Search

Acute kidney injury and impaired kidney function is associated with reduced survival and increased morbidity. Porophyllum ruderale is an edible plant endemic to Mexico used in Mexican traditional medicine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the nephroprotective effect of a hydroalcoholic extract (MeOH:water 70:30, v/v) from the aerial parts of P. ruderale (HEPr). Firstly, in vitro the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of HEPr was determined; after the in vivo nephroprotective activity of HEPr was evaluated using a thioacetamide-induced injury model in rats. HEPr showed a slight effect on LPS-NO production in macrophages (15% INO at 40 µg/mL) and high antioxidant activity in the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) test, followed by the activity on DPPH and ABTS radicals test (69.04, 63.06 and 32.96% of inhibition, respectively). In addition, values of kidney injury biomarkers in urine (urobilinogen, hemoglobin, bilirubin, ketones, glucose, protein, pH, nitrites, leukocytes, specific gravity, and the microalbumin/creatinine) and serum (creatinine, urea, and urea nitrogen) of rats treated with HEPr were maintained in normal ranges. Finally, 5-O-caffeoylquinic, 4-O-caffeoylquinic and ferulic acids; as well as 3-O-quercetin glucoside and 3-O-kaempferol glucoside were identified by HPLC as major components of HEPr. In conclusion, Porophyllum ruderale constitutes a source of compounds for the treatment of acute kidney injury.

Human granulocytic Anaplasmosis (HGA), is a tick-borne infectious disease transmitted by ticks, resulting in acute feverish episodes. The etiological agent is the bacteria Anaplasma phagocytophilum; which is spread by ticks of the genus Ixodes spp. to complete its life cycle. In Mexico, there is only one case report. The primary challenge is understanding how other bacteria affect or overlap with the clinical manifestation of the disease. Sample collection occurred over the period September 2017 through October 2019. Blood samples from human subjects were obtained immediately after they signed consent forms. We analyzed for the presence for A. phagocytophilum by serological (IFA IgG two times) and PCR targeting 16SrRNA and groEL genes, followed by DNA sequencing. All patients with a history of travel abroad were dismissed for this project. In total, 1924 patients participated and of these, 1014 samples across the country were analyzed. Of these, 85 (8.38%) had IFA results that ranged from 1:384 to 1:896. Of the positive samples, 7.10% were used for PCR. Significant clinical manifestations included: dizziness, nausea, petechial, epistaxis, enlarged liver and/or spleen and thrombocytopenia. Hospitalization of at least 1.5 days was necessary for 3.2% of patients. None of the cases analyzed were lethal. This is the first clinical manifestations along with serological test results and molecular analysis confirmed the presence of A. phagocytophilum resulting in HGA in patients from Mexico. Health institutions and medical practitioners in general should include diagnostic testing for HGA among high risk populations and should recognize it as a vector-borne emerging infectious disease in Mexico.

The genus Porophyllum (family Asteraceae) is native to the western hemisphere, growing in tropical and subtropical North and South America. Mexico is an important center of diversification of the genus. Plants belong of genus Porophyllum have been used in Mexican traditional medicine to treat kidney and intestinal diseases, parasitic, bacterial, and fungal infections and anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive activities. In this sense, several trials have been made on its chemical and in vitro and in vivo pharmacological activities. These studies were carried on the extracts and isolated compounds and support most of their reported uses in folk medicine as antifungal, antileishmanial, anti-inflammatory, anti-nociceptive and burn repair activities, and as a potential source of new class of insecticides. Bio guided phytochemical studies showed the isolation of thiophenes, terpenes and phenolics compounds, which could be responsible for the pharmacological activities. However, more pre-clinical assays that highlight the mechanisms of action of the compounds involved in pharmacological function are lacking. This review discusses the current knowledge of their chemistry, in vitro and in vivo pharmacological activities carried out on the plants belonging to the Porophyllum genus.

The principle of animal wellbeing, which states that animals should be free from pain, injury, and disease, is difficult to maintain, because microorganisms are most frequently found to be resistant or multi-resistant to drugs. The secondary metabolites of plants are an alternative for the treatment of these microorganisms. The aim of this work was to determine the antibacterial effect of Salix babylonica L. hydroalcoholic extract (SBHE) against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes, and identify the compounds associated with the activity. The SBHE showed activity against the three strains, and was subjected to a bipartition, obtaining aqueous fraction (ASB) with moderate activity and organic fraction (ACSB) with good activity against the three strains. The chromatographic separation of ACSB, allowed us to obtain ten fractions (F1AC to F10AC), and only three showed activity (F7AC, F8AC and F10AC). In F7AC, five compounds were identified preliminary by GC-MS, in F8AC and F10AC were identified luteolin (1) and luteolin 7-O-glucoside (2) by HPLC, respectively. The best antibacterial activity was obtained with F7AC (Listeria monocytogenes; MIC: 0.78 mg/mL, MBC: 0.78 mg/mL) and F8AC (Staphylococcus aureus; MIC: 0.39 mg/mL; MBC: 0.78 mg/mL). The results indicated that the compounds obtained from SBHE can be used as an alternative treatment against these microorganisms and, by this mechanism, contribute to animal and human health.