Potensi Senyawa Minyak Sereh Wangi (Citronella Oil) Dari Tumbuhan Cymbopogon Nardus L. Sebagai Agen Antibakteri

Bakteri merupakan salah satu mikroorganisme yang secara alami terdapat pada tubuh manusia sehat dan normal, namun pada kondisi tertentu bakteri akan menjadi patogenik. Potensi patogenik bakteri dipengaruhi oleh beberapa faktor, antara lain: lemahnya imunitas tubuh inang (manusia), ukuran patogenitas bakteri (virulensi), dan jumlah bakteri yang mencapai quorum. Penyakit yang disebabkan oleh bakteri patogenik pada manusia merupakan salah satu masalah yang sering ditemui di kehidupan masyarakat. Pola hidup yang tidak teratur, kebersihan makanan dan minuman serta sanitasi lingkungan sangat mendukung untuk seseorang terinfeksi bakteri patogenik. Penggunaan antibiotika adalah salah satu cara yang dilakukan oleh manusia untuk mengobati penyakit akibat infeksi bakteri. Penggunaan antibiotika yang berlebihan dan pemberian dalam jangka waktu yang lama dapat menyebabkan terjadinya resistensi pada bakteri. Senyawa alam yang diperoleh dari tanaman yang berpotensi sebagai zat aktif digunakan untuk menggantikan antibiotika sintesis. Sereh wangi penghasil minyak atsiri Citronella Oil menjadi salah satu komoditas senyawa aktif yang dapat dijadikan sebagai sumber senyawa aktif dari alam yang berpotensi sebagai antibakteri. Sitronellal, geraniol, dan sitronellol adalah kandungan utama pada minyak sereh wangi yang dapat digunakan sebagai antibakteri

Penyakit Karat Putih Krisan di Sekitar Bandungan, Ambarawa

Chrysanthemum white rust (CWR) caused by Puccinia horiana creates severe losses on chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum grandiflorum, Dendranthema grandiflora) in plastic houses in Bandungan (750–1050 masl.) and its surrounding. In lower elevations higher disease intensities were found around roof leakages and ventilations. In Sumowono (1000–1050 masl.) the disease was spread evenly in plastic houses. Teliospores of P. horiana develop in form of basidia (promycelia) at midnight which directly form basidiospores (sporidia). Spreading of basidiospores occur at 2 to 4 in the morning, especially at 3 a.m. Infection takes place through lower or upper surface of the leaves, as the two sides have stomata. Incubation time in this trial is 8–11 hours. Vegetative as well as generative phase of chrysanthemum have the same susceptibility. Many farmers applied inappropriate fungicides in controlling CWR. It is recommended to apply carbendazim as systemic fungicide alternated by protectant fungicides as mancozeb. Karat Putih Krisan (KPK) yang disebabkan oleh P. horiana sangat merugikan pertanaman krisan (C. grandiflorum, D. grandiflora) dalam rumah plastik di sekitar kota wisata Bandungan, Ambarawa (750–1050 mdpl.). Di lokasi-lokasi yang rendah penyakit terutama berkembang di sekitar tempat-tempat yang atapnya bocor atau di sekitar ventilasi rumah plastik. Di Sumowono (1000–1050 mdpl) penyakit tersebar merata di dalam rumah plastik. Teliospora P. horiana berkembang membentuk basidium (promiselium) pada tengah malam yang segera membentuk basidiospora (sporidium). Basidiospora disebarkan pukul 02.00–04.00, terutama pukul 03.00. Infeksi dapat terjadi melalui permukaan bawah maupun atas daun. Masa inkubasi 8–11 hari. Tanaman krisan pada fase vegetatif dan fase generatif tidak berbeda ketahanannya terhadap penyakit karat putih. Sebagian petani kurang tepat memilih fungisida untuk mengendalikan karat putih. Untuk keperluan ini dianjurkan untuk memakai karbendazim sebagai fungisida sistemik, yang diseling dengan fungisida protektan seperti mankozeb

Microneedle Enhanced Delivery of Cosmeceutically Relevant Peptides in Human Skin

Peptides and proteins play an important role in skin health and well-being. They are also found to contribute to skin aging and melanogenesis. Microneedles have been shown to substantially enhance skin penetration and may offer an effective means of peptide delivery enhancement. The aim of this investigation was to assess the influence of microneedles on the skin penetration of peptides using fluorescence imaging to determine skin distribution. In particular the effect of peptide chain length (3, 4, 5 amino acid chain length) on passive and MN facilitated skin penetration was investigated. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to image fluorescence intensity and the area of penetration of fluorescently tagged peptides. Penetration studies were conducted on excised full thickness human skin in Franz type diffusion cells for 1 and 24 hours. A 2 to 22 fold signal improvement in microneedle enhanced delivery of melanostatin, rigin and pal-KTTKS was observed. To our knowledge this is the first description of microneedle enhanced skin permeation studies on these peptides

Space- and time-resolved investigation on diffusion kinetics of human skin following macromolecule delivery by microneedle arrays

Microscale medical devices are being developed for targeted skin delivery of vaccines and the extraction of biomarkers, with the potential to revolutionise healthcare in both developing and developed countries. The effective clinical development of these devices is dependent on understanding the macro-molecular diffusion properties of skin. We hypothesised that diffusion varied according to specific skin layers. Using three different molecular weights of rhodamine dextran (RD) (MW of 70, 500 and 2000 kDa) relevant to the vaccine and therapeutic scales, we deposited molecules to a range of depths (0–300 µm) in ex vivo human skin using the Nanopatch device. We observed significant dissipation of RD as diffusion with 70 and 500 kDa within the 30 min timeframe, which varied with MW and skin layer. Using multiphoton microscopy, image analysis and a Fick’s law analysis with 2D cartesian and axisymmetric cylindrical coordinates, we reported experimental trends of epidermal and dermal diffusivity values ranging from 1–8 µm2 s-1 to 1–20 µm2 s-1 respectively, with a significant decrease in the dermal-epidermal junction of 0.7–3 µm2 s-1. In breaching the stratum corneum (SC) and dermal-epidermal junction barriers, we have demonstrated practical application, delivery and targeting of macromolecules to both epidermal and dermal antigen presenting cells, providing a sound knowledge base for future development of skin-targeting clinical technologies in humans

Transdermal Influenza Immunization with Vaccine-Coated Microneedle Arrays

Influenza is a contagious disease caused by a pathogenic virus, with outbreaks all over the world and thousands of hospitalizations and deaths every year. Due to virus antigenic drift and short-lived immune responses, annual vaccination is required. However, vaccine coverage is incomplete, and improvement in immunization is needed. The objective of this study is to investigate a novel method for transdermal delivery using metal microneedle arrays (MN) coated with inactivated influenza virus to determine whether this route is a simpler and safer approach than the conventional immunization, capable to induce robust immune responses and confer protection against lethal virus challenge.Inactivated A/Aichi/2/68 (H3N2) influenza virus was coated on metal microneedle arrays and applied to mice as a vaccine in the caudal dorsal skin area. Substantial antibody titers with hemagglutination inhibition activity were detected in sera collected two and four weeks after a single vaccine dose. Challenge studies in mice with 5 x LD(50) of mouse adapted Aichi virus demonstrated complete protection. Microneedle vaccination induced a broad spectrum of immune responses including CD4+ and CD8+ responses in the spleen and draining lymph node, a high frequency of antigen-secreting cells in the lung and induction of virus-specific memory B-cells. In addition, the use of MN showed a dose-sparing effect and a strong Th2 bias when compared to an intramuscular (IM) reference immunization.The present results show that delivery of inactivated influenza virus through the skin using metal microneedle arrays induced strong humoral and cellular immune responses capable of conferring protection against virus challenge as efficiently as intramuscular immunization, which is the standard vaccination route. In view of the convenience of delivery and the potential for self-administration, vaccine-coated metal microneedles may provide a novel and highly effective immunization method