In vitro and in vivo burn healing study of standardized propolis: Unveiling its antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions in relation to its phytochemical profiling.

BACKGROUND: Natural propolis has been used since decades owing to its broad-spectrum activities. Burn injuries are a global health problem with negative impacts on communities. Bacterial infections usually accompany burns, which demand implementation of antibiotics. Antibiotics abuse led to emergence of microbial drug resistance resulting in poor treatment outcomes. In such instances, the promising alternative would be natural antimicrobials such as propolis. OBJECTIVE: Full chemical profiling of propolis and evaluation of in vitro antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities as well as in vivo burn healing properties. METHODS: Chemical profiling of propolis was performed using Liquid chromatography (UHPLC/MS-PDA and HPLC-PDA). In vitro assessment was done using Disc Diffusion susceptibility test against Staphylococcus aureus and infected burn wound mice model was used for in vivo assessment. In vitro antioxidant properties of propolis were assessed using DPPH, ABTS and FRAP techniques. The anti-inflammatory effect of propolis was assessed against lipopolysaccharide/interferon-gamma mediated inflammation. RESULTS: UHPLC/MS-PDA results revealed identification of 71 phytochemicals, mainly flavonoids. Upon flavonoids quantification (HPLC-PDA), Pinocembrin, chrysin and galangin recorded high content 21.58±0.84, 22.73±0.68 and 14.26±0.70 mg/g hydroalcoholic propolis extract, respectively. Propolis showed concentration dependent antibacterial activity in vitro and in vivo burn healing via wound diameter reduction and histopathological analysis without signs of skin irritation in rabbits nor sensitization in guinea pigs. Propolis showed promising antioxidant IC50 values 46.52±1.25 and 11.74±0.26 µg/mL whereas FRAP result was 445.29±29.9 µM TE/mg. Anti-inflammatory experiment results showed significant increase of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) mRNA levels. Nitric oxide and iNOS were markedly increased in Griess assay and western blot respectively. However, upon testing propolis against LPS/IFN-γ-mediated inflammation, TLR4, IL-6 and TNF-α expression were downregulated at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. CONCLUSION: Propolis proved to be a promising natural burn healing agent through its antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.

Antioxidant, Antimicrobial Activities and Characterization of Polyphenol-Enriched Extract of Egyptian Celery (Apium graveolens L., Apiaceae) Aerial Parts via UPLC/ESI/TOF-MS.

Medicinal plant extracts are increasingly considered a major source of innovative medications and healthcare products. This study focused on preparing a polyphenol enriched water extract of Egyptian celery "Apium graveolens L., Apiaceae" aerial parts (TAE) in an endeavor to accentuate its antioxidant capacity as well as its antimicrobial activity. (TAE) of celery was partitioned against different organic solvents to yield dichloromethane (DCM), ethyl acetate (EAC), and butanol (BUOH) fractions. (TAE) and the organic fractions thereof besides the remaining mother liquor (ML) were all screened for their antioxidant capacity using various protocols viz. monitoring the reducing amplitudes for ferric ions (FRAP), and radical scavenging potentials of oxygen (ORAC), 2,2'-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and metal chelation assays. The examination procedure revealed both (TAE) extract and (DCM) fraction, to pertain the highest antioxidant potentials, where the IC50 of the (TAE) using ABTS and metal chelation assays were ca. 34.52 ± 3.25 and 246.6 ± 5.78 µg/mL, respectively. The (DCM) fraction recorded effective results using the FRAP, ORAC, and DPPH assays ca. 233.47 ± 15.14 and 1076 ± 25.73 µM Trolox equivalents/mg sample and an IC50 474.4 ± 19.8 µg/mL, respectively. Additionally, both (TAE) and (DCM) fraction exerted antimicrobial activities recording inhibition zones (mm) (13.4 ± 1.5) and (12.0 ± 1.0) against Staphylococcus aureus and (11.0 ± 1.2) and (10.0 ± 1.3) against Escherichia coli, respectively, with no anti-fungal activity. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of (TAE) and (DCM) fraction were 1250 and 2500 µg/mL, respectively. UPLC/ESI/TOF-MS unveiled the chemical profile of both (TAE) and (DCM) fraction to encompass a myriad of active polyphenolic constituents including phenylpropanoids, coumarins, apigenin, luteolin, and chrysoeriol conjugates.

Evaluation of antibacterial activity and toxic metal removal of chemically synthesized magnetic iron oxide titanium coated nanoparticles and application in bacterial treatment.

Co-precipitation method was used for preparation of two types of iron oxide nanoparticles coated by titanium dioxide according to divalent salts used. The average size of iron oxide nanoparticles coated by titanium dioxide measured by particle size analyzer, ranged approximately between 20 nm and 100 nm with mean particle size of 60 nm. Characterization of the prepared nanoparticles was done by X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscope indicating the sole existence of inverse cubic spinel phase of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. Further, the antibacterial activity of two prepared iron oxide nanoparticles was evaluated against four pathogenic bacteria where both preparations showed promising antibacterial activities against Gram positive and Gram negative strains which offers a potential application in pharmaceutical and biomedical industries. The antibacterial activity showed high reduction percent after 30 min by 150 µg mL-1 of nanoparticles prepared. Also, high reduction percent was achieved for removal of iron and manganese ions from polluted water and good effect on decreasing chemical oxygen demand and biochemical oxygen demand concentrations with decreased percent of total nitrogen concentration.

A novel strategy for the rapid preparation and isolation of intact immune complexes from peptide mixtures.

The development and application of a miniaturized affinity system for the preparation and release of intact immune complexes are demonstrated. Antibodies were reversibly affinity-adsorbed on pipette tips containing protein G´ and protein A, respectively. Antigen proteins were digested with proteases and peptide mixtures were exposed to attached antibodies; forming antibody-epitope complexes, that is, immune complexes. Elution with millimolar indole propionic acid (IPA)-containing buffers under neutral pH conditions allowed to effectively isolate the intact immune complexes in purified form. Size exclusion chromatography was performed to determine the integrity of the antibody-epitope complexes. Mass spectrometric analysis identified the epitope peptides in the respective SEC fractions. His-tag-containing recombinant human glucose-6-phosphate isomerase in combination with an anti-His-tag monoclonal antibody was instrumental to develop the method. Application was extended to the isolation of the intact antibody-epitope complex of a recombinant human tripartite motif 21 (rhTRIM21) auto-antigen in combination with a rabbit polyclonal anti-TRIM21 antibody. Peptide chip analysis showed that antibody-epitope binding of rhTRIM21 peptide antibody complexes was not affected by the presence of IPA in the elution buffer. By contrast, protein G´ showed an ion charge structure by electrospray mass spectrometry that resembled a denatured conformation when exposed to IPA-containing buffers. The advantages of this novel isolation strategy are low sample consumption and short experimental duration in addition to the direct and robust methodology that provides easy access to intact antibody-antigen complexes under neutral pH and low salt conditions for subsequent investigations.