Xanthium strumarium L. antimicrobial activity and carboxyatractyloside analysis through electrospray ionization mass spectrometry / Atividade antimicrobiana e análise de carboxiatractilosideo por espectrometria de massas com ionização por electrospray de Xanthium strumarium L

The aim of this work was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of Xanthium strumarium L. leaf extracts against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Clostridium perfringens, as well as to investigate the presence of the toxic compound carboxyatractyloside in different plant parts. S. aureus and C. perfringens were more sensitive to non-polar than to polar fractions, and there was no difference between extracts for the remaining bacteria. All extracts had strong antimicrobial activity against the evaluated microorganisms. Carboxyatractyloside was found in cotyledons and seeds but not in adult leaves and burrs. Thus, only Xanthium strumarium leaves in adult stage can be used for medicinal purposes.

O objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar a atividade antimicrobiana de extratos de folhas de Xanthium strumarium L. sobre os microrganismos Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella thyphimurium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa e Clostridium perfringens, bem como verificar a presença do composto tóxico carboxiatractilosideo em diferentes partes da planta. As bactérias S. aureus e C. perfringens foram mais sensíveis às frações não polares do que as polares, sendo que para as outras bactérias não foi verificada diferença entre os extratos. Todos os extratos apresentaram uma forte ação antimicrobiana sobre os microrganismos avaliados. O carboxiatractilosideo foi encontrado nos cotilédones e nas sementes da planta, entretanto, não foi encontrado nas folhas em estádio adulto e na carapaça espinhosa que envolve a semente. Portanto, somente as folhas de Xanthium strumarium na fase adulta podem ser utilizadas para o uso medicinal.

Health care-related infections in solid organ transplants

The health care-related infections are well-known in a critical care setting, but reports of those infections in solid organ transplanted patients are scarce. We developed a study of retrospective cohort in a tertiary teaching hospital for 14 months. Eighty-one patients underwent solid organ transplants. The global incidence of health care-related infection was 42.0 percent. Fifteen percent of the cases were occurrences of surgical site infections, 14.0 percent pneumonias, 9.0 percent primary blood stream infections, 4.0 percent urinary tract infections and 2.0 percent skin infection. The most prevalent etiologic agents were K. pneumoniae (8.6 percent), P. aeruginosa (7.4 percent); A. baumannii (5.0 percent) and S. aureus (2.5 percent). Mortality was 18.0 percent, none of then related to health care infections. The high rate of those infections, mainly surgical site infections, suggests a demand for stricter measures to prevent and control health care-related infections.

Listeriosis materno-fetal: reporte de tres casos / Maternal-fetal Listeriosis: Report of three cases

Los reportes de listeriosis en mujeres embarazadas en Estados Unidos indican 12 a 17 por ciento de casos, mientras que en Europa se reporta una incidencia de 0.5 a 3 por ciento. En México no existen estadísticas confiables, sólo hay reportes aislados como los realizados en 1989 por el Hospital Infantil de México (HIM) en forma conjunta con el Instituto Nacional de Perinatología; en siete casos se identificaron como factores de riesgo antecedentes de procesos infecciosos de vías urinarias, así como datos de corioamnionitis al inicio de trabajo de parto. Posteriormente, el HIM realizó otro reporte aislado de tres casos de listeria neonatal por exámenes de laboratorio, y en estudio retrospectivo se concluyó que los factores de riesgo para la madre y el producto eran de estrato socioeconómico bajo, antecedentes de infección vaginal en el último trimestre del embarazo y convivencia con perros. A diferencia de lo publicado, los caos que presentamos provienen de estratos socioeconómicos altos y con buenos hábitos higiénico-dietéticos; el cuadro clínico materno no corresponde con lo descrito en otras series, ya que las manifestaciones clínicas se presentaron al inicio de trabajo de parto y la mayoría de estas pacientes comparten el antecedente de la presencia de abortos de repetición

Absence of genotoxic effects of crude and refined red palm oil on mouse bone marrow cells

Red Palm Oil (RPO), extracted from fruits of Elaeis guineensis, is a complex mixture consisting of over 99 per cent glycerides and about 1 per cent non-glyceride compounds. Its orange-red colour is due to its high content of carotenoid pigments, mainly alpha- and beta-carotene. Based on the fact that palm oil is a rich source of provitamin A, and because it is largely consumed in North and Northeastern Brazil, we evaluated possible clastogenic and cytotoxic activities of this oil on mouse bone marrow cells in vivo, as well as the alpha- and beta-carotene content. The experiments were performed using samples of refined and crude palm oil, of which two different phases, supernatant, sediment, and the mixture of both, were tested. The animals were treated by gavage, at daily doses of 4.5 g/Kg, for five consecutive days, and killed 24 hours after the last treatment, for chromosome preparations. The negative control group was treated with corn oil. There was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of chromosomal aberrations and in mitotic index when the animals which received palm oil were compared with the negative control. The beta-carotene content was higher than that of alpha-carotene, and the supematant phase was the richest source of carotenoids. These findings suggest that RPO has no genotoxic effect.