Dealing with Hidden Threats: The Antimicrobial Effect of the Embalming Process.

Individuals naturally carry bacteria and other microbes as part of their natural flora, with some being opportunistic pathogens. Approximately 30% of the population is known to carry in their nasal cavity, an organism that causes infections ranging from soft tissue abscesses to toxic shock syndrome. This problem is compounded by the presence of antibiotic-resistant strains such as Methicillin-Resistant (MRSA).

Preparation and Characterisation of a Cyclodextrin-Complexed Mānuka Honey Microemulsion for Eyelid Application.

Honey has been widely purported as a natural remedy due to its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects. In recent years, several studies have suggested that the considerably high methylglyoxal (MGO) concentration in Mānuka honey (MH) makes it particularly effective to manage bacterial overload, such as that observed in blepharitis. However, the poor solubility, high viscosity, and osmolarity of aqueous honey solutions, especially at the high MGO concentrations studied in the literature, render the formulation of an acceptable dosage form for topical application to the eyelids challenging.

The efficacy of commercial decontamination agents differs between standardised test settings and research laboratory usage for a variety of bacterial species.

Decontamination of surfaces and items plays an important role in reducing the spread of infectious microorganisms in many settings including hospitals and research institutes. Regardless of the location, appropriate decontamination procedures are required for maintaining biosafety and biosecurity. For example, effective decontamination of microbial cultures is essential to ensure proper biocontainment and safety within microbiological laboratories.

Antimicrobial Metabolites against Methicillin-Resistant from the Endophytic Fungus .

Antimicrobial bioassay-guided fractionation of the endophytic fungi led to the isolation of a new unsymmetrical naphthoquinone dimer, neofusnaphthoquinone B (), along with four known natural products (-). Structure elucidation was conducted by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic methods, and the antimicrobial activity of all the natural products was investigated, revealing to be moderately active towards methicillin-resistant (MRSA) with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 16 µg/mL.

Preclinical development of MGO Manuka Honey microemulsion for blepharitis management.

Objective: To evaluate the antimicrobial effects of cyclodextrin-complexed and uncomplexed Manuka honey on bacteria commonly associated with blepharitis, and rabbit eye tolerability of a cyclodextrin-complexed methylglyoxal (MGO) Manuka Honey microemulsion (MHME).

Methods And Analysis: phase: Bacterial growth inhibition was assessed by area under the growth curve (AUC) for , and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) for and with cyclodextrin-complexed and uncomplexed Manuka honey were determined. phase: Six rabbits were administered 20 µL of MHME (at 1:10 dilution) to the right eye (treated) and 20 µL of saline to the left eye (control) daily, for 5 days.

Laboratory Mice Are Frequently Colonized with and Mount a Systemic Immune Response-Note of Caution for Infection Experiments.

Whether mice are an appropriate model for infection and vaccination studies is a matter of debate, because they are not considered as natural hosts of . We previously identified a mouse-adapted strain, which caused infections in laboratory mice. This raised the question whether laboratory mice are commonly colonized with and whether this might impact on infection experiments.

A Novel Restraint Device for Injection of Larvae that Minimizes the Risk of Accidental Operator Needle Stick Injury.

Larvae of the insect are increasingly being used for studying pathogenic microbes and their virulence mechanisms, and as a rapid model for screening novel antimicrobial agents. The larvae (waxworms) are most frequently infected by injection of pathogenic organisms into the haemocoel through the insect's prolegs. The mostly widely used method for restraining the waxworms for injection is by grasping them between the operator's fingers, which puts the operator at risk of needle stick injury, an important consideration when working with highly pathogenic and/or drug-resistant microorganisms.

Effect of common and experimental anti-tuberculosis treatments on growing as biofilms.

Much is known regarding the antibiotic susceptibility of planktonic cultures of , the bacterium responsible for the lung disease tuberculosis (TB). As planktonically-grown are unlikely to be entirely representative of the bacterium during infection, we set out to determine how effective a range of anti-mycobacterial treatments were against growing as a biofilm, a bacterial phenotype known to be more resistant to antibiotic treatment. Light levels from bioluminescently-labelled H37Rv (strain BSG001) were used as a surrogate for bacterial viability, and were monitored before and after one week of treatment.

AGEs-RAGE mediated up-regulation of connexin43 in activated human microglial CHME-5 cells.

Microglial activation is a significant contributor to the pathogenesis of many neurodegenerative diseases. Microglia respond to a range of stimuli including pathogenic protein deposits such as advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs). AGEs are prominent inflammatory stimuli that accumulate in the ageing brain.

Measurement of reactive oxygen species in the culture media using Acridan Lumigen PS-3 assay.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated continuously during aerobic metabolism. ROS are highly reactive molecules and in excessive amounts, can lead to protein and DNA oxidation, protein cross-linking, and cell death. Cell-culture models provide a valuable tool in understanding the mechanisms that lead to cell death.