Winning the War against Multi-Drug Resistant Diarrhoeagenic Bacteria.

Drug-resistant-diarrhoeagenic bacteria are currently emerging healthcare challenge. This study investigated the effects of Vernonia amygdalina, Garcinia kola, tetracycline and metronidazole combinations on such bacteria. Agar well diffusion method was employed to determine the inhibitory effects of the herbal extracts on diarrhoeagenic bacteria while Time-Kill Assay was used to determine bactericidal effects of the extracts against test isolates. Interactions between plant extracts and antibiotics were investigated using Checkerboard assay. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of the extracts against the bacterial isolates ranged between 3.125-50 mg/mL, while those of tetracycline and metronidazole ranged from 30-50 µg/mL. Synergism was observed against B. cereus and S. aureus for metronidazole + aqueous G. kola at all ratios. Generally, the combinations aqueous G. kola + ethanolic G. kola and aqueous G. kola + ethanolic V. amygdalina showed more pronounced synergism against the Staphylococcus aureus than B. cereus isolates with the fractional inhibition concentration (FIC) indices ranging from 0.32-0.95. Synergism of tetracycline + crude extracts and metronidazole combinations were more pronounced on the test isolates and especially on the Gram-negative organisms with FIC indices ranging from 0.41-0.91. Conclusion: The herbal extracts combinations and extracts-antibiotics combinations are synergistic on diarrhoeagenic bacteria at defined combination ratios.

Lactobacillus vaginal microbiota of women attending a reproductive health care service in Benin city, Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine whether Lactobacillus species found in African women differ substantially to those of white decent, described in previous studies. The vaginal microbiota play an important role in female health, and when the naturally dominant lactobacilli are displaced resulting in bacterial vaginosis (BV), the host is more at risk of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. METHODS: Vaginal samples were collected from 241 healthy, premenopausal Nigerian women, which were then Gram-stained for Nugent scoring. Microbial DNA was extracted, amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Lactobacillus primers, and processed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Lactobacillus species were identified by DNA sequencing and BLAST algorithm. RESULTS: Of the samples, 207 (85.8%) had PCR products for lactobacilli, whereas 34 (14.2%) showed absence of lactobacilli, which correlated to the BV Nugent scores. On sequencing of amplicons, 149 subjects (72%) had sequence homologies to lactobacilli. Most women (64%) were colonized by L. iners as the predominant strain, similar to previous findings in Canadian and Swedish women. L. gasseri was found in 7.3% samples, followed by L. plantarum, L. suntoryeus, L. crispatus, L. rhamnosus, and other species. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that even with geographic, racial, and other differences, the predominant vaginal Lactobacillus species is similar to species in women from Northern countries.

Receptivity for probiotic products among premenopausal female students in an African university.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine the receptivity for probiotic products among premenopausal female students in an African university. GOAL: The goal of this study was to determine the local knowledge in Nigeria of probiotics and the willingness of young women to use them should they be introduced. STUDY: Closed-ended questionnaires were administered to a sample of 280 participants and these addressed age, marital status, perceived risk of HIV infection for the next 3 years, and history of urogenital infections. The participants were also asked whether they would welcome a probiotic product in oral/vaginal form and in milk-based food products, willingness to purchase and use, how often they would use these products, preference of form, price, and where they would like to buy the products. The second questionnaire was open-ended. It asked the participants to freely list any concerns or worries they had in relation to probiotic products. RESULTS: Of the 280 participants, 55.3% indicated that they believed they were at risk of acquiring HIV within the next 3 years, illustrating the enormity of the problem in Africa and the feelings among women that they cannot easily control sexual relationships and have partners use condoms. Eighty-two percent of the subjects stated they would welcome probiotic products in capsular form for vaginal instillation or to be taken orally to improve vaginal health. Over one third (36%) of women indicated they would be willing to use the probiotic products as part of their daily self-care. One hundred nine (39.6%) respondents were willing to purchase the probiotic products at a reasonable price of 0.08 US dollars per dose, whereas 71.5% were willing to pay up to 0.38 US dollars. Some subjects (25%) raised some concern over safety of probiotics. CONCLUSIONS: The findings revealed that female university students are receptive to probiotic products in Nigeria and indicate strongly a need to consider women's concerns about urogenital health. Furthermore, the study identified a need for appropriate educational materials about probiotics, including benefits and safety information, in an African country suffering severely from the HIV epidemic.