Evaluation of antibacterial activity of ethanol extracts of some medicinal plants against Listeria monocytogenes

چکیده: زمینه و هدف: باکتری لیستریا مونوسیتوژنز (Listeria monocytogenes) می تواند عامل بسیاری از موارد اسپورادیک و اپیدمیک بیماری در انسان باشد که معمولاً از طریق مواد غذایی منتقل می شود. میزان بالای مرگ و میر ناشی از ابتلا به لیستریوز باعث نگرانی در صنایع غذایی و سازمان های نظارتی شده است. با توجه به حضور گونه های گیاهی متعدد در ایران، ‌با انجام مطالعات ضد میکروبی بر روی تعدادی از گیاهان دارویی کشور، احتمالاً می توان به ترکیبات با ارزشی در این زمینه دست یافت. بدین منظور در مطالعه حاضر خواص ضد لیستریایی تعدادی از گیاهان دارویی بررسی گردید. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه تجربی گیاهان آویشن (Thymus vulgris L.)، اکالیپتوس (Eucalyptus globulus)، بابونه (Matricaria recutita L.)، رزماری (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) و مریم گلی (Salvia officinalis L.) جهت مطالعه انتخاب گردیدند. پس از جمع آوری و تهیه گیاهان و بررسی های گیاه شناسی و فارماکوگنوزی، عصاره هیدروالکلی گیاهان مورد نظر با روش پرکولاسیون تهیه و اثرات ضد میکروبی این گیاهان با استفاده از روش انتشار دیسک (Disc Diffusion Method) و همچنین تعیین حداقل غلظت ممانعت کننده از رشد میکروب (MIC =Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) و حداقل غلظت کشندگی باکتری (MBC=Minimum Bactericidal Concentration) با استفاده از روش رقت لوله ای (Macro Dilution Method) بر علیه دو سروتیپ 4a و 4b باکتری لیستریا مونوسیتوژنز انجام شد. آمپی سیلین (µg/disc 10) به عنوان ماده ضد میکروبی مرجع بکار رفت. یافته ها: نتایج بدست آمده نشان داد که تنها عصاره هیدروالکلی اکالیپتوس در هر دو روش رقت لوله ای و انتشار دیسک، دارای اثرات ضد باکتریایی بر روی لیستریا مونوسیتوژنز بود. حداقل غلظت مهار کنندگی عصاره اکالیپتوس بر روی باکتری لیستریا مونوسیتوژن µg/ml 25/31 و حداقل غلظت کشندگی عصاره این گیاه µg/ml 500 بود و تفاوت معنی داری بین حساسیت دو سروتیپ لیستریا مونوسیتوژنز مشاهده نشد. از عصاره هیدروالکلی دیگر گیاهان مورد آزمایش در این تحقیق، ‌هیچ گونه اثرات ضد میکروبی بر روی هر دو سروتیپ باکتری مشاهده نگردید. نتیجه گیری: عصاره اکالیپتوس می تواند به عنوان ترکیب ضد لیستریایی مطرح شود. استفاده از اسانس این گیاه در غلظت های بالاتر و روش های دیگر عصاره گیری اثرات ضد لیستریایی اکالیپتوس را روشن تر خواهد کرد

Risk assessment of the total mercury in Golden gray mullet (Liza aurata) from Caspian Sea

Mercury is the most toxic heavy metal in the aquatic ecosystems which originates both from natural and industrial resources and is ultimately deposited in sediments as methyl mercury. This metal is quickly transferred through the food chain and accumulated in organisms. In this study, the human health risk due to consumption of Mullet (Liza aurata) in the Caspian Sea, were evaluated by measuring the concentration of mercury in muscle samples using Atomic absorbtion spectrophotometer (Perkin Elmer FIAS-100) and cold vapor technique. A total of 60 fresh Mullet samples were collected by local fisherman from 12 stations on the southern coast of Caspian Sea in Mazandaran province situated in the north of Iran. The average concentration of mercury in Mullet muscle was 0.137 µg/g of fresh weight (0.432 µg/g dry weight) which was less than the allowable amount for human consumption determined by the international organizations such as United States Environmental Protection Agency, World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organizations and the Food and Drug Administration. The calculations indicated that daily and weekly mercury uptake for Iranian consumers is lower than the guide values (Acceptable Daily Intake and Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake) provided by international organizations. Also, Hazard Quotient Index was below 1 (0.35). Therefore, the consumption of the Mullet is not a serious threat to the consumer’s health and a consumption permitted rate of 51 g per day is recommended

Matricaria L. (Anthemideae, Asteraceae) in Iran: a chemotaxonomic study based on flavonoids

Matricaria L. belongs to the tribe Anthemideae and the subtribe Matricineae (Asteraceae) and comprises 7 species of which 2 species grow wild in Iran. This study was aimed to characterize the Iranian materials of Matricaria using profiles of flavonoid spots and determination of skeletons of major flavonoids in each species. Twelve bulked population samples from Matricaria aurea and M. recutita were examined. Presence -absence data from two dimensional maps (2DM) of their flavonoid spots were processed using Cluster and PCA analyses. Differences at species level in flavonoid skeleton properties were investigated and a taxonomic review of close taxa was provided

A Survey on the Legal Requirements of Local Content Utilization in the Upstream Petroleum Industry

Recently, the resource-rich countries by adopting a variety of policies has intended to increase their shares in petroleum operations. The law enactment as to the requirement for local content utilization is a way through employing the workforces, equipment and products locally provided in the territory by increasing the value-added to the country’s economic other than the extraction project. Upon oil exploration in Iran, especially after the nationalization of petroleum industry and also the Islamic revolution, different rules and regulations have been enacted in respect of local content. Currently, the “Law on Maximum Utilization of Manufacturing and Service Rendering Capabilities to Resolve the Country’s Requirements and Strengthen them in the Course of Export and to Modify the Article (104) of Direct Tax Act” is the most important instrument which reflects the local content requirements including: project assignment to Iranian companies, Iranian-foreign joint venture or foreign companies, performance requirement, respecting minimum percentage (51%), information requirement, monitoring and controlling requirement and refers to the sanctions of defaults and exceptions. This article attempts to explain each of the mentioned requirements, sanctions and exceptions and refers to the existing gaps by considering the characteristics of petroleum industry and proposes respective recommendations as to the case

Cytotoxic Effects of Iranian Mistletoe Extract on a Panel of Cancer Cells: Cytotoxicity of Mistletoe

Extracts derived from Viscum album have been shown to kill cancer cells in vitro. Some studies have noted that different species of this plant collected from around the world displayed cytotoxic effects in different extents. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of Iranian mistletoe extracts on five cancer cell lines. Plants growing on hornbeam tree (Carpinus betulus) were collected, air-dried and hydroalcoholic (MeOH-H2O with 2% acetic acid) and methanolic extracts were obtained using percolation. Also the plant juice was obtained by pressing. Cytotoxicity of the extracts on a panel of cancer cells (Hela, KB, MDA-MB-468, K562 and MCF- 7) were studied using colorimetric MTT assay. Results showed that plant juice was the most cytotoxic fraction on all cancer cells tested (IC50=0.0316 mg). The IC50 of hydroalcoholic and methanolic extracts were 0.1 and 0.316 mg, respectively. These results suggest that alkaloids and huge compounds like viscotoxin and lectins extracted by press or hydroalcoholic solvents were probably responsible for their cytotoxicity. Results also indicated that Hela cells were more resistant while KB cells were more sensitive to the cytotoxic effects of the extracts. It can be concluded that cytotoxicity of Iranian mistletoe extract on the cell lines tested closely depends on the host tree and extraction methods

Intravitreal Bevacizumab for Pseudophakic Cystoid Macular Edema; a Systematic Review

Cystoid macular edema (CME) is a major cause of decreased vision after complicated or uncomplicated cataract surgery. This paper reviews the use of intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) injection for treatment of pseudophakic CME. In a literature search of all articles available on Medline and Scopus databases, 11 studies including one prospective and 4 retrospective studies, 4 case reports, one letter to editor and one review article were identified. All articles except one, reported the use of IVB for chronic CME unresponsive to at least one conventional treatment modality. The level of evidence for all studies was categorized as low or very low. Although intravitreal bevacizumab might be effective for many cases of pseudophakic CME, its use should be reserved for eyes unresponsive to conventional treatment modalities

Production of a novel multi-epitope vaccine based on outer membrane proteins of Klebsiella pneumoniae

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a hospital-acquired pathogen that leads to various infections. Hence, efforts to develop an effective vaccine against that pathogen are well documented. Our interest is the production of the previously designed multi-epitope vaccine construct against the K. pneumoniae in a prokaryotic host. Therefore, a new construct containing the nucleotide sequence of the novel vaccine was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli and then purified by Ni-NTA spin column. The purified recombinant protein can be considered as potential vaccine candidate for wet-laboratory analysis aiming to fight K pneumoniae

Carthamus, Salvia and Stachys species protect neuronal cells against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis.

Abstract Context: Finding effective therapies for neurodegenerative diseases is of utmost importance for the aging population. Plants growing in Iran are rich sources of antioxidants and active phytochemicals.The protective capacity of plants, with a special focus on those with reported antioxidant or neuroprotective potential or nervous system-related applications in folk medicine, was tested against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis.Aerial parts of 20 plants including Carthamus, Salvia, and Stachys species were extracted with 80\% methanol and dichloromethane and preincubated with neuronal PC12 cells for 3 h. Oxidative stress and apoptosis were induced by hydrogen peroxide (75 µM, 1 h exposure). Cell viability and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured by MTT and 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein-diacetate (DCFH-DA) assays, respectively, while apoptosis was determined by annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide staining by a flow cytometer.Eighty percent methanol extracts of Carthamus oxyacantha Bieb. (Asteraceae), Salvia santolinifolia Boiss. (Lamiaceae), and Salvia sclarea L. (Lamiaceae) at the concentration of 100 μg/ml showed significant neuroprotection in the MTT assay by 38.7, 34.7, and 39.5\%, respectively, and inhibited intracellular ROS by 48.6, 61.9, and 61.4\%, respectively. The first two extracts also significantly inhibited apoptosis. Dichloromethane extracts of C. oxyacantha and Stachys pilifera Benth. (Lamiaceae) at the concentration of 25 μg/ml showed neuroprotection by 27.5 and 26.5\%, respectively, and inhibited ROS by 44.5 and 39.4\%, respectively.The above-mentioned plants seem to have important biological activities and their further study may lead to the discovery of new natural therapeutics useful against disorders such as Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases