Use of Oxyrase® enzyme to enhance recovery of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from culture media and ground beef

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a bacterium that has caused great concern in the meat and food industry during the last few years because of several, well-publicized, disease outbreaks, including the incident at the Jackin- the-Box fast food chain in Seattle, Washington. The organism can cause severe sickness and even death in certain population groups. To better assure meat safety, federal meat inspection is focusing on developing rapid methods to detect this disease agent and others. Oxyrase is a commercially available enzyme that can accelerate the growth of some bacteria. Current techniques for isolation and culturing of E. coli O157:H7 from foods require an enrichment period of 18 to 24 hours, thus limiting their usefulness for perishable foods that are marketed quickly. Our investigation found that Oxyrase shortened required enrichment periods in broth culture only. The enzyme was less effective in sterilized ground beef

Antioxidative and antibacterial activities of phenolic compounds from Ficus sur Forssk. and Ficus sycomorus L. (Moraceae) : potential for sickle cell disease treatment in Burkina Faso

Ficus sur and Ficus sycomorus, two medicinal species used in Burkinabe traditional medicine for the treatment of sickle cell disease were investigated. The determination of total phenolic and tannins contents, using the method of Folin-Ciocalteu (FCR), indicate values significantly (p <0.05) higher in extracts of Ficus sycomorus compared to those of Ficus sur, with respective values of 336.80 ± 0.80 mg TAE/g of extract and 203.74 ± 0.9 mg TAE/g of extract against 247.00 ± 0.52 mg TAE/g of extract and 120.8 ± 0.83 mg TAE/g of extract. Similarly, using the method of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), the results of the analysis indicate that extracts of Ficus sycomorus produce the highest antiradical activity with IC50 value of 9.60 ± 0.02 μg/mL against 31.83 ± 0.55 μg/ mL for Ficus sur. The IC50 value of quercetin, used as reference antioxidant, was of 4.6 ± 0.08 μg/mL. The latex of Ficus sycomorus presented the lowest minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, with respective values of 0.13 mg/mL and 0.25 mg/mL. The difference in phenolic content could explain the difference in biological activity between the two Ficus species.Keywords: drepanocitosis, radical scavenging, tannins, flavonoids, medicinal plant

A randomized trial of 7-day doripenem versus 10-day imipenem-cilastatin for ventilatorassociated pneumonia

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to compare a 7-day course of doripenem to a 10-day course of imipenem-cilastatin for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) due to Gram-negative bacteria. METHODS: This was a prospective, double-blinded, randomized trial comparing a fixed 7-day course of doripenem one gram as a four-hour infusion every eight hours with a fixed 10-day course of imipenem-cilastatin one gram as a one-hour infusion every eight hours (April 2008 through June 2011). RESULTS: The study was stopped prematurely at the recommendation of the Independent Data Monitoring Committee that was blinded to treatment arm assignment and performed a scheduled review of data which showed signals that were close to the pre-specified stopping limits. The final analyses included 274 randomized patients. The clinical cure rate at the end of therapy (EOT) in the microbiological intent-to-treat (MITT) population was numerically lower for patients in the doripenem arm compared to the imipenem-cilastatin arm (45.6% versus 56.8%; 95% CI, -26.3% to 3.8%). Similarly, the clinical cure rate at EOT was numerically lower for patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa VAP, the most common Gram-negative pathogen, in the doripenem arm compared to the imipenem-cilastatin arm (41.2% versus 60.0%; 95% CI, -57.2 to 19.5). All cause 28-day mortality in the MITT group was numerically greater for patients in the doripenem arm compared to the imipenem-cilastatin arm (21.5% versus 14.8%; 95% CI, -5.0 to 18.5) and for patients with P. aeruginosa VAP (35.3% versus 0.0%; 95% CI, 12.6 to 58.0). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with microbiologically confirmed late-onset VAP, a fixed 7-day course of doripenem was found to have non-significant higher rates of clinical failure and mortality compared to a fixed 10-day course of imipenem-cilastatin. Consideration should be given to treating patients with VAP for more than seven days to optimize clinical outcome. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT0058969

ETHNOMEDICAL STUDY AND IRON CONTENT OF SOME MEDICINAL HERBS USED IN TRADITIONAL MEDICINE IN COTE D’IVOIRE FOR THE TREATMENT OF ANAEMIA

Medicinal plants have been a source of succour in the control of many diseases in developing countries and anaemia is no exception. In this study, ethnomedical survey was carried out for recording medicinal plants used in Northern and South-Eastern Côte d’Ivoire against anaemia. Also iron content was determined for some of the recorded plants using phenanthroline method. Thirty (30) medicinal plants, covering 28 genera and 22 families were recorded. These plants were used to prepare 30 receipts for the treatment of anaemia and aggravating factors such as malaria and gastro-intestinal helminthes. Eleven (11) of these medicinal plants showed presence of iron in various quantities. The most promising were Tectona grandis, Amaranthus spinosus and Stylosanthes erecta which contained the highest iron contents viz; 266.6, 236.6 and 206.6 mg/100 g respectively. They were followed by Hoslundia opposita, Imperata cylindrica, Cajanus cajan, Thalia geniculata and Milicia excelsa. These results lend credence to the traditional use of these plants in Cote d’Ivoire’s ethnomedicine for the treatment of anaemia

Phenetic and genetic structure of tsetse fly populations (Glossina palpalis palpalis) in southern Ivory Coast

Background: Sleeping sickness, transmitted by G. p. palpalis, is known to be present in the Ivory Coast. G. p. palpalis has recently been reported to occur in several places within the town of Abidjan, including: (i) the Banco forest, (ii) the Abobo Adjame University campus and (iii) the zoological park. Could these three places be treated sequentially, as separate tsetse populations, or should they be taken as one area comprising a single, panmictic population? Methods: The amount of gene flow between these places provides strategic information for vector control. It was estimated by the use of both microsatellite DNA and morphometric markers. The idea was to assess the interest of the faster and much less expensive morphometric approach in providing relevant information about population structure. Thus, to detect possible lack of insect exchange between these neighbouring areas of Abidjan, we used both genetic (microsatellite DNA) and phenetic (geometric morphometrics) markers on the same specimens. Using these same markers, we also compared these samples with specimens from a more distant area of south Ivory Coast, the region of Aniassue (186 km north from Abidjan). Results: Neither genetic nor phenetic markers detected significant differentiation between the three Abidjan G. p. palpalis samples. Thus, the null hypothesis of a single panmictic population within the city of Abidjan could not be rejected, suggesting the control strategy should not consider them separately. The markers were also in agreement when comparing G. p. palpalis from Abidjan with those of Aniassue, showing significant divergence between the two sites. Conclusions: Both markers suggested that a successful control of tsetse in Abidjan would require the three Abidjan sites to be considered together, either by deploying control measures simultaneously in all three sites, or by a continuous progression of interventions following for instance the "rolling carpet" principle. To compare the geometry of wing venation of tsetse flies is a cheap and fast technique. Agreement with the microsatellite approach highlights its potential for rapid assessment of population structure