Chemical composition and biological activities of the essential oil from Cleome rutidosperma DC.

Cleome rutidosperma DC, commonly known in Jamaica as 'consumption-weed' is a plant traditionally used in folklore for treating tuberculosis and other infectious and chronic ailments. We evaluate for the first time the chemical composition and biological activities of the essential oil components of the complete aerial parts of this plant. The essential oil obtained by steam distillation (0.02%) was analyzed by a combination of gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID), gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) and retention index (RI). The volatile oil of C. rutidosperma was dominated by oxygenated diterpenes (67.6%); with (Z)-phytol (65.1%) being the single most abundant constituent. C. rutidosperma aerial essential oil exhibited moderate inhibition against the activity of recombinant arylamine N-acetyltransferase (NAT) from Mycobacterium marinum (IC50 22.20 ±â€¯1.80 µg/µL), while, racemic phytol had an inhibition with an IC50 of 22.33 µg/µL ±â€¯0.50 µg/µL, thus accounting for the NAT inhibition imparted by the crude oil. Inhibition of NAT, a key enzyme in mycobacterial growth may be the pathway in which phytol, shown in this study to interact with the active site using in-silico methods, renders its previously demonstrated anti-tubercular properties. The phytol rich essential oil also demonstrated antimicrobial activity against all nine human pathogenic bacteria and the fungus strain assayed, with the most significant inhibitory activity against Bacillus cereus and justifies the need for further evaluation and development of the essential oils from this plant.

A case of Candida orthopsilosis associated septic arthritis in a patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE).

We report a case of persistent Candida orthopsilosis associated septic arthritis. Repeated isolation of C. orthopsilosis from tissue and joint fluid was confirmed by identification of the ITS region of the rRNA gene using a Candida-Specific Luminex based assay and gene sequencing of the D1/D2 regions. This was the first case of C. orthopsilosis associated septic arthritis reported in Jamaica and in the literature.

Trichosporon asahii among intensive care unit patients at a medical center in Jamaica.

We investigated an increase in Trichosporon asahii isolates among inpatients. We identified 63 cases; 4 involved disseminated disease. Trichosporon species was recovered from equipment cleaning rooms, washbasins, and fomites, which suggests transmission through washbasins. Patient washbasins should be single-patient use only; adherence to appropriate hospital disinfection guidelines was recommended.

Disseminated trichosporonosis in a burn patient: meningitis and cerebral abscess due to Trichosporon asahii.

A 44-year-old diabetic female presented to a hospital in Jamaica with thermal burns. Trichosporon asahii was isolated from facial wounds, sputum, and a meningeal swab. Dissemination of the fungus was demonstrated in stained histological sections of the meninges and a brain abscess at autopsy. Pure growth of the fungus from patient samples submitted and an environmental isolate obtained from a wash basin in the hospital supported the diagnosis.

Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oils from Cleome spinosa.

Five different essential oil extractions of the aerial parts of Cleome spinosa Jacq. were examined. The oils obtained by hydrodistillation of the whole aerial parts, aerial parts without flowers (fruit, leaves and stem), flowers, fruits and leaves have been examined by GC-FID and GC-MS. The chemical profiles of the oils reveal the dominance of oxygenated sesqui- and diterpenes, with the exception of the fruit oil, which contained a high content of fatty acids. The most abundant compounds from the whole aerial parts were (Z)-phytol (31.3%), integerrimine (5.5%) and incensole (4.0%). The major compounds from the aerial portion without flowers were caryophyllene oxide (10.5%), (-)-spathulenol (7.5%) and Z-phytol (6.9%). In the flower oil, the main components were 7-alpha-hydroxy manool (23.8%), incensole (9.2%) and sclareol (8.7%). The chief constituents in the fruit oil were tetradecanoic acid (40.6%), (Z)-phytol (6.58%) and sclareol (4.5%). In the leaf oil, (Z)-phytol (19.5%), 7-alpha-hydroxy manool (6.8%) and caryophyllene oxide (4.36%) were the predominant compounds. Antimicrobial activity of the oil obtained from the whole aerial part was evaluated against nine microbial strains using a filter paper disc-diffusion method. The volatile oil showed moderate action against seven of the eight bacteria strains used, with significant inhibitory activity against Streptococcus pyogenes Group A when compared with the standard antibiotics, ampicillin and gentamicin. The fungus, Candida albicans was less sensitive to the essential oil. The oils showed moderate insecticidal activity against Cylas formicarius elegantalus, but possessed no antioxidant activity as indicated by the DPPH method. This represents the first report on the chemical composition of the essential oils from C. spinosa found in Jamaica and the in vitro antioxidant, insecticidal and antimicrobial potential of the oil from the aerial parts.

Systemic phaeohyphomycosis in pregnancy and the puerperium

Systemic fungal infections are rare. In pregnancy, treatment is problematic because of the risk of possible teratogenic effects of the antifungal drugs. We present the case of a 32 year-old woman who presented during pregnancy with a two-month history of painless subcutaneous nodules. Excision biopsy of one lesion showed dematiaceous fungal elements. Anti-fungal treatment was deferred and the pregnancy proceeded uneventfully. The remaining nodules were excised at the time of caesarean section delivery. Three weeks into the puerperium, she developed generalised seizures and investigations indicated systemic fungal infection with positive cultures for Aureobasidium spp which responded to appropriate antifungal therapy of flucytosine and itraconazole.(Au)

Systemic phaeohyphomycosis in pregnancy and the puerperium

Systemic fungal infections are rare. In pregnancy, treatment is problematic because of the risk of possible teratogenic effects of the antifungal drugs. We present the case of a 32 year-old woman who presented during pregnancy with a two-month history of painless subcutaneous nodules. Excision biopsy of one lesion showed dematiaceous fungal elements. Anti-fungal treatment was deferred and the pregnancy proceeded uneventfully. The remaining nodules were excised at the time of caesarean section delivery. Three weeks into the puerperium, she developed generalised seizures and investigations indicated systemic fungal infection with positive cultures for Aureobasidium spp which responded to appropriate antifungal therapy of flucytosine and itraconazole.

Bacteriuria in pregnancy: a comparative study of women seen in two antenatal clinics in Kingston, Jamaica using a group of non-pregnant women as controls

Significant bacteriuria in pregnancy, particularly when asymptomatic remains a major problem due to the many complications that have been associated with this condition. In this study, 457 samples of midstream urine from pregnant women attending the UWI-ANC and the CHC-ANC and 164 from non-pregnant women attending the Freezone clinic were collected between March 18 and April 11, 1994. Laboratory investigations to determine significant bacteriuria, the distribution of isolates and their antimicrobial susceptibility were performed. Population characteristics such as age, parity, socio-economic status and gestational age as well as the presence of symptoms consistent with urinary tract infection and choice of treatment were ascertained via the use of a questionnaire. The level of contamination among the samples was compared with that found in the Microbiology Laboratory UWI within the same period. While the prevalence of significant bacteriuria in pregnancy was 19.6 percent, that of asymptomatic bacteriuria was 13.3 percent compared with 7.3 percent among non-pregnant women. This difference was of statistical significance (p < 0.01). Statistical significant association existed between bacteriuria and the presence of symptoms, pyuria, gestational age. None was found with age, parity and socio-economic status. The three most common isolates were Streptococcus group B, Streptococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus. Resistance to Ampicillin was high (37.8 percent) while resistance to Bactrim was low (3.3 percent). The level of contamination of samples from pregnant women was 4.2 percent compared to 11.5 percent found in the laboratory. This study highlighhts the problem of asymptomatic bacteriuria and suggests the need for further studies using larger samples to confirm these interesting findings (AU)

Antibiotic resistance of N. gonorrhoeae in Jamaica - abstract

A total of 885 women and 515 men, who were symptomatic, were screened by culture for gonorrhoea. Men were screened initially with Gram stain. Of these, 313 women and 440 men were proven to have uncomplicated gonorrhoea and were randomly assigned to treatment with procaine penicillin (4.8 mega units) or ampicillin (3.5g) each with probenecid (1g). Of this number, 61 women and 120 men were subsequently excluded from the study, leaving 252 women and 320 men for analysis. In this report, only the first 148 men are analysed. Test of cure (TOC) was performed 3-7 days post-treatment. One hundred and eighty women and 129 men completed treatment and follow-up within this period. The TOC was done after 7 days in 72 women and 19 men; these late returnees were analysed separately. Eliminating the late TOC cases, the total failure rates for penicillin and ampicillin were 4.8 percent and 4.3 percent respectively; for men 5.2 percent and 7.0 percent, for women 4.5 percent and 2.2 percent. Of the 14 failures to both regimes followed up within 7 days, 5 had PPNG infections, 2 were reinfections and 1 had pelvic complications. Urethral swabs from males and endocervical swabs from females were inoculated on to Thayer-Martin medium and gonococcal isolattes were identified by standard methods. Isolates were tested for penicillinase production using chromogenic cephahalosporin. Using the agar dilution technique and supplemented Protease No. 3 agar, the MICs to penicillin, ampicillin, spectinomycin, tetracycline, erythromycin, sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (19:1), cefuroxime and thiamphenicol were determined on isolates from these patients. Preliminary data on the determination of auxotype indicated that the prototrophic and proline-requiring groups comprised over 60 percent of the isolates tested to date. However, several other auxotype groups, especially Orn- and Pro-Cit-Ura-, were prevalent as well. Plasmid analysis of the strains indicated that all the Pro-Cit-Ura- isolates were plasmid-free, a result noted by others, and that 26 percent of the isolates carried transfer plasmids. To date, 16 PPNG cases have been detected among the 440 male cases, and 1 among 277 female cases. The PPNG isolates harboured either the African (3.2 Md) or the Asian (4.8 Md) penicillinase-producing plasmids. This is the first time that PPNG strains have been identified in Jamaica (AU)