Establishing the cholinesterase levels in jordan: an investigation and monitoring model for pesticides outbreak

Background Aims: To establish and validate the method used to analyze cholinesterase in blood and to establish a baseline level among Jordanians living in a heavy agricultural activity area and as well as among those living in an urban non-agricultural area

Materials and Methods: Modified Ellman procedure was used to analyze 851 and 1033 blood samples from heavy agricultural activity and urban area for cholinesterase activity in erythrocytes and Plasma

Results: sample collected from heavy agricultural activity showed low cholinesterase level average 1037U/L +/- 279 and 23 U/gHb +/- 7.9 compared with urban area average 1616 U/L +/- 662 and 31 U/gHb +/- 13 for plasma and erythrocyte respectively. The levels in workers living in heavy agriculture activity showed 52% inhibition in plasma and 41.1% in erythrocyte when compared to the established normal levels that were observed in urban area

Conclusions: Clinicians using cholinesterase for clinical diagnosis and management should be aware that baseline levels are different according to the residence of their patients

Synergism and efficacy of some naturally occurring D-amino acids against clinically relevant bacterial and fungal species

Amino acids are predominantly synthesized and used in their L-enantiomeric form in all three kingdoms of life. However, bacteria produce diverse D-amino acids that are involved in the synthesis and cross-linking of peptidoglycan. Several studies reported possible antimicrobial activities of selected D-amino acids against Escherichia coli. The present study was undertaken to investigate the antibacterial and antifungal susceptibility patterns and growth inhibitory effects of certain D-amino acids, including D-alanine, D-lysine, D-serine, and D-proline. Our findings indicate that D-lysine is the most potent antibacterial and antifungal, among the examined D-amino acids, followed by D-alanine, whereas D-serine and D-proline had insignificant antimicrobial activities. Gram positive bacteria were more susceptible to the antibacterial effects of D-amino acids than Gram negative bacteria. Growth kinetic studies revealed that D-lysine and D-alanine resulted in extended lag phases, suggesting that the D-amino acids successfully influenced the microorganisms' ability to use nutrients efficiently and disrupted their normal biological functions. Additionally, synergism was evident between D-alanine and D-lysine when combined with either Ampicillin or Amphotericin B. These results suggest a new avenue for D-amino acids' potential as naturally occurring antimicrobial reagents for the treatment and prevention of microbial growth in food and agriculture applications

Analysis and evaluation of hydroxytyrosol in olive leaf extract

There is a group of phenolic compounds and their glycosidic forms responsible of antioxidant effect in the olive leaf extract. Hydroxytyrosol is one of these compounds considered as building unit for the other phenolic molecules in the extract. A normal phase chromatographic methodwas established for analysis of hydroxytyrosol. It generates clean chromatograms suitable for analytical and preparative purposes and better resolved than those obtained from reversed phase systems. Mobile phase of [1:1] acetonitrile and 1% acetic acid aqueous solution was used. Flow rate was kept constant at 0.5 mL/min. Injection volume was 20 uL and UV detector was set at A=280 nm. The developed HPLC method was found linear within the range of 0.82-4.12 mg%, precise with RSD less than 2% and accurate with a range of 97.6-101.2%. LOQ and LOD of the method were calculated to be 8 and 0.8 jig/ml respectively.Furthermore, antioxidant degree of hydroxytyrosol and its derivatives in the extract was evaluated by Follin-ciocalteu'sreagent and found equivalent to 40 mg gallic acid

On-column approach in the HPLC-UV analysis of non-chromophoric compounds using azelaic acid as a model

The manuscript introduces a detection solution of compounds lacking chromophoric properties [e.g. azelaic acid] by implementing a HPLC-UV analysis with on-column derivatisation of the analyte. Azelaic acid was used to test the feasibility of the method at Lamda [max] = 265 nm. Its chromatographic analysis shows linear [R = 0.999], precise [RSD < 2.0%] and accurate [97.0 - 103.5%] behavior. Furthermore, the method was found selective for azelaic acid in a prepared cream which contains other ingredients such as triethanolamine, vaseline and stearic acid. The limit of detection [LOD] and limit of quantification [LOQ] of azelaic acid were 9 and 30 micro g/ml, respectively