Antifungal effects and phytochemical screening of Andrographis paniculata extracts on dermatomycoses

Aims@#Andrographis paniculata (AP), a medicinal herb was selected to investigate the antifungal activity on selected dermatophyte fungi. The phytochemical screening was also carried out to evaluate its chemical constituents.@*Methodology and results@#The potato dextrose agar (PDA) incorporated with aqueous, ethanol and methanol AP extracts at concentrations 0.99% (v/v), 1.96% (v/v) and 7.41% (v/v) were used for selected fungi culturing; Trichophyton mentagrophytes, T. rubrum, T. interdigitale, Microsporum fulvum, M. nanum, M. gypseum, M. canis, Fusarium solani and Aspergillus fumigatus. Phytochemical screening showed the presence of flavonoids, saponins and tannins in the ethanol extract and flavonoids alone in both aqueous and methanol extracts. Studies on antifungal effects indicated that the ethanol extract significantly increased the mycelial inhibition percentage of all tested fungi, especially at a concentration of 7.41% (v/v). All ethanol AP extract concentrations inhibited M. gypseum and M. canis (p<0.05) with at least 36.00% mycelial inhibition. In aqueous AP extract, it significantly increased the mycelial inhibition of T. mentagrophytes, T. interdigitale and M. gypseum (p<0.05), while the methanol AP extract significantly inhibited all fungi at a concentration of 7.41% (v/v) except for T. rubrum, M. gypseum and F. solani (p<0.05). No spore sedimentation was recorded for the fungal spores of T. rubrum, M. nanum, T. mentagrophytes, M. gypseum and T. interdigitale at 7.41% (v/v) ethanol AP. @*Conclusion, significance and impact of study@#It is concluded that the ethanol AP extract contained phytochemical constituents and showed the highest antifungal activity. In addition, this extract has a great potential to treat dermatophytes effectively.

Mini Review on Laboratory Practices During Covid-19 Pandemic: From Microbiologists Perspective

@#Laboratory practices in a laboratory have changed worldwide due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes occur concerning specimen collection, handling, transportation, processing, and disposal. Infection control practices are applied in all aspects, starting from specimen collection until the clinician gets the results. A retrospective review of laboratory practices used in a tertiary teaching hospital laboratory from microbiologists’ perspectives was performed, and the practices were compared with previously published articles.

The Significant Association between Polymicrobial Diabetic Foot Infection and Its Severity and Outcomes

@#Background: Foot infection is a major complication of diabetes mellitus (DM) and its agents are usually polymicrobial. This study aims to describe the agent and determine the association between polymicrobial infections and the severity of diabetic foot infections (DFI) and their outcomes. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted during one year and it involved 104 patients. Their records were reviewed and assessed. The causative agents and its sensitivity pattern were noted. The results were presented as descriptive statistic and analysed. Results: A total of 133 microorganisms were isolated with 1.28 microorganisms per lesion. The microorganism isolated were 62% (n = 83) GN (Gram-negative) and 38% (n = 50) GP (Grampositive). GN microorganisms include Pseudomonas spp (28%), Proteus spp (11%), Klebsiella spp (8%) and E. coli (4%). Staphylococcus aureus (54%) was predominant among GP, followed by Group B Streptococci (26%) and Enterococcus spp (6%). Thirty patients (28.8%) had polymicrobial infections. The association between the quantity of microorganisms and severity of DFI was significant. Among severe DFI cases, 77.8% with polymicrobial microorganisms underwent amputation compared to 33.3% with monomicrobial infection. Conclusion: GN microorganisms were predominantly isolated from DFIs and remained sensitive to widely used agents. Polymicrobial infections were associated with DFI severity.

A Combination of Trimethoprimsulfamethoxazole and Ceftazidime Showed Good In Vitro Activity against Stenotrophomonas maltophilia

Background: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia has emerged as an important nosocomial pathogen, capable of causing a wide spectrum of infections. Treatment is difficult because it is resistant to many antimicrobial agents, thus reducing the treatment options. The aims of this study were to describe the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and synergistic effect of selected antimicrobial combinations against S. maltophilia isolates. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study undertaken in the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia from April 2011 to March 2012. S. maltophilia isolated from various clinical specimens were included in the study. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done using the epsilometer test (E-test) and interpreted according to the guidelines of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. In the synergy test, the isolates were tested against six different antimicrobial combinations. Results: In total, 84 S. maltophilia isolates were collected and analysed. According to the E-test, the antimicrobial susceptibility of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX), tigecycline, and ciprofloxacin was 100%, 91.1%, and 88.9% respectively. The antimicrobial combination of TMP-SMX and ceftazidime showed the highest synergistic effect. Conclusion: TMP-SMX remains the antimicrobial of choice to treat S. maltophilia infection. TMP-SMX and ceftazidime was the most effective combination in vitro.

Prevalence of Clostridium difficile toxin in diarhoeal stool samples of patients from a tertiary hospital in North Eastern Penisular Malaysia

This study describes the prevalence of Clostridium difficile toxin (CDT) in loose stool samples from inpatients aged more than two years of a tertiary hospital. A total of 175 samples that had been examined were from stool samples that were sent to the Medical Microbiology & Parasitology Laboratory for various clinical indications. The toxin was detected by a commercial immunochromatograhic test, and the patients’ demography, clinical features, treatment and outcomes were analyzed from their medical records. Clostridium difficile toxin was positive in 24 (13.7%) of the stool samples. Male and female were 11 (45.8 %) and 13 (54.2 %) respectively, with the majority of them aged more than 50 years. Most were from medical wards (n=21, 87.5%), with the rest from surgical wards (n=2, 8.3%) and intensive care units (n=1, 3.4%). All the CDT positive patients had history of prior antibiotic usage within 6 weeks before the detection of the toxin. The mean duration of antibiotics usage was 17.75 (±13.75) days, while the mean duration of diarrhea was 5.21((± 5.85) days. Eighteen patients had underlying medical illnesses that were diabetes mellitus, chronic renal disease, hypertension, ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and malignancy; with seven of them being CDT positive while on chemotherapy. Stool occult blood test was positive in 15 patients whereas presence of pus cells in the CD positive stool samples were detected in 21 patients. The duration of hospitalization among the patients was 27.96 (± 23.22) days.

Non-O1, non-O139 Vibrio cholerae bacteraemia in splenectomised thalassaemic patient from Malaysia

Vibrio cholerae infection is mainly caused acute diarrhoea disease. Bacteraemia due to non-O1 V. cholerae is rare and mainly reported in liver cirrhotic patients. We report one case of non-O1 V. cholerae bacteraemia in splenectomised thalassaemic patient who presented with septic shock secondary to abdominal sepsis. She had undergone emergency laporatomy and was managed in the intensive care unit for nine days. She was treated with meropenem and doxycyline and discharged well after fourteen days of admission. The V. cholerae was identified by API 20NE, serotype and polymerase chain reaction showed as non-O1, non-O139 strain. Besides known cholera-like toxin and El Tor hemolysin, with increasing reported cases of V. cholerae bacteraemia, there is possibility of other virulence factors that allow this organism to invade the bloodstream.