Search

Calaminthaincana, a medicinal plant traditionally used for its therapeutic properties, has been investigated for its phytochemical constituents and biological activities. Through a specific LC‐MS/MS analysis method, the phytochemical constituents of Calamintha incana methanolic extract have been identified and quantified. The 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl method was used to measure the antioxidant properties. The antibacterial properties of this extract have been tested against four harmful bacteria using disc diffusion and the minimum inhibitory concentration methods. A colorimetric assay has evaluated the total phenolic and flavonoid content. The extract contained 34 compounds, with linolenic acid (11.2%) and myristic acid (10.3%) being the most abundant. Despite the low phenolic and flavonoid content, the extract exhibited antioxidant activity with an IC50 of 96.8 ± 0.3 μg/mL. Moreover, the extract demonstrated potent antimicrobial properties against B. cereus and S. aureus, with minimum inhibitory concentrations of 11.8 and 21.5 μg/mL, respectively. These robust results underscore the potential of C. incana methanolic extract in the development of effective antibacterial agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fusarium‐induced wilt significantly affects the cultivation and yield of pigeon peas. This warrants sustainable disease management while promoting plant growth. The present study investigated the biopotential of coinoculation of Streptomyces pseudogriseolus S‐9 and Rhizophagus irregularis for plant growth promotion and mitigation of the impact of Fusarium wilt on pigeon pea over three seasons at pot and field levels. Pigeon pea plants were subjected to Fusarium wilt stress and treated with different inoculation strategies, including single and combined applications of S. pseudogriseolus S‐9 and R. irregularis. Plant growth parameters and yields were assessed to evaluate the efficacy of the coinoculation. In the pot experiment, T‐6 treatment resulted in the longest root (62.56 ± 0.01 cm) and shoot (70.24 ± 0.01 cm) lengths compared to the application of commercial biofungicide T‐8 (Trichoderma). This treatment also significantly influenced the yield of potted plants. It resulted in the highest fresh root weight (62.27 ± 0.01 g), fresh shoot weight (70.24 ± 0.02 g), maximum root (55.25 ± 0.01 g) and shoot dry weights (52.25 ± 0.01 g). In the field experiment, pigeon pea plants treated with the bioinoculant also demonstrated a substantial increase (р ≤ 0.05) in total grain yield, the weight of 100 grains, and the number of filled grains compared to the control group in all experimental seasons. In vitro, antagonism assay of compatibility of mycorrhizae and bacteria showed good activity using powder formulation. Thus, the consortium application inspired the broad application of Streptomyces and Trichoderma as effective bioinoculants for wilt management and yield improvement in pigeon peas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing interest on the therapeutic potential against neurodegeneration of Cannabis sativa extracts, and of phytocannabinoids in particular, is paralleled by a limited understanding of the undergoing biochemical pathways in which these natural compounds may be involved. Computational tools are nowadays commonly enrolled in the drug discovery workflow and can guide the investigation of macromolecular targets for such molecules. In this contribution, in silico techniques have been applied to the study of C. sativa constituents at various extents, and a total of seven phytocannabinoids and four terpenes were considered. On the side of ligand‐based virtual screening, physico‐chemical descriptors were computed and evaluated, highlighting the phytocannabinoids possessing suitable drug‐like properties to potentially target the central nervous system. Our previous findings and literature data prompted us to investigate the interaction of these molecules with phosphodiesterases (PDEs), a family of enzymes being studied for the development of therapeutic agents against neurodegeneration. Among the compounds, structure‐based techniques such as docking and molecular dynamics (MD), highlighted cannabidiol (CBD) as a potential and selective PDE9 ligand, since a promising calculated binding energy value (−9.1 kcal/mol) and a stable interaction in the MD simulation timeframe were predicted. Additionally, PDE9 inhibition assay confirmed the computational results, and showed that CBD inhibits the enzyme in the nanomolar range in vitro, paving the way for further development of this phytocannabinoid as a therapeutic option against neurodegeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Human papilloma virus oral infection can be related to several factors including HIV infection, cigarette smoking, marijuana consumption and number of sexual partners. We conducted a study on oral HPV prevalence and clearance among the hosts of the San Patrignano community, a population considered at "high-risk" for HPV due to their previous habits.Methods: From March 2007 to September 2010 all subjects were submitted to oropharyngeal brushing and saliva collection at baseline, after 6, 12 and 48 months (for subjects HPV positive at baseline). Samples were analyzed to detect HPV DNA and virus genotypes. The correlation between HPV prevalence and demographic, behavioral or immunological characteristics was assessed.Results: Among 194 subjects, 30 (15%) were HPV positive with 25 (13%) high-risk (HR)-HPV at baseline brushing. At 12 months HPV infection was cleared in all cases. However at 48 months HPV was newly detected in 33% of subjects. A correlation between time spent in the community and increase in the ratio of "low-risk" (LR) HPV and HR-HPV was observed. HPV infection was not associated with age, gender, HIV status, HCV, alcohol and/or drug exposure, number of years spent in community, sex with drug-addicts and condom use. Only AIDS under antiretroviral treatment was inversely correlated with the risk of infection.Conclusions: At 1 year a complete HPV clearance was observed which could be related to adoption of healthier lifestyles of participants. New HPV infections were detected even in the absence of the recognized and declared risky behavioral factors, suggesting a re-expression from a latent infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transcription factor Oct4 (octamer-binding transcription factor-4) is important in early embryonic development and differentiation. It is also required for maintenance of pluripotency of the inner cell mass, and is used as a staminality marker of embryonic stem cells. Changes in Oct4 expression during the different stages of early embryo development have been reported, and therefore we have conducted a quantitative study of Oct4 gene expression of sheep blastocysts in vitro, and of embryonic-stem-like cells at the undifferentiated stage and in the course of differentiation. To characterize embryonic-stem-like cells, alkaline phosphatase activity, stage-specific embryonic surface antigens SSEA-1, SSEA-3, SSEA-4 and three specific gene markers Nanog, Sox2 and Stat3 were assayed. cDNA produced by RT (reverse transcriptase)-PCR was synthesized and amplified by PCR; sequencing gave 98, 95 and 98% homology with the bovine sequences of Oct4, Nanog and Stat3 respectively. Using the ovine sequence of 290 bp, quantitative expression of Oct4 in the inner cell mass, trophoblast and embryonic-stem-like cells was performed by qRT-PCR (quantitative real-time PCR). Oct4 was expressed in the inner cell mass, trophoblast and embryonic-stem-like cells. Expression in the inner cell mass was significantly higher than in the trophoblast. This could be useful in defining the quality of embryos produced and makes it possible to use Oct4 to detect pluripotency. In addition, the different levels of Oct4 expression between undifferentiated and differentiating embryonic-stem-like cell cultures could be used to detect this gene as a staminality marker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is involved in the development of different benign and malignant lesions that include in particular squamous tumours of the cervix, skin and the respiratory tracts. In particular, the ‘high risk’ HPV type 16 (HPV 16) causes genito-rectal epithelial cancers and is suspected of causing epithelial cancers of the head and neck. To determine the presence and genotypes of HPV was determined in saliva samples from 164 subjects recruited from the Department of Surgery and Odontostomatological Sciences (University of Cagliari). For this study a sensitive seminested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was used to detect HPV-DNA; moreover in all positive samples, HPV genotyping was based on sequencing of the HPV genome L1 region. The results obtained with these patients (who were ethnically homogeneous), showed an interesting percentage of positive samples for HPV-DNA (30 samples out of 164–18.3%). Only two HPV genotypes have been identified in these patients, HPV 16 and HPV 31 with 76.7% and 23.3% of the positive specimens, respectively, both correlating with high carcinogenic risk. This preliminary result leads us to reflect on the presence of HPV in saliva, in particular in young asymptomatic subjects (15.38%), and its prognostic value for the possible incidence in Sardinia of oral carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]