Publications by authors named "Karkouch Ines"

Article Synopsis
  • Researchers developed zirconium-doped PbO anodes on titanium substrates using a spin coating method to effectively remove the antibiotic ampicillin from water.
  • Characterization techniques like SEM, AFM, XRD, and EIS revealed that adding 10% zirconium significantly improved the anode's morphology, surface roughness, and electrochemical performance compared to other configurations.
  • The 10% Zr-doped anode exhibited the highest efficiency in degrading ampicillin into ampicilloic acid, indicating it as the optimal composition for wastewater treatment involving antibiotics.
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Cyclic lipopeptides produced by Bacillus species exhibit interesting therapeutic potential. However, their clinical use remains limited due to their low stability, undesirable interactions with host macromolecules, and their potential toxicity to mammalian cells. The present work aims to develop suitable lipopeptide-loaded chitosan nanoparticles with improved biological properties and reduced toxicity.

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Exopolysaccharide (EPS) from marine microalgae are promising sources of a new generation of drugs. However, lot of them remain to be discovered and tested. In this study, EPS produced by and its oligomers prepared by High Pressure Homogenizer have been tested for different biological activities, i.

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  • A study evaluated 450 bacterial strains for their ability to combat bacterial soft rot in potatoes caused by Pectobacterium carotovorum, identifying strain Ar10 as a strong antagonist.
  • Strain Ar10, identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, produced a cell-free supernatant with significant antibacterial activity against various bacteria, showing a killing rate of up to 96% against P. carotovorum.
  • Treatment of potato tubers with strain Ar10 or its supernatant significantly reduced disease symptoms, indicating that the glycolipid compound produced by Ar10 could be a promising alternative for managing potato soft rot.
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The production of B-phycoerythrin (B-PE) from the red microalga Porphyridium marinum was optimized before to purify it and subsequently study its antioxidant activities. NaNO KHPO and metal traces concentrations of the culture medium, and luminosity parameters were chosen, according to the Plackett-Burman design, as the most influent factors on the B-PE production by P. marinum.

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A protease-producing strain CT2 isolated from Tunisian potatoes, exhibiting a potent protease activity (prot CT2), was identified as Bacillus halotolerans according to 16S ribosomal DNA sequence analysis. Maximum prot CT2 production was obtained in medium supplemented with bean seed proteins. Proteolytic activity was purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation, Sephacryl S-200 gel filtration and SP-sepharose cation-exchange chromatography.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Cinnamomum verum and Pelargonium graveolens showed the best results, with significant inhibition of Candida's secreted aspartic protease (SAP) activity and a strong reduction in ergosterol levels, essential for fungal cell membranes.
  • * The findings suggest that combining these essential oils with fluconazole could enhance treatment effectiveness for Candida infections, potentially leading to better therapeutic options for patients.
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A lipopeptide-producing endophytic Bacillus methyltrophicus TEB1 strain exhibited potent antifungal activity against Phoma tracheiphila. Lipopeptide production started at the early growth phase plateaued after 36 h of culture where it reduced the mycelium growth by 80%. The crude lipopeptide extract harvested at the stationary phase efficiently inhibited the growth of P.

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  • Researchers isolated 80 endophytic bacteria from healthy tomato plant tissues and identified four strains (BL1, BT5, BR8, BF11) that inhibit the growth of Botrytis cinerea, a fungus causing gray mold, with inhibition rates between 27% and 53%.
  • The selected bacterial strains were linked to Bacillus species, which are known for producing lipopeptides that effectively inhibit pathogen growth, supported by morphological, biochemical, and molecular analyses including 16S rDNA sequencing.
  • Further analysis revealed that these bacteria produce various antibiotics (like fengycin, surfactin, and iturin) and showed potential to reduce disease severity in plant tests, suggesting their application in biological control of plant diseases
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Background: Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) are complex and polygenic diseases which are a real problem of public health. These syndromes require multidisciplinary studies to understand the pathogenesis mechanisms and metabolic interactions between different risk factors.This study aimed to explore the variation of two coronary risk parameters not mentioned by Framingham cohorts, hyperhomocysteinemia and endothelin-1 (ET-1) in Tunisian coronary and the study of the variation of these parameters based on various cardiac risk factors and metabolic relationship between them.

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Background: Obesity is a tremendous public health problem, characterized by ectopic deposition of fat into non-adipose tissues as liver generating an oxidative stress that could lead to steato-hepatitis. Grape seed and skin extract (GSSE) is a complex mixture of polyphenolics exhibiting robust antioxidative properties.

Aim: We hypothesize that GSSE could protect the liver from fat-induced lipotoxicity and have a beneficial effect on liver function.

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In this study, we investigated the cardioprotective effects of resveratrol. Rats were intraperitoneally administered with resveratrol (25 mg/kg bw) or vehicle (ethanol 10%) for 7 days and their heart subjected to ischemia/reperfusion injury. Isolated hearts were langendorff perfused, left ventricular functions as heart rate and developed pressure, as well as, heart antioxidant status were determined.

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Obesity is a public health problem that contributes to morbidity and mortality from diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancers. The purpose of this investigation was to analyse the link between obesity-induced oxidative stress, renal steatosis, and kidney dysfunction, as well as the protective effect of grape seed and skin extract. Rats were fed a standard diet or a high-fat diet for 6 weeks and were either treated or not treated with grape seed and skin extract.

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Obesity is related to an elevated risk of dementia and the physiologic mechanisms whereby fat adversely affects the brain are poorly understood. The present investigation analyzed the effect of a high fat diet (HFD) on brain steatosis and oxidative stress and the intracellular mediators involved in signal transduction, as well as the protection offered by grape seed and skin extract (GSSE). HFD induced ectopic deposition of cholesterol and phospholipid but not triglyceride.

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Bacillus subtilis B38, isolated from soil, showed antimicrobial activity against human pathogenic Candida albicans species. Specific PCR primers revealed the presence of the bamC gene, which is involved in the biosynthesis of bacillomycin D. Three anti-Candida compounds designated a(1) , a(2) and a(3) were purified from culture supernatant and identified using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight MS as analogues of bacillomycin D-like lipopeptides of 14, 15 and 16 carbon fatty acid long chains, respectively.

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When cultured in minimal growth medium, the B38 strain of Bacillus subtilis did not exhibit any antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clinical isolate. Coculturing B38 strain with viable MRSA cells weakly increased antibacterial activity production (20 AU/ml). Addition of dead MRSA cells in a B38 culture, increased by 8-fold the B.

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An antibacterial compound, S07-2, was purified to homogeneity by hydrophobic interaction, anion exchange, C18 reverse-phase and HS PEG HPLC. The molecular mass of S07-2 was 905.6 Da as determined by MS.

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