Candida auris: A brief review

Candida auris is an emerging fungal pathogen that has caused global concern because of its multidrug-resistant nature and ability to cause uncontrollable nosocomial outbreaks. It is frequently misidentified as other Candida species by routine laboratory procedures, necessitating modern molecular diagnostic techniques for diagnosis. A relatively high mortality rate associated with this organism highlights the validity of implementation of strict infection control and preventive measures in the presence of infected or colonized patients.</p

In vitro Cytotoxic and Antioxidant Activity of Leaf Extracts of Mangrove Plant, Phoenix paludosa Roxb

Purpose: To investigate the anti-proliferative and antioxidant potentials of four different solvent extracts of Phoenix paludosa Roxb leaves.Methods: Four different solvent (hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol) leaf extracts of the plant were tested for cytotoxicity against four cancer cells, viz, MCF-7 (oestrogen positive breast cancer cell line), MDA-MB-231 (triple negative breast cancer cell line), SK-BR-3 (breast adenocarcinoma) and ACHN (renal adenocarcinoma) as well as two normal cell lines, namely, HEK-293 (embryonic kidney cells) and MCF-10A (normal mammary epithelial cells)]. 2, 2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2, 29-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) free radical scavenging assays were used to evaluate the antioxidant activity of the crude extracts.Results: The methanol extract showed the highest antioxidant activity (DPPH, half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) = 30.17 ± 6.21 μg/mL) and (ABTS, IC50 = 27.91 ± 3.21 μg/mL). Of the four extracts, methanol extract showed the strongest significant (p &lt; 0.05) cytotoxicity to all four cancer cell lines at 24 and 48 h of incubation followed by the chloroform extract (IC50 of methanol extract (24 and 48 h): 36.71 ± 8.72 and 33.19 ± 5.53 μg/mL (MCF-7), 159.7 ± 32.09 and 141.9 ± 26.2 μg/mL (MDA-MB-231), 103.3 ± 18.9 and 75.39 ± 19.39 μg/mL (SKBR-3), 57.21 ± 3.72 and 43.16 ± 10.25 μg/mL (MCF-10A), 37.48 ± 5.75 and 26.99 ± 1.85 (ACHN) and 66.83 ± 14.26 and 60.34 ± 10.66 μg/mL (HEK-293)). Furthermore, the methanol extract was least cytotoxic to normal cell lines.Conclusion: The results obtained indicate that the methanol leaf extract of P. paludosa exhibit potent antioxidant and cytotoxic activities and has the potential of being developed into an anti-cancer agent.Keywords: Phoenix paludosa, antiproliferative, antioxidant, cytotoxicit

Modulation of apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2 cells) by a standardized herbal decoction of Nigella sativa seeds, Hemidesmus indicus roots and Smilax glabra rhizomes with anti- hepatocarcinogenic effects

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A standardized poly-herbal decoction of <it>Nigella sativa </it>seeds, <it>Hemidesmus indicus </it>roots and <it>Smilax glabra </it>rhizomes used traditionally in Sri Lanka for cancer therapy has been demonstrated previously, to have anti-hepatocarcinogenic potential. Cytotoxicity, antioxidant activity, anti-inflammatory activity, and up regulation of p53 and p21 activities are considered to be some of the possible mechanisms through which the above decoction may mediate its anti-hepatocarcinogenic action. The main aim of the present study was to determine whether apoptosis is also a major mechanism by which the decoction mediates its anti-hepatocarcinogenic action.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Evaluation of apoptosis in HepG2 cells was carried out by (a) microscopic observations of cell morphology, (b) DNA fragmentation analysis, (c) activities of caspase 3 and 9, as well as by (d) analysis of the expression of pro-apoptotic (Bax) and anti-apoptotic (Bcl-2) proteins associated with cell death.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results demonstrated that in HepG2 cells, the decoction can induce (a) DNA fragmentation and (b) characteristic morphological changes associated with apoptosis (nuclear condensation, membrane blebbing, nuclear fragmentation and apoptotic bodies). The decoction could also, in a time and dose dependent manner, up regulate the expression of the pro-apoptotic gene <it>Bax </it>and down regulate expression of anti-apoptotic <it>Bcl-2 </it>gene (as evident from RT-PCR analysis, immunohistochemistry and western blotting). Further, the decoction significantly (<it>p </it>< .001) enhanced the activities of caspase-3 and caspase-9 in a time and dose dependent manner.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Overall findings provide confirmatory evidence to demonstrate that the decoction may mediate its reported anti-hepatocarcinogenic effect, at least in part, through modulation of apoptosis.</p

Anti-Inflammatory Activity Is a Possible Mechanism by Which the Polyherbal Formulation Comprised of Nigella sativa

The present study investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of a polyherbal decoction comprised of Nigella sativa, Hemidesmus indicus, and Smilax glabra in order to justify its claimed antihepatocarcinogenic activity. Activation of hepatic nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), IκB kinase (IKK α/β) proteins, and TNFα and IL-6 expression was investigated in diethylnitrosamine- (DEN-) induced C3H mice-bearing early hepatocarcinogenic changes. Acute phase inflammatory response was evaluated by carrageenan-induced rat paw edema formation. Anti-inflammatory mechanisms were also assessed by determining effect on (a) membrane stabilization, (b) nitric oxide (NO) inhibitory activity, and (c) inhibition of leukocyte migration. A significant inhibition of the paw edema formation was observed in healthy rats as well as in rats bearing early hepatocarcinogenic changes with oral administration of the decoction. As with the positive control, indomethacin (10 mg/kg b.w.) the inhibitory effect was pronounced at 3rd and 4th h after carrageenan injection. A notable IKK α/β mediated hepatic NF-κB inactivation was associated with a significant hepatic TNFα downregulation among mice-bearing hepatocarcinogenic changes subjected to decoction treatment. Inhibition of NO production, leukocyte migration, and membrane stabilization are possible mechanisms by which anti-inflammatory effect is mediated by the decoction. Overall findings imply that anti-inflammatory activity could be one of the mechanisms by which the decoction mediates its antihepatocarcinogenic effects

An audit of specimens received for superficial fungal studies to the Department of Microbiology, University of Ruhuna

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Stochastic and epistemic uncertainty propagation in LCA

Purpose: When performing uncertainty propagation, most LCA practitioners choose to represent uncertainties by single probability distributions and to propagate them using stochastic methods. However the selection of single probability distributions appears often arbitrary when faced with scarce information or expert judgement (epistemic uncertainty). Possibility theory has been developed over the last decades to address this problem. The objective of this study is to present a methodology that combines probability and possibility theories to represent stochastic and epistemic uncertainties in a consistent manner and apply it to LCA. A case study is used to show the uncertainty propagation performed with the proposed method and compare it to propagation performed using probability and possibility theories alone. Methods: Basic knowledge on the probability theory is first recalled, followed by a detailed description of hal-00811827, version 1- 11 Apr 2013 epistemic uncertainty representation using fuzzy intervals. The propagation methods used are the Monte Carlo analysis for probability distribution and an optimisation on alpha-cuts for fuzzy intervals. The proposed method (noted IRS) generalizes the process of random sampling to probability distributions as well as fuzzy intervals, thus making the simultaneous use of both representations possible

Cytisus scoparius link - A natural antioxidant

BACKGROUND: Recent investigations have shown that the antioxidant properties of plants could be correlated with oxidative stress defense and different human diseases. In this respect flavonoids and other polyphenolic compounds have gained the greatest attention. The plant Cytisus scoparius contains the main constituent of flavone and flavonals. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant activities of extract of aerial part of Cytisus scoparius. METHODS: The plant extract was tested for DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl, 2-picryl hydrazyl) radical scavenging, nitric oxide radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, hydroxyl radical scavenging, antilipid peroxidation assay, reducing power and total phenol content. RESULTS: The extract exhibited scavenging potential with IC(50 )value of 1.5 μg/ml, 116.0 μg/ml and 4.7 μg/ml for DPPH, nitric oxide and superoxide anion radicals. The values were found to lesser than those of vitamin C, rutin, and curcumin, as standards. The extract showed 50% protection at the dose of 104.0 μg/ml in lipid peroxidation induced by Fe(2+)/ ascorbate system in rat liver microsomal preparation. There is decrease in hydroxyl radical generation with IC(50 )value of 27.0 μg/ml when compared with standard vitamin E. The reducing power of the extract depends on the amount of extract. A significant amount of polyphenols could be detected by the equivalent to 0.0589 μg of pyrocatechol from 1 mg of extract. CONCLUSION: The results obtained in the present study indicate that hydro alcoholic extract of aerial part of Cytisus scoparius is a potential source of natural antioxidants