A promising technology based on photoelectrocatalysis against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in water disinfection.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is highly infectious, persistent and has been detected in more than one quarter of the world's population. It is notoriously resistant to sterilization and disinfection procedures, largely due to an unusual hydrophobic cell wall and effective defense mechanisms against oxidative stress. This work shows an effective method to reduce M. tuberculosis quantity in water by using Ti/TiO2 nanotubes electrodes bare and coated with Ag nanoparticles by using photoelectrocatalytic oxidation process. The results have indicated 99.999% of inactivation of a solution spiked with standard and resistant strains of 1×104 CFU mL-1 M. tuberculosis after 5 min of treatment at Ti/TiO2 photoanode in 0.05 mol L-1 Na2SO4 (pH 6) under applied potential of + 1.5 V versus Ag/AgCl and UV irradiation. The mycobacteria degradation was monitored by dissolved total organic carbon (TOC) removal, carbohydrate release, chromatography coupled to mass spectroscopy measurements and it is slightly superior to photocatalysis and photolysis processes. All the results corroborated with the complete inactivation and degradation of the byproducts generated during cell lysis.

Evaluation of hsp65 nested PCR-restriction analysis (PRA) for diagnosing tuberculosis in a high burden country.

Current study evaluated the hsp65 Nested PCR Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis (hsp65 Nested PCR-PRA) to detect and identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex directly in clinical samples for a rapid and specific diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB). hsp65 Nested PCR-PRA was applied directly to 218 clinical samples obtained from 127 patients suspected of TB or another mycobacterial infection from July 2009 to July 2010. The hsp65 Nested PCR-PRA showed 100% sensitivity and 95.0 and 93.1% specificity in comparison with culture and microscopy (acid fast bacillus smear), respectively. hsp65 Nested PCR-PRA was shown to be a fast and reliable assay for diagnosing TB, which may contribute towards a fast diagnosis that could help the selection of appropriate chemotherapeutic and early epidemiological management of the cases which are of paramount importance in a high TB burden country.

Immunological and microbiological activity of Davilla elliptica St. Hill. (Dilleniaceae) against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is responsible for over 8 million cases of tuberculosis (TB) annually. Natural products may play important roles in the chemotherapy of TB. The immunological activity of Davilla elliptica chloroform extract (DECE) was evaluated in vitro by the determination of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), nitric oxide (NO), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) release in peritoneal macrophages cultures. DECE was also tested for its antimycobacterial activity against M. tuberculosis using the microplate alamar blue assay. DECE (50, 150, 250 microg/ml) stimulated the production of H2O2 (from 1,79 +/- 0,23 to 7,27 +/- 2,54; 15,02 +/- 2,86; 20,5 +/- 2,1 nmols) (means +/- SD), NO (from 2,64 +/- 1,02 to 25,59 +/- 2,29; 26,68 +/- 2,41; 29,45 +/- 5,87 micromols) (means +/- SD) and TNF-alpha (from 2,44 +/- 1,46 to 30,37 +/- 8,13; 38,68 +/- 1,59; 41,6 +/- 0,90 units/ml) (means +/- SD) in a dose-dependent manner and also showed a promising antimycobacterial activity with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 62,5 microg/ml. This plant may have therapeutic potential in the immunological and microbiological control of TB.