Antibacterial activity of the venom of Heterometrus xanthopus

Heterometrus xanthopus (Scorpion) is one of the most venomous and ancient arthropods. Its venom contains anti-microbial peptides like hadrurin, scorpine, Pandinin 1, and Pandinin 2 that are able to effectively kill multidrug-resistant pathogens. The present study was conducted to evaluate the anti-bacterial activity of H. xanthopus venom. Six Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains were tested against 1/100, 1/10, and 1/1 fractions of distilled water diluted and crude venom. 1/100 and 1/10 dilutions were not successful in any of the six bacterial strains studied while the 1/1 dilution was effective on Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 14028, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 with highest zone of inhibition were obtained on B. subtilis. Crude venom was effective against Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 14506, B. subtilis, S. typhimurium, and P. aeruginosa. The most effective results were observed on B. subtilis

In-Vitro Efficacy of Crude Extract of Zizipus Jujuba against Selected Bacterial Strains

Abstract- The research was assessed to evaluate the efficacy of crude extract of Zizipus jujuba against selected bacterial strains. The extract of Zizipus jujuba leaves was obtained by three different methods and the inhibition zones obtained through disc diffusion method. A decent antibacterial activity of Zizipus jujuba leaves crude extract of cold water and ethanol was found against Salmonella typhimurium and Staphylococcus aereus. Maximum zone of inhibition through cold water extract was obtained by Enterococcus feacalis (32mm) followed by Staphylococcus aureus (28mm), Salmonella typhimurium (27.52), Klebsilla pneumonia (19mm) and Escherichia coli (19mm). Similarly maximum zone of inhibition through ethanol extract was obtained by Staphylococcus aureus (28mm) followed by Salmonella typhimurium (27.52). The bacterial species showed no sensitivity against hot water extract due to the degradation of alkaloids in hot water. Mean observation taken was that these bacterial species can be inhibited by Zizipus jujuba plant. The study showed that Zizipus jujuba plant can be used to obtained antibiotics having less or no side effect, especially against Salmonella and staphylococcus aureus infections. Index Terms- Efficacy, Zizipus jujuba, Antibacterial activity, Cold water extract, zone of Inhibition

Scorpion venom: A poison or a medicine-mini review

773-778The Scorpion’s venom considered to be highly complex mixture of nucleotides, enzymes, mucoproteins, biogenic amines, salts, as well as peptides and proteins, which have been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years mainly in Asia and Africa. With the significant discoveries in the number of valuable biologically active components of scorpion venom, numerous drug candidates have been found with the potential to encounter many of the emerging global health crisis. This mini-review sheds light on the application of scorpion venoms and toxins as potential novel antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral, especially as anticancer therapeutics

Genotype-phenotype correlation in contactin-associated protein-like 2 (<i>CNTNAP-2</i>) developmental disorder

Open access funding provided by Università degli Studi di Genova within the CRUI-CARE Agreement. SS receives funding from the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (K23NS119666). VN is supported by the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft core funding, the Austrian Science Fund (FWF): P 32924 and TAI 202 1000 Ideas Project.Contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2) gene encodes for CASPR2, a presynaptic type 1 transmembrane protein, involved in cell–cell adhesion and synaptic interactions. Biallelic CNTNAP2 loss has been associated with “Pitt-Hopkins-like syndrome-1” (MIM#610042), while the pathogenic role of heterozygous variants remains controversial. We report 22 novel patients harboring mono- (n = 2) and bi-allelic (n = 20) CNTNAP2 variants and carried out a literature review to characterize the genotype–phenotype correlation. Patients (M:F 14:8) were aged between 3 and 19 years and affected by global developmental delay (GDD) (n = 21), moderate to profound intellectual disability (n = 17) and epilepsy (n = 21). Seizures mainly started in the first two years of life (median 22.5 months). Antiseizure medications were successful in controlling the seizures in about two-thirds of the patients. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or other neuropsychiatric comorbidities were present in nine patients (40.9%). Nonspecific midline brain anomalies were noted in most patients while focal signal abnormalities in the temporal lobes were noted in three subjects. Genotype–phenotype correlation was performed by also including 50 previously published patients (15 mono- and 35 bi-allelic variants). Overall, GDD (p Publisher PDFPeer reviewe