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This work aimed to study the antimicrobial activity of eight various components of plant origin on the growth of Pseudomonas lundensis and Listeria monocytogenes. Different in vitro methods were used: agar plate diffusion, micro atmosphere, agar hole diffusion, micro-dilution, and gradient-plate method. In the first agar plate assay, p-cymene and γ-terpinene did not inhibit the growth of the tested bacteria therefore they were not used in further experiments. Both α-pinene and limonene were only partially effective, but these were screened only for their partial inhibition. The other four components completely inhibited the growth of the tested bacteria. Using the agar-well diffusion method showed that carvacrol and thymol were found to be the most effective active components, thymol had minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) at 1.563 mg/mL, however, in the case of carvacrol, MIC was 7.813 μL/mL. Additionally, eugenol and camphor show the same results but in higher concentrations. Gradient plate method was used to determine MIC values, in which it has been proved that carvacrol and thymol possess strong antimicrobial activity, no growth of tested bacteria was observed with carvacrol (100 μL/mL), while thymol exhibited MIC of 1.887 mg/mL against P. lundensis and 0.943 mg/mL needed to show complete inhibition of Listeria monocytogenes. Further experiments are needed to determine the optimum concentrations of the active components against P. lundensis and L. monocytogenes.

Introduction: The aim of the study was to determine the effects of the pelvic floor muscle (PFM) training (PFM-T) in combination with transverse abdominal (TRA) muscle activation (cPFM-T) in female urinary incontinence. Methods: We enrolled nulliparous women in supine (SUG) (n = 22), sitting (SIG) (n = 19), and control (COG) (n = 14) groups. We conducted an 8-week cPFM-T programme. We examined the effect of training on the parameters with the Kruskal-Wallis test, the pairwise comparisons with the Mann-Whitney U test, and the Wilcoxon rank test with the Bonferroni correction. Results: Before training, 15 participants reported occasional urinary leakage. After cPFM-T, 7 participants reported that urinary leakage had disappeared. Maximal isometric contraction of the PFMs until fatigue improved significantly in the SUG (p < 0.001) and SIG (p = 0.015) groups but not significantly in the COG group (p = 0.499). Holding time increased in the SUG (p = 0.972) and the SIG (p = 0.717) groups and decreased in the COG group (p = 0.132). The dynamic endurance of the PFM improved significantly in the SUG group (p < 0.001) but not in the SIG (p = 0.798) and the COG (p = 0.153) groups. The number of maximal fast contractions within 1 min increased in both the SUG (p < 0.001) and SIG (p = 0.813) groups and decreased in the COG group (p = 0.257). Relaxation improved significantly in the SIG group (p = 0.011). TRA mucle thickness increased in both training groups. Conclusion: Slow-twitch fibres of the PFM can be trained effectively with PFM-T in both the body positions.

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is characterized by changes in interneuron numbers in the hippocampus. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an emerging tool to treat TLE seizures, although its mechanisms are not fully deciphered. We aimed to depict the effect of amygdala DBS on the density of the most common interneuron types in the CA1 hippocampal subfield in the lithium-pilocarpine model of epilepsy. Status epilepticus was induced in male Wistar rats. Eight weeks later, a stimulation electrode was implanted to the left basolateral amygdala of both pilocarpine-treated (Pilo, n = 14) and age-matched control rats (n = 12). Ten Pilo and 4 control animals received for 10 days 4 daily packages of 50 s 4 Hz regular stimulation trains. At the end of the stimulation period, interneurons were identified by immunolabeling for parvalbumin (PV), neuropeptide Y (NPY), and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS). Cell density was determined in the CA1 subfield of the hippocampus using confocal microscopy. We found that PV+ cell density was preserved in pilocarpine-treated rats, while the NPY+/nNOS+ cell density decreased significantly. The amygdala DBS did not significantly change the cell density in healthy or in epileptic animals. We conclude that DBS with low frequency applied for 10 days does not influence interneuron cell density changes in the hippocampus of epileptic rats.

IntroductionAcute pancreatitis (AP) is an inflammatory disease with no specific treatment. Mitochondrial injury followed by ATP depletion in both acinar and ductal cells is a recently discovered early event in its pathogenesis. Importantly, preclinical research has shown that intracellular ATP delivery restores the physiological function of the cells and protects from cell injury, suggesting that restoration of energy levels in the pancreas is therapeutically beneficial. Despite several high quality experimental observations in this area, no randomised trials have been conducted to date to address the requirements for energy intake in the early phase of AP.Methods/designThis is a randomised controlled two-arm double-blind multicentre trial. Patients with AP will be randomly assigned to groups A (30 kcal/kg/day energy administration starting within 24 hours of hospital admission) or B (low energy administration during the first 72 hours of hospital admission). Energy will be delivered by nasoenteric tube feeding with additional intravenous glucose supplementation or total parenteral nutrition if necessary. A combination of multiorgan failure for more than 48 hours and mortality is defined as the primary endpoint, whereas several secondary endpoints such as length of hospitalisation or pain will be determined to elucidate more detailed differences between the groups. The general feasibility, safety and quality checks required for high quality evidence will be adhered to.Ethics and disseminationThe study has been approved by the relevant organisation, the Scientific and Research Ethics Committee of the Hungarian Medical Research Council (55961-2/2016/EKU). This study will provide evidence as to whether early high energy nutritional support is beneficial in the clinical management of AP. The results of this trial will be published in an open access way and disseminated among medical doctors.Trial registrationThe trial has been registered at the ISRCTN (ISRTCN 63827758).