Biomedical Applications of Biomedical Applications of Chasmanthera dependens stem extract mediated stem extract mediated silver nanoparticles as Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, Anticoagulant, thrombolytic, silver nanoparticles as Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, Anticoagulant, thrombolytic, and Larvicidal agents and Larvicidal agents

Background: Black soap is a medicinal product that could be harnessed for economic purpose if properly packaged, and misconception about its traditional use by herbalists is thrown overboard.Aims: To promote the relevance of these soaps for economic development, this study compared the antibacterial activity of black soaps with medicated soaps widely used against bacterial infections.Methods: The antibacterial activities of these soap samples were determined by agar diffusion and macrobroth dilution methods.Results: In this study, the statistical analysis of the inhibition zones showed that black soaps were significantly (p < 0.05) more active than medicated soaps used against the test bacterial isolates. The black soaps inhibited and killed the isolates better than the medicated soaps at the different concentrations used. The minimum inhibitory concentration for Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterococcus faecalis ranged between 0.125 mg/mL and 2 mg/mL, Staphylococcus aureus (0.25–4) mg/mL, Escherichia coli (0.125–4) mg/mL and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1–4) mg/mL. The result showed that K. pneumoniae and E. faecalis were the most susceptible, followed by E. faecalis > E. coli > S. aureus > P. aeruginosa.Conclusion: As a valuable medicinal output derivable from organic waste product that could be converted to wealth, African black soap production, utilisation and commercialisation have tremendous economic potentials. These soaps showed significant antibacterial activity greater than those of the medicated soaps. Hence, their use could be a better option in place of commercially available medicated and antiseptic soaps because of the degree of antibacterial activities they exhibited.

Carica papaya seed extract (CPE) was used in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in this study. For the characterization of biosynthesized particles, UV-vis spectroscopy, FTIR, FESEM and EDX were used. Antimicrobial and larvicidal efficacies of the synthesized AgNPs were assessed in the fight against certain pathogens and the Aedes aegypti 4th instar larvae. The absorption spectrum of AgNPs peaked at 433 nm with a broad peak of 3000 to 3800 cm−1 for different functional groups as presented in the FTIR analysis. A FESEM evaluation revealed a number of spherical particle structures with an average of 20-69 nm. With zones of inhibition between 10-24 mm, the AgNPs synthesized inhibited selected microorganisms. After 12 h of exposure, the nanoparticles had LC50 and LC90 lethal concentration on the Aedes aegypti larva at 14.56 and 33.89 μg/ml respectively. This study demonstrates possibility of using Carica papaya seeds in AgNPs synthesis.

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Background: The potential of transmitting multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus from asymptomatic individuals to healthy individuals could constitute a great challenge to antimicrobial therapy. Methods: The antibiograms of the S. aureus from asymptomatic individuals were determined by disk diffusion and agar dilution assay techniques with different antibiotics and vancomycin. Results: Of the 152 S. aureus isolated, (59)38.8% isolates were multi-drug resistant strains. Streptomycin was the most effective and inhibited (135)88.82% of the isolates while ceftazidime inhibited (24)15.8% of the isolates. While (82)54.0% of the isolates inhibited by cefuroxime had resistant colonies within their inhibition zones (Rc) and ofloxacin inhibited (100)65.8% of the isolates without having resistant colonies within the inhibition zones, ceftazidime inhibited (7)4.6% of the isolates with resistant colonies within the inhibition zones. Subjecting the isolates to vancomycin showed that (27)17.8% were resistant to 2 µg/ml, (43)28.3% were resistant to 4 µg/ml and (27)17.8% of the isolates were simultaneously resistant to both concentrations of vancomycin. Although (100)65.8% of the isolates had MARindex ≥0.2, (52)34.2% of the isolates had MARindex ≤ 0.2 and (65)428% of the isolates were considered multidrug resistant strains. Conclusion: The isolation of multi-drug and vancomycin intermediate resistant strains of S. aureus in high percentage, in this study, presents a great threat to clinicians and general populace. The vancomycin intermediate resistant S. aureus (VISA) in asymptomatic individuals could be a critical concern to the therapeutic dilemma to be added to the presence of multi-drug resistance. A more sustainable therapy must be in place to prevent its dissemination or the outbreak of its infection. Keywords: Antibacterial activity; multidrug resistance; VRSA; VISA; vancomycin

The in vitro antibacterial activity of pure caffeine powder and its interaction with first line antibiotic against bacterial isolates were investigated with the macrobroth dilution and the checkerboard assay methods. This study showed that caffeine and the antibiotics exhibited various degrees of antibacterial activities. While caffeine had MICs ranging between 67.19 and 268.75 µg/ml, chloramphenicol was characterized by MICs between 0.98 and 31.25 µg/ml, kanamycin - 15.63-62.5 µg/ml, nalidixic acid - 0.49-250 µg/ml, erythromycin - 0.49-62.5 µg/ml, tetracycline - 1.99-62.5 µg/ml and metronidazole - 15.63-31.25 µg/ml. Combining ½ MICs and MICs of caffeine with the antibiotics as well as direct combination of caffeine and the antibiotics resulted in significant reduction of antibiotics' effectiveness. The fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) for the combination of ½ MICs of caffeine with different antibiotics showed antagonistic interactions with the antibiotics except kanamycin which had additive and indifferent interactions with caffeine. The FICI of the MICs of caffeine combined with antibiotics showed a reduction in the number of antagonistic interactions as chloramphenicol, nalidixic acid and erythromycin showed some indifferent interactions while kanamycin was the only antibiotic that showed indifferent interaction against all the bacterial isolates. The direct combination of caffeine and the antibiotics resulted in significant antagonistic interactions higher than in the case when caffeine, at the ½ MICs and MICs, was combined with the antibiotics. Although caffeine demonstrated significant antibacterial activity against the selected bacterial isolates, its combination with the selected antibiotics resulted in significant antagonistic interactions. Caffeine should not be combined with antibiotics as this could result in serious therapeutic failure and, possibly, drug toxicity in vivo.

ABSTRACT:The therapeutic potentials of methanol stem bark extract of Trilepisium madagascriense was determined using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry to identify its bioactive compounds of pharmaceutical importance while the antimicrobial activities were assayed in vitro by agar well diffusion and macrobroth dilution techniques against different microbial isolates. The mass spectra of the identified compounds in the extract at different retention time showed the presence of ethyl iso-allocholate, (3β,5Z,7E)-9,10-Secocholesta-5,7,10(10)-triene-3,24,25-triol, 2,6-Dimethoxyamphetamine, 4-Hexenoic acid, 4-methyl-6-(fluorodimethylsilyl)-6-trimethysily-, 2-methoxy-4-(methoxymethyl)-Phenol, 2-methoxy-1,4-Benzenediol, 2,4-Dimethoxyphenol, Indole, Paromomycin, Hydroquinone and Tetrahydro-N-[(tetrahydro-2-furanyl)methyl-2-Furanmethanamine amongst other bioactive compounds of therapeutic potentials. This extract showed antimicrobial activities. At the lowest concentration of 25 mg/ml, 100 µl of the extract produced inhibition zones ranging between 14 and 18 ± 1.0 mm and inhibition zones ranging between 18 and 28 ± 1.0 mm in all the isolates at the highest concentration of 100 mg/ml. While the bacterial MICs ranged between 1.25 and 5 mg/ml and the MBCs ranged between 2.5 and 10 mg/ml, the fungal MICs ranged between 0.098 and 12.5 mg/ml while the MFCs ranged between 0.781 and <25 mg/ml. With exception of MIC index of Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 10031 which was equal to 4, the MIC index of other isolates ranged between 1 and 2. Klesbiella pneumoniae ATCC 10031 and Proteus vulgaris CSIR 0030 had the highest MICs of 1.25 mg/ml, followed by B. cereus ATCC 10702, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 19582, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 and Bacillus subtilis KZN with MICs of 2.5 mg/ml while Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Enterococcus cloacae ATCC 13047, Enterococcus faecalis KZN, Shigella sonnei ATCC 29930, Klebsiella pneumoniae KpFa, Staphylococcus aureus SaFa, Escherichia coli EcFa and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PmFa had the least MICs of 5.0 mg/ml. Enterococcus faecalis KZN, Bacillus subtilis KZN and Proteus vulgaris CSIR 0030 had the highest MBCs of 2.5 mg/ml. Although Candida albicans had MICs ranging between 0.098 mg/ml and Candida tropicalis had the least MICs of 12.5 mg/ml, the MFCs were 0.781 mg/ml and 25 mg/ml. This study shows that the pharmacological effects of Trilepisium madagascriense depends on bioactive compounds identified while this plant is a source for isolating novel drugs having significant therapeutic potentials.

Abstract:The global challenges resulting from the emergence of numerous resistant pathogenic bacteria have led to a search for alternative therapy ethnomedically. As a result, honey is increasingly valued for its antibacterial activity. In this study, the antibacterial activity of different honey samples was assessed in vitro using agar dilution at different concentration of 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 75% and 100% (v/v) dilution. The antibacterial activity was also determined by spectrophotometric assay at 620 nm. The result showed that KG honey sample inhibited the different bacterial isolates at a concentration of 5% and LB honey sample inhibited the isolates at 20% while other honey samples inhibited the bacterial isolates at concentrations ranging between 10% and 30% (v/v) dilution of each honey samples. Thus, the minimum inhibitory concentrations ranged between a concentration of 5% and 30% (v/v) dilution even though antibacterial activities concentration ranged from 5% -100% (v/v). Ps. aeruginosa ATCC 15442 was considered the most susceptible of all the test isolates. The increases in the absorbances showed that the bacterial populations in each of the honey samples were reduced as the exposure time increases. The study shows that honey being sold in Nigeria may be used as a therapeutic agent to treat infections as they may be an excellent alternative to curtail the further spreading of multi-drug-resistant microorganisms in Nigeria.