Antibiotics are often prescribed in acne treatment; however, Propionibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus epidermidis, the two of the major acne-associated bacteria, developed antibiotic resistance. Essential oils (EOs) present a natural, safe, efficacious and multifunctional alternative treatment. This study aimed to assess the potential anti-acne activity of selected seven EOs commonly used in Mediterranean folk medicine. Antimicrobial activity screening of these oils showed oregano to exhibit the strongest antimicrobial activity with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.34 mg/mL and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 0.67 mg/mL against P. acnes; and MIC of 0.67 mg/mL and MBC of 1.34 mg/mL against S. epidermidis. The composition of the most effective EOs (oregano and thyme) was determined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Monoterpenoid phenols predominated oregano and thyme EO with thymol percentile 99 and 72, respectively. Thymol showed MIC 0.70 mg/mL against both P. acnes and S. epidermidis whereas MBC was 1.40 and 2.80 mg/mL against P. acnes and S. epidermidis, respectively. Moreover, oregano exhibited the strongest anti-biofilm effect against S. epidermidis with MBIC 1.34 mg/mL and killing dynamic time of 12 and 8 h against P. acnes and S. epidermidis, respectively. Oregano, the most effective EO, was formulated and tested as a nanoemulsion in an acne animal mouse model. The formulation showed superior healing and antimicrobial effects compared to the reference antibiotic. Collectively, our data suggested that oregano oil nanoemulsion is a potential natural and effective alternative for treating acne and overcoming the emerging antibiotic resistance.
Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a syndrome resulting from acute or chronic liver failure. The main hypothesis suggests a state of hyperammonemia which is responsible for both direct and indirect alterations in cerebral metabolism with increased production of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. The effect of milk-derived alphalactalbumin (α-LAC) and vitamin C (vit. C) was evaluated in thioacetamide (TAA)-induced HEmodel in the current study. Animals were treated with TAA (100 mg/kg, i.p.) or saline thrice weekly for six weeks to induce HE then treatment groups received orally α-LAC (100 or150 mg/kg) and /or vit. C (500 mg/kg)daily for two weeks. Twenty-four hours after last treatment sera, liver and brain samples were collected to assess serum ammonia level, activities of alanine transaminase (ALT), and aspartate transaminase (AST), brain and liver oxidative stress parameters as well as histopathological investigations.TAA rats experienced increases in serum activities of ALT and AST as well as serum levels of ammonia. Furthermore, TAA induced hepatic and brain oxidative damage as indicated by increase in lipid peroxidation (LP), decrease in reduced glutathione (GSH) and decrease in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity as well as increased nitric oxide (NO) levels. TAA caused distortion of hepatic and brain architecture as shown by histopathological examination. Treatment with α-LAC either alone or combined with vit. C resulted in improved liver functions by decline in serum AST and ALT activities and reduction in serum ammonia level. Alpha-LAC and vit. C reduced LP and NO levels while increased GSH concentration and SOD activity in hepatic and brain tissues. Finally, α-LAC-vit. C combination improved the hepatic and brain histological picture. Alpha-LAC-vit. C combination may be a promising pharmacological tool in providing a natural source of branched-chain amino acids and powerful antioxidants to combat hepatic encephalopathy-associated hyperammonemia and its consequential oxidative damage in liver and brain.
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of supplementing a combination of lysolecithin, synthetic emulsifier, and monoglycerides (LEX) on growth performance, intestinal morphology, and selected carcass traits in broilers fed low-energy diets without added oil. Three hundred one-day-old Arbor Acres (AA) broilers (40.3 ± 3.3 g) were assigned to two dietary treatments with six replicates of 25 birds each and were fed a control low-energy diet without added oil supplemented with 0 and 250 g/t of LEX for 30 days. Growth performance was measured and recorded throughout the study. At slaughter, 60 birds per treatment were used to assess the effect of LEX on the carcass traits. Final average body weight and feed conversion ratio were improved (p < 0.05) in LEX treated birds compared to control. LEX supplementation was linked to higher (p < 0.05) carcass weight and yield and to lower (p < 0.05) abdominal fat and liver weight. Moisture content was higher (p < 0.05) in ground deboned broilers from LEX treatment. Villus height was increased (p < 0.05), and crypt depth reduced (p < 0.05) in the jejunum of birds treated with LEX. This study demonstrates that supplementation of LEX to a low-energy diet without added oil improved performance, carcass weight and yield, reduced abdominal fat deposition, and improved intestinal morphology in broiler chickens.
Introduction: Protection of brain against accelerated aging helps avoiding the occurrence of neurodegenerative diseases. So, the current work was conducted to evaluate the rescuing role of kumquat fruits crude ethanol extract, carrot seeds ethanol and petroleum ether extracts against the brain aging induced by D-galactose in rats. Methods: Forty male Sprague Dawley rats were divided equally into five groups. Group I was served as normal control, rats of group II were daily injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) with 150 mg/kg BW of D-galactose. Rats of group III, IV and V were daily injected i.p. with the same dose of D-galactose and administered orally with 250 mg/kg BW/day of kumquat fruits crude ethanol extract, carrot seeds ethanol extract and carrot seeds petroleum ether extract, respectively. After 6 weeks the rats were scarified, brain tissues were analyzed for malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT) as well as histological examination. Also, the plasma was analyzed for MDA, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), creatinine and urea levels, as well as CAT, butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) activities. Results: From the results, it was elucidated that the tested extracts suppressed both the reduction in CAT and the elevation in MDA either in brain or plasma and the increase in plasma TNF-α, BChE as well as liver and kidney parameters. Conclusion: The tested extracts can be served as potent protective agents against the accelerated aging parameters which may be due to anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.
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