Synthesis, Characterization, Antibacterial and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Enoxacin Metal Complexes

The present work comprises the synthesis of enoxacin (Heno) complexes with various transition metals. Two types of complexes [M(eno)2(H2O)2]3H2O(M = CuII, NiII or MnII) and [M(eno)(H2O)2]Cl · 4H2O (M = FeIII) were obtained. The complexes were characterized by different physicochemical, spectroscopic, and elemental analysis. Results suggest that enoxacin interacts with the metals as a monoanionic bidentate ligand. These complexes were also tested for their antibacterial activity against eleven (11) different microorganisms, and the results were compared with the parent drug. Moreover all the metal complexes were also tested for their ability to scavenge reactive oxygen species where by MnII and CuII complexes exhibited potential to mediate anti-inflammatory response

Comparative Analysis of Trace Elements Found in Commonly Used Vegetables Irrigated By Fresh And Waste Water in Karachi, Pakistan

Use of municipal waste water (both treated and untreated) has now become a common practice in urban and peri-urban areas. Mostly vegetables in urban cities like Karachi are being irrigated by sewerage water. In this study a comparison of sewage and fresh water-irrigated vegetables has been made with respect to trace metals. Among commonly used vegetables, green onion, cabbage, pumpkin, eggplant, bird’s eye chili and okra were selected. Two sets of these vegetables were collected, one from local farm where irrigation was done with well water and other set of samples was collected from Malir, Karachi where irrigation was done with waste water. Samples were analyzed for heavy metals i.e. K, Na, Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, Fe, and As by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. It showed that both sets of samples were found to contain metal concentrations beyond the limits set by WHO/EU. Apart from tomato, the concentration of only Cd was near the standard value for both sets. Similar results were obtained for K except for pumpkin in which the concentration for waste water irrigated samples was fairly high. Amount of Cu and Fe were moderately higher than the standard in both samples. Arsenic in all the samples was considerably high while maximum concentration was obtained for Pd against the limits. These findings suggest waste water irrigated vegetables pose high risk to human health. The concentrations of As and Pb were high in fresh water samples possibly, the well water may contain metals, therefore it is important to know the source

Utilization of Azadirachta Indica Latex for Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles its Application in Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue Dye

The use of extract from indigenous plant species for the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles has significant importance as they have a capacity to act as potential reducing, capping and stabilizing agent. In this research, latex of Azadirachta indica (Neem) was selected for green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Maximum absorbance was achieved at 425 nm (λmax) for AgNPs. FTIR vibrational peaks of AgNPs were observed at 3462, 2933, 1732, 1658, 1458, 1381, 1244, and 1028 and near 600 cm -1. Moreover, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) showed that the synthesized AgNPs were face-centered cuboid, spherical, hexahedral, and pentagonal structures ranging in size between 7.15-71.5nm. XRD analysis shows that most of the nanoparticles have spherical crystalline structure. Photocatalytic degradation of hazardous azo dye; Methylene blue dye (MB) was performed in the presence of synthesized AgNPs as catalysts under UV-induced photocatalytic degradation. The degradation efficiency after 180 minutes of reaction time was 82 % which proposes its potential to use as environmental pollutant eradicators in the treatment of textile industries wastewater

Antibiotic Resistance and Susceptibility Profile, with Biofilm Forming Potential Of Clinically Isolated Enterococcus Specie from Blood and Urine Samples

Enterococcus spp. is Gram-positive cocci bacteria among the normal flora in human intestine. Common species are Enterococcus fecalis and Enterococcus faecium. They work as probiotics and help in digestion and immune system modulation. Enterococci are opportunistic pathogens and can cause nosocomial infections. Biofilm is one of the factors that facilitate the antibiotic resistance, which is complex EPS (exopolysaccharides) structure surrounding microbial cells, making them resistant from antimicrobial treatments. Due to acquisition of different virulence factors and resistance from antibiotics, infections of Enterococcus spp., have increased. In this study antibiotic resistance and sensitivity profile with their ability to form biofilm, has been determined. Human blood and urine samples were taken from Memon Medical Hospital Karachi. Culture and sensitivity test was performed for the major groups of antibiotics used for treating enterococcal infections with analysis of biofilm formation. Highest resistance was observed against the antibiotic levofloxacin 90% and all organisms were sensitive from linezolid 100%. Overall organisms were resistance from one and more antibiotics. All organisms were able to form biofilms as well. Antibiotic resistance has become an alarming challenge for the health care globally. Enterococcal resistance from major groups of antibiotics for their treatment has increased the rate of nosocomial infections

Carbapenem Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacteriaceae, and Acinetobacter baumannii , Prevalence, Biochemical Identification and Clinical Characteristics in Karachi, Pakistan

Antibiotic resistant pathogens are affecting the community and healthcare institutions all over the world. Pakistan is a developing country and resistance to drugs is the main issue and is of great importance. Current study is focused on isolation and identification of bacterial pathogens, i.e. member of Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii for the evaluation of prevalence, distribution of sensitivity and antibiogram of different antibiotics and carbapenem resistance isolates with phenotypic detection of resistant gene. Total 200 samples of different sources were collected and tested for bacterial pathogens. Out of 200 samples, 83 (41.5%) were found positive for different bacterial pathogens while 117 (58.5%) were negative. Among these 83 positive samples, Urine 43 (51.8%), Pus 22 (26.5%), Blood 8 (9.8%), Tissue 3 (3.6%), wound swab 2 (2.4%), Sputum 3 (3.6%) and HVS 2 (2.4%). E. coli 37 (44.6%), Klebsiella species 23 (27.7%), Proteus vulgaris 8 (9.6%), Ps. aeruginosa 4 (4.8%), Acinetobacter baumannii 4 (4.8%), C. freundii 2 (2.4%), S. typhi 2 (2.4%), P. mirabilis 1 (1.2%), M. morganii 1 (1.2%) and member of Enterobacteriaceae 1 (1.2%) were identified. Out of 83 (41.5%) positive samples there are 17 samples which showed resistance against Imipenem (IPM) and were further processed by phenotypic method Modified Hodge Test MHT. After Modified Hoge Test (MHT) among all these 17 samples there were only 07 (39%) positive and the remaining 11 (61%) were negative, its mean there was no gene involve in 11 samples

Antifungal activity of Zinc nitrate derived nano Zno fungicide synthesized from Trachyspermum ammi to control fruit rot disease of grapefruit

Grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) is a widely grown citrus and its fruit is affected by a variety of biotic and abiotic stress. Keeping in view the hazardous effects of synthetic fungicides, the recent trend is shifting towards safer and eco-friendly control of fruit diseases. The present study was aimed to diagnose the fruit rot disease of grapefruit and its control by using zinc oxide green nanoparticles (ZnO NPs). Fruit rot symptoms were observed in various grapefruit growing sites of Pakistan. Diseased samples were collected, and the disease-causing pathogen was isolated. Following Koch’s postulates, the isolated pathogen was identified as Rhizoctonia solani. For eco-friendly control of this disease, ZnO NPs were prepared in the seed extract of Trachyspermum ammi and characterized. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) of these NPs described the presence of stabilizing and reducing compounds such as phenols, aldehyde and vinyl ether, especially thymol (phenol). X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed their crystalline nature and size (48.52 nm). Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis elaborated the presence of major elements in the samples, while scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the morphology of bio fabricated NPs. ZnO NPs exhibited very good anti-fungal activity and the most significant fungal growth inhibition was observed at 1.0 mg/ml concentration of green NPs, in vitro and in vivo. These findings described that the bioactive constituents of T. ammi seed extract can effectively reduce and stabilize ZnO NPs. It is a cost-effective method to successfully control the fruit rot disease of grapefruit.The publication of the present work is supported by the Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi Province (grant no. 2018JQ5218) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51809224), Top Young Talents of Shaanxi Special Support Program. The authors would like to express their deepest gratitude to University of Tabuk, for the technical support for this study

Novel Facile Nanoformulation of levofloxacin quinolone antibiotic

In this study, new levofloxacin loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles were prepared by sol–gel technique using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as silica precursor and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as pore generating agent. The synthesis conditions were tailored by varying the molar ratio of water, NaOH and amount of CTAB used. The synthesized silica carriers were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) which showed that spherical particles with an average size between 80-87 nm were prepared. UV and Infra Red Spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the formation of levofloxacin-nano particulate system and showed the participation of carboxylic group in the synthetic process. It is envisaged that nano based drug delivery of levofloxacin would serve as a promising and innovative tool against resistant bacterial infection. Keywords: Levofloxacin, Nanoparticles, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, sol–ge

Impacts assessment of Traffic Noise: A Case Study in two Business Commercial Roads of Karachi

Road Traffic is a primary source of noise pollution becoming worse each day due to increase number of vehicles, inadequate infrastructure and necessity to commute during same hours. This can critically upset the quality of life in an urban city like Karachi. The purpose of present study was to examine the level of noise pollution due to transportation and its impacts on human health. For this purpose, two busiest business commercial roads of Karachi, M. A. Jinnah Road and Shahrah-e-Faisal were selected for measuring noise level at different timings of the day throughout the week during last week of April 2018. Collected data was statically analyzed by SPSS software. According to the research findings, the calculated average equivalent sound pressure levels were Leq 88.07dB at Old Radio Station Building, M. A. Jinnah Road and 86.09dB at Aisha Bhawani College, Shahrah-e-Faisal which is far above the acceptable limit of SEQS (Sindh Environmental Quality Standards). It is recommended that legislations and proper mitigation measures including noise barrier and absorbent installation to control this unseen pollution is needed to prevent noise impact on human health