No abstract

Lakes are one of the sinks of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs); however, information on ARB and ARGs in lakes in the Philippines is scarce. In this study, Escherichia coli was isolated from the largest freshwater lake in the Philippines, Laguna Lake, to detect antibiotic resistance and the presence of ARGs. Broth microdilution assay (BMA) and molecular identification of five environmentally prevalent ARGs (strA, blaCTX-M, blaSHV, blaTEM, and tetA) were performed. The majority (75.70%) of the isolates harbored at least one of the targeted antibiotic genes. Multiplex PCR detected about 49.07% of the isolates had genes for extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL), which were mostly represented by blaTEM (47.66%). The genes strA and tetA were observed in this study with detection frequencies of 29.91 and 45.33%, respectively. About 95.69% of thermotolerant E. coli isolates were non-susceptible to six different antibiotics using BMA. Nearly 37% of the isolates were found to be multidrug-resistant (MDR) with most isolates resistant to ampicillin (81.72%). Furthermore, the occurrence of ESBL genes was significantly correlated with tetA genes (P = 0.013). To date, this study is the first to report on the presence of MDR and thermotolerant E. coli in Laguna Lake, Philippines.

Purpose:To evaluate the immunomodulatory properties of ethanol extract of the pulp of Canarium ovatum (COPE). Methods: The immunomodulatory activity of ethanolic extract of the pulp of C. ovatum was investigated in vivo using Balb/C mice. Extract doses of 300 and 600 mg/kg were orally administered to study its effect on delayed type hypersensitivity and humoral antibody response using sheep red blood cells (SRBC). Acute oral toxicity profile and phytochemical analysis were also determined. Results: Orally -administered COPE did not exhibit any mortality or signs of toxicity at doses 300 -2000 mg/kg. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of biologically-active compounds such as sterols, triterpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins, glycosides and tannins. Treatment with COPE for 7 days stimulated the early phase of DTH response through significant increase in foot pad thickness (111.87 ± 9.97 % at 300 mg/kg, and 91.27 ± 7.81 % at 600 mg/kg), when compared to distilled water and cyclophosphamide (CP) groups. Similarly, COPE significantly enhanced antibody titer, with highest titer at the dose of 300 mg/kg. Histological observations of the spleen showed follicles with active germinal centers and proliferating lymphocytes, which are consistent with the immunostimulatory effects of COPE. Conclusion: These results show that COPE has stimulatory effects on cellular and humoral responses in mice, indicating its potential as an immunostimulatory agent. This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest

Food enriched with dietary fiber content has been associated to lower blood lipid profile. In this study, the flour, starch, and cookies from locally grown arrowroot plant, which is known to contain dietary fiber, were investigated for anti-lipidemic activity. Six groups of male ICR mice were fed with a high cholesterol diet for six weeks. At the end of six-week cholesterol induction, Group 1 received distilled water (dH20), Group 2 was fed with arrowroot starch (ARS), Group 3 with arrowroot starch cookies (ARSC), Group 4 with arrowroot flour (ARF), Group 5 with arrowroot flour cookies (ARFC), and Group 6 received simvastatin (SIM) for two weeks. Body weights were recorded before and after cholesterol induction and after arrowroot treatments. Lipid profile (total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, VDLD, triglycerides) of serum was measured at the end of the experiment. Also, livers were dissected, weighed, and evaluated for ballooning of hepatocytes, lipid inclusion (steatosis), and portal inflammation. After two weeks of treatment with arrowroot food products, a significant reduction of body weights on hypercholesterolemic mice were observed but the reduction was comparable with the group that received only distilled water. However, treatment with arrowroot starch significantly reduced the blood total cholesterol and the histological changes induced by a high cholesterol diet. Treatment with arrowroot starch and starch cookies significantly decreased steatosis, ballooning of hepatocytes, and resulted in the absence of portal inflammation in the liver—suggesting its hypolipidemic activity. Liver lipid profile and fecal lipid excretion analysis should be conducted to further support the result of this study.