In vitro and in vivo preliminary results on Spirulina platensis for treatment of impetigo: Topical cream application

Impetigo is a highly infectious superficial bacterial disease, most common among pre-school children. Applying 11 antimicrobial agents to the Staphylococcus aureus, the most causative organism for impetigo, S. aureus isolates are resistant to all agents except of vancomycin and fusidic acid. Nevertheless, treatment of impetigo using antimicrobial agents may cause serious medical problems, such as destroying normal gut and skin flora and producing gastrointestinal irritations, dermatitis or serious hypersensitivity problems. Thus, the test of new microbial infection-fighting natural compounds is urgent. The in vitro measuring the antibacterial activity of Spirulina platensis extracts, following agarwell diffusion method, against methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) clinical isolates showed that the methanolic S. platensis extract is the most active. The in vivo efficacy of applied topical S. platensis creams, both methanolic extract and crude, in treatment of impetigo were compared. In general, clinical application of both active ingredients of S. platensis (Group 1-G1) and crude S. platensis form (Group 2-G2) gave promising and excellent response rates. However, the Group 1 application had the best efficacy, no side effects and no recurrence during the follow-up period. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of both crude alga and its methanolic extract concludes that the potential antimicrobial activity is attributed to synergic effect of some fatty acids. We propose that the higher percentage of linoleic and palmitic acids and the presence of squalane in methanolic extract of Spirulina most probably are the causes of its higher antimicrobial activity.Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus, impetigo, Spirulina platensis, extracts, topical cream, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), antimicrobial activityAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(18), pp. 2498-250

Analysis by vibrational spectroscopy of seaweed polysaccharides with potential use in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries

Polysaccharides present in several seaweeds (Kappaphycus alvarezii, Calliblepharis jubata, and Chondrus crispus—Gigartinales, Rhodophyta; Gelidium corneum and Pterocladiella capillacea—Gelidiales, Rhodophyta; Laurencia obtusa—Ceramiales, Rhodophyta; Himanthalia elongata, Undaria pinnatifida, Saccorhiza polyschides, Sargassum vulgare, and Padina pavonica—Phaeophyceae, Ochrophyta) are analyzed by spectroscopic techniques. The nature of the polysaccharides (with extraction and without any type of extraction) present in these seaweeds was determined with FTIR-ATR and FT-Raman analysis of extracted phycocolloids and ground dry seaweed

Application of Plackett–Burman design for the high production of some valuable metabolites in marine alga Nannochloropsis oculata

Microalgae have efficient nutritional influence to obtain high survival growth and quality of fish larvae and to promote the growth of brine shrimp. In this work the Plackett–Burman statistical design was applied to specify which nutrient factor(s) optimize the nutritional contents [protein, carbohydrate, β-carotene, ascorbic acid and free radical scavenging activity (DPPH)] in the marine alga Nannochloropsis oculata used in aquaculture to maximize marine hatchery production. N. oculata was cultured on F/2 medium (as control) to reach its maximum growth. The obtained results showed that the maximum growth, chlorophyll-a,b and carotenoid contents were attained after 10 days. The contents of all studied parameters in N. oculata grown on the optimized medium after10 days increased significantly (P ⩽ 0.1) than those on control with low concentration of PO4 (2.5 g l−1) and with high concentration of NO3 (112.5 g l−1) except for cell numbers and DPPH. Significant increases in the protein, carbohydrate, ascorbic acid, β-carotene and DPPH in Artemia franciscana enriched with N. oculata cultured on the newly optimized medium were observed

Potential Activity of Arthrospira platensis as Antioxidant, Cytotoxic and Antifungal against Some Skin Diseases: Topical Cream Application

This research evaluated the antifungal effectiveness of Arthrospira platensis ethanol, methanol, ethyl acetate and acetone extracts against the tested pathogenic fungi (Candida albicans, Trichophyton rubrum and Malassezia furfur). Antioxidant and cytotoxicity effectiveness of A. platensis extracts against four distinct cell lines were also assessed. Methanol extract of A. platensis exhibited the highest inhibition zones against Candida albicans as measured by the well diffusion method. A transmission electron micrograph of the treated group of Candida cells with A. platensis methanolic extract showed mild lysis and vacuolation of the cytoplasmic organelles. In vivo, after induced infection of mice by C. albicans and treatment with A. platensis methanolic extract cream, the skin layer emerged with the removal of Candida spherical plastopores. The extract of A. platensis recorded the highest antioxidant activity using the DPPH (2, 2- diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) scavenging method (IC50 28 mg/mL). A cytotoxicity test using a MTT assay showed that the A. platensis extract had strong cytotoxic activity against the HepG2 cell line (IC50 20.56 ± 1.7 μg/mL) and moderate cytotoxic activity against MCF7 and the Hela cell (IC50 27.99 ± 2.1 μg/mL). Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectroscopy (GC/MS) results revealed that the effective activity of A. platensis extract could be linked to a synergistic impact between their prominent composition as alkaloids, phytol, fatty acids hydrocarbons, phenolics and phthalates. A. platensis extract contains active metabolites that constitute a promising source of antifungal, antioxidant and anti-proliferative compounds for the pharmaceutical drug industry