Holarrhena mitis (Vahl) R.Br. ex Roem. & Schult. which is an endemic plant growing mainly in the dry regions of the low-country has been used in the treatment of dysentery in Ayurvedic medicine. During the present study, we tested antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant activities and brine shrimp lethality, as well as the total phenolic content of the dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of the bark and leaves of H. mitis. The methanol extract of bark produced a measurable zone of inhibition against two Candida species, namely Candida albicans, Candida krusei among all five tested species and against both dermatophytes, Microsporum gypseum and Tricophyton mentagrophytes. In addition, the methanol extract of bark showed very strong antifungal activity against C. krusei (20 mm), which is very close to that of the positive control ketoconazole (22 mm). Both dicholoromethane extracts of bark and leaves and methanol extracts of leaves showed an activity against both tested strains of Staphylococcus aureus but were negative against Escherichia coli and Salmonella enteritidis. However, the rest of the extracts exerted an active against all the tested bacterial strains. In the brine shrimp cytotoxicity assay, the dichloromethane extracts of both leaves and bark showed lower LC 50 values (27.13 ppm and 9.38 ppm, respectively) than that of positive control, K 2 Cr 2 O 7 , (35.74 ppm) indicating cell toxicity. Compared to the positive control, DL-α-tocopherol (IC 50 : 12.2 ppm), the antioxidant activity of the ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of leaves exhibited comparable activity (IC 50 :16.9 ppm and 29.8 ppm, respectively). Antioxidant activity correlated well with the polyphenol content of methanol and ethyl acetate extracts (473.25 and 138.74 mg (GAE) /g, respectively) of leaves, with respect to gallic acid. These empirical results revealed that methanol extract of bark of H. mitis showed strong antifungal activity as well as very low brine shrimp lethality indicating that it would be a potential nontoxic anti-fungal natural product. The dichloromethane extracts exhibited strong brine shrimp lethality and may contain potential natural anticancer lead compounds. Ethyl acetate extracts of both leaves and bark having significant antibacterial activity, would be source of potential antibacterial lead compounds.
Listeria monocytogenes is the causative organism of listeriosis, which primarily affects immunecompromised individuals, including pregnant women. Contamination of milk and milk products with L. monocytogenes is a serious problem to the world and to the developing countries like Sri Lanka. Even the presence of low numbers of L. monocytogenes is a potential risk since this organism is capable of multiplying at ambient and under refrigerated conditions. The main aim of the study is to detect the circulating serotypes in dairy industries using molecular methods and primarily to trace the lineage of these serotypes with a focus on food safety and disease prevention. Altogether total of 266 samples from raw milk, pasteurized milk, ice cream, curd, yogurt and cheese were collected from many parts of the country, tested for the presence of L. monocytogenes and studied the serotype. L. monocytogenes was detected in all types of the above-mentioned milk and milk products. Out of total L. monocytogenes strains detected by PCR, 61.51%, 11.53% and 4% belong to serotypes 1/2a (or 3a) [lineage II], 1/2b (or 3b) [lineage I] and, 1/2c (or 3c) [lineage II] respectively. It has been observed previously that serotypes (1/2a), 1/2b) isolated from raw milk samples been linked to multiple human listeriosis outbreaks. This study revealed the serotypes of L. monocytogenes circulating in Sri Lanka, thus makes an alarm to the health authorities to be more vigilant about the probable outbreaks of listeriosis in Sri Lanka. This is the first report on circulating L. monocytogenes serotypes in Sri Lanka.All copyrights reserved to Nexus® academic publishers
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