BACKGROUND Alpinia oxyphylla is a common remedy in traditional Chinese medicine. Yakuchinone A is a major constituent of A. oxyphylla and exhibits anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antibacterial, and gastric protective activities. METHODS Antioxidant and antitumor characteristics of yakuchinone A in skin cancer cells as well as novel mechanisms for the inhibition of adipocyte differentiation, ces...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the reduction in the adherence of 33 strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from humans and different animals to human buccal epithelial cells with neuraminidase inhibition. Buccal epithelial cells were incubated with strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the presence or absence of the neuraminidase inhibitors, 2,3-dehydro-2-deoxy-N-acetyl-neuraminic aci...

Specimen 1 Organisms Referees Frequency Ext 1 Ext 2 571 Ascaris lumbricoides 18 Moderate to Many 15 49 545 Entamoeba coli 10 Moderate to Many 4 16 589 Schistosoma mansoni 6 Few to moderate 3 11 524 Parasite(s) found referred for ID 10 580 Trichuris trichiura 3 Few to moderate 6 544 Endolimax nana 2 2 574 Hookworm 1 546 Entamoeba hartmanni 1 548 Entamoeba histolytica / Entamoeba dispar 1 566 Hym...

Streptococcus penumoniae is a major human pathogen responsible for respiratory tract infections, septicemia, and meningitis and continues to produce numerous cases of disease with relatively high mortalities. S. pneumoniae encodes up to three sialidases, NanA, NanB, and NanC, that have been implicated in pathogenesis and are potential drug targets. NanA has been shown to be a promiscuous sialid...

The taxonomy of central Australian populations of geckos of the genus Gehyra has been uncertain since chromosomal studies carried out in the 1970s and 1980s revealed considerable heterogeneity and apparently independent patterns of morphological and karyotypic diversity. Following detailed molecular genetic studies, species boundaries in this complex have become clearer and we here re-set the b...

Mycobacterium ulcerans, the etiologic agent of Buruli ulcer, has been detected on aquatic plants in endemic tropical regions. Here, we tested the effect of several tropical plant extracts on the growth of M. ulcerans and the closely related Mycobacterium marinum. M. ulcerans and M. marinum were inoculated on Middlebrook 7H11 medium with and without extracts from tropical aquatic plants, includi...

In order to study the infectivity and development of the human strain of Hymenolepis nana in mice, a human strain of H. nana was inoculated into ICR mice. H. nana eggs were concentrated by the sedimentation method and inoculated by a disposable syringe (1 ml) connected to a long needle (8 cm) into the stomach of mice. Mouse feces were examined daily beginning day 5 after inoculation and the mic...

To investigate the efficacy of pomegranate (Punica granatum) as an alternative and safe treatment against Hymenolipes nana through experimental study on the white laboratory mice. Twenty eight Swiss albino mice naturally infected with Hymenolipes nana. Animals were divided into four groups, one group as control and groups 2-4 were fed daily with dose 0.5 ml, 1.0 ml and 1.5 ml pomegranate peel e...

OBJECTIVES The cell surface receptor used by an influenza virus to infect that cell is an N-acetyl neuraminic acid (NANA) residue terminally linked by an alpha2,3 or alpha2,6 bond to a carbohydrate moiety of a glycoprotein or glycolipid. Our aim was to determine a quick and technically simple method to determine cell receptor usage by whole influenza A virus particles. METHODS We employed sur...

Red blood cells (RBCs) during microcirculation, aging and storage, lose N-acetylneuraminic acid (NANA) and other biomaterials thereby altering cell structures, some properties and functions. Such cell damage very likely underlies the serious adverse effects of blood transfusion. However, a controversy has remained since 1961-1977 as to whether with aging, the RBCs, suffering loss of NANA, do ha...