A comparative study of antimicrobial, anti-quorum sensing, anti-biofilm, anti-swarming, and antioxidant activities in flower extracts of pecan (Carya illinoinensis) and chestnut (Castanea sativa).

Antibiotic resistance, which has increased rapidly in recent years because of uncontrolled and unconscious antibiotic consumption, poses a major threat to public health. The inadequacy of existing antibiotics has increased the need for new, effective, and less toxic antibiotic raw materials or antibiotic derivatives. Pecan (Carya illinoinensis) and Chestnut (Castanea sativa) flowers possess abundant pollen contents and exhibit similar morphological features. The purpose of this study was to compare these two flower extracts in terms of their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Total phenolic content, total flavonoid contents, and phenolic components were also analyzed in aquatic and ethanolic extracts. Antioxidant activities were measured using ferric reducing/antioxidant capacity (FRAP) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) methods. Antimicrobial and antifungal activities were compared by means of agar diffusion tests against bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Mycobacterium smegmatis, Acinetobacter haemolyticus, and Chromobacterium violaceum, and the yeasts Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis. Anti-quorum sensing (anti-QS), anti-biofilm, and anti-swarming (SW) activities were also studied against Chromobacterium violaceum ATCC 31532, Chromobacterium violaceum ATCC 12472, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01, respectively. Both extracts were rich in ellagic acid and gallic acid and exhibited similar antioxidant properties. Both flower extracts exhibited high antimicrobial and antifungal activities as well as anti-biofilm, anti-QS, and anti-SW activities.

The epidemiology of foot wounds in patients with diabetes: a description of 600 consecutive patients in Turkey.

Epidemiological studies describing demographic, clinical, and surgical characteristics of diabetic foot wounds are lacking in Turkey. To further describe the epidemiology of diabetic foot wounds in Turkey, we developed an evaluation form and performed a retrospective cohort study that entailed 600 diabetic patients who were admitted to the hospital for treatment of their foot wound(s). The mean age of the cohort was 62.3 ± 10.3 (range 23-92) years, and their mean duration of diabetes was 17.4 ± 7.4 years. Males accounted for 68.17% of the cohort, and 96.83% of the cohort had type 2 diabetes. Prevalences for lower extremity arterial pulses and peripheral neuropathy, as well as the location, depth, microbiology, and surgical treatment of the pedal wounds are also presented. In conclusion, diabetic foot wounds are common in Turkey, and the morbidity associated with these lesions is generally substantial. Although our investigation aimed primarily at describing risk factors associated with diabetic foot wounds, we believe that the findings of this investigation can be used in the development of prospective cohort studies and randomized controlled trials that focus on foot wounds in diabetic patients in Turkey, and may be useful to investigators in other parts of the world.