Microbiology
Morteza Yazdani; Fereshteh Jookar Kashi; Akram Rahimi-Moghaddam
Volume 26, Issue 5 , November and December 2019, , Pages 555-565
Abstract
Background: Considering the adverse effects of synthetic antioxidants, anticancer drugs and antibiotics on human health, in this study, bioactivities of Mentha longifolia essential oils collected from Marivan and Qaza An were examined and compared with each other for identification a natural alternative ...
Read More
Background: Considering the adverse effects of synthetic antioxidants, anticancer drugs and antibiotics on human health, in this study, bioactivities of Mentha longifolia essential oils collected from Marivan and Qaza An were examined and compared with each other for identification a natural alternative of synthetic antioxidants, anticancer drugs and antibiotics.Materials and Methods: Essential oil of M. longifolia leaves and stems collected from Marivan and Qaza An was prepared using solvent-free microwave extraction method. The essential oil components were identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The antioxidant and cytotoxicity activity of the essential oils were determined via β–carotene bleaching assay and brine shrimp lethality test, respectively. The antimicrobial activity of the essential oils was evaluated by the agar well diffusion method and by determination of minimum inhibitory concentration.Results: The main components of M. longifolia essential oil collected from Marivan were pulegone (81.45%) and isopulegol (8.39%) and the main components of M. longifolia essential oil collected from Qaza An were pulegone (48.29%) and piperitenone oxide (23.53%). The inhibition of linoleic acid oxidation by M. longifolia essential oils collected from Marivan, Qaza An and BHT were 80.02%, 78.59% and 95.50%, respectively. The LC50 of the M. longifolia essential oils collected from Marivan, Qaza An and vincristine sulfate were 53.47μg/ml, 55.96 μg/ml and 0.751 μg/ml, respectively. M. longifolia essential oils had good antimicrobial activity, especially against gram-positive bacteria.Conclusion: M. longifolia essential oils have significant antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer activity and can be introduced as alternatives of synthetic antioxidants, antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs.
Akram Rahimi-Moghaddam; Siavosh Salmanzadeh-Ahrabi; Tahereh Falsafi
Volume 25, Issue 2 , May and June 2018, , Pages 229-236
Abstract
Backgrounds Streptococcus pyogenes is the most common cause of bacterial pharyngitis. Patients with streptococcal pharyngitis should be rapidly treated with appropriate antibiotics. Rheumatic fever and acute glomerulonephritis can develop as complications of inadequately treated streptococcal pharyngitis. ...
Read More
Backgrounds Streptococcus pyogenes is the most common cause of bacterial pharyngitis. Patients with streptococcal pharyngitis should be rapidly treated with appropriate antibiotics. Rheumatic fever and acute glomerulonephritis can develop as complications of inadequately treated streptococcal pharyngitis. Furthermore, antibiotic misuse promotes antibiotic resistance. Throat swab culture is standard diagnostic method for detection of S.pyogenes, which is time-consuming. Thus, developing a new, rapid, appropriate and inexpensive kit is very important for detection of S.pyogenes from pharyngeal specimens. Methods and Materials In this study a new kit was designed for rapid detection of S.pyogenes. Twenty four S.pyogenes isolates were examined with both latex agglutination test and new kit. Sensitivity and specificity of new kit were calculated considering latex agglutination test results. Thirty sample swabs were also obtained from students of Alzahra University for examination of effect the new kit on normal throat flora. Results Twenty four S.pyogenes isolates were identified as S.pyogenes using latex agglutination test and same results were obtained using new kit (κ = 1). The sensitivity and specificity of our new kit were 100% and 100%, respectively. Growth of the normal flora was inhibited in the second section of three section plate.Conclusion New kit can decrease the required time and expense for detection S.pyogenes from pharyngeal specimens. It can also provide possibility rapid treatment with appropriate antibiotics and prevents rheumatic fever, acute glomerulonephritis, unwanted side effects of antibiotic misuse and antibiotic resistance.