Search for New Antioxidants and Other Related Bioactive Compounds from Zingiberaceous Species

Thirty-one species from Zingiberacea family were screened for their antioxidant (FTC method), antimicrobial (disc diffusion method), and antitumour promoting (EBV EA assay method) activities. Three species, A lpinia zerumbet, A lpinia rfflesiana and Etlingera elatiar, were selected for further study, based on their promising preliminary biological activities. Five known compounds were isolatpd hom the rhizomes of Alpinia zerumbet, namely S,6-dehydrokawain, flavokawin B, l,7-diphenyl-Shydroxy- 6-heptene-3-one, (-)-pinocembrin, and a mixture of stigmasterol and β-sitosterol. From the fruits of Alpinia raffiesiana, seven compounds were isolated, namely 5,6-dehydrokawain: flavokawin B, l,7-diphenyl-5- hydroxy-6-heptene-3-one, (-)-pinocembrin, cardamonin, (-)-pinostrobin, and 2',3',4',6' -tetrahydroxychalcone. This is the first report on the isolation of 2',3',4',6' -tetrahydroxychalcone from Alpinia

Octacosanoic acid, long chains saturated fatty acid from the marine sponges Xestospongia sp.

Octacosanoic acid has been isolated from the marine sponges Xestospongia sp. collected from Bidong Island, Terengganu. The structure was elucidated using various spectroscopic techniques (IR, MS, 1 H NMR and 13 C NMR). The structure and bioactivities of this long chains saturated fatty acid compound were reviewed

IN VITRO ANTAGONISTIC ACTIVITIES OF INDONESIAN MARINE SPONGE AAPTOS AAPTOS AND CALLYSPONGIA PSEUDORETICULATA EXTRACTS AND THEIR TOXICITY AGAINST Vibrio spp.

Vibriosis is one of diseases which often results in mass mortality of Penaeus monodon larval rearing systems. It attacks shrimp of all stages in zoea, mysis and shrimp postlarva stage. This disease is caused by Vibrio spp, particularly Vibrio harveyi (a luminescent bacterium). Several kinds of antibiotics and chemical material have been used to overcome the disease but they have side effects to environment and human. The searching of bioactive compounds as an alternative treatment has been done for multi purposes. In this study diethyl eter, butanol and aqueous extract of Indonesian sponges Aaptos aaptos and Callyspongia pseudoreticulata were tested for in vitro activity against Vibrio spp. and Vibrio harveyi by using disc diffusion method. The result showed that all extracts of Aaptos aaptos gave a positive antibacterial activity towards those pathogenic bacteria. Meanwhile, only butanol extract of Callyspongia pseudoreticulata obtained to exhibit an antibacterial activity on those pathogenic bacteria. The strong anti-vibrio activity were shown by butanol and aqueous extract of Aaptos aaptos with the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 0.313 and 0.625 mg/mL, respectively. Whilst, the butanol extract of Callyspongia pseudoreticulata indicated a low antibacterial activity with the MIC value of 10 mg/mL. Toxicity of those active extracts was evaluated by Brine Shrimp Lethality Test (BST). Interestingly, butanol and aqueous extracts of Aaptos aaptos did not show any toxic effect in Artemia salina larvae up to 8 x MIC (2.504 mg/mL and 5.000 mg/mL). It is the first report for the anti-vibr io activity of both Aaptos aaptos and Callyspongia pseudoreticulata. This results suggest that Aaptos aaptos has a potential to be used as a source of alternative compound to vibriosis prevention for mariculture

Fisher-Yates and fuzzy Sugeno in game for children with special needs

As a country that has its language, English is an international language that needs to be mastered. Until now, the mastery of English in Indonesian on an international scale is in a low category. Learning English should be taught to children from an early age. For children with special needs, special learning methods are needed so that the material is conveyed. Educational games can be used as an interesting learning media. In this study, an English educational game was created that had the concepts of a quiz, rearrange, and matching. Fisher-Yates algorithm was applied to randomize the questions so that the questions that came out varied. Fuzzy Sugeno algorithm is also applied to the scoring calculation, with input variables of time, value, and the number of stars obtained. The system test outcomes show that the application of the Fisher-Yates algorithm was successful because every question that came out was randomized. The application of the Fuzzy Sugeno algorithm happened also successful because of the high degree of accuracy. Besides, the use of games shows there is an increase in student understanding as evidenced by the acquisition of grades. The results of the average value in doing the test is from 80.41 to 88.3 after playing the game.

Antibacterial and DPPH free radical-scavenging activities of methanolic extracts of Aaptos sp. (Marine Sponges)

This study reports on the evaluation of the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of twelve methanolic extracts (A-L) of Aaptos sp., collected from various locations of Terengganu Islands, namely Pulau Bidong, Pulau Kapas, Pulau Perhentian and Pulau Redang. The antioxidant activity of the twelve specimens was evaluated using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging method. The antibacterial bioassay against 5 bacteria, i.e. Bacillus subtilis (gram-positive), Escherichia coli (gram-negative), Bacillus proteus, Streptococus agalatea and Streptococus fecalis, was carried out using the disc-diffusion method. In the DPPH method, all extracts exhibited moderate and strong radical scavenging activity when compared to the standards used, i.e. quercetin and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) with the inhibition percentage in the range of 55–89%. In particular, specimen H exhibited the strongest radical scavenging activity with IC50 value of 0.1mg/ml. On the contrary, all the specimens showed antibacterial activity at least against one test organism. Interestingly, specimens C, G and L, which were collected from Perhentian, Bidong and Kapas Islands respectively, exhibited weak to strong activity against all bacterial strains. Beside that, specimen F (collected off Redang Island) was weakly bactericidal only against Bacillus proteus. Meanwhile, specimen G (collected off Bidong island) was primarily selected for further isolation to yield cholestan-3β-ol and aaptamine

Effect of compounds isolated from natural products on IFN-γ/LPS- induced nitric oxide production in RAW 264.7 macrophages

The current study was designed to evaluate whether compounds isolated from local medicinal plants in Malaysia suppressed nitric oxide (NO) production in inflammation. The murine monocytic macrophage (RAW 264.7) cell line was used as a target cell and activated by interferon-γ. (IFN-γ.) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Our current study has identified four phytochemicals, namely atrovirinone, cardamonin, flavokawin B, and zerumbone, that inhibit pathological NO generation. These compounds are candidates for further bioassay studies to determine their suitability as drug leads

Antibacterial activity of marine source extracts against multidrug resistant organisms

Antimicrobial resistance is the major problem of global dimensions with a significant impact on morbidity,mortality and healthcare-associated costs. The problem has recently been worsened by the steady increase in multiresistant strains and by the restriction of antibiotic discovery and development programs. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, pseudomonads and Escherichia coli are a major nosocomial and community-acquired pathogens for which few existing antibiotics are efficacious. The current study was conducted to investigate antibacterial activity of natural seaweed sources. Approach: Gracilaria changii Euchema denticulatum and sea cucumbers extracts against Methicillin-resistan-Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pyogenes, Vibrio cholerae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Results: The Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) values and Minimal Bactericidal Concentration(MBC) values of methanol extract were used against all assayed bacteria. Results indicated that G. changii, E. denticulatum and sea cucumbers extracts must possess major anti bacterial components against infectious microorganisms. Conclusion: The results obtained indicate that Gracilaria changii and Euchema denticulatum could be a source of natural products with antibiotic modifying activity to be used against multidrug resistant bacteria

Detection the antibacterial effect of seaweeds on Staphylococcus aureus DNA repair gene (adaB) and cell wall protein synthesis (sav1017) by molecular approaches

Polymerase Chain reaction amplification of DNA was performed to used to study the presence and effect of treated and untreated Stapylococcus aureus genes sav1017 and adaB with marine seaweeds Gracilaria changii and Euchema denticulatum. From the sequencing analysis, the changes were detected in the gene sequence of adaB and sav1017, genes after treated with either G. changii or E. denticulatum extract, which involved the substitution of the nucleotide base pair and insertion or deletion of the purine or pyrimidine base. The novel of this study is the extract of G. changii and E. denticulatum interrupting the important function in MRSA and non-MRSA isolates so that this pathogen cannot survive longer than usual. This significant finding can be applied to a medical treatment whereby both of these extracts can be used as an alternative treatment for the infection of S. aureus especially to overcome drug resistance treatment problems in MRSA strains

Application of RT-PCR to detect treated and untreated Staphylococcus aureus genes with marine algae

Methacillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase (ESBL) organisms and Multiple Drug Resistant Organism (MDRO). Therefore, this study was designed to explore an alternative antibacterial product derived from seaweed extracts, Gracilaria changii and Euchema denticulatum, through the study of DNA and RNA encoding genes of interest in MRSA and non-MRSA. The target of this study is to amplification of several untreated and treated S. aureus and E. coli genes that are potentially involved in the antibacterial activities through RT-PCR assay. G. changii and E. denticulatum extracts showed inhibitory activity against S. aureus, several genes in this pathogen were chosen to study the effect of both seaweed extracts on the genes through PCR and RT-PCR analysis. However, the predicted inhibitory mechanism of both seaweeds extracts on mecA gene was not fully elucidated in the study. The investigation could scientifically proof the natural products to be potentially potent antibacterial agents

Antibacterial activity in marine algae Eucheuma denticulatum against Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes

The in vitro antibacterial activities of seaweed belong to Euchema denticulatum extract showed inhibitory activity only on gram positive organisms tested including Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes, which were expressed in terms of minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration test. Thus, gram negative pathogens tested including Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed resistant phenotypic pattern to both extracts. Results of the present study confirmed the potential use of seaweed extract as a source of antibacterial compounds