Comparative analysis of antibacterial properties and chemical composition of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. from Astrakhan region (Russia) and Calabria region (Italy).

We compared antibacterial activity of various extracts of two licorice subspecies against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Bacillus subtilis. Diethyl carbonate extracts of Glycyrrhiza glabra root from Astrakhan region (Russia) exhibited maximum activity against the test microbial strains; activity of Astrakhan licorice was superior among 50% ethanol extracts from Astrakhan (Russia) and Calabria (Italy). Antibacterial activity is directly proportional to the content of glycyrrhizin and 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid in the extracts.

[Diagnostic test systems based on the immunoenzyme method in leprosy].

Diagnostic test systems for the detection of IgG and IgM to Mycobacterium leprae in the blood sera of leprosy patients and armadillos experimentally infected with M. leprae have been developed on the basis of the indirect immunoperoxidase assay. The possibility has been shown of prognosing the activity of the leprotic process in leprosy patients and the results of the experimental infection of armadillos by the dynamic increase of antibody reactions with the development of the infection.