Antifungal Activity of Bulgarian Rose Damascena Oil against Vaginitis-Causing Opportunistic Fungi.

Since Bulgarian rose damascena oil is known for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties, we investigated its antifungal activity against the species of Candida, which are among the most common opportunistic fungal pathogens. Our disk-diffusion assay revealed that Bulgarian rose damascena oil effectively inhibited the growth of Candida albicans along with various bacteria. The minimum inhibitory and fungicidal concentrations against Candida albicans and Candida glabrata were all 0.25%. Under our experimental conditions, Bulgarian rose damascena oil showed better inhibitory effects on Candida glabrata and Candida albicans than several popular essential oils reported to have antifungal activity other than Origanum vulgare oil. Interestingly, Bulgarian rose damascena oil showed better antifungal activity against Candida species at acidic pH and induced cell death of Candida species in the culture medium, with cell death seen in 25-35% of the cells exposed to 0.05% Bulgarian rose damascena oil. Furthermore, Bulgarian rose damascena oil inhibited the hyphal growth of Candida albicans cultured in the RPMI medium with fetal bovine serum. These findings collectively suggest that Bulgarian rose damascena oil has antifungal activity against Candida species and thus could potentially be developed in novel therapies for vaginitis-causing pathogenic fungi.

Sophora genomes provide insight into the evolution of alkaloid metabolites along with small-scale gene duplication.

The genus Sophora (Fabaceae) includes medicinal plants that have been used in East Asian countries since antiquity. Sophora flavescens is a perennial herb indigenous to China, India, Japan, Korea, and Russia. Its dried roots have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, apoptosis-modulating, and antitumor efficacy. The congeneric S. koreensis is endemic to Korea and its genome is less than half the size of that of S. flavescens. Nevertheless, this discrepancy can be used to assemble and validate the S. flavescens genome. A comparative genomic study of the two genomes can disclose the recent evolutionary divergence of the polymorphic phenotypic profiles of these species. Here, we used the PacBio sequencing platform to sequence and assemble the S. koreensis and S. flavescens genomes. We inferred that it was mainly small-scale duplication that occurred in S. flavescens. A KEGG analysis revealed pathways that might regulate the pharmacologically important secondary metabolites in S. flavescens and S. koreensis. The genome assemblies of Sophora spp. could be used in comparative genomics and data mining for various plant natural products.

Effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions for treating post-stroke depressive symptoms: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions on depressive symptoms in people after stroke. DATA SOURCES: A literature search was performed through databases from January 2000 to August 2018: MEDLINE; CINAHL Plus; Scopus; Academic Search Complete; Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; Scopus; and Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts. Search terms included depression, stroke, non-pharmacologic, and intervention. STUDY SELECTION: We included randomized controlled trials comparing non-pharmacological interventions to controls for depressive symptoms in people after stroke. Of 1703 identified articles, 22 trials were included in narrative synthesis, of which 13 were eligible for meta-analysis. DATA EXTRACTION: Two reviewers extracted characteristics of participants, interventions, and results from all included trials. DATA SYNTHESIS: Thirteen interventions were categorized into four types: complementary and alternative therapy (five trials, n=228), exercise (four trials, n=263), psychosocial therapy (two trials, n=216), and multifactorial therapy (two trials, n=358). Overall beneficial effects of non-pharmacological interventions on depressive symptoms were found both post-intervention (effect size [ES] = -0.24, 95% confidence Interval [CI]: -0.37 to -0.11, p < 0.05) and at follow-up (ES = -0.22, CI: -0.36 to -0.07, p< 0.05). We found individual beneficial effects for complementary and alternative therapy (ES = -0.29, CI: -0.55 to -0.02, p < 0.05) and psychosocial therapy (ES = - 0.33, CI: -0.60 to -0.06, p < 0.05) post-intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Complementary and alternative therapy and psychosocial therapy appear to be promising strategies for improving post-stroke depression. Future studies target  a personalized approach for people with specific conditions such as cognitive impairment.

Metabolomic profiling from leaves and roots of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plants grown under nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium-deficient condition.

Specific metabolic network responses to mineral deficiencies are not well-defined. Here, we conducted a detailed broad-scale identification of metabolic responses of tomato leaves and roots to N, P or K deficiency. Tomato plants were grown hydroponically under optimal (5mM N, 0.5mM P, or 5mM K) and deficient (0.5mM N, 0.05mM P, or 0.5mM K) conditions and metabolites were measured by LC-MS and GC-MS. Based on these results, deficiency of any of these three minerals affected energy production and amino acid metabolism. N deficiency generally led to decreased amino acids and organic acids, and increased soluble sugars. P deficiency resulted in increased amino acids and organic acids in roots, and decreased soluble sugars. K deficiency caused accumulation of soluble sugars and amino acids in roots, and decreased organic acids and amino acids in leaves. Notable metabolic pathway alterations included; (1) increased levels of α-ketoglutarate and raffinose family oligosaccharides in N, P or K-deficient tomato roots, and (2) increased putrescine in K-deficient roots. These findings provide new knowledge of metabolic changes in response to mineral deficiencies.