We previously reported the antifungal properties of a monoterpene phenol “Eugenol” against different Candida strains and have observed that the addition of methyl group to eugenol drastically increased its antimicrobial potency. Based on the results and the importance of medicinal synthetic chemistry, we synthesized eugenol-tosylate and its congeners (E1-E6) and tested their antifungal activity against different clinical fluconazole (FLC)- susceptible and FLC- resistant C. albicans isolates alone and in combination with FLC by determining fractional inhibitory concentration indices (FICIs) and isobolograms calculated from microdilution assays. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) results confirmed that all the tested C. albicans strains were variably susceptible to the semi-synthetic derivatives E1-E6, with MIC values ranging from 1–62 μg/ml. The test compounds in combination with FLC exhibited either synergy (36%), additive (41%) or indifferent (23%) interactions, however, no antagonistic interactions were observed. The MICs of FLC decreased 2–9 fold when used in combination with the test compounds. Like their precursor eugenol, all the derivatives showed significant impairment of ergosterol biosynthesis in all C. albicans strains coupled with down regulation of the important ergosterol biosynthesis pathway gene-ERG11. The results were further validated by docking studies, which revealed that the inhibitors snugly fitting the active site of the target enzyme, mimicking fluconazole, may well explain their excellent inhibitory activity. Our results suggest that these compounds have a great potential as antifungals, which can be used as chemosensitizing agents with the known antifungal drugs.

Objective: To evaluate the molecular typing system for Treponema pallidum using cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens obtained from patients with neurosyphilis in Pretoria, South Africa. Methods: CSF specimens were collected from 32 men and 18 women with suspected late neurosyphilis. Typing of T pallidum involved PCR amplification and restriction analysis of the tpr E, G and J genes and determination of the number of 60 base pair tandem repeats within the arp gene by PCR amplification. Results: Of 13 typeable specimens, 4 strain types were identified: 2i, 3e, 14a and 17e. Subtype 14a was identified in 7 specimens (53.8%), subtype 3e in 4 specimens (30.7%) and subtypes 17e and 2i in 1 specimen (7.6%) each. Conclusions: This study shows that the typing system can be applied to specimens which may contain low numbers of spirochaetes such as CSF.A lthough effective treatment has been available for more than six decades, syphilis remains a significant public health problem, especially in developing countries. The World Health Organization estimates that 12 million new cases of syphilis occur annually worldwide, of which approximately 4 million are in sub-Saharan Africa.1 There has been a renewed interest in syphilis since ulcerative sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have been shown to be a risk factor for the transmission of HIV in HIV-infected individuals.2-4 Similarly, the presence of ulcerative STIs in HIV-negative individuals may increase susceptibility to HIV infection by either disrupting the epithelial barrier or the presence of macrophages and CD4 T lymphocytes in the ulcer, which are target cells for HIV. 6Syphilis is making a resurgence in many industrialised nations such as the US, Canada and the UK, where outbreaks either have occurred recently or are currently occurring.7-9 The rise in incidence of neurosyphilis cases may be linked, in part, to individuals who are immunocompromised as a result of infection with HIV. [10][11][12] Patients with ''early'' syphilis are defined as those with primary, secondary or early latent disease; patients with ''late'' syphilis are those with late latent disease, which includes late neurosyphilis.13 Central nervous system invasion by Treponema pallidum may occur in up to 70% of individuals during early syphilis or in 15-20% of individuals during late neurosyphilis, which occurs years to decades after initial infection.14 15Although the host immune response should be taken into account with respect to disease progression after neuroinvasion, the manifestation of late neurosyphilis in some individuals may be associated with neurotropic strains of T pallidum. The biological plausibility for this hypothesis is supported by recent studies on T pallidum and T pallidum-related spirochaetes. For example, the neuroinvasive capacity of six T pallidum strains was recently studied in a rabbit model. 16 Using reverse transcriptase-PCR, T pallidum was detected more frequently in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of rabbits infected with the Bal 73-1 and UW085B strains and, to a lesser ...

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Many challenges are identified in the development of new antifungal drugs, however phytochemicals are still the major source of new antifungal drugs and should be strategically explored.

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Background The Dental Materials (DM) course was introduced as a stand‐alone course in 2013, at the University. Prior to that, DM was integrated into clinical courses. Objective To determine the perceptions of the Bachelor of Dental Science (BDS2 to BDS5) students on a stand‐alone DM course following curricular amendment. Methods This was a cross‐sectional study, in which a simple random sampling strategy was used, with forty‐six students participating. The study was conducted in 2017. A self‐administered, structured, validated questionnaire was used to collect data. The obtained data were summarised and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics (one‐way ANOVA). Results The study was conducted on Bachelor of Dental Science (BDS2 to BDS5) students. A response rate of 49% from the administered questionnaires was achieved. The overall perception, total mean percentage score of 71.4% was obtained showing a generally positive view on the relevance of the course by students. A total mean percentage score of 74.1% showed the students’ view that the DM course was well managed whilst a total mean score of 56.7% expressed the overall view on the reintegration of DM into clinical courses. Conclusion The students felt that DM was relevant and it could continue as a stand‐alone course. They perceived that the course was run effectively and managed well, but they had conflicting views on reintegration of the course into clinical modules. Studies with larger sample sizes at other Dental Schools are recommended to determine similarity of results.

BackgroundThe diagnosis of pleural tuberculosis remains a challenge, because the most widely used conventional diagnostic tools are unable to rapidly detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis in pleural fluid with sufficient sensitivity.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of an adenosine deaminase assay and real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in diagnosing pleural tuberculosis.MethodsOne hundred and five consecutive pleural fluid specimens collected between August 2008 and March 2009 were assessed. Among the 105 specimens, 50 (48%) were unconfirmed tuberculosis cases, 21 (20%) were confirmed tuberculosis cases and 34 (32%) were non-tuberculosis cases (controls). Real-time PCR was performed using the Light Cycler Mycobacterium detection kit according to the manufacturer‘s instructions (Roche Diagnostics). An adenosine deaminase assay was carried out using a commercial colorimetric assay kit as a user-defined method on a Beckman DxC 600 Synchron analyser.ResultsThe sensitivity of the qPCR was 67% and specificity was 100%. The sensitivity of the adenosine deaminase assay was 80% and specificity was 94%.ConclusionThe findings show that the adenosine deaminase assay had higher sensitivity than qPCR. Real-time PCR had 100% specificity, thus a combination of the two methods may be useful for the diagnosis of pleural tuberculosis.