Relevant and selective activity of Pancratium illyricum L. against Candida albicans clinical isolates: a combined effect on yeast growth and virulence

BACKGROUND: Alkaloids present in plants of the Amaryllidaceae family are secondary metabolites of high biological interest, possessing a wide range of pharmacological activities. In the search for new plant-derived compounds with antimicrobial activities, two alkaloid extracts obtained from bulbs and leaves of Pancratium illyricum L., a plant of the Amarillydaceae family, were tested for their effect on bacterial and yeast growth. METHODS: The broth microdilution susceptibility test was applied to study the effect of plant extracts on the growth of reference bacterial strains and Candida albicans reference and clinical isolates strains. Extracts obtained from the different parts of the plant were tested and compared with the pure components identified in the extracts. Since matrix metalloproteinase enzymes play a role in the dissemination process of Candida albicans, the effect of the bulb extract and pure alkaloids on in vitro collagenase activity was tested. Cell viability test was carried out on human embryo lung fibroblasts (HEL 299). RESULTS: Whilst both extracts did not show any inhibitory activity against neither Gram positive nor Gram negative bacteria, a strong antifungal activity was detected, in particular for the bulb extract. All clinical isolates were susceptible to the growth inhibitory activity of the bulb extract, with endpoint IC50 values ranging from 1.22 to 78 μg/mL. The pure alkaloids lycorine and vittatine, identified as components of the extract, were also assayed for their capacity of inhibiting the yeast growth, and lycorine turned very active, with endpoint IC50 values ranging from 0.89 to 28.5 μg/mL. A potent inhibition of the in vitro collagenase activity was found in the presence of the bulb extract, and this effect was much higher than that exerted by the pure alkaloids. Viability of cell lines tested was not affected by the extract. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, results suggest that the extract of Pancratium illyricum may act as antifungal agent both directly on the yeast growth and by altering the tissue invasion process

A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry untargeted metabolomics approach to discriminate Fiore Sardo cheese produced from raw or thermized ovine milk.

Thermization is a sub-pasteurization heat treatment of cheese milk (at 57-68°C for 15-30 s) aimed to reduce the number of undesirable microbial contaminants with reduced heat damage to the indigenous milk enzymes. In this work, the effects of milk thermization on the compositional parameters, proteolysis indices, free fatty acid levels, and low molecular weight metabolite profiles of ovine cheese were studied. Cheese samples at different ripening stages and produced in 2 different periods of the year were analyzed. While the effects of milk thermization on cheese macro-compositional parameters and free fatty acid levels were not evident due to the predominant effects of milk seasonality and cheese ripening stage, the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry based metabolomics approach of ovine cheese produced from raw and thermized milk highlighted strong differences at the metabolite level. Discriminant analysis applied to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry data provided an excellent classification model where cheese samples were correctly classified as produced from raw or thermized milk. The metabolites that mostly changed due to the thermization process belonged to the classes of free amino acids and saccharides. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolomics has proven to be a valid tool to study the effect of mild heat treatments on the polar metabolite profile in ovine cheese

Biological Assays and Chemical Composition of Volatile Oils of Bupleurum fruticosum L. (Apiaceae)

The composition of supercritical CO 2 extracts and essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation of Bupleurum fruticosum L., growing spontaneously in Italy and Portugal, and its antifungal activity is reported. The collected extracts were analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS methods. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimal lethal concentration (MLC) were used to evaluate the antifungal activity of the oils against Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, C. krusei, C. guillermondii, C. parapsilosis, Cryptococcus neoformans, Trichophyton rubrum, T. mentagrophytes, Microsporum canis, M. gypseum, Epidermophyton floccosum, Aspergillus niger, A. fumigatus and A. flavus

Compliance, illiteracy and low-protein diet: multiple challenges in CKD and a case of self-empowerment

Background: Low-protein diets (LPD) are an important means of delaying the need for dialysis and attaining a stable metabolic balance in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Many authors consider a low educational level and illiteracy to be adverse features for a good dietary compliance. Case presentation: We report the case of a 77-year old woman, illiterate, affected by advanced CKD (stage 4 according to KDIGO guidelines). She was initially ashamed of her problem and did not declare it, leading to an overzealous reduction in protein intake. However, with her daughter's help, who translated the dietary prescription into images, she overcame the barrier represented by illiteracy and was able to correctly follow the prescriptions, attaining good kidney function stability and preserving an adequate nutritional status. Conclusions: The case underlines the importance of a personalized approach to dietary prescriptions and suggests that it is possible to achieve a good compliance to the dietary treatment of CKD also in patients with relevant cultural barriers

New insights on the antifungal activity of essential oil of Salvia desoleana Atzei et Picci, an endemic plant from folk medicine of Sardinia, Italy

757-760This work reports the results concerning the antifungal activity of the essential oil obtained from Salvia desoleana, an endemic plant from folk medicine of Sardinia Island, Italy. Chemical analysis of S. desoleana essential oil isolated by hydrodistillation was carried out by gas chromatography (GC-FID) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The essential oil contains high amounts of oxygenated monoterpenes and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, being linalyl acetate (21.0%), a-terpinyl acetate (17.3%), 1,8-cineole (6.7%), linalool (3.6%), sclareol (3.5%) and germacrene D (22.1%) the main compounds. The oil was more active against the yeast Cryptococcus neoformans and the dermatophyte Trichophyton rubrum with MIC values of 0.16 μL/mL and 0.32 μL/mL, respectively. The oil revealed an important inhibitory effect on the germ tube formation in C. albicans. It was able to achieve about 40% of inhibition of filamentation at concentrations as low as 0.08 µL/mL. These findings add significant information to the biological activity of the essential oil of S. desoleana, specifically to its antifungal properties, thus justifying and reinforcing the use of this plant in traditional medicine

Solution of the kinetic equations governing trap filling. Consequences concerning dose dependence and dose-rate effects

The equations governing the traffic of charge carriers during the filling, by ionizing radiation, of traps and luminescence centers in an insulator are numerically solved. The numerical solution is that of a set of four simultaneous differential equations governing the time-dependent functions of concentrations of electrons and holes in the conduction and valence bands and in traps and centers. The results are more general and accurate than those reported previously since no assumptions concerning the proximity to equilibrium have to be made. Moreover, all previous calculations took into account the accumulated concentrations at the end of the irradiation, whereas we have considered an additional period of time after the excitation which allows for the relaxation of carriers in the bands. This simulates the experimental conditions more accurately because during this time any charge carriers which may have accumulated in the conduction and valence bands will relax into the traps and centers and, in doing so, will contribute to the final concentration of trapped charge. In our calculations we have allowed for this by letting the charge in the bands decay for a period of time T following the cessation of the irradiation (which occurs at time t). Thus, the level of trapped charge n is calculated at time t+ T and this is taken to be a better representation of the trapped charge density. Results were obtained for very high and very low dose rates (intensities) of the radiation. Experimental findings of the dose dependence of thermoluminescence (TL) are susceptible to analysis by the approach developed by us. By adding a competing trapping level and changing the set of equations appropriately, we get a set of five simultaneous differential equations. In this way we can test the previous approximative results yielding a superlinear filling of one of the traps. It is found that, under an appropriate choice of parameters, superlinearity emerges, although the results are not identical to those of the previous approximations. In addition, an important result to emerge from the analysis is the possible dependence of TL output on the dose rate for a constant total dose. Recent experimental results of such a dependence on TL in quartz are shown to be in general accord with the numerical results.Peer reviewedPhysic

New insights on the antifungal activity of essential oil of Salvia desoleana Atzei et Picci, an endemic plant from folk medicine of Sardinia, Italy

This work reports the results concerning the antifungal activity of the essential oil obtained from Salvia desoleana, an endemic plant from folk medicine of Sardinia Island, Italy. Chemical analysis of S. desoleana essential oil isolated by hydrodistillation was carried out by gas chromatography (GC-FID) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The essential oil contains high amounts of oxygenated monoterpenes and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, being linalyl acetate (21.0%), a-terpinyl acetate (17.3%), 1,8-cineole (6.7%), linalool (3.6%), sclareol (3.5%) and germacrene D (22.1%) the main compounds. The oil was more active against the yeast Cryptococcus neoformans and the dermatophyte Trichophyton rubrum with MIC values of 0.16 μL/mL and 0.32 μL/mL, respectively. The oil revealed an important inhibitory effect on the germ tube formation in C. albicans. It was able to achieve about 40% of inhibition of filamentation at concentrations as low as 0.08 µL/mL. These findings add significant information to the biological activity of the essential oil of S. desoleana, specifically to its antifungal properties, thus justifying and reinforcing the use of this plant in traditional medicine

Prognostic prediction of the immunohistochemical expression of p16 and p53 in cutaneous melanoma: a comparison of two populations from different geographical regions

p16INK4a and p53 are tumor-suppressor genes frequently altered in various malignancies, including cutaneous melanoma. The purpose of the study was to establish the prognostic value of immunohistochemical expression of p16INK4a and p53 in sporadic cutaneous melanoma (CM) in two regions with a high-risk for melanoma in Italy and Ecuador. Immunohistochemical staining of p16 and p53 was performed in samples of primary CM from 82 patients with Stage I and II melanoma according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system. Survival differences between categories of p16 or p53 expression were analyzed using the product-limit procedure (Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test). Clinical variables (gender, age, tumor location, Clark’s level, thickness) were correlated with survival and p16 or p53 expression. p16 nuclear immunoreactivity was observed in 85% of Italian patients compared to 48.7% of Ecuadorians; a small number of cases showed p53 immunoreactivity in both populations. Only nuclear p16 expression exhibited a significant correlation with survival (Italians p=0.001, Ecuadorians p=0.017) but did not appear to correlate with any clinicopathological parameter. No significant difference was observed in survival with regard to p53 expression or cytoplasmic p16. Our results demonstrate that nuclear expression of p16 can be considered a molecular prognostic factor in patients with sporadic CM and indicate its importance as a clinical marker

Discovery of Yttrium, Zirconium, Niobium, Technetium, and Ruthenium Isotopes

Currently, thirty-four yttrium, thirty-five zirconium, thirty-four niobium, thirty-five technetium, and thirty-eight ruthenium isotopes have been observed and the discovery of these isotopes is discussed here. For each isotope a brief synopsis of the first refereed publication, including the production and identification method, is presented.Comment: To be published in Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Table