Current Status and Structure Activity Relationship of Privileged Azoles as Antifungal Agents (2016-2020)

Fungal infections have major contribution to the infectious related deaths in recent century. The issue has gotten worse with the advent of immunity impairing conditions such as HIV epidemic. Eukaryote nature of fungal pathogens leads to harder eradication than bacterial infections. Given the importance of the problem, considerable efforts have been put on the synthesis and biological assessment of azole-based chemical scaffolds and their bioisosteres. The emergence of validated macromolecular targets within different fungal species inspires structure-based drug design strategies toward diverse azole-based agents. Despite of advantageous features, emergence of drug-resistant fungal species restrict the applicability of current azoles as the first-line antifungal agents. Consequently, it appears advisable to elucidate SARs and chemical biodiversity within antifungal azoles. Current contribution was devoted to a brief look at clinically applied drugs, structure-based classification of azole antifungals and their structure activity relationships (SARs). Reviewed molecules belong to the antifungal structures that were reported throughout 2016-2020.

Prevalence and Expression of Genes of Type II Antitoxin Toxin Systems in Clinical Isolates of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Objectives: Antibiotic resistance of bacteria has been increasing in recent years and reports indicate that some bacterial strains are even resistant to the last treatment line. The survey of MazEF antitoxin-toxin genes in 84 strain of MRSA and and the antimicrobial effect of supernatants on the logarithmic growth stage of the bacteria. Methods: In this study, 84 strains of MRSA were collected. The patients included 48 males and 36 females with a mean age of 39 years.  The primers for Staphylococcus aureus type II antitoxin genes were designed. In the first step, using the mecA primer and PCR, the strains were genetically examined to confirm methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. In the next step, the frequency of MazEF antitoxin-toxin genes was examined. Results: All strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus had the F maz gene except one. The highest antibiotic resistance was related to the strains isolated from the wound and the lowest resistance was related to the strains isolated from the urine. the effect of the supernatant obtained in the death phase of Staphylococcus aureus was assessed and the antimicrobial effect of these supernatants on the logarithmic growth stage of the bacteria was measured. Conclusion: since previous studies showed the antimicrobial effect of this supernatant on many other bacteria, a type II system was suspected that was confirmed by the results.

Construction and analysis of alginate-based honey hydrogel as an ointment to heal of rat burn wound related infections

Developing a strategy for making the alginate base hydrogel components against burned wound infections could be promising for healing the mentioned wounds followed by elimination of the biofilm forming bacteria colonization. Construction of an alginate based hydrogel and evaluating healing activities of the mentioned component as local ointment were the main objectives of the current study. Following the collection of the honey from three different provinces of Iran, the components and structures of the collected materials were analyzed taking advantage of INSO-92 procedure subsequently, antibacterial effect of diluted three different kinds of honey against wild-type bacterial species got evaluated via agar well diffusion method. An alginate base hydrogel was prepared by the use of calcium chloride as a linker between the alginate and honey functional groups. Then, component was structurally analyzed by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Afterward, under in vivo conditions, the healing activities of prepared ointment were studied in infected burned rat models. According to the antibacterial effect of the honeys, 75% diluted thymol based honeys collected from Damavand province were the most efficient ones. Furthermore, it was the healing activity of mentioned ointment was proven in vivo studies. The difference between 1600-1800 wave numbers in constructed alginate-based hydrogel alginate and honey because of C = O bond variations structurally confirmed proper construction of hydrogel. The hydrogel was the better healing activity in rats burned wound too. In conclusion the promising efficiency of alginate-based hydrogel in an elimination of bacterial infections was confirmed as the main aim of the current survey.

Comparison of ultrasonic with stirrer performance for removal of sunset yellow (SY) by activated carbon prepared from wood of orange tree: artificial neural network modeling

The present work focused on the removal of sunset yellow (SY) dye from aqueous solution by ultrasound-assisted adsorption and stirrer by activated carbon prepared from wood of an orange tree. Also, the artificial neural network (ANN) model was used for predicting removal (%) of SY dye based on experimental data. In this study a green approach was described for the synthesis of activated carbon prepared from wood of an orange tree and usability of it for the removal of sunset yellow. This material was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The impact of variables, including initial dye concentration (mg/L), pH, adsorbent dosage (g), sonication time (min) and temperature (°C) on SY removal were studied. Fitting the experimental equilibrium data of different isotherm models such as Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich models display the suitability and applicability of the Langmuir model. Analysis of experimental adsorption data by different kinetic models including pseudo-first and second order, Elovich and intraparticle diffusion models indicate the applicability of the second-order equation model. The adsorbent (0.5g) is applicable for successful removal of SY (>98%) in short time (10min) under ultrasound condition.

An ultra-sensitive impedimetric immunosensor for detection of the serum oncomarker CA-125 in ovarian cancer patients

Effective treatment of ovarian cancer depends upon the early detection of the malignancy. Here, we report on the development of a new nanostructured immunosensor for early detection of cancer antigen 125 (CA-125). A gold electrode was modified with mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), and then consecutively conjugated with silica coated gold nanoparticles (AuNP@SiO2), CdSe quantum dots (QDs) and anti-CA-125 monoclonal antibody (mAb). The engineered MPA|AuNP@SiO2|QD|mAb immunosensor was characterised using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Successive conjugation of AuNP@SiO2, CdSe QD and anti-CA-125 mAb onto the gold electrode resulted in sensitive detection of CA-125 with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.0016 U mL(-1) and a linear detection range (LDR) of 0-0.1 U mL(-1). Based on the high sensitivity and specificity of the immunosensor, we propose this highly stable and reproducible biosensor for the early detection of CA-125.