https://ciptaindomedica.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/antimicrobial-herb-and-spice-compounds-in-food.pdf

Antimicrobial herb and spice compounds in food.

It is now generally accepted that vitamin D deficiency is a worldwide health problem that affects not only musculoskeletal health but also a wide range of acute and chronic diseases. However, there remains cynicism about the lack of randomized controlled trials to support the association studies regarding the nonskeletal health benefits of vitamin D. This review was obtained by searching English-language studies published up to April 1, 2013, in PubMed, MEDLINE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (search terms: vitamin D and supplementation) and focuses on recent challenges regarding the definition of vitamin D deficiency and how to achieve optimal serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations from dietary sources, supplements, and sun exposure. The effect of vitamin D on fetal programming epigenetics and gene regulation could potentially explain why vitamin D has been reported to have such wide-ranging health benefits throughout life. There is potentially a great upside to increasing the vitamin D status of children and adults worldwide for improving musculoskeletal health and reducing the risk of chronic illnesses, including some cancers, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, type 2 diabetes mellitus, neurocognitive disorders, and mortality.

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Vitamin D for Health: A Global Perspective

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with osteoporosis and is thought to increase the risk of cancer and CVD. Despite these numerous potential health effects, data on vitamin D status at the population level and within key subgroups are limited. The aims of the present study were to examine patterns of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels worldwide and to assess differences by age, sex and region. In a systematic literature review using the Medline and EMBASE databases, we identified 195 studies conducted in forty-four countries involving more than 168 000 participants. Mean population-level 25(OH)D values varied considerably across the studies (range 4·9-136·2 nmol/l), with 37·3 % of the studies reporting mean values below 50 nmol/l. The highest 25(OH)D values were observed in North America. Although age-related differences were observed in the Asia/Pacific and Middle East/Africa regions, they were not observed elsewhere and sex-related differences were not observed in any region. Substantial heterogeneity between the studies precluded drawing conclusions on overall vitamin D status at the population level. Exploratory analyses, however, suggested that newborns and institutionalised elderly from several regions worldwide appeared to be at a generally higher risk of exhibiting lower 25(OH)D values. Substantial details on worldwide patterns of vitamin D status at the population level and within key subgroups are needed to inform public health policy development to reduce risk for potential health consequences of an inadequate vitamin D status.

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A systematic review of vitamin D status in populations worldwide.

Twelve medicinal plants were screened, namely Abrus precatorius L., Caesalpinia pulcherrima Swartz., Cardiospermum halicacabum L., Casuarina equisetifolia L., Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers., Delonix regia L., Euphorbia hirta L., Euphorbia tirucalli L., Ficus benghalensis L., Gmelina asiatica L., Santalum album L., and Tecomella undulata (Sm.) Seem, for potential antibacterial activity against 5 medically important bacterial strains, namely Bacillus subtilis ATCC6633, Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC12228, Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes ATCC17440, Proteus vulgaris NCTC8313 and Salmonella typhimurium ATCC23564. The antibacterial activity of aqueous and methanol extracts was determined by agar disk diffusion and agar well diffusion method. The methanol extracts were more active than the aqueous extracts for all 12 plants studied. The plant extracts were more active against Gram-positive bacteria than against Gram-negative bacteria. The most susceptible bacteria were B. subtilis, followed by S. epidermidis, while the most resistant bacteria were P. vulgaris, followed by S. typhimurium. From the screening experiment, Caesalpinia pulcherrima Swartz. showed the best antibacterial activity; hence this plant can be further subjected to isolation of the therapeutic antimicrobials and further pharmacological evaluation.

https://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/biology/issues/biy-05-29-4/biy-29-4-3-0506-4.pdf

Efficacy of Aqueous and Methanol Extracts of Some Medicinal Plants for Potential Antibacterial Activity

Antimicrobial activities of the crude ethanolic extracts of five plants were screened against multidrug resistant (MDR) strains of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Candida albicans. ATCC strains of Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus bovis, Pseudimonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Candida albicans were also tested. The strains that showed resistance against the maximum number of antibiotics tested were selected for an antibacterial assay. The MDR strains were sensitive to the antimicrobial activity of Acacia nilotica, Syzygium aromaticum and Cinnamum zeylanicum, whereas they exhibited strong resistance to the extracts of Terminalia arjuna and Eucalyptus globulus. Community-acquired infections showed higher sensitivity than the nosocomial infections against these extracts. The most potent antimicrobial plant was A. nilotica (MIC range 9.75-313µg/ml), whereas other

/pdf/antimicrobial-activity-of-five-herbal-extracts-against-multi-2pbi4su3iu.pdf

Antimicrobial activity of five herbal extracts against multi drug resistant (MDR) strains of bacteria and fungus of clinical origin.

Vitamin D insufficiency affects almost 50% of the population worldwide An estimated 1 billion people worldwide, across all ethnicities and age groups, have a vitamin D deficiency (VDD) This pandemic of hypovitaminosis D can mainly be attributed to lifestyle (for example, reduced outdoor activities) and environmental (for example, air pollution) factors that reduce exposure to sunlight, which is required for ultraviolet-B (UVB)-induced vitamin D production in the skin High prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency is a particularly important public health issue because hypovitaminosis D is an independent risk factor for total mortality in the general population Current studies suggest that we may need more vitamin D than presently recommended to prevent chronic disease As the number of people with VDD continues to increase, the importance of this hormone in overall health and the prevention of chronic diseases are at the forefront of research VDD is very common in all age groups As few foods contain vitamin D, guidelines recommended supplementation at suggested daily intake and tolerable upper limit levels It is also suggested to measure the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level as the initial diagnostic test in patients at risk for deficiency Treatment with either vitamin D2 or vitamin D3 is recommended for deficient patients A meta-analysis published in 2007 showed that vitamin D supplementation was associated with significantly reduced mortality In this review, we will summarize the mechanisms that are presumed to underlie the relationship between vitamin D and understand its biology and clinical implications

Vitamin D: The "sunshine" vitamin

Nine plants were screened for potential antibacterial activity. In evaluating antibacterial activity both aqueous and organic solvents were used. The plants screened were Sapindus emarginatus, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Mirabilis jalapa, Rheo discolor, Nyctanthes arbortristis, Colocasia esculenta, Gracilaria corticata, Dictyota spps., and Pulicaria wightiana. Antibacterial activity was tested against 6 bacterial strains, Pseudomonas testosteroni, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus subtilis, Proteus morganii, and Micrococcus flavus. Two methods, Agar disk diffusion and Agar ditch diffusion, were used to study the antibacterial activity of all these plants. Ps. testosteroni and K. pneumoniae were the most resistant bacterial strains. S. emarginatus showed strong activity against the tested bacterial strains. Therefore, this can be selected for further investigation to determine its therapeutic potential. Its leaf extract can also be used as a lead molecule in combating the diseases caused by the bacterial strains studied.

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Antibacterial Activity of Some Selected Indian Medicinal Flora

Ten medicinal plants, namely Commiphora wightii, Hibiscus cannabinus, Anethum gravelons, Emblica officinalis, Ficus religiosa, Ficus racemosa, Ficus benghalensis, Ficus tisela, Mentha arvensis and Mimusops elengi, were screened for potential antibacterial activity against medically important bacterial strains, namely Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Alcaligenes faecalis and Salmonella typhimurium. The antibacterial activity was determined in aqueous and ethanol extracts using both agar disc diffusion and agar well diffusion methods. The ethanol extracts were more potent than aqueous extracts of all the plants studied. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhimurium were the most resistant strains while the most susceptible bacterial strains were Bacillus cereus and Proteus mirabilis. Emblica officinalis showed strong activity against all the tested bacterial strains. Hence, this plant can be used to discover bioactive natural products that may serve as leads in the development of new pharmaceuticals that address unmet therapeutic needs.

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Antibacterial Activities of Some Medicinal Plants of the Western Region of India

This study was done to investigate the antimicrobial potentiality of the marine algae collected from different coastal regions of Gujarat and screened for the same. Twenty-six marine algae belonging to Rhodophyceae, Chlorophyceae and Phaeophyceae were screened for their potential antibacterial activity against five clinically important bacterial strains, namely Bacillus cereus, Micrococcus flavus, Citro-bacter freundii, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas testosteroni. Acetone and methanol were used for extraction; and the extracted yield was more when the solvent used was methanol. The antibacterial activity was done by both Agar disc diffusion method and Agar ditch method. The five bacterial strains showed varied response towards marine algal extracts. The most susceptible bacteria was B. cereus followed by K. pneumoniae and C. freundii while the most resistant bacteria were M. flavus and P. testosteroni. Among the 26 algae screened, E. intestinalis was the most potent alga and thus, this alga was sel...

Marine algae: screening for a potent antibacterial agent.

The following Schiff bases have been synthesized: (1) 4-(2-chlorobenzylidene)amino benzoic acid JP1, (2) 4 (furan-2-ylmethylene)amino benzoic acid JP2, (3) 4-[(3-phenylallylidene)amino]benzoic acid JP3, (4) 4 (2-hydroxybenzylidene)amino benzoic acid JP4, (5) 4 (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylidene)amino benzoic acid JP5 and (6) 4 (3-nitrobenzylidene)amino benzoic acid JP6. They were screened as potential antibacterial agents against a number of medically important bacterial strains. The antibacterial activity was studied against A. faecalis ATCC 8750, E. aerogenes ATCC 13048, E. coli ATCC 25922, K. pneumoniae NCIM 2719 S. aureus ATCC 25923, P. vulgaris NCIM 8313, P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853 and S. typhimurium ATCC 23564. The antibacterial activity was evaluated using the Agar Ditch method. The solvents used were 1,4-dioxane and dimethyl sulfoxide. Different effects of the compounds were found in the bacterial strains in vestigated and the solvents used, suggesting, once again, that the antibacterial activity is dependent on the molecular structure of the compound, the solvent used and the bacterial strain under consideration. In the present work, 1,4-dioxane proved to be a good solvent in inhibiting the above stated bacterial strains.

http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0352-5139/2005/0352-51390510155P.pdf

Rathish Nair

Papers

Vitamin D: The "sunshine" vitamin

Antibacterial Activity of Some Selected Indian Medicinal Flora

Antibacterial Activities of Some Medicinal Plants of the Western Region of India

Marine algae: screening for a potent antibacterial agent.

Synthesis and antibacterial activity of some Schiff bases derived from 4-aminobenzoic acid