Background: Tanacetum vulgare L. (Asteraceae) is a perennial herb that has been used to treat multiple ailments. Regional variability of the chemical composition of T. vulgare essential oils is well-known. Despite these regional chemotypes, most relevant studies did not analyze the complete chemical composition of the T. vulgare essential oil and its constituents in relation to their biological activities. Here, we assess the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, and cytotoxic activities of T. vulgare collected from northern Quebec (Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean), Canada. Methods: Essential oil was extracted from plants by steam distillation and analyzed using GC-FID. Biological activities of essential oil and its main constituents were evaluated in vitro. Results: We identified the major compounds as camphor, borneol, and 1,8-cineole. The oil possesses anti-inflammatory activity inhibiting NO production. It also inhibits intracellular DCFH oxidation induced by tert-butylhydroperoxide. Anti-inflammatory activity of essential oil appears driven mainly by α-humulene while antioxidant activity is provided by α-pinene and caryophyllene oxide. Essential oil from T vulgare was active against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus with camphor and caryophyllene oxide responsible for antibacterial activity. Finally, T. vulgare essential oil was slightly cytotoxic against the human healthy cell line WS1 while α-humulene and caryophyllene oxide were moderately cytotoxic against A-549, DLD-1, and WS1. Conclusion: We report, for the first time, links between the specific compounds found in T. vulgare essential oil and anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, and cytotoxic activities. T. vulgare essential oil possesses interesting biological properties.

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We report 4 bloodstream infections associated with CC9 agr type II Staphylococcus aureus in individuals without animal exposure. We demonstrate, by microarray analysis, the presence of egc cluster, fnbA, cap operon, lukS, set2, set12, splE, splD, sak, epiD, and can, genomic features associated with a high virulence potential in humans.

The chemical composition of Tussilago farfara L. essential oil from the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region of Quebec, Canada was analysed by gas chromatographyflame ionisation detector (GC-FID) and gas chromatographymass spectrometry (GC-MS), and the antibacterial activity of the oil was tested against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Forty-five (45) compounds were identified from the GC profile.The main components were 1-nonene (40.1%), α-phellandrene (26.0%) and ρ-cymene (6.6%). The essential oil demonstrated antibacterial activity against E. coli (MIC 50 = 468 µg•mL −1 ; MIC 90 = 6869 µg•mL −1 ) and S. aureus (MIC 50 = 368 µg•mL −1 ; MIC 90 = 773 µg•mL −1 ). Dodecanoic acid was found to be active against both bacteria having a MIC 50 and MIC 90 of 16.4 µg•mL −1 and 95 µg•mL −1 , respectively for E. coli and a MIC 50 and MIC 90 of 9.8 µg•mL −1 and 27.3 µg•mL −1 , respectively for S. aureus. In addition, 1decene and (E)-cyclodecene were also found to be active against E. coli.