Resistance of Helicobacter pylori to antibiotics from 2000 to 2009 in Shanghai

AIM: To investigate the resistance of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori ) to 6 commonly used antibiotics from 2000 to 2009 in Shanghai. METHODS: A total of 293 H. pylori strains were collected from 2000 to 2009 in Shanghai and tested for their susceptibility to metronidazole, clarithromycin, amoxicillin, furazolidone, levofloxacin and tetracycline using agar dilution. RESULTS: The resistant rates of H. pylori to clarithromycin (8.6%, 9.0% and 20.7%) and levofloxacin (10.3%, 24.0% and 32.5%) increased from 2000 to 2009 in Shanghai. The resistant rate of H. pylori to metronidazole remained stable (40%-50%). Only one strain of H. pylori isolated in 2005 was resistant to tetracycline. All strains were sensitive to amoxicillin and furazolidone.The resistant rate of H. pylori to antibiotics was not related with the sex, age and clinical outcome of patients. CONCLUSION: Resistance of H. pylori to antibiotics plays an important role in making treatment strategies against H. pylori -associated diseases.

Phytochemical screening and in vitro evaluation of antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Kedrostis africana(L.)Cogn

Objective: To investigate phytochemical, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Kedrostis africana(K. africana).Methods: Dried tubers of K. africana were extracted in acetone, water and ethanol. The total phenol, flavonoid, proanthocyanidin and tannin contents were determined spectrometrically. The antioxidant activity was examined using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl,2,2’-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) diammonium salt, nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide assays. The antimicrobial activity was determined by agar dilution method using minimum inhibitory concentration against 3 g positive and three gram negative strains while four fungal strains were also investigated.Results: Total phenol, flavonoids, proanthocyanidin and tannin contents ranged from(5.32 ± 0.01) to(10.51 ± 0.01) mg GAE/g;(42.58 ± 0.02) to(529.23 ± 0.01) mg QE/g;(15.05 ± 0.00) to(585.64 ± 0.00) mg CE/g and(0.301 ± 0.010) to(0.937 ± 0.000) mg TAE/g, respectively. The IC_(50) values of the ethanol extract for 2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) and hydrogen peroxide were 0.054 and 0.057 mg/mL,respectively, aqueous extract had an IC_(50) value of 0.135 7 mg/mL for nitric oxide while the acetone extract had an IC_(50) value of 0.300 mg/mL for 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl.The ethanol extract demonstrated effective antimicrobial activity against the tested pathogenic species with minimum inhibitory concentrations values ranging from 2.5–5.0 mg/mL for bacteria and(0.312 5–5.000 0) mg/mL for fungi, respectively.Conclusions: The tuber of K. africana showed potent free radical scavenging property and antimicrobial activity.