Mitigating antimicrobial resistance, an approach to stewardship in canine urinary tract infection.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) caused by antimicrobial resistant bacteria is common in dogs leading to serious health impact in pet animal as well as on human health. Understanding the prevalent uropathogens and their drug susceptibility is essential for limiting the antimicrobial resistance through implementation of stewardship policies. In view of this, present study was envisaged to determine the prevalent bacterial uropathogens and their antibiogram from clinical cases of canine UTI. Urine samples were collected from 35 dogs presented with clinical signs of UTI and a total of 27 bacterial isolates were recovered. Among that Escherichia coli was the most predominant isolate followed by Klebsiella aerogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis, Enterococcus sp. and Citrobacter freundii. All isolates were found resistant to one or more 1st line antibiotics recommended by consensus guidelines and 70% of total isolates showed multidrug resistance. Additionally, this study evaluated the weightage of empirical therapy as per the consensus guidelines over antimicrobial susceptibility test guided treatment. Dogs with uncomplicated UTI were selected and categorized into three different groups (n = 6). Group 1 was treated with common empirical choice amoxycillin-clavulanic acid and dogs showed susceptible to ciprofloxacin were kept in Group 2 and treated with ciprofloxacin along with urinary alkalizer disodium hydrogen citrate. Nitrofurantoin susceptible cases were kept in Group 3 and treated with a combination of nitrofurantoin and urinary acidifier ammonium chloride. Therapeutic outcome was evaluated and success rate was higher in Group 2 and 3 than Group 1 suggested that selection of antibiotics with the use of local or institutional antibiogram data is more considerate than acknowledged international guidelines in the existing situation.

Accelerated healing of full thickness excised skin wound in rabbits using single application of alginate/acacia based nanocomposites of ZnO nanoparticles.

A perfect wound covering should prevent dryness of the wound and provide a favourable moist milieu at the wound interface allowing gas access but act as a barrier to the dirt and microorganisms. It is imperative to ensure early restoration of wound without scar formation at the site. Topical application of antiseptic preparation is the best for wound treatment because of its direct action. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) possess antimicrobial activity and enhance wound healing. Biocompatible polymers for inclusion of ZnO NPs can enhance the efficacy at lower doses while reducing the unwanted toxic effects. We synthesized ZnO NPs nanocomposites by impregnating the NPs in covalently attached gum acacia to the alginate exploiting the hydroxyl groups with aldehydes of glutaraldehyde, providing hydrated environment during wound application. Its topical application accelerated the full-thickness excision wound healing in rabbits. The polymers exerted synergistic effects due to their wound-healing potential. The wound-healing process was also investigated by transmission electron microscopy of regenerated tissues, collagen contents, alizared staining and histological observations to elucidate the healing mechanism compared to a commercially available ointment and negative controls. It has promising properties of biocompatibility, anti-inflammatory, cell adhesion and proliferation without any scar formation which are crucial for healing.

Sodium alginate and gum acacia hydrogels of zinc oxide nanoparticles reduce hemolytic and oxidative stress inflicted by zinc oxide nanoparticles on mammalian cells.

Zinc oxide nanoparticles are important nanomaterials currently under research due to their applicability in nanomedicine. Toxicity of ZnO NPs has been extensively studied and has been shown to affect various cell types and animal systems. In this study, we investigated hemolytic potential and oxidative stress inflicted by ZnO NPs and ZnO NPs-loaded-sodium alginate-gum acacia hydrogels on horse erythrocytes and African green monkey kidney (Vero) cells. Our study provides a better understanding of the hemolytic and oxidative effects of interaction of ZnO NPs and ZnO NPs released from polymeric hydrogels with the biological system. Remarkable aggregation of erythrocytes was noted in the higher concentration of ZnO NPs treated erythrocytes as compared to erythrocytes treated with ZnO NPs-loaded hydrogels. ZnO NPs-loaded hydrogels treated Vero cells significantly reduced oxidative stress as evidenced by less malondialdehyde production as compared to that of ZnO NPs treated cells. Normal horse erythrocytes when treated with ZnO NPs in in vitro condition undergo oxidative damage, and contribute in augmenting the toxicity. We demonstrated that polymeric ZnO NPs reduced the undesirable effects provoked by ZnO NPs on mammalian cells.

Sodium alginate and gum acacia hydrogels of ZnO nanoparticles show wound healing effect on fibroblast cells.

An ideal biomaterial for wound dressing applications should possess antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties without any toxicity to the host cells while providing the maximum healing activity. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) possess antimicrobial activity and enhance wound healing, but the questions regarding their safety arise before application to the biological systems. We synthesized ZnONPs-loaded-sodium alginate-gum acacia hydrogels (SAGA-ZnONPs) by cross linking hydroxyl groups of the polymers sodium alginate and gum acacia with the aldehyde group of gluteradehyde. Here, we report the wound healing properties of sodium alginate/gum acacia/ZnONPs, circumventing the toxicity of ZnONPs simultaneously. We demonstrated the concentration-dependent zones of inhibition in treated cultures of Pseudomonas aerigunosa and Bacillus cereus and biocompatability on peripheral blood mononuclear/fibroblast cells. SAGA-ZnONPs hydrogels showed a healing effect at a low concentration of ZnONPs using sheep fibroblast cells. Our findings suggest that high concentrations of ZnONPs were toxic to cells but SAGA-ZnONPs hydrogels significantly reduced the toxicity and preserved the beneficial antibacterial and healing effect.