Antimicrobial activity of Centella asiatica and Gigantochloa apus.

OBJECTIVES: Antibiotic treatments can create multi-drug resistance among several pathogens. There is a need for an antibiotic alternative to overcome this problem. In Indonesia, Centella asiatica (Asiatic pennywort) and Gigantochloa apus (string bamboo) are two common medicinal plants used to treat tuberculosis, diarrhea, and other symptoms. This study was done to compare the antimicrobial activity of C. asiatica and G. apus against five pathogenic bacteria, i.e., Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, and Salmonella typhi. METHODS: The ethanol extracts of C. asiatica, and G. apus shoot were obtained by using speed extractor, pressure, and temperature extraction. The phytochemical contents of each extract were screened. The ethanol extract's antimycobacterial activity was determined using Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) medium and antibacterial activity was determined using Kirby-Bauer methods on Mueller Hinton agar (MHA). RESULTS: The phytochemical analysis showed that G. apus extract contains alkaloids and tannins, whereas C. asiatica extract contains flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins, and tannins. This study showed that G. apus inhibited the growth of M. tuberculosis H37Rv strain and S. typhi. C. asiatica showed antimicrobial activity against all pathogenic bacteria tested, except B. subtilis. CONCLUSIONS: Both medicinal plants extract can inhibit the growth of five pathogenic bacteria tested, thus, have the potential as an alternative treatment, or complementary, to treat the pathogenic bacterial infection.

NASOPHARYNGEAL CARRIAGE OF STREPTOCOCCUS PNEUMONIAE IN HEALTHY CHILDREN UNDER FIVE YEARS OLD IN CENTRAL LOMBOK REGENCY, INDONESIA.

Colonization with Streptococcus pneumoniae is mostly symptomless, but can progress to respiratory or even systemic disease. We investigated nasopharyngeal carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae in healthy children under five years of age in Central Lombok Regency, Indonesia. This cross sectional study was carried out in 2012 among 1,200 healthy children aged 2 to 60 months. A multiplex sequential PCR was employed to determine serotype of cultured S. pneumoniae and a disk diffusion method to assess susceptibility to antimicrobial drugs. S. pneumoniae was cultured from 554 children and the most frequent serotypes found were 6A/B (22% of pneumococcal strains), 19F (11%), 23F (10%), 15B/C (8%), and 19A and 14 (4% each). The majority of strains were still susceptible to clindamycin (97%), erythromycin (87%), chloramphenicol (81%), and penicillin (72%), with only 41% and 38% susceptible to tetracycline and sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, respectively. Continuous surveillance of S. pneumoniae carriage is important for future pneumococcal vaccination programs in Indonesia.

STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS AND STREPTOCOCCUS PNEUMONIAE PREVALENCE AMONG ELDERLY ADULTS IN JAKARTA, INDONESIA.

We studied Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae carriage among elderly adults in Jakarta, Indonesia. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from 149 adults aged 60-97 years. Both S. aureus and S. pneumoniae were identified by conventional and molecular methods. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MSRA) was determined by PCR and antibiotic susceptibility using the disk diffusion method. Pneumococcal serotyping was performed with sequential multiplex PCR. We found S. aureus and S. pneumoniae present in 42 and 4 elderly adults respectively, and MRSA prevalence of 6%. Serotypes 3, 6A/B, 15B/C and 35F were identified among the four pneumococcal isolates. The majority of S. aureus isolates were susceptible to chloramphenicol (93%) and sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (93%), followed by gentamicin (88%), erythromycin (83%), penicillin (79%) and tetracycline (74%). Thus S. aureus prevalence is higher than that of S. pneumoniae, and a high frequency of MRSA carried by elderly adults in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Platelet activation determines angiopoietin-1 and VEGF levels in malaria: implications for their use as biomarkers.

INTRODUCTION: The angiogenic proteins angiopoietin (Ang)-1, Ang-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are regulators of endothelial inflammation and integrity. Since platelets store large amounts of Ang-1 and VEGF, measurement of circulation levels of these proteins is sensitive to platelet number, in vivo platelet activation and inadvertent platelet activation during blood processing. We studied plasma Ang-1, Ang-2 and VEGF levels in malaria patients, taking the necessary precautions to avoid ex vivo platelet activation, and related plasma levels to platelet count and the soluble platelet activation markers P-selectin and CXCL7. METHODS: Plasma levels of Ang-1, Ang-2, VEGF, P-selectin and CXCL7 were measured in CTAD plasma, minimizing ex vivo platelet activation, in 27 patients with febrile Plasmodium falciparum malaria at presentation and day 2 and 5 of treatment and in 25 healthy controls. RESULTS: Levels of Ang-1, Ang-2 and VEGF were higher at day 0 in malaria patients compared to healthy controls. Ang-2 levels, which is a marker of endothelial activation, decreased after start of antimalarial treatment. In contrast, Ang-1 and VEGF plasma levels increased and this corresponded with the increase in platelet number. Soluble P-selectin and CXCL7 levels followed the same trend as Ang-1 and VEGF levels. Plasma levels of these four proteins correlated strongly in malaria patients, but only moderately in controls. CONCLUSION: In contrast to previous studies, we found elevated plasma levels of Ang-1 and VEGF in patients with malaria resulting from in vivo platelet activation. Ang-1 release from platelets may be important to dampen the disturbing effects of Ang-2 on the endothelium. Evaluation of plasma levels of these angiogenic proteins requires close adherence to a stringent protocol to minimize ex vivo platelet activation.