Eduardo Lozano-Guzmán

Hospital wastewater (HWW) is characterized by a high drug concentration, which can cause endocrine effects and bacterial resistance, among others. For this study, carbamazepine (CBZ) was selected as a contaminant model to evaluate the removal efficiency from HWW of recalcitrant pharmaceuticals in a non conventional biofilter (BF), packed with a mixture of wood chips (Prosopis) and porous rock (pouzzolane). The effect of electro-oxidation (EO) as pre-treatment was assessed as well. A biofilm adapted to the HWW was developed in the BF. The addition of high concentrations of CBZ (1 000 and 10 000 µg/l) to the influent HWW did not affect the removal efficiency of the BF to remove organic matter (73 %) and ammonia nitrogen (99 %), proving that the biomass was not inhibited by the CBZ’s concentration. The BF showed a significant removal of CBZ by adsorption during the start up. The bed filter showed an adsorption capacity of 19.84 µg/g (Co = 10 000 µg/l). After the bed filter saturation operated in steady state, the BF removed by biotransformation 17.2 ± 7.4 % of CBZ which, in terms of concentration (1 551 ± 664 µg/l), is bigger than the concentration in most of the reports for hospital, pharmaceutical and municipal WW effluents, which are between 0.1 and 890 µg/l. By applying electro-oxidation as a pretreatment, the global removal efficiency of CBZ increased to 55 ± 5.96 %. In the hybrid system, the EO biotransformed the CBZ, and in the BF the nitrogen and the COD were removed and showed CBZ desorption.

Patients with Type 2 diabetes often experience chronic inflammation due to the overexpression of NF-kB-regulated pro-inflammatory proteins, such as TNF-alpha, IL-6 and IL-1. Chaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius) extracts have been reported to decrease this expression, but fractions of these extracts have not been studied. The present work focused on determining the anti-inflammatory effect of fractions of aqueous extracts of chaya. The phenolic content fractions of the sample were determined by solid-phase extraction and traced with HPLC-MS-MS, and the activation of the NF-kB factor and the concentration of the pro-inflammatory proteins TNF-alpha and IL-6 were evaluated using streptozotocin-induced diabetes rats. Two of the fractions showed the best effect, in fact, better than the crude fraction, which contains the highest amount of compounds. The presence of ferulic acid in the determined chemical profile suggests that it may be involved in the observed anti-inflammatory effect, while narigenin and apigenin, which are only present in the crude fraction, may be inhibiting the effect, which could explain why this fraction showed a better performance. Key words: Chaya, fractions, NF-kB, anti-inflammatory effect, ferulic acid. Patients with Type 2 diabetes often experience chronic inflammation due to the overexpression of NF-kB-regulated pro-inflammatory proteins, such as TNF-alpha, IL-6 and IL-1. Chaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius) extracts have been reported to decrease this expression, but fractions of these extracts have not been studied. The present work focused on determining the anti-inflammatory effect of fractions of aqueous extracts of chaya. The phenolic content fractions of the sample were determined by solid-phase extraction and traced with HPLC-MS-MS, and the activation of the NF-kB factor and the concentration of the pro-inflammatory proteins TNF-alpha and IL-6 were evaluated using streptozotocin-induced diabetes rats. Two of the fractions showed the best effect, in fact, better than the crude fraction, which contains the highest amount of compounds. The presence of ferulic acid in the determined chemical profile suggests that it may be involved in the observed anti-inflammatory effect, while narigenin and apigenin, which are only present in the crude fraction, may be inhibiting the effect, which could explain why this fraction showed a better performance. Key words: Chaya, fractions, NF-kB, anti-inflammatory effect, ferulic acid.

Introducción: El uso excesivo de antibióticos ha traído el aumento de resistencia en los microorganismos patógenos que provocan mortalidad de los pacientes. Por lo consiguiente, la búsqueda de nuevas estrategias naturales y no convencionales se ha vuelto constante e importante. El objetivo: fue determinar la actividad antimicrobiana contra Staphylococcus aureus resistente a meticilina (SARM) de los propóleos recolectados por abejas sin aguijón, incluyendo la combinación de estos con Allium sativum. Métodos: Se analizaron nueve extractos etanólicos de propóleos al 20% de las abejas sin aguijón Melipona beecheii (2), Melipona Solani (1), Tetragonisca angustula (1) y Scaptotrigona mexicana (5). La caracterización química se realizó por HPLC-QQQ/MS/MS. Las pruebas de resistencia microbiana utilizando el método de macrodilución y las combinaciones por estudios isobolográficos. 16 compuestos de interés fueron detectados (11 destacan como los más abundantes, entre ellos ácidos hidroxicinámicos, flavanonas, flavonoides y sus derivados glicosilados). Resultados: Cuatro de los 9 propóleos resultaron efectivos contra SARM, los cuales fueron Melipona solani y 3 de Scaptotrigona mexicana. La CMI para S. mexicana está en el rango de 3-8 mg mL-1 y para M. solani fue de 4 mg mL-1. Los estudios isobolográficos dieron como resultado un efecto aditivo (ɤ=1) para la combinación de Allium sativum con los 3 propóleos de S. mexicana y un efecto antagónico (ɤ>1) para la combinación de A. sativum con el propóleo de M. solani. Conclusión: la combinación de ambos extractos a combinaciones bajas puede ser más efectiva que usando la CE50 de los extractos de forma individual. Se requieren estudios más detallados para definir los mecanismos de los propóleos de las abejas sin aguijón así como su combinación con otras sustancias orgánicas.

Cnidoscolus chayamansa is a native plant of the Mayan region, which is also cultivated in other places like northern Mexico, Tunisia and India. Many properties are attributed to Mayan Chaya, such as aid in the control of glycemia in diabetics. Thus this study aimed to evaluate the hypoglycemic effects of chaya aqueous extracts in a model of streptozotisin-induced diabetic Wistar rats. Chaya aqueous extracts were collected from plants cultivated in Quinta Roo (Mayan region) and Durango (northern Mexico), and in this study we compare their effect with metformin (as a control). Additionally, we compared the extracts mass profiles from both regions by high-resolution liquid chromatography coupled to a triple quadrupole tandem mass detector (HPLC-MS/MS QQQ). Finally, a study of the pancreatic tissue was carried out to evaluate the effects of the extracts on the Langerhans islets. Both extracts showed a good hypoglycemic effect after two weeks of treatment, and the Langerhans islets showed a partial recovery due to the effect of the treatment. Although the plants were cultivated at a distance of 2,350 km and under different weather, the compounds found in both did not show significant differences.

Currently, diabetes mellitus type two is a public health challenge worldwide. Even though there are many oral hypoglycemic agents, a large part of the population continues to use herbal remedies with proven benefits. However, there are few works aimed at evaluating combinations of drugs and herbal remedies. These combinations of drugs and herbal substances can lead to a decrease in the therapeutic effect of each of them. The present work was designed to evaluate the combination of Metformin with aqueous extracts of chaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius) in a group of Long Evans streptozotocin-induced diabetes rats. Several combinations of aqueous extracts of C. aconitifolius and Metformin were tested and glycemia was measured in streptozotocin-induced diabetes rats. Additionally, the chemical profile of the extracts was determined by high performance liquid chromatography coupled mass tandem detector (HPLC-MS / MS). Results revealed that the combinations tested suggested an antagonistic effect between both compounds since the glycemia remained high in three of the four treated groups. Some of the compounds detected in chaya extracts by HPLC-MS/MS could give a clue of the explanation of this behavior. Conclusively, the therapeutic effect of Metformin may decrease when chaya is regularly consumed as a complementary herbal remedy, as used in a part of the Mexican population. It is recommended to deepen in the future in the pharmacodynamic part to explain this behavior. Key words: Chaya, Metformin, diabetes, antagonistic effect.

Combinations of Extracts of Propolis and Other Compounds Against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus | InTechOpen, Published on: 2017-03-08. Authors: Eduardo Lozano Guzmán and Francisco Javier Moreno Cruz

To combat Staphylococcus aureus-associated infections, mainly in the respiratory tract, part of the population commonly use or combine “natural” remedies with drugs that are prescribed by health professionals, thinking that in this way, a greater effect will be exerted on the infection. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the in vitro effect of two extracts of propoleum (or propolis) (PPL) on the inhibition of S. aureus strains (including Methicillin-resistant strains [MRSA]), in comparison with two drugs commonly used in clinical practice: Ciprofloxacin (CPX) and Levofloxacin (LVX), on diverse isolates obtained at two hospitals of the locality, as well as to evaluate the effect of combinations of the propolis extract with each of the previously mentioned drugs. The results showed an incidence of MRSA of 34% in the obtained isolates. These strains were not inhibited by CPX or LVX; however, the ethanolic extracts of propolis at 30% (EPPL30) was more effective in comparison with the two drugs. In complementary approach, our results also suggest that the combinations of either of the drugs studied with propolis (PPL) on the MRSA strains did not present synergism, allowing for their growth. Key words: Staphylococcus aureus, propoleum, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, inhibition.