Gingerols and shogaols are compounds found in ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe); shogaols are found in lower concentration than gingerols but exhibit higher biological activities. This work studied the effects of different drying methods including open sun drying (OSD) solar tunnel drying (STD) and hot air drying (HAD) with various temperature on the formation of six main active compounds in ginger rhizomes, namely 6-, 8-, and 10-gingerols and 6-, 8-, and 10-shogaols, as well as essential oil content. Antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of dried ginger was also evaluated. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis showed that after HAD with variable temperature (120, 150 and 180 °C), contents of 6-, 8-, and 10-gingerols decreased, while contents of 6-, 8-, and 10-shogaol increased. High formation of 6-, 8-, and 10-shogaol contents were observed in HAD (at 150 °C for 6 h) followed by STD and OSD, respectively. OSD exhibited high content of essential oil followed by STD and HAD method. Ginger-treated with HAD exhibited the highest DPPH (IC50 of 57.8 mg/g DW) and FRAP (493.8 µM of Fe(II)/g DM) activity, compared to STD and OSD method. HAD ginger exhibited potent antimicrobial activity with lower minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) value against bacteria strains followed by STD and OSD, respectively. Ginger extracts showed more potent antimicrobial activity against Gram positive bacteria than Gram negative bacteria strains. Result of this study confirmed that conversion of gingerols to shogaols was significantly affected by different drying temperature and time. HAD at 150 °C for 6 h, provides a method for enhancing shogaols content in ginger rhizomes with improving antioxidant and antimicrobial activities.
Routine postoperative antibiotic prophylaxis is not recommended for third molar extractions. However, amoxicillin still continues to be used customarily in several clinical practices worldwide to prevent infections. A prospective cohort study was conducted in cohorts who underwent third molar extractions with (group EA, n = 20) or without (group E, n = 20) amoxicillin (250 mg three times daily for 5 days). Further, a control group without amoxicillin and extractions (group C, n = 17) was included. Salivary samples were collected at baseline, 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-weeks and 3 months to assess the bacterial shift and antibiotic resistance gene changes employing 16S rRNA gene sequencing (Illumina-Miseq) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction. A further 6-month follow-up was performed for groups E and EA. Seven operational taxonomic units reported a significant change from baseline to 3 months for group EA (adjusted p bacteria and β-lactamase resistance genes (TEM-1) was observed over 6 months for any group (adjusted p > 0.05). In conclusion, the salivary microbiome is resilient to an antibiotic challenge by a low-dose regimen of amoxicillin. Further studies evaluating the effect of routinely used higher dose regimens of amoxicillin on gram-negative bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes are warranted.
Treatment of drug resistant protozoa, bacteria, and viruses requires new drugs with alternative chemotypes. Such compounds could be found from Southeast Asian medicinal plants. The present study examines the cytotoxic, antileishmanial, and antiplasmodial effects of 11 ethnopharmacologically important plant species in Malaysia. Chloroform extracts were tested for their toxicity against MRC-5 cells and Leishmania donovani by MTT, and chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum K1 strain by Histidine-Rich Protein II ELISA assays. None of the extract tested was cytotoxic to MRC-5 cells. Extracts of Uvaria grandiflora, Chilocarpus costatus, Tabernaemontana peduncularis, and Leuconotis eugenifolius had good activities against L. donovani with IC50
Defatted Jatropha curcas L. (J. curcas) seed kernels contained a high percentage of crude protein (61.8%) and relatively little acid detergent fiber (4.8%) and neutral detergent fiber (9.7%). Spectrophotometric analysis of the methanolic extract showed the presence of phenolics, flavonoids and saponins with values of 3.9, 0.4 and 19.0 mg/g DM, respectively. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analyses showed the presence of gallic acid and pyrogallol (phenolics), rutin and myricetin (flavonoids) and daidzein (isoflavonoid). The amount of phorbol esters in the methanolic extract estimated by HPLC was 3.0 ± 0.1 mg/g DM. Other metabolites detected by GC-MS include: 2-(hydroxymethyl)-2 nitro-1,3-propanediol, β-sitosterol, 2-furancarboxaldehyde, 5-(hydroxymethy) and acetic acid in the methanolic extract; 2-furancarboxaldehyde, 5-(hydroxymethy), acetic acid and furfural (2-furancarboxaldehyde) in the hot water extract. Methanolic and hot water extracts of kernel meal showed antimicrobial activity against both Gram positive and Gram negative pathogenic bacteria (inhibition range: 0-1.63 cm) at the concentrations of 1 and 1.5 mg/disc. Methanolic extract exhibited antioxidant activities that are higher than hot water extract and comparable to β-carotene. The extracts tended to scavenge the free radicals in the reduction of ferric ion (Fe(3+)) to ferrous ion (Fe(2+)). Cytotoxicity assay results indicated the potential of methanolic extract as a source of anticancer therapeutic agents toward breast cancer cells.