Enhanced Sporicidal Activity of Alcohol and Epigallocatechin-Palmitate-Based Hand Hygiene Formulations Comprised of Plant-Derived Compounds

Pathogenic spore-forming bacteria pose high risks to healthcare settings, as well as in the food and beverage industries. We reported recently that novel alcohol-based formulations containing plant-derived compounds, including epigallocatechin-3-gallate-palmitate (EGCG-P), a green tea polyphenol ester, provide > 99.99% inactivation of bacterial spores within 60 sec. Based on recently published data from our group and others, we hypothesize that a combination of EGCG-P and alcohol formulated with other plant-derived ingredients would achieve high sporicidal efficacy against a wide spectrum of bacterial spores and can provide novel hand hygiene methods against bacterial spores without toxicity. The objectives of the current study were to optimize two novel formulations with combinations of glycerol, citric acid, and EGCG-P to increase sporicidal activity and explore the rapid inactivation mechanisms and suitability for sporicidal products with broad-spectrum activities against aerobic and anaerobic bacterial spores. Methods included suspension testing of two formulations against spores from Bacillus cereus and Clostridium sporogenes, quantification of spore germination, and scanning electron microscopy. The results demonstrated that these novel formulations were able to reduce spore germination by >99.999% after 30 sec exposure in suspension tests, and rapidly caused physical damage to the spores. Additional studies are warranted to determine the suitability of the novel formulations for future hand hygiene use.

Bioinformatics Review of the Role of HSV-1 in Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the progressive loss of cognitive functions in affected individuals. Brain tissue pathology is associated with the formation of senile plaques which result from the over-production of amyloid β (Aβ), due to the cleavage of a membrane bound glycoprotein. It is unclear what causes AD and its associated pathologies, but age and genetic predisposition play an import role in the likelihood of disease development. Studies have shown that the reactivation of latent herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) infection can lead to the neuropathy of acute herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE), which causes similar symptoms to AD. HSV-1 infection is a known risk factor for the development of AD, but no study has determined a definitive causal relationship. Using the Qiagen Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) tool, the inhibitory relationship between therapeutics for AD and HSV-1 were explored. Thirteen drugs developed to decrease Aβ buildup in AD and 32 drugs that act as HSV antivirals were retrieved from the data in the Qiagen Knowledge Base. These drugs were analyzed displayed as two separate networks. While many promising Aβ aggregation-targeting drugs have been discontinued due to lack of efficacy, HSV drugs could serve as potential therapeutics for those with AD. This review aims to describe new insights on how HSV-1 relates to the development of AD and highlight the mechanism of action of Aβ-related drugs and HSV drugs in the context of AD. With HSV-1 being a likely candidate for the causation of AD, there is a need to study the effects of HSV antiviral drugs on those who have AD.

Modified Green Tea Polyphenols, EGCG-S and LTP, Inhibit Endospore in Three <i>Bacillus</i>spp.

Endospores have the ability to withstand extreme temperature, desiccation, ultraviolet radiation and chemicals which make them a threat to the food and healthcare industry. Green tea polyphenols (GTP), contain anti-microbial and anti-spore properties but not stable. In this study, two modified lipophilic green tea polyphenols, epigallocatechin-3-gallate-sterate (EGCG-S) and crude lipophilic green tea polyphenols (LTP), were used to compare their anti-spore effect with EGCG and crude GTP. Purified endospores from Bacillus cereus (B. cereus), B. megaterium and B. subtilis were treated with 1% or 5% of four tea polyphenols. Log reduction showed colony forming units (CFU) reduced significantly in all treated samples, ranging from 1.27 to 4.31 with no survivals (CFU = 0) in four samples (P < 0.05). Average percentage of inhibition for these poly-phenols treatment ranged from 91.68% to 100%. The EGCG-S and LTP have equal or better anti-spore activities compared with EGCG and GTP. EGCG-S and LTP were further used to carry out time course study on B. cereus. The results indicated that 15 min of treatment of 1% and 5% LTP and EGCG-S are able to inhibit 98.7% to 100% of germination. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy studies showed that EGCG-S caused surface disruption and damaged spores structural integrity. EGCG-S and LTP are stable anti-spore agents may aid in preventing food and beverage spoilage caused by spore-forming bacteria as well as preventing contamination in the medical industry.

Detection and Characterization of the Cyanobacteria and Cyanophages of Barnegat Bay, New Jersey

Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CHAB), caused by eutrophication, are known to threaten both wildlife and human health. Due to urbanization and land use changes, an increase of CHAB’s at a more frequent rate within Barnegat Bay has been observed. In order to detect possible CHAB causing cyanobacteria, water samples were collected from 12 different locations within Barnegat Bay. Each sample was filtered through a 30- and 0.4-μm polycarbonate filter sequentially. Flow cytometry was carried out for the filtrate collected between 0.4- and 30-μm. Chelex DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and gel electrophoresis were then performed for all sites using four primer sets (27F/785R, PSF/UR, CYA359F/CYA781R and MSF/MSR) designed to detect cyanobacteria. Flow cytometric results indicated the water samples contained a wide range of cyanobacteria, including M. aeruginosa, Cylindrospermum spp., Anabaena spp., and Synechococcus sp. IU 625 ranges from 3.16 to 8.17 × 107 cells·L-1. PCR-based assays suggest that general cyanobacteria as well as phytospecific species were present for all sites, but no toxin-producing Microcystis aeruginosa was detected. Plaque assays demonstrated the presence of cyanophages for S. IU 625, Anabaena spp., and M. aeruginosa at all sites, up to 105 PFU·ml-1.

Epigallocatechin Gallate-Stearate Enhances the Efficacy of Antibiotics

Introduction: The rise in antibiotic resistant cases has caused a global concern. Researchers around the world are trying to find a novel alternative to combat this issue. Green tea with its many health benefits, including antibacterial and antiviral activity, has shown to be one of the most promising candidates to be used as an agent to solve this problem. Objective: This study focuses on evaluating the synergistic effects of antibiotics and two green tea polyphenols: epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and its modified lipophilic form epigallocatechin gallate stearate (EGCG-S). Methods: In this study, twelve antibiotics and eight bacteria: Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) and Bacillus megaterium (B. megaterium);Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), Serratia marcescens (S. marcescens), and Enterobacter aerogenes (E. aerogenes);and acid-fast Mycobacterium smegmatis (M. smegmatis) were used. Antibacterial synergism profiling of EGCG, EGCG-S and antibiotics has been established using a disk diffusion assay. Results: The results revealed that both 1% of EGCG and 1% EGCG-S enhanced the antimicrobial activities on antibiotics in various bacteria. Antimicrobial susceptibility study indicated that EGCG-S was able to enhance some antibiotics from the resistant category to intermediate or susceptible and/or from intermediate category to susceptible. Both EGCG and EGCG-S worked comparably on Gram-positive bacteria;in S. aureus, both compounds enhanced 5 antibiotics (AM10, CF30, C30, S10 and TE30) activities while EGCG-S had higher efficiency. B. megaterium were susceptible to most of the antibiotic treatment, thus the impact of EGCG and EGCG-S was insignificant. EGCG-S worked better than EGCG on Gram-negative bacteria;converted 9 antibiotics susceptibility in E. coli and P. aeruginosa, and 8 antibiotics in E. aerogenes. EGCG and EGCG-S also showed synergism on acid-fast bacteria M. smegmatis with EGCG-S has much higher efficiency than EGCG. Conclusion: The results suggested that EGCG-S might be a promising antibacterial synergistic agent with antibiotics to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Kinases: Understanding Their Role in HIV Infection

Antiviral drugs currently on the market primarily target proteins encoded by specific viruses. The drawback of these drugs is that they lack antiviral mechanisms that account for resistance or viral mutation. Thus, there is a pressing need for researchers to explore and investigate new therapeutic agents with other antiviral strategies. Viruses such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) alter canonical signaling pathways to create a favorable biochemical environment for infectivity. We used Qiagen Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) software to review the function of several cellular kinases and the resulting perturbed signaling pathways during HIV infection such as NF-κB signaling. These host cellular kinases such as ADK, PKR, MAP3K11 are involved during HIV infection at various stages of the life cycle. Additionally IPA analysis indicated that these modified host cellular kinases are known to have interactions with each other especially AKT1, a serine/threonine kinase involved in multiple pathways. We present a list of cellular host kinases and other proteins that interact with these kinases. This approach to understanding the relationship between HIV infection and kinase activity may introduce new drug targets to arrest HIV infectivity.