Emrah Torlak

Essential oils (EOs) and organic acids (OAs) are promising feed additives with crucial roles in promoting animal health and performance. This study aimed to assess the combined effects of phytobiotics with organic acids (EOAs) in broiler diets for 39 days. A total of daily 300 male chicks were assigned to three groups, each containing 100 chicks with 5 replicates. The basal diet was supplemented with 0, 0.1, and 0.2% EOAs, respectively. EOAs supplementation did not significantly affect performance values. The villus height/crypt depth ratio in the jejunum and villus dimensions in the ileum showed improvement with EOAs. Dietary EOAs supplementation led to a reduction in the count of Enterobacteriaceae and an increase in Lactobacillus in the caecum. Serum IgA and IgG levels increased with EOAs. Ultimate load, yield load, and the levels of ash, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, and manganese in tibia and femur were higher at high levels of EOAs than in the other groups. In conclusion, the study suggests that 0.1% EOAs usage in diets could be a viable option for enhancing intestinal health, immunity, and bone mineralization as an alternative growth promoter, especially in commercial broiler production.

This study investigates the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using Hypericum perforatum L. and evaluates their antibacterial and antibiofilm activities against Staphylococcus aureus. The synthesized AgNPs were characterized by UV‐Vis spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). UV‐Vis spectroscopy showed a maximum absorption peak at 448 nm, which indicates that nanoparticles have been formed successfully. TEM analysis showed that the AgNPs were spherical, with an average size of 35 ± 2.7 nm. FTIR confirmed the presence of functional groups on the surface of AgNP that may be contributing to its biological activity. The AgNPs exhibited significant antibacterial activity, with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 75 μg/mL and an inhibition zone of 13 ± 0.13 mm at this concentration. They were also highly effective in inhibiting biofilm formation even at a concentration of 25 μg/mL, reducing biofilm formation by 47.25% ± 3.51%. At increased concentrations, nanoparticles have been shown to compromise bacterial membranes, leading to significant membrane disruption. This disruption subsequently results in a reduction of cellular respiration, with observed decreases of approximately twofold when compared to controls. Additionally, nanoparticles facilitate the production of superoxide anions, which can rise by about threefold, consequently enhancing the overall effectiveness of bacterial inactivation. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM) revealed structural damage to bacterial cells treated with AgNPs, supporting their antimicrobial effects. These findings suggest that AgNPs synthesized from H. perforatum could serve as effective antimicrobial agents against S. aureus. Their ability to disrupt bacterial cell membranes, inhibit respiration, and induce oxidative stress makes them promising candidates for antimicrobial and antibiofilm applications, particularly given the increasing concern over bacterial resistance to conventional antibiotics.

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) mostly affects small ruminants. Vaccination with attenuated vaccines derived from PPR virus (PPRV) provides successful protection against the disease. However, current molecular methods are unable to distinguish vaccine strains from field strains. In this study, we used an EvaGreen-based high-resolution melting (HRM) assay to differentiate a PPRV vaccine strain (Nigeria 75/1) from Turkish field isolates of lineage IV based on melting peaks and melting profiles.

Recently, metal nanoparticles have attracted the attention of researchers due to their unique properties when compared with bulk materials and have become used in many fields of application. In this study, green synthesis of Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) was investigated by using aqueous extract of Thymus serpyllum leaves. In addition, antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities of the synthesized AgNPs were evaluated in this study. Further, UV-vis spectrophotometer, FTIR, DLS, SEM with EDX and TEM were used for characterization of the green synthesized AgNPs. The UV-vis spectrum of the synthesized AgNPs had a maximum peak at 467 nm. Also, TEM analysis indicated spherical particles with an average size of 25.2 nm. The synthesized AgNPs have higher stability (zeta potential: -29.5 mV). The antimicrobial activity of the green synthesized AgNPs was investigated on both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, such as Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium using agar well diffusion assay. According to the results of the study, Gram-positive bacteria showed larger inhibition zones compared to Gram-negative bacteria. Finally, the AgNPs were explored for the inhibition of S. aureus biofilms. AgNPs at 100 μg/mL concentration showed a high inhibition value of about 73% for S. aureus biofilm formation. So, it is concluded that the synthesized AgNPs might be potentially used in many applications due to their antimicrobial and antibiofilm properties.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy and mechanical properties of dental resin composites containing different amounts of microparticulate bioactive glass (BAG). Methods: Experimental resin composites were prepared by mixing resin matrix (70% BisGMA and 30% TEGDMA) and inorganic filler with various fractions of BAG to achieve final BAG concentrations of 5, 10 and 30 wt%. Antimicrobial efficacy was assessed in aqueous suspension against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus mutans and in biofilm against S. mutans. The effect of incorporation of BAG on the mechanical properties of resin composite was evaluated by measuring the surface roughness, compressive strength and flexural strength. Results: Under the dynamic contact condition, viable counts of E. coli, S. aureus and S. mutans in suspensions were reduced up to 78%, 57% and 50%, respectively, after 90 minutes of exposure to disc-shaped composite specimens, depending on the BAG contents. In 2-day-old S. mutans biofilm, incorporation of BAG into composite at ratios of 10% and 30% resulted in 0.8 and 1.4 log reductions in the viable cell counts compared with the BAG-free composite, respectively. The surface roughness values of composite specimens did not show any significant difference (p>0.05) at any concentration of BAG. However, compressive and flexural strengths of composite were decreased significantly with addition of 30% BAG (p<0.05). Conclusions: The results demonstrated the successful utilization of BAG as a promising biomaterial in resin composites to provide antimicrobial function.