The chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, and the preservative effect of Thymus capitata essential oil against Listeria monocytogenes inoculated in minced beef meat were evaluated. The essential oil extracted was chemically analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Nineteen components were identified, of which carvacrol represented (88.89%) of the oil. The antioxidant activity was assessed in vitro by using both the DPPH and the ABTS assays. The findings showed that the essential oil exhibited high antioxidant activity, which was comparable to the reference standards (BHT and ascorbic acid) with IC50 values of 44.16 and 0.463 μg/mL determined by the free-radical scavenging DPPH and ABTS assays, respectively. Furthermore, the essential oil was evaluated for its antimicrobial activity using disc agar diffusion and microdilution methods. The results demonstrated that the zone of inhibition varied from moderate to strong (15–80 mm) and the minimum inhibition concentration values ranged from 0.32 to 20 mg/mL. In addition, essential oil evaluated in vivo against Listeria monocytogenes showed clear and strong inhibitory effect. The application of 0.25 or 1% (v/w) essential oil of T. capitata to minced beef significantly reduced the L. monocytogenes population when compared to those of control samples (P-value <0.01).
We conducted a 10-centimorgan linkage autosomal genome scan in a set of 19 extended American pedigrees (219 subjects) ascertained through probands with panic disorder. Several anxiety disorders--including social phobia, agoraphobia, and simple phobia--in addition to panic disorder segregate in these families. In previous studies of this sample, linkage analyses were based separately on each of the individual categorical affection diagnoses. Given the substantial comorbidity between anxiety disorders and their probable shared genetic liability, it is clear that this method discards a considerable amount of information. In this article, we propose a new approach that considers panic disorder, simple phobia, social phobia, and agoraphobia as expressions of the same multivariate, putatively genetically influenced trait. We applied the most powerful multipoint Haseman-Elston method, using the grade of membership score generated from a fuzzy clustering of these phenotypes as the dependent variable in Haseman-Elston regression. One region on chromosome 4q31-q34, at marker D4S413 (with multipoint and single-point nominal P values < .00001), showed strong evidence of linkage (genomewide significance at P<.05). The same region is known to be the site of a neuropeptide Y receptor gene, NPY1R (4q31-q32), that was recently connected to anxiolytic-like effects in rats. Several other regions on four chromosomes (4q21.21-22.3, 5q14.2-14.3, 8p23.1, and 14q22.3-23.3) met criteria for suggestive linkage (multipoint nominal P values < .01). Family-by-family analysis did not show any strong evidence of heterogeneity. Our findings support the notion that the major anxiety disorders, including phobias and panic disorder, are complex traits that share at least one susceptibility locus. This method could be applied to other complex traits for which shared genetic-liability factors are thought to be important, such as substance dependencies.
The geographical distribution of Phlebotomus papatasi Scopoli, vector of Leishmania major Yakimoff and Schokhor (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae), the etiologic agent of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL), was assessed during September 2006 through a transect from the north to the south of Tunisia using CDC light traps. P. papatasi was found to be abundant in the arid and Saharan bioclimatic zones and rare in the humid, subhumid, and semiarid bioclimatic zones. Similarly, the highest incidence of ZCL was observed in the arid and Saharan bioclimatic zones and the lowest in the humid, subhumid, and semiarid bioclimatic zones. Our overall findings confirm the close spatial association between the abundance of P. papatasi and the incidence of ZCL.
In this study, we tested 10 essential oils (EOs) extracted from 10 plants issued from Sned region (Tunisia) to evaluate both their leishmanicidal effects against Leishmania major and L. infantum, and their cytotoxicity against murine macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 (ATCC, TIB-71). The antioxidant activity was also monitored by the DDPH method, while the chemical composition of active EO was assessed by GC-MS analysis. The results showed that the EOs obtained from Thymus hirtus sp. algeriensis (rich on monoterpenoids, especially linalool at 17.62% and camphor at 13.82%) is significantly active against both L. major and L. infantum, whereas Ruta chalepensis EO (rich on 2-undecanone at 84.28%) is only active against L. infantum. Both oil extracts showed low cytotoxicity towards murine macrophages. The characteristic ratios (IC₈₀ Raw264.7 cells/IC₅₀ L. infantum and IC₈₀ Raw264.7 cells/IC₅₀ L. major) were, respectively, 2.7 and 1.57 for T. hirtus sp. algeriensis, and 1.34 and 0.19 for R. chalepensis. However, when measuring the antioxidant effects (DDPH method), the two latter EOs presented a moderate 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl hydrate scavenging effects compared to EOs from Eucaliptus globulus, Pinus halepensis, Pituranthos tortuosus, Rosmarinus officinalis, Tetraclinis articulata or to BHT.
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