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This study focused on revealing the pharmacognostical marker, viz. histochemical and protein profiles for Avicennia marina (Forssk.) Vierh., Rhizophora mucronata Lam, Excoecaria agallocha L., Suaeda maritima Dumort and Sesuvium portulacastrum L. The proteins of the studied plants were isolated using phosphate buffer and separated using SDS-PAGE. The separated profiles were visualized using silver staining. The results of the histochemical analysis indicated the profuse presence of polyphenols, tannin and lignin in the epidermis and hypodermis of leaves, stem and roots of selected mangroves and halophytes. Lignin, tannin and polyphenols showed their occurrence in large quantities at endodermis, xylem and phloem of leaves, stem and roots. A total of 40 bands with multiple regions of activity with varied MW–Rf values were observed in the SDS-PAGE system of studied mangrove and halophytes.

The speciesLippia sidoidesCham. (Verbenaceae) is utilized in popular medicine as a local antiseptic on the skin and mucosal tissues.Enterococcus faecalisis the bacterium isolated from root canals of teeth with persistent periapical lesions and has the ability to form biofilm, where it is responsible for the failure of endodontic treatments. Essential oil ofL. sidoides(EOLS) and its major component, thymol, were evaluated for reducing the CFU in biofilms ofE. faecalis in vitro. The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and examined with respect to the chemical composition, by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The GC-MS analysis has led to the identification of thymol (84.9%) and p-cymene (5.33%). EOLS and thymol reduced CFU in biofilms ofE. faecalis in vitro(time of maturation, 72 h), with an exposure time of 30 and 60 min at concentrations of 2.5 and 10%. There was no statistical difference in effect between EOLS and thymol, demonstrating that this phenolic monoterpene was the possible compound responsible for the antimicrobial activity of EOLS. This study provides a basis for the possible utilization of EOLS as an adjuvant in the treatment of root canals that show colonization byE. faecalis.

The pharmaceutical industries has launched several new antibiotics in the last decades, however, the resistance against these drugs has increased. The essential oil of Vanillosmopsis arborea Baker (Compositae) was obtained by hydrodistillation and its composition was determined by GC-MS. Alpha-bisabolol was isolated and analyzed by IR spectroscopy and NMR. Alpha-bisabolol enhanced the resistance of Proteus vulgaris ATCC13315 and the essential oil of Vanillosmopsis arborea enhanced the antibiotic activity of gentamicin against Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC15442 using gaseous contact. The results obtained in this investigation indicate that the essential oil of V. arborea and alpha-bisabolol possesses antibacterial modifying activity, suggesting the possibility to investigate the use as enhancers to the antibiotic activity against bacterial pathogens.

Ethnozoological studies have shown that Spilotes pullatus Linn. (Colubridae: Ophidia), is associated with medicinal and magic-religious uses in Brazil.This study was designed to determine the chemical composition of the oil extracted from the body fat of S. pullatus and to test its antimicrobial properties, alone and in association with aminoglycosides, against fungi and bacterial strains in concentrations ranging between 1024 and 0.5 µg/mL.The snakes were collected in the Chapada do Araripe, county of Crato, Ceará State, Brazil. The oil was extracted in a Soxhlet apparatus using hexane. The methyl esters of the fatty acids present in the samples were identified using GC-MS. The antimicrobial and drug modulatory activities of oil were tested by microdilution against fungal and bacterial strains.The chemical composition of the fixed oils of S. pullatus identified 10 constituents representing 94.97% of the total sample. The percentages of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids were 33.59 and 61.38%, respectively, with the most abundant components being elaidic (37.26%). The oil did not demonstrate any antimicrobial or antifungal activity when tested alone, presenting MIC values ≥ 1024 µg/mL. However, when associated with antibiotics, it demonstrated synergistic effects with gentamicin against all the bacterial lineages assayed, and antagonistic effects with amikacin and neomycin against strains of Escherichia coli.Oil extracted from the body fat of S. pullatus did not demonstrate any inhibitory effects on bacterial or fungal activities, but was effective in modulating the effects of certain antibiotics.

Background Staphylococcus genus is widely spread in nature being part of the indigenous microbiota of skin and mucosa of animal and birds. Some Staphylococcus species are frequently recognized as etiological agents of many animal and human opportunistic infections This is the first report testing the antibiotic resistance-modifying activity of Turnera ulmifolia against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus – MRSA strain. Methods In this study an ethanol extract of Turnera ulmifolia L. and chlorpromazine were tested for their antimicrobial activity alone or in combination with aminoglycosides against an MRSA strain. Results The synergism of the ethanol extract and aminoglycosides were verified using microdillution method. A synergistic effect of this extract on gentamicin and kanamycin was demonstrated. Similarly, a potentiating effect of chlorpromazine on kanamycin, gentamicin and neomycin, indicating the involvement of an efflux system in the resistance to these aminoglycosides. Conclusion It is therefore suggested that extracts from Turnera ulmifolia could be used as a source of plant-derived natural products with resistance-modifying activity, constituting a new weapon against the problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics demonstrated in MRSA strains.