Validation of the AlamarBlue® Assay as a Fast Screening Method to Determine the Antimicrobial Activity of Botanical Extracts.

Plant compounds are a potential source of new antimicrobial molecules against a variety of infections. Plant extracts suppose complex phytochemical libraries that may be used for the first stages of the screening process for antimicrobials. However, their large variability and complexity require fast and inexpensive methods that allow a rapid and adequate screening for antimicrobial activity against a variety of bacteria and fungi.

The promiscuous and synergic molecular interaction of polyphenols in bactericidal activity: an opportunity to improve the performance of antibiotics?

Plant polyphenols are a potential source of new antimicrobial molecules against bacteria because most newly developed antimicrobial agents do not improve the clinical management of infectious diseases. The potential synergism between the major polyphenolic compounds present in a Cistus salviifolius extract, which was characterized by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS, was investigated by the isobole method and the fractional inhibitory concentration index determination. Pairwise combinations of selected flavonoids and ellagitannins present in C.

Xenohormetic and anti-aging activity of secoiridoid polyphenols present in extra virgin olive oil: a new family of gerosuppressant agents.

Aging can be viewed as a quasi-programmed phenomenon driven by the overactivation of the nutrient-sensing mTOR gerogene. mTOR-driven aging can be triggered or accelerated by a decline or loss of responsiveness to activation of the energy-sensing protein AMPK, a critical gerosuppressor of mTOR. The occurrence of age-related diseases, therefore, reflects the synergistic interaction between our evolutionary path to sedentarism, which chronically increases a number of mTOR activating gero-promoters (e.

Correlation between the antibacterial activity and the composition of extracts derived from various Spanish Cistus species.

Cistaceae is a large family of shrubs commonly distributed in the Mediterranean ecosystem. The aim of this study was to explore the potential antimicrobial properties against Escherichia coli and/or Staphylococcus aureus of different extracts obtained from four Cistaceae species that are especially abundant in Spanish semi-arid regions. MIC50 values of the extracts of C.