Interactions between Clotrimazole and selected essential oils against Malassezia pachydermatis clinical isolates.

The aim of this study was to investigate interactions between conventional antifungal drug and essential oils against isolates of Malassezia pachydermatis. Antifungal activity of Cinnamomum cassia, Melaleuca alternifolia, Mentha piperita, Origanum vulgare and Syzygium aromaticum essential oils were tested against 19 strains of M. pachydermatis isolated from healthy dogs and reference strain M. pachydermatis CBS 1879. The checkerboard assay was used to search for in- teractions. Synergism was observed for the combination of clotrimazole with Melaleuca alternifolia essential oil, Mentha piperita and Origanum vulgare. The combinations of Cinnamomum cassia and Syzygium aromaticum essential oils with clotrimazole showed indifferent effect. Additive antimicrobial activity was observed for the combination of clotrimazole with Syzygium aromaticum and Melaleuca alternifolia essential oils against reference strain. The obtained results showed synergistic interactions between essential oils and clotrimazole which could improve effectiveness of this antifungal drug.

Cell-penetrating peptides: a useful tool for the delivery of various cargoes into cells.

Cell-penetrating compounds are substances that enhance the cellular uptake of various molecular cargoes that do not easily cross the cellular membrane. The majority of cell-penetrating compounds described in the literature are cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs). This review summarizes the various structural types of cell-penetrating compounds, with the main focus on CPPs. The authors present a brief overview of the history of CPPs, discuss the various types of conjugation of CPPs to biologically active cargoes intended for cell internalization, examine the cell-entry mechanisms of CPPs, and report on the applications of CPPs in research and in preclinical and clinical studies.

Peptide-targeted polymer cancerostatics.

A tumor-targeting drug delivery system consists of a tumor recognition moiety and a directly linked cytotoxic agent or an agent attached to a water-soluble synthetic polymer carrier through a suitable linker. Conjugation of a drug with a polymer carrier can change its solubility, toxicity, biodistribution, blood clearance and therapeutic specificity. Increased therapeutic specificity of a polymer drug can be achieved by the attachment of a targeting moiety (e.g. a lectin, protein, antibody, or peptide) that specifically interacts with receptors on the target cells. A large number of tumor-specific peptides were described in recent years. After a short introduction, some important examples of peptide-targeted conjugates will be described and discussed.

[Isolation of highly divergent vaccine strains of polioviruses in Slovakia]. / Izolácia vysoko divergentného vakcinálneho poliovírusu na Slovensku.

April 2003 was the first time in Slovakia, when the vaccine derived poliovirus Type 2 was isolated from waste water sampled from the waste water disposal plant in Vrakun, which collects most waste from Bratislava. The examination in the Regional reference laboratory in Helsinki revealed an almost 15% divergence from the vaccine strain and genetic identity with the Sabine vaccine strain was only 86.6%. Various cases of paralytic poliomyelitis have been published in world literature, caused by mutants = vaccine derived polioviruses (VDPV). Sporadic diseases were described not only in persons who excreted genetically modified vaccine strains, but even examples of epidemic occurrence connected with circulation and transfer of VDPV in non-vaccinated or insufficiently vaccinated population. Epidemiologist of the State Faculty Public Health Institute of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia immediately accepted measures to strengthen surveillance of poliomyelitis at all levels in order to minimize the risk for the origin of paralytic disease in the population. The world-wide activities aimed at eradication of poliomyelitis may eliminate the wild virus from human community as well as from the environment. It will be difficult to eradicate poliomyelitis completely before the potentially infectious oral vaccine is substituted with inactivated vaccine.