spp., Proteus spp and  Pseudomonas spp. The antibiotic susceptibility testing of isolated bacteria associated with septicaemia in children were carried out using standard  microbiological protocol. The MAR index for the test bacterial isolates was  determined and the bacterial isolates that displayed multiple antibiotic resistance were investigated for the presence of resistant factor such as plasmids. The sizes of the plasmid observed in the bacterial isolates were determined using agarose gel electrophoresis. Observations made from the agarose gel electrophoresis showed that majority of the multiple antibiotic resistant isolates haboured plasmids DNA of different sizes viz: 10.00 Kb, 8.71 Kb, 7.08 Kb, 1.02 Kb, 1.00 Kb, 0. 98 Kb and 0.87 Kb. The plasmid analysis of the results obtained in this study showed that the  predominant plasmid molecular size was 977bp which occurred frequently among  the Citrobacter spp and Staph aureus. These findings suggest an increased  resistance to the antibiotics commonly used for the treatment of septicaemia, and the observed presence of plasmids in some of the test bacteria isolated shows that they could have been acquired from multiple antibiotic resistant bacteria in the community under investigation.Key words: Children, Multiple antibiotic resistance, Plasmids, Septicaemi

Synthesis and Antifungal Activity of Some Organotin(IV) Carboxylates

Six diorganotin(IV) carboxylates prepared by reacting diorganotin(IV) dichlorides with the respective silver carboxylate have been tested for antifungal activity against Aspergillus. niger, Aspergilluus flavus and Pencillium. citrinum in Sabourand dextrose broth. The compounds generally exhibit greater fungitoxicity than the diorganotin(IV) dichlorides and the carboxylic acids from which they were synthesized. In keeping with the generally accepted notion that the organotin moiety plays an important role in deciding the antifungal activity of an organotin compound, the diphenyltin(IV) compounds were more active than their di-n-butyltin(IV) analogues. However, the order of increasing fungitoxicity of the compounds parallels that of the uncomplexed carboxylic acids. The implications of the results are discussed

International Journal of Pharma and Bio Sciences RESEARCH ARTICLE ALGAE BIOTECHNOLOGY ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF FRESH JUICES OF ALLIUM CEPA AND ZINGIBER OFFICINALE AGAINST MULTIDRUG RESISTANT BACTERIA

Antibiotic resistant bacteria are one of the major problems challenging the health care system in general. The antibacterial activity of fresh red and white Allium cepa (Onion) and Zingiber officinale (Ginger) juices against multidrug resistant bacteria viz: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi isolated from salad was investigated using agar well diffusion and agar dilution methods. All the bacteria except Staphylococcus aureus were susceptible to the fresh red and white onion juices with the diameter of zones of inhibition ranging from 15mm – 35mm while the test bacteria isolates were not sensitive to the fresh ginger juice. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (M. I. C.) and the Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (M. B. C) values of the fresh onion juices against the test bacteria were low ranging from 3.125 % v /v – 25.0 % v /v. This study indicates that the fresh juices of Allium cepa possess significant antibacterial potency against multidrug resistant bacteria. This article can be downloaded from www.ijpbs.ne

Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of clinical carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae isolates from Sokoto, northwest Nigeria

Emergence and spread of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) are two of the major problems currently threatening global public health. In Nigeria, interest in CPE is recent. In Sokoto, northwest Nigeria, there are no data on the prevalence and mechanism underlying carbapenem resistance. In this study, we aimed to investigate the presence of clinical carbapenems-resistant Enterobacteriaceae isolates in two leading hospitals in Sokoto, northwest Nigeria. A total of 292 non-duplicate Enterobacteriaceae isolated from clinical specimens processed in the diagnostic laboratories of two hospitals between January and June 2019 were collected. Of these, 129 (44.2 %) and 19 (6.5%) were resistant to third-generation cephalosporin and carbapenems, respectively. RT-PCR revealed that 10 (7.8%), 19 (14.7%) and 46 (35.7%) of the third-generation cephalosporin-resistant isolates harboured bla(SHV), bla(TEM) and bla(CTX-M) genes, respectively. The modified Carba NP test result showed that only 7 (36.8 %) of the 19 carbapenem-resistant isolates were carbapenemase producing; among them, bla(NDM-5) and bla(OXA-181) genes were identified in five and two isolates, respectively. However, none of the carbapenemase genes investigated, including bla(VIM), bla(KPC) and bla(IMP), was detected in the remaining carbapenem-resistant isolates, suggesting a non-enzymatic mechanism. This study reports for the first time, the emergence of CPE in Sokoto state and the detection of NDM-producing Citrobacter freundii in Nigeria. The observed CPE in this study is a concern in a country where alternative antibiotics are rarely available. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd