Enhancement of antibiotic activity by Cordia verbenacea DC

Escherichia coli is known to produce enterotoxins whose properties and its role in diarrheal disease has been extensively investigated. Some species of Staphylococcus are often recognized as etiological agents of many animal and human opportunistic infections. This study is the first test of change in resistance of antibiotic activity by Cordia verbenacea DC. against multiresistant strains of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. In this study, the hexane and methanol extract of Cordia verbenacea DC. were tested for antibacterial activity alone and in combination with aminoglycosides against bacterial strains. The synergy of the methanolic and hexane were verified by microdilution method. A synergistic effect of both extracts combined with the aminoglycosides was demonstrated. It is therefore suggested that the extracts from Cordia verbenacea DC. could be used as a source of natural products derived from this plant with resistance-modifying antibacterial activity, providing a new weapon against the problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Enhancement of antibiotic activity by Cordia verbenacea DC

Escherichia coli is known to produce enterotoxins whose properties and its role in diarrheal disease has been extensively investigated. Some species of Staphylococcus are often recognized as etiological agents of many animal and human opportunistic infections. This study is the first test of change in resistance of antibiotic activity by Cordia verbenacea DC. against multiresistant strains of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. In this study, the hexane and methanol extract of Cordia verbenacea DC. were tested for antibacterial activity alone and in combination with aminoglycosides against bacterial strains. The synergy of the methanolic and hexane were verified by microdilution method. A synergistic effect of both extracts combined with the aminoglycosides was demonstrated. It is therefore suggested that the extracts from Cordia verbenacea DC. could be used as a source of natural products derived from this plant with resistance-modifying antibacterial activity, providing a new weapon against the problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Activity of the Decoction of Tropidurus hispidus (Spix, 1825) and Tropidurus semitaeniatus (Spix, 1825) Used by the Traditional Medicine

Tropidurus hispidus and Tropidurus semitaeniatus are two lizard species utilized in traditional medicine in Northeast Brazil. Their medicinal use includes diseases related with bacterial infections such as tonsillitis and pharyngitis. They are used in the form of teas (decoctions) for the treatment of illnesses. In this work, we evaluated the antimicrobial activity of the decoctions of T. hispidus (DTH) and T. semitaeniatus (DTS) against bacterial strains, namely, standard and multiresistant Escherichia coli, Staphylococus aureus, and Pseudomonas aureuginosa, alone and in combination with aminoglycoside antibiotics. The decoctions were prepared using the whole body of the dried lizards, and the filtrate was frozen and lyophilized. When tested alone, the samples did not demonstrate any substantial inhibition of bacterial growth. However, in combination with antibiotics as aminoglycosides, decoctions reduced the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the assayed antibiotics against multiresistant strains of S. aureus and P. aureuginosa. Chemical prospecting tests revealed the presence of alkaloids in DTS. This is the first study evaluating the medicinal efficacy of T. hispidus and T. semitaeniatus and contributes to the list of new sources of medicines from natural products of animal origin

Enhancement of antibiotic activity by Cordia verbenacea DC

Escherichia coli is known to produce enterotoxins whose properties and its role in diarrheal disease has been extensively investigated. Some species of Staphylococcus are often recognized as etiological agents of many animal and human opportunistic infections. This study is the first test of change in resistance of antibiotic activity by Cordia verbenacea DC. against multiresistant strains of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. In this study, the hexane and methanol extract of Cordia verbenacea DC. were tested for antibacterial activity alone and in combination with aminoglycosides against bacterial strains. The synergy of the methanolic and hexane were verified by microdilution method. A synergistic effect of both extracts combined with the aminoglycosides was demonstrated. It is therefore suggested that the extracts from Cordia verbenacea DC. could be used as a source of natural products derived from this plant with resistance-modifying antibacterial activity, providing a new weapon against the problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

ATIVIDADE ANTIFÚNGICA DE EXTRATOS VEGETAIS E ANIMAIS DA REGIÃO DO CARIRI

Fungos dermatofíticos são patógenos oportunistas, cujos agentes etiológicos pertencem aos gêneros Trichophyton, Microsporum e Epidermophyton. O gênero Trichophyton é composto por diversas espécies, dentre as quais Trichophyton rubrum se destaca pela frequência com que é isolado, podendo produzir praticamente todos os quadros clínicos de dermatofitose. Suas características principais são a tendência à cronicidade e a resistência aos tratamentos convencionais. Este estudo foi realizado com o objetivo de avaliar o efeito antifúngico através da técnica de diluição em HIA de extratos de Croton campestris A., Ocimum gratissimum L. e produtos naturais de Rhinella jimi. Os extratos de C. campestris e O. gratissimum demonstraram atividade antifúngica, assim como os extratos, frações e solução de R. jimi, com exceção da fração hexânica do extrato metanólico. Estes resultados indicam que os organismos testados devem ser estudados como uma possível fonte de produtos naturais com atividade antifúngica, principalmente contra dermatófitos

Radiographers supporting radiologists in the interpretation of screening mammography: a viable strategy to meet the shortage in the number of radiologists.

BackgroundAn alternative approach to the traditional model of radiologists interpreting screening mammography is necessary due to the shortage of radiologists to interpret screening mammograms in many countries.MethodsWe evaluated the performance of 15 Mexican radiographers, also known as radiologic technologists, in the interpretation of screening mammography after a 6 months training period in a screening setting. Fifteen radiographers received 6 months standardized training with radiologists in the interpretation of screening mammography using the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) system. A challenging test set of 110 cases developed by the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium was used to evaluate their performance. We estimated sensitivity, specificity, false positive rates, likelihood ratio of a positive test (LR+) and the area under the subject-specific Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) for diagnostic accuracy. A mathematical model simulating the consequences in costs and performance of two hypothetical scenarios compared to the status quo in which a radiologist reads all screening mammograms was also performed.ResultsRadiographer's sensitivity was comparable to the sensitivity scores achieved by U.S. radiologists who took the test but their false-positive rate was higher. Median sensitivity was 73.3 % (Interquartile range, IQR: 46.7-86.7 %) and the median false positive rate was 49.5 % (IQR: 34.7-57.9 %). The median LR+ was 1.4 (IQR: 1.3-1.7 %) and the median AUC was 0.6 (IQR: 0.6-0.7). A scenario in which a radiographer reads all mammograms first, and a radiologist reads only those that were difficult for the radiographer, was more cost-effective than a scenario in which either the radiographer or radiologist reads all mammograms.ConclusionsGiven the comparable sensitivity achieved by Mexican radiographers and U.S. radiologists on a test set, screening mammography interpretation by radiographers appears to be a possible adjunct to radiologists in countries with shortages of radiologists. Further studies are required to assess the effectiveness of different training programs in order to obtain acceptable screening accuracy, as well as the best approaches for the use of non-physician readers to interpret screening mammography

Widespread recovery of methylation at gametic imprints in hypomethylated mouse stem cells following rescue with DNMT3A2

BACKGROUND: Imprinted loci are paradigms of epigenetic regulation and are associated with a number of genetic disorders in human. A key characteristic of imprints is the presence of a gametic differentially methylated region (gDMR). Previous studies have indicated that DNA methylation lost from gDMRs could not be restored by DNMT1, or the de novo enzymes DNMT3A or 3B in stem cells, indicating that imprinted regions must instead undergo passage through the germline for reprogramming. However, previous studies were non-quantitative, were unclear on the requirement for DNMT3A/B and showed some inconsistencies. In addition, new putative gDMR has recently been described, along with an improved delineation of the existing gDMR locations. We therefore aimed to re-examine the dependence of methylation at gDMRs on the activities of the methyltransferases in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs). RESULTS: We examined the most complete current set of imprinted gDMRs that could be assessed using quantitative pyrosequencing assays in two types of ESCs: those lacking DNMT1 (1KO) and cells lacking a combination of DNMT3A and DNMT3B (3abKO). We further verified results using clonal analysis and combined bisulfite and restriction analysis. Our results showed that loss of methylation was approximately equivalent in both cell types. 1KO cells rescued with a cDNA-expressing DNMT1 could not restore methylation at the imprinted gDMRs, confirming some previous observations. However, nearly all gDMRs were remethylated in 3abKO cells rescued with a DNMT3A2 expression construct (3abKO + 3a2). Transcriptional activity at the H19/Igf2 locus also tracked with the methylation pattern, confirming functional reprogramming in the latter. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested (1) a vital role for DNMT3A/B in methylation maintenance at imprints, (2) that loss of DNMT1 and DNMT3A/B had equivalent effects, (3) that rescue with DNMT3A2 can restore imprints in these cells. This may provide a useful system in which to explore factors influencing imprint reprogramming. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13072-016-0104-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts