Ephedra foeminea as a Novel Source of Antimicrobial and Anti-Biofilm Compounds to Fight Multidrug Resistance Phenotype.

Plants are considered a wealthy resource of novel natural drugs effective in the treatment of multidrug-resistant infections. Here, a bioguided purification of Ephedra foeminea extracts was performed to identify bioactive compounds. The determination of antimicrobial properties was achieved by broth microdilution assays to evaluate minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values and by crystal violet staining and confocal laser scanning microscopy analyses (CLSM) to investigate the antibiofilm capacity of the isolated compounds. Assays were performed on a panel of three gram-positive and three gram-negative bacterial strains. Six compounds were isolated from E. foeminea extracts for the first time. They were identified by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (MS) analyses as the well-known monoterpenoid phenols carvacrol and thymol and as four acylated kaempferol glycosides. Among them, the compound kaempferol-3-O-α-L-(2″,4″-di-E-p-coumaroyl)-rhamnopyranoside was found to be endowed with strong antibacterial properties and significant antibiofilm activity against S. aureus bacterial strains. Moreover, molecular docking studies on this compound suggested that the antibacterial activity of the tested ligand against S. aureus strains might be correlated to the inhibition of Sortase A and/or of tyrosyl tRNA synthase. Collectively, the results achieved open interesting perspectives to kaempferol-3-O-α-L-(2″,4″-di-E-p-coumaroyl)-rhamnopyranoside applicability in different fields, such as biomedical applications and biotechnological purposes such as food preservation and active packaging.

In Vitro Activity of Some Medicinal Plants on Blood Coagulation.

Objectives: The concern for finding natural and curative agents without adverse side effects has prompted the interest in discovering hemostatic agents from plants. Therefore, in vitro activity of Aizoon hispanicum L. (Aizoaceae), Centaurea hyalolepis Boiss. (Asteraceae), Heliotropium maris-mortui Zohary. (Boraginaceae), Parietaria judaica L. (Urticaceae), Polygonum arenarium Waldst. & Kit. (Polygonaceae), and Verbascum sinuatum L. (Scrophulariaceae) on blood coagulation was estimated by two common tests, which are the prothrombin time test (PT) and the activated partial thromboplastin time test (aPTT). Materials and Methods: The extracted powders from the plants under this study were adjusted to be 50 mg/mL. Then, in vitro effect of these extracts on the platelet poor plasma samples was measured by an automated coagulation analyzer using PT and aPTT tests. Results: Based on the obtained results, all plant extracts affected the coagulation cascade by rising either PT or aPTT or both, except for V. sinuatum extract, which reduced only aPTT value. Moreover, the recorded PT values showed that A. hispanicum, H. maris-mortui, and P. arenarium significantly prolonged the PT (p<0.05). Additionally, the results clearly showed that V. sinuatum acted as a coagulant agent based on aPTT values, while all other plants, in contrast, acted as strong anticoagulants. Among the plant species under study, A. hispanicum, H. maris-mortui, and P. arenarium extracts prolonged both PT and aPTT significantly (p<0.05). This could be referred to their additional effect on the common pathway. However, C. hyalolepis, P. judaica, and V. sinuatum showed no significant effect on PT values (p>0.05). Conclusion: The positive recorded data from this research could serve as identification of new hemostatic remedies that could be used for the commercial economic purposes and for managing several cardiovascular diseases.