The effect of the solvents for silk fibroin (SF) extraction on its antimicrobial activity was studied. Extraction protocols were performed using LiBr (SFL) and Ajisawa's reagent (CaCl2:ethanol:H2O) (SFC). The morphological and structural characteristics of the extracted SF and their composites were assessed. Corresponding bactericidal activities against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Esche...

The growing threat and spread of antibiotic resistance by a wide range of common pathogens has lead to increased investigations into traditional medicinal plants as alternatives. Honey has been used as a medicine since ancient times in many cultures and is still used in ‘folk medicine’. It is used widely for healing burnt wounds, but nowadays due to antibiotic resistance organisms honey also to...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Pneumonia with Acinetobacter baumannii has a major therapeutic problem in health care settings. Decision to initiate correct antibiotic therapy requires rapid identification and quantification of organism. The aim of this study was to develop a rapid and sensitive method for direct detection of A. baumannii from respiratory specimens. MATERIALS AND METHODS A Taqman r...

The aim of this study was to determine the Lactobacillus plantarum isolated from soy milk, the antimicrobial activity of the bacteriocin produced by the isolate against the pathogenic bacteria and antibiotic resistance of these isolates.The identity of the culture was based on characteristics of the strains of Lactobacillus spp. as presented in Bergey’s Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, car...

Hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia (HABP) is one of the most important causes of morbidity, mortality and economic problems especially for patients admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU) ward. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of nosocomial pneumonia in ICU, identify the causative bacteria and their resistance profiles. This cross sectional study was performed on 214 pa...

Patients on cytotoxic therapy often develop neutropenia and fever. Our interest was to identify the common pathogens isolated from such patients and to study the sensitivity patterns of these organisms to the antibiotics used in their treatment. Thus, guidelines can be established by hospitals to identify which antibiotics can be used in the treatment of these patients when the results of cultu...

The purpose of the present study was to compare the stabilizing effect of four disaccharides alone or in combination on the lactoperoxidase (LP) derived from bovine milk during lyophilization. Sucrose, lactose, maltose, and trehalose at different concentrations (5-500 mM) were used to compare their protective effects on LP activity. The activity of lyophilized and native LP enzyme was evaluated...

The antimicrobial activities of the ethyl acetate, acetone and methanol extract of 12 plant species were studied. The extract of Capsicum annuum (red pepper) (fruit) Zingiber officinale (ginger) (root), Cuminum cyminum (cumin), Alpinia ficinarum (galingale), Coriandrum sativum (coriander), Cinnamomun zeylanicum Nees (cinnamomun), Origanum onites L. (thyme), Folium sennae (senna), Eugenia caryop...

Objective: To evaluate the microbiological contamination of sterile (SG) and non-sterile (NSG) gloves before during different stages endodontic treatment. Methodology: Five brands (n = 10 per brand) NSG (Supermax, UniGloves, Lemgruber, Nugard Embramac) four SG (Sensitex, Sanro, Mucambo, Madeitex) were analyzed. Microbiological collections performed at 3 time-points: immediately after opening pa...

Objective(s): A large ratio of surface to volume of nanoparticles in comparison with bulk ones, will increase the cell penetration and therefore their toxicity. Materials and Methods: Chemical precipitation method was used in order to synthesis of ZnS:Ag quantum dots. Their Physical properties and characteristics were assessed by X-ray diffraction, Ultra Violet-Visible Spectrophotometer, Transm...