Efficacy of designer K11 antimicrobial peptide (a hybrid of melittin, cecropin A1 and magainin 2) against Acinetobacter baumannii-infected wounds.

Due to emergence of multidrug resistance in pathogens, the attention of the scientific community is now directed towards strengthening the reservoir of antimicrobial compounds. Prior to in vivo studies, the interaction and penetration of a hybrid peptide K11 in bacterial cells using confocal microscopy was assessed which was observed as early as 10 min after incubation with the peptide. Cell lysis along with leakage of cytoplasmic content was confirmed by electron microscopy. To evaluate the in vivo performance of the peptide, it was contained in carbopol hydrogel. Efficacy of the hydrogel formulation was then evaluated against Acinetobacter baumannii-infected wounds using a murine excision model. Treatment resulted in restoration of body weight, complete clearance of infection from the wound by day 7 and 99% wound enclosure by day 21, in contrast to the persistence of infection and 70% wound enclosure in the infected group. Further, this treatment resulted in a 2.6-fold decrease in the levels of malondialdehyde along with a 4.5-fold increase in the levels of catalase on day 3. Appearance of normal histo-architecture was observed in the treatment group. Based on these results, the peptide hydrogel can be exploited in future as one of the strategies for developing a topical anti-infective therapeutic agent.

Knowledge and Behaviour Regarding Birth Prevention of Healthcare Providers.

INTRODUCTION: Healthcare providers are an important link with the general public to impart knowledge regarding contraception. They are an important source of providing information regarding different methods of contraception, their proper use and removing the myths from the couple's mind. However, their own attitude and practice of contraception are often lacking. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to assess the attitude and practice of contraception over the last 1 year of nurses in a tertiary care hospital in Jaipur. METHODS: The study was conducted on 410 nurses in a tertiary care hospital. All were given a questionnaire that was duly filled by them, and the data obtained was analysed. RESULTS: All were aware of at least one family planning method. Only 84% knew that contraceptives could space the pregnancy. Very few had correct knowledge about the fertile period or lactational amenorrhoea. Few were aware of emergency contraception and its proper implication (6.83%) The commonest was the barrier method (70%) followed by natural method (41.46%). There was shifting from natural method to barrier method and OC pills for few cycles. CONCLUSION: Health workers have knowledge regarding contraception yet fail to use it regularly. Proper attitude and practice are essential to prevent unintended pregnancies and prevention of STDs. Their use will enhance counselling skills for general population.

Extraction and functionalization of bagasse cellulose nanofibres to Schiff-base based antimicrobial membranes.

The work reported in this paper involves synthesis of a nanocellulose/chitosan composite and its further modification to antimicrobial films. Bagasse, an easily available biowaste, was used as source to extract nanocellulose fibres (CNFs) by subjecting it to mechanical and chemical treatments including alkaline steam explosion and high shear homogenization. The CNFs were subjected to periodate oxidation to obtain nanocellulose dialdehyde (CDA). The aldehyde groups of CDA were reacted with amino groups of chitosan to form Schiff-base. The resulting CDA/chitosan composite fibres were characterized at various steps. The fibres were then cast into films using cellulose acetate as a binder. The films have good physical strength. The composite films show excellent antimicrobial properties when tested against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Such antimicrobial films have potential applications in the formation of antimicrobial packaging material.

In vitro and in silico comparative evaluation of anti-Acinetobacter baumannii peptides.

To control the infection caused by a multi-drug resistant bacterial pathogen, Acinetobacter baumannii, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are being considered as a viable option because of their broad range of antimicrobial activity and non-specific mode of action. However, high cost of synthesis of AMPs has led to the development of several computational tools to predict the biological and physicochemical properties of AMPs. In the present study, a comparative analysis has been done between in vitro activity of seven anti-Acinetobacter α-helical peptides with in silico prediction tools for studying antimicrobial related properties of AMPs. Database of Antimicrobial Activity and Structure of Peptides (DBAASP) and two algorithms, Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Random Forest (RF) of another server, Collection of Antimicrobial Peptides (CAMP) were compared with in vitro results of AMP/non-AMP nature of anti-Acinetobacter peptides. The results of the influence of biophysical properties of peptides on their antimicrobial activity suggested that amphipathicity is more important than spatial arrangement and charge of α-helical peptides. No correlation was observed between the MIC50 values and the hydropathy of AMPs. Based on the present study, it is suggested that with further refinements in the available servers/algorithms for correctly predicting the antimicrobial nature of the peptides, in silico tools can be used to assist the development of new antimicrobial agents.