Publications by authors named "R Ragno"

Essential oils (EOs) exhibit a broad spectrum of biological activities; however, their clinical application is hindered by challenges, such as variability in chemical composition and chemical/physical instability. A critical limitation is the lack of chemical consistency across EO samples, which impedes standardization. Despite this, evidence suggests that EOs with differing chemical profiles often display similar (micro)biological activities, raising the possibility of standardizing EOs based on their biological effects rather than their chemical composition.

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Antibiotic resistance is one of the most serious global health threats. Therefore, there is a need to develop antimicrobial agents with new mechanisms of action. Targeting of bacterial cystathionine γ-lyase (bCSE), an enzyme essential for bacterial survival, is a promising approach to overcome antibiotic resistance.

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Malaria, an infectious disease with a tremendous impact on human health is caused by Plasmodium parasites, and transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes. New approaches to control the disease involve transmission blocking strategies aiming to target the parasite in the mosquito. Here, we investigated the putative inhibitory activity of essential oils and their components on the early mosquito stages of the parasite.

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The antioxidant activity of essential oils (EOs) is an important and frequently studied property, yet it is not sufficiently understood in terms of the contribution of EOs mixtures' constituents and biological properties. In this study, a series of 61 commercial EOs were first evaluated as antioxidants in vitro, following as closely as possible the cellular pathways of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Hence, EOs were assessed for the ability either to chelate metal ions, thus interfering with ROS generation within the respiratory chain, or to neutralize 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and lipid peroxide radicals (LOO), thereby halting lipid peroxidation, as well as to neutralize 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid cation radicals (ABTS) and hydroxyl radicals (OH), thereby preventing the ROS species from damaging DNA nucleotides.

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