Background: Entamoeba histolytica is the causative agent of amoebic dysentery and hepatic abscesses. Despite the efficacy of metronidazole in alleviating infectious diseases, the global dissemination of drug-resistant parasites raises the possibility that Punica granatum could serve as an effective natural alternative treatment. Objective: To evaluate the effect of P. granatum methanolic and aqueous extracts of various parts against E. histolytica trophozoites in an in vitro setting. Methods: Various concentrations (0.14, 0.7, 1.4, and 2.8 mg/ml) of P. granatum extracts of the flowers, leafs, peels, and seeds were chosen for this purpose. A culture medium containing 0.05x106/ml E. histolytica trophozoites was treated with different concentrations of these extracts. The incubation period was 48 hours at 37°C. For every set, an untreated control was also performed. The standard medication metronidazole (17 μg/ml) was employed as a comparative control. Results: All parts of P. granatum showed high efficacy against E. histolytica trophozoites, but utilization of the methanolic extract proved to be quite effective compared to aqueous extract. Under a light microscope, several morphological changes were also seen. These include changes to the plasma membrane, reorganization of vacuoles that hold cell waste, and major changes to the cytoplasmic granules. Conclusions: The leaf, seed, flower, and peel extracts of P. granatum effectively inhibit the growth of E. histolytica trophozoites in vitro. The use of methanolic extract was more effective compared to the aqueous extract, and can be used as a natural alternative treatment for amoebic dysentery.
Background: Several infectious lung diseases often develop in patients with Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), especially during immunosuppressive medication, including disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). The present study aimed to determine the role of respiratory tract bacterial infection in RA activity. Methods: Blood and sputum samples were collected from 31 patients with RA and 12 healthy subjects as control. The bacterial isolates were isolated and identified in collected sputum by biochemical tests and Vitec 2 system. Results: In the present study, thirty-one patients with RA were compared with 12 healthy subjects. Eight patients with RA were not infected with pathogenic bacteria (RA-NIPB) (25.8%). Twenty-three RA patients wer
... Show MoreThe present study was conducted to determine the effect of different concentrations of putrescine and spermidine at all stages of regeneration (callogenesis, somatic embryos multiplication, germination and rooting)) of date palm cultivar Barhee. Shoot tips were eradicated from 2-3 years old offshoots, surface sterilized and inoculated onto Murashiege and Skoog, 1962 (MS) medium supplemented with 20 mg/L 2,4-D and 3 mg/L N6-2-isopentyl adenine (2ip). Primary callus was obtained after 24 weeks on the nutrient medium. Calli were then transferred onto fresh MS medium containing 0.0, 50, 100 or 150 mg/L of putrescine or spermidine individually. Results were recorded after 12 weeks. A significant increase in embryonic callus fresh weights reached
... Show MoreThis study was investigated the role of garlic extracts on the reproductive functions, via the development of immature male mice (25 days old) un l puberty. Immature male mice were divided into 3 groups (n=25). Group 1 "control" was daily administrated with tap water. Group 2 was daily administrated with cold aqueous garlic extract. Group 3 was daily administrated with hot aqueous garlic extract. Each group was randomly consisted of 5 subgroups (n=5/ subgroup) and administrated for different periods i.e, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 weeks respectively. Animals were scarified after 24 h from last treatment. Our findings elucidated that, cold and hot aqueous garlic extracts, when administrated at 25 days old (Immature period) have different impact dep
... Show MoreIn this research, Schiff bases derived from the reaction of anthrone with different heterocyclic amines have been described. The resulted Schiff base compounds were reacted with various nucleophiles in order to obtain new heterocyclic derivatives. Chemical structures of all products were confirmed by IR, 1H-, 13C-NMR spectral data and elemental analysis. All synthesized compounds were in vitro tested against a standard strain of pathogenic microorganism including Gram +ve bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus), Gram –ve bacteria (Escherichia coli), and fungi (Candida albicans).
The aim of this study is to synthesize an easy, non-toxic and eco-friendly method. Silver nanoparticles which were synthesized by leaf extract of mint were characterized by UV-Visible Spectroscopy which appears UVVisible spectrum of demonstrated a peak 448 nm corresponding to surface Plasmon resonance of silver nanoparticles, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR); functional groups involved in the silver nanoparticles synthesis were identified, the presence of silver nanoparticles was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) analysis clearly illustrated that the shape of silver nanoparticles was spherical and the size of the silver nanoparticles has been measured as 55- 85 nm. Evaluation of its antimic
... Show MoreIn this research, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were manufactured using aqueous extract of mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus. Anticancer potential of AgNPs was investigated versus human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). Cytotoxic response was assessed by MTT assay. AgNPs showed inhibition effect at the following concentrations 12.5, 25, 50, 100 and 200 µg/ml versus MCF-7 cell line, and all treatments had a positive result. The MCF-7 cells were inhibited up to 85.14 % at the concentration 200 μg/ml of AgNPs which reduced cells viability to 14.86%, while 12.5 μg/ml of AgNPs caused 24.23% cells inhibition with reduction of cells viability to 75.77%.
Enterotoxin of Vibrio cholerae was extracted by cooling centrifuge at 6.000 rpm for 30 minntes. and filtrated by using milipore filter (0.22 ?m). The effect of crude enterotoxin on phagocytosis was studied by measuring the phagocytic index for 20 blood sample which were collected from healthy people and treated with enterotoxin in addition to control samples. From the results we found that phagocytic index of blood sample which were treated with enterotoxin was 42.9% while the phagocytic index of control blood samples was 64%. This means that there is a negative effect for the enterotoxin resulted from vibrio choleaa on the activity of phagocytic index.
In this study, the effect of Nd: YAG laser on the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and alcoholdehydrogenase (ADH) was investigated. The Saccharomyces cells were irradiated using 532nm Q-Switched Nd: YAG laser with (1Hz) frequency. Different fluences 11.3, 22.6 and 33.9mJ/cm2 and different number of pulses 15, 30 and 60 pulse were used. The irradiated cells were incubated in a liquid nutritive medium for 24 hours. After incubation, the cells were harvested and disrupted to extract the intracellular enzymes and their activities were assessed. In comparison with the control, the irradiated cells showed a significant increase in the activity and the specific activity of SOD at energy densities of 11.3 and 22.6mJ/cm2 at 30 and 60 pulses
... Show More