ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Plasmodium falciparum is the protozoan parasite which causes malignant malaria of medical concern. Prime candidates for recombinant vaccine development are asexual stage antigens of P. falciparum, for example, merozoite surface proteins (MSP1 and MSP2) not given satisfactory results to date. In this study, the 19kDa C-terminal of MSP1, a vaccine candidate was purified in its native form in the ring stage, and its glycoproteins studied. METHODS: The study was carried out at the Biochemistry Department of Pasteur Institute of Iran in the years 2015-2016. Large scale culture of P. falciparum was performed in vitro with 80% ring stage parasitemia. Isopycnic ultracentrifugation with 36% sucrose and analytical SDS-PAGE on the supernatant and precipitate performed, and the 19kDa antigen was obtained by cutting it from strips of preparative SDS gels. Purified protein was concentrated and analyzed by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting, using antibodies raised to recombinant C-terminal MSP1. RESULTS: The purified protein gave a single band of 19kDa antigen as shown by silver staining of SDS-PAGE and a single bond in immunoblotting. Bioinformatics also confirmed the likelihood of the presence of glycans on the antigen. CONCLUSION: The presence of N and O-glycoproteins were detected by Q proteome kit. This work was done on the ring stage, and earlier workers confirmed the presence of glycoproteins on MSP1 in the other stages. This glycosylation is present in all stages, and maybe incomplete protection elicited by recombinant MSP1 antigens is due to lack of N and O-glycoproteins.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Nowadays, health-care companies use different antimicrobial agents in toothpastes to reduce oral microorganisms. The aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial effects of one Iranian herbal toothpaste in different concentrations compared with the chemical type on oral microorganisms in vitro. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this experimental study, the antimicrobial effect of one Iranian herbal toothpaste in comparison with its chemical type at three concentrations of 1, 1:1, and 1:3 on Streptococcus mutans (SM), Lactobacillus (LB), and Candida albicans (CA), respectively, were studied by agar disc diffusion method. The microorganisms were cultured on 21 plates. Then, four sterile paper discs were placed on each plate and the extracts were placed on them in prepared concentrations and incubated at 37°C ± 0°C for 24 h. The diameter of the inhibition zone around the discs was then measured in millimeters and recorded two-way ANOVA, one-way ANOVA tests, and regarding the difference variances, Tamhane supplementary tests were used at the significance level of P < 0.05. RESULTS: According to the results of this study, the full concentration of Iranian herbal toothpaste on SM, LB, and CA microorganisms had higher antimicrobial effect than the other two concentrations. This difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Furthermore, all the three toothpastes at full concentration had the same antimicrobial activity (P < 0.05). The antimicrobial effect of herbal toothpaste decreased significantly compared with the chemical toothpaste while the concentration decreased (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: At full concentration, herbal and chemical toothpastes have the same antimicrobial effect, but by reducing the concentration, the antimicrobial effect of herbal toothpaste is reduced compared with the chemical one.
