Co-amoxiclav-induced Stevens Johnson Syndrome in a child

Stevens-Johnson Syndrome is an uncommon life threatening disease generally induced by drugs. Antibiotics, mainly sulphonamides, are the most involved drugs in Stevens-Johnson Syndrome in children. Co-amoxiclav is a well tolerated antibiotic. It has never been reported to cause, lonely this syndrome in children. Herein, we report a co-amoxiclav-induced Stevens-Johnson Syndrome occurring in an 18-month-old child. The diagnosis of SJS is often challenging in children and other possible diseases should be ruled out. The etiology of this syndrome is not yet fully understood. It is thought to be mediated by an immunologic mechanism. Management involves early identification, withdrawal of the culprit drug and rapid initiation of supportive therapies.Pan African Medical Journal 2013; 14:3

The GH51 α-l-arabinofuranosidase from Paenibacillus sp. THS1 is multifunctional, hydrolyzing main-chain and side-chain glycosidic bonds in heteroxylans.

Background: Conceptually, multi functional enzymes are attractive because in the case of complex polymer hydrolysis having two or more activities defined by a single enzyme offers the possibility of synergy and reduced enzyme cocktail complexity. Nevertheless, multi functional enzymes are quite rare and are generally multi domain assemblies with each activity being defined by a separate protein module. However, a recent report described a GH51 arabinofuranosidase from Alicyclobacillus sp. A4 that displays both α l arabinofuranosidase and β d xylanase activities, which are defined by a single active site. Following on from this, we describe in detail another multi functional GH51 arabinofuranosidase and discuss the molecular basis of multifunctionality. Results: THSAbf is a GH51 α l arabinofuranosidase. Characterization revealed that THSAbf is active up to 75 °C, stable at 60 °C and active over a broad pH range (4–7). THSAbf preferentially releases para nitrophenyl from the l arabino furanoside ( k cat / K M = 1050 s − 1 mM − 1 ) and to some extent from d galactofuranoside and d xyloside. THSAbf is active on 4 O methylglucuronoxylans from birch and beechwood (10.8 and 14.4 U mg − 1 , respectively) and on sugar beet branched and linear arabinans (1.1 ± 0.24 and 1.8 ± 0.1 U mg − 1 ). Further investigation revealed that like the Alicyclo - bacillus sp. A4 α l arabinofuranosidase, THSAbf also displays endo xylanase activity, cleaving β 1,4 bonds in heteroxy lans. The optimum pH for THASAbf activity is substrate dependent, but ablation of the catalytic nucleophile caused a general loss of activity, indicating the involvement of a single active center. Combining the α l arabinofuranosidase with a GH11 endoxylanase did not procure synergy. The molecular modeling of THSAbf revealed a wide active site cleft and clues to explain multi functionality

Paenibacillus marinum sp nov., a thermophilic xylanolytic bacterium isolated from a marine hot spring in Tunisia

Among a large collection of Tunisian hot springs bacterial isolates a bacterial strain, THE22(T), with xylanolytic properties was identified. The bacterium was isolated from a natural hot spring Ain Echefa at Mediteranean sea (Korbous, North-Eastern Tunisia). The novel strain was Gram positive, spore-forming, rod-shaped, facultatively anaerobic and grew optimally under conditions of 55 degrees C, 1% (w/v) NaCl and pH 7-8. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that strain THE22(T) fell within the radiation of the cluster comprising Paenibacillus species with Paenibacillus phyllosphaerae PALXIL04(T) as the closest phylogenetic neighbour (95.8%). The predominant components in the fatty methyl ester profile were iso-C-16:0 (34.46%), C-16:0 (19.64%), anteiso-C-15:0 (19.18%) and anteiso-C-17:0 (18.11%). The major respiratory quinone was menaquinone-7 (MK-7). The diamino acid found in the cell-wall peptidoglycan was meso-diaminopimelic acid. The base composition of DNA was 56 mol%. Based on the polyphasic taxonomic data, strain THE-22(T) (=DSM 18499(T)=LMG 23758(T)) was recognized as a novel species within the genus Paenibacillus. The name Paenibacillus marinum sp. nov. is proposed

Effects of environment and development stage on phenolic content and antioxidant activities of <em>Mentha Pulegium</em> L.

International audienceWe investigated the relative contributions of the environment and development stage on total polyphenols, flavonoids and condensed tannins contents, as well as 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and superoxide scavenging activities in four Tunisian Mentha pulegium. Shoot total phenolics and antioxidant capacities were significantly dependent on environment, development stage and their interaction. Environment effects were considerably larger than development stage effects for total phenolics, flavonoids, DPPH and superoxide scavenging capacities, whereas development stage was much stronger than environment for tannin content and, although small, interaction effects of the two factors (environment and development stage) were significant for all antioxidant properties analyzed. The highest antioxidant activities were related to high phenolic contents. Three behaviors were revealed; the best antioxidant capacities in Soliman at floral bud stage, followed by Takelsa and the lowest potentialities (Bouarada and Jdeida). These findings indicate that antioxidant properties of M. pulegium were respectively influenced by environment, development stage and their interaction