Fabrication and antimicrobial properties of novel meropenem-honey encapsulated chitosan nanoparticles against multiresistant and biofilm-forming Staphylococcus aureus as a new antimicrobial agent.

BACKGROUND: Honey exhibits a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) ones. Chitosan (Cs) is a mucoadhesive polymer that also has antibacterial properties. Special attention has been paid to the design of polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) as new nano drug delivery systems to overcome bacterial resistance and its problems. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study is to synthesize Cs-meropenem NPs with/without honey as an antibiofilm and antibacterial agent to inhibit Staphylococcus aureus. METHODS: This study synthesized meropenem and honey-loaded Cs nanogels and subsequently characterized them by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and DLS-zeta potential. Using the broth microdilution and crystal violet assays, the antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of meropenem and honey-loaded Cs nanogel, free meropenem, free honey, and free Cs NPs were investigated in vitro against MRSA strains. 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) was also used to test the cytotoxicity of several Cs-NPs compound against the HEK-293 regular cell line. RESULTS: The average size of meropenem and honey-Cs-NPs was reported to be 119.885 nm, and encapsulation efficiency was 88.33 ± 0.97 with stability up to 60 days at 4°C. The NPs showed enhanced antibiofilm efficacy against S. aureus at sub-minimum inhibitory concentrations. Additionally, the cytotoxicity of meropenem and honey-encapsulated Cs against the HEK-293 normal cell line was insignificant. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggested that meropenem and honey-Cs-NPs might be potential antibacterial and antibiofilm materials.

Detection of Human Papillomavirus Genotypes and Major BRCA Mutations in Familial Breast Cancer.

Breast cancer is a multistep disease and infection with a DNA virus could play a role in one or more of the steps in this pathogenic process. High-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are the causative agents of several cancers. In this study, we investigated HPV genotypes associated with breast cancer and its relationship with BRCA mutation for the detection of familial breast cancer. We analyzed 84 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue blocks from 38 familial breast cancer and 46 nonfamilial breast cancer samples by multiplex polymerase chain reaction and clinical parameters. Overall prevalence of HPV infection was 27 of 84: 10 (37.03%) HPV-16, 9 (29.62%) HPV-18, 4 (14.81%) HPV-11, 1 (3.7%) HPV-31, 1 (3.7%) HPV-33, and 2 (7.4%) HPV35. Furthermore, 17 mtDNA4977 deletions and 5 5382insC mutations were detected from 38 familial breast cancer samples. Our results demonstrate that infection with HPV was prevalent among Iranian women with familial breast cancer and the testing of mtDNA4977 deletions and 5382insC mutations in combination with clinical parameters as major risk factors can serve in the identification of familial breast cancer.