OBJECTIVE This article reviews current research into non-antibiotic treatments for bacterial vaginosis and assesses interest in the use of alternative therapies for women's health in a non-representative sample of women. DESIGN Literature review and online survey. SUBJECTS A convenience sample of 192 women was selected from an online community devoted to the discussion of women's health. ...

Skin secretions from frogs belonging to the genera Xenopus, Silurana, Hymenochirus, and Pseudhymenochirus in the family Pipidae are a rich source of host-defense peptides with varying degrees of antimicrobial activities and cytotoxicities to mammalian cells. Magainin, peptide glycine-leucine-amide (PGLa), caerulein-precursor fragment (CPF), and xenopsin-precursor fragment (XPF) peptides have be...

DXP synthase catalyzes the formation of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate, an essential precursor in pathogen isoprenoid biosynthesis. The selective inhibition of this ThDP-dependent transformation is a challenging goal in the development of isoprenoid biosynthesis inhibitors. Potent, selective inhibitors could lead to new anti-infective agents. Here, we demonstrate selective inhibition of E. coli...

Sortase enzymes are attractive targets for the development of new anti-infective agents against Gram-positive pathogens because they covalently anchor virulence factors to the cell wall. Here we review what is known about the mechanism of sortase mediated protein anchoring and discuss recently identified inhibitors of this new important enzyme family.

herbal medicine can be a valuable source of assistance for traditional medicine. there are a number of herbs that can be used in conjunction with modern medicine. herbs can also be taken to aid recovery from serious diseases. although one should never aim to treat diseases such as cardiovascular disease solely with herbal medicine, the value of herbs used in tandem with modern medicine cannot b...

We report on the activities of a broad spectrum antimicrobial compound,nitropropenyl benzodioxole (NPBD) which are of relevance to its potential as an anti-infective drug. These investigations support the proposal that a major mechanism of NPBD is action as a tyrosine mimetic, competitively inhibiting bacterial and fungal protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTP). NPBD did not affect major anti-bacte...

We identified a previously undocumented mutation in the dihydropteroate synthase (folP) gene associated with Neisseria meningitidis sulfonamide resistance. A PCR-based assay to detect this mutation, which is 100% predictive of sulfonamide resistance, was developed.