The acronym ESKAPE refers to a group of bacteria consisting of Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter spp. They are important in human medicine as pathogens that show increasing resistance to commonly used antibiotics; thus, the search for new effective bactericidal agents is still topical. One of the possible alternatives is the use of non-thermal plasma (NTP), a partially ionized gas with the energy stored particularly in the free electrons, which has antimicrobial and anti-biofilm effects. Its mechanism of action includes the formation of pores in the bacterial membranes; therefore, resistance toward it is not developed. This paper focuses on the current overview of literature describing the use of NTP as a new promising tool against ESKAPE bacteria, both in planktonic and biofilm forms. Thus, it points to the fact that NTP treatment can be used for the decontamination of different types of liquids, medical materials, and devices or even surfaces used in various industries. In summary, the use of diverse experimental setups leads to very different efficiencies in inactivation. However, Gram-positive bacteria appear less susceptible compared to Gram-negative ones, in general.

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Trigonella foenum graecum leaves are widely used as a vegetable throughout India and have a long history of medicinal use in Ayurveda and Chinese medicine. Even though the leaves of this plant are used in diabetes mellitus, there have been no in vivo studies to prove its efficacy. The aim of this study was to know the efficacy of ethanol extract of T. foenum graecum leaves on blood glucose levels, antioxidant enzymes, islets cells of pancreas, creatinine and urea levels in normal and streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin (45 mg/kg b.w. in 0.9 % cold saline). Two doses (250 and 500 mg/kg b.w.) of the extracts were administered in the study. The activity was compared with the reference standard glibenclamide (0.5 mg/kg b.w.) for various biochemical and histopathological parameters. The data was analysed by one way ANOVA followed by Turkey's post hoc test. The activity of the extract in reducing blood glucose, creatinine and urea levels, in enhancing antioxidant enzyme activity and restoring and regenerating islet cells of pancreas was comparable to glibenclamide. The result suggests that ethanol leaf extract of T. foenum graecum possesses significant antidiabetic property.

Over the last decade, Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as one of the main causes of infections acquired in the hospital setting. Outbreaks associated with this pathogen are caused mainly due to contamination and transmission in hospital territories. However, the natural habitats of A. baumannii of clinical signi cance still remain unclear. In this study, we highlight the isolation and identi cation of multidrug resistant environmental strains of A. baumannii from the soil of Mangaluru city. All the recovered isolates were bio lm formers and two isolates were multidrug-resistant and showed resistance to uoroquinolone, aminoglycosides, sulfonamide, tetracycline, and carbapenems. In addition, they exhibited protease activity, produced phospholipase C and siderophore. To the best of our knowledge, this is the rst study to isolate and identify drug resistant strains of A. baumannii from the soil.

Diabetes mellitus, a chronic metabolic disease is increasing worldwide. Diabetic foot infections are one of the most feared and bothersome complications of diabetes caused by different genera of bacteria. There is an increasing evidence which demonstrates the presence of biofilm former's in chronic diabetic foot ulcers which contribute to the development of antibiotic-resistant strains and treatment failure. The present study aimed at isolating bacteria from diabetic wounds, to check for its antibiotic susceptibility and biofilm forming ability. From the diabetic wounds, isolates belonging to the genera of Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, Esherichia, Vibrio, Acinetobacter and Citrobacter were recovered. To the best of our knowledge, Vibrio parahaemolyticus was isolated for the first time from diabetic ulcer. Antibiotic sensitivity profile of the organisms infers the presence of multidrug-resistant strains. Majority of bacteria isolated were found to be biofilm formers. High biofilm former's were observed in strains of P. aeruginosa, S. aureus and Klebsiella spp. There was significant association between incubation time and intensity of biofilm formation in P. aeruginosa [ᵡ2 (p< 0.05) = 0.001)], Staphylococcus spp. [ᵡ2 (p< 0.05) = 0.023)] and Acinetobacter spp. [ᵡ2 (p< 0.05) = 0.018)]. The presence of biofilm forming multidrug-resistant bacteria infers the chronic nature of diabetic wounds.

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