The anti-biofilm capability of nano-emodin-mediated sonodynamic therapy on multi-species biofilms produced by burn wound bacterial strains

Background: Management of burn wound infections (BWIs) is difficult due to the emergence of multidrug-resistant microorganisms. This study aimed to explore the anti-biofilm efficacy of sonodynamic therapy (SDT) using nano-emodin (N-EMO) against multi-species bacterial biofilms containing Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii. Methods: Following synthesis and confirmation of N-EMO as a sonosensitizer, the anti-biofilm efficacy of SDT against multi-species bacterial biofilms was determined using minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC), minimum biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC), and minimal biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) of N-EMO. The reduction of multi-species bacterial biofilms was then evaluated following the treatments using Log reduction and crystal violet (CV) assays. In addition, the expression profiling of abaI, agrA, and lasI genes using SDT with sub-MIC, sub-MBIC, and sub-MBEC of N-EMO was assessed. Results: Successful synthesis of N-EMO was confirmed through several characterization tests. As the results demonstrated, the MIC value of N-EMO for the multi-species bacterial suspension was 0.15 � 10�4 g/L, as well as, the MBEC value of N-EMO was 2.5 � 10�4 g/L, approximately 4-fold higher than that of MBIC (0.62 � 10�4 g/L). According to the CV assay, there were 57.8 , 71.0 , and 81.5 reduction in the biofilm of multi-species bacterial growth following SDT using 1/128 MBEC, 1/16 MBIC, and 1/2 MIC of N-EMO, respectively. Log reductions analysis demonstrated that 1/2 MIC of N-EMO was more potent in inhibiting the biofilm growth of multi-species test bacteria by 5.725 ± 0.12 (99.9993 ). In this study, N-EMO-mediated SDT could obviously downregulate the gene expression of virulence factors (P < 0.05). The gene expression of lasI, agrA, and abaI were downregulated about 2.5-, 3.6-, and 5.5-fold; and 3.0-, 5.2-, and 7.4-fold following SDT with sub-MBIC and sub-MBEC of N-EMO, respectively. Conclusion: These results highlight the potential of N-EMO-mediated SDT in inhibition of biofilm formation, degradation of formed biofilms, and reduction of virulence factor associated with biofilms of multi-species bacterial biofilms in BWIs. © 2021 Elsevier B.V

Effects of some natural products from fungal and herbal sources on Giardia lamblia in vivo

Giardia lamblia (G. lamblia) is the most widely known protozoan parasite that causes human gastrointestinal infection worldwide. Some natural compounds exhibited pivotal effects against different infectious diseases. In this research, the antigiardial activity and cytotoxicity of fungal chitosan, nano-chitosan, Rhamnus cathartica (R. cathartica) and emodin were evaluated in Balb/c mice. Genotyping of G. lamblia was assessed by PCR-RFLP technique. Different concentrations of mentioned compounds were used to check their antigiardial and cytotoxicity effects on human intestinal epithelial cells (HT-29) after 24, 48 and 72 h. The G. lamblia strain used in the current work was genotyped and revealed as an AII assemblage. All the concentration showed acceptable activity against G. lamblia cysts and trophozoites in comparison to the negative and positive controls (furazolidone and metronidazole) in vitro (P < 0.05). Giardia lamblia cysts were susceptible after treatment in all experiments in vivo in comparison to negative control (P < 0.05). Approximately, in most of the concentration, nano-chitosan and emodin were more effective than chitosan and R. cathartica, respectively (P < 0.05). The effects of exposure times in antigiardial and cytotoxicity effects were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The maximum mortality rate (100) was achieved at 100 and 50 μg kg -1 concentrations after 48 and 72 h of exposure time, respectively. Our results provide significant information about the new antigiardial agent and proposed the nano-chitosan and emodin for the development of new drugs against G. lamblia in the future. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Actin Gene-Based Molecular Typing of Trichomonas vaginalis Clinical Isolates from the North of Iran

Aim: The aim of the current study is to evaluate the prevalence of trichomoniasis in men and women in the north of Iran and to find genotypes in the positive clinical specimens based on T. vaginalis actin gene. Materials and Methods: Women�s genital (n = 500) and men�s urine (n = 1500) samples were collected from the participants referred to clinics in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran, during 2006�2018. In addition, 1500 Pap smear specimens, archived in the Bu Ali Hospital, Sari City, Mazandaran Province, northern Iran, were examined. The specimens were examined based on parasitological methods, nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR), PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism, and phylogenetic analysis. Results: Overall, 17 (0.48) of 3500 specimens were positive by PCR. Total prevalence was 0.55 (n = 2000) for women, of which 500 (1.4; n = 7) specimens were collected freshly, and 1500 (0.26; n = 4) were Pap smears. Moreover, six (0.4) out of 1500 men urine specimens were positive. Overall, genotypes G, E, and I were detected with the prevalence of seven (0.2), seven (0.2), and three (0.08), respectively. There was no significant statistical difference among the prevalence of the detected genotypes (P > 0.05). Conclusion: As a whole, the prevalence of trichomoniasis was low in the studied area in the north of Iran and, most importantly, the genotypes of E, G, and I were distributed among men and women in the province. © 2020, Witold Stefa�ski Institute of Parasitology, Polish Academy of Sciences