Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a threat to the prevention and treatment of the increasing range of infectious diseases. There is therefore the need for renewed efforts into antimicrobial discovery and development to combat the menace. The antimicrobial activity of plumbagin isolated from roots of Plumbago zeylanica against selected organisms was evaluated for resistance modulation antimicrobial assay, time-kill kinetics assay, and inhibition of biofilm formation. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of plumbagin and standard drugs were determined via the broth microdilution method to be 0.5 to 8 μg/mL and 0.25–128 μg/mL, respectively. In the resistance modulation study, MICs of the standard drugs were redetermined in the presence of subinhibitory concentration of plumbagin (4 μg/mL), and plumbagin was found to either potentiate or reduce the activities of these standard drugs with the highest potentiation recorded up to 12-folds for ketoconazole against Candida albicans. Plumbagin was found to be bacteriostatic and fungistatic from the time-kill kinetics study. Plumbagin demonstrated strong inhibition of biofilm formation activity at concentrations of 128, 64, and 32 μg/mL against the test microorganisms compared with ciprofloxacin. Plumbagin has been proved through this study to be a suitable lead compound in antimicrobial resistance drug development.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected populations globally, including Ghana. Knowledge of the COVID-19 disease, and the application of preventive public health interventions are pivotal to its control. Besides a lockdown, measures taken against the spread of the virus include the wearing of face masks, social distancing, regular hand washing with soap and, more recently, vaccination against the virus. In order to establish a possible link between the knowledge of the disease and compliance with preventive measures, including vaccination, a cross-sectional study employing an interview-structured questionnaire was conducted in six regions of Ghana (n = 1560). An adequate level of knowledge of COVID-19 (69.9%) was reported. The linear multiple regression analysis further explicated the differences in the knowledge of COVID-19 among the respondents by their knowledge of cholera and influenza (adjusted R-Square = 0.643). Despite this profound knowledge of the illness, two thirds of the respondents were unwilling to follow basic preventive measures and only 35.3% were willing to be vaccinated. Amazingly, neither knowledge of COVID-19 nor the socio-demographic characteristics had any meaningful influence on the practice of preventive measures. Personal attitude leading to efficient public compliance with preventive measures, therefore, is a critical issue demanding special attention and effective interventions by the government and locals with authority to curb the spread of the pandemic which surpasses the traditional channels of public health communication. This includes a roll-out of persuasion, possibly including public figures and influencers, and in any case, a balanced and open discussion addressing the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine in order to avoid new variants and comparable problems currently facing many countries of Western Europe. Indeed, a profound hesitancy against vaccination may turn African countries such as Ghana for many years into hotspots of new viral variants.

There has been an increasing interest in the search for colour indicators of natural origin for titrimetric analysis. This is due to some challenges associated with the currently used synthetic ones. This study evaluates and validates the acid-base indicator property of plumbagin isolated from Plumbago zeylanica Linn. Plumbagin (5-hydroxy-2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone) was isolated from the roots of Plumbago zeylanica Linn using silica gel chromatography and characterized using spectroscopic methods in comparison with those reported in the literature. Its acid-base indicator property was evaluated alongside phenolphthalein and methyl orange, after it was found to exhibit a sharp change in colour at various pH ranges. The plumbagin indicator was successfully used to assay ibuprofen powder and tablets (400 mg) using the British Pharmacopoeia (2013) method. Data obtained were analyzed statistically by Student’s t-test and one-way ANOVA in GraphPad Prism (version 5.01, 2010). Analysis of the use of the plumbagin indicator in acid-base titrations between strong acids and strong bases and between weak acids and strong bases has been evaluated and validated according to the ICH guidelines. Plumbagin use in ibuprofen powder and tablets has also been verified. Plumbagin has been validated for use as an indicator suitable for different acid-base titrations and the analysis of ibuprofen.

A hybrid of six (6) 4-hydroxyindole azo compounds was synthesised by the diazotization and coupling strategy via electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction. Characterisation by Infrared and UV-Vis spectroscopic studies was carried out and the antimicrobial activity and structure-activity relationship were explored. Amongst the compounds, 4d was the most active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa than the other organisms from the high-throughput spot culture growth inhibition (HTSPOTi) antimicrobial assay. According to the resistant modulation study, the compounds did not show significant activity against the panel of pathogens used. Furthermore, compounds 4a and 4f inhibited biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus at 70% (31.25 µg/mL) and 57% (125 (µg/mL) respectively. Additionally, 4c and 4e have biofilm inhibition potential against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus which are implicated in antimicrobial resistance. Hence, the compounds are promising leads with potential to be developed into new antibacterial agents to combat the menace of antimicrobial resistance.

A series of 10-aryl substituted azo dyes were synthesized by coupling of β-naphthol, catechol, and quinol with different aromatic amines. The synthetic compounds were screened for their in vitro antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities. The characterization of the synthesized compounds was carried out by UV, IR, 1H NMR and Mass spectroscopy. 13C NMR was employed to confirm the structural identity of some of the compounds.  After screening for the presence of antimicrobial constituents in the azo compounds using HTSPOTi culture method, quinol compounds 7 [(E)-2(2nitrophenyl) diazenyl) benzene-1,4-diol] and 10 [(E)-2-(3-nitrophenyl) diazinyl) benzene-1,4-diol] were the most active in terms of broad spectrum activity against  Gram-positives [Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Streptococcus pyrogenes (clinical strain), Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212)],, Gram-negatives [Salmonella typhi (clinical strain), Escherichia coli (ATCC 251922)] and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853)  and the Candida albicans at minimum inhibitory concentrations of 15.63-31.25 µg/mL. A quinol derivative, [(E)-2-(2nitrophenyl) diazinyl) benzene-1, 4-diol], exhibited the best anti-inflammatory activity in the heat-denatured egg albumin assay. Compounds [ethyl (Z)-4-(3-hydroxynapthalen-1-yl (diazinyl) benzoate] and (E)-2-((3-nitrophenyl) diazenyl) benzene-1,4-diol showed high DPPH free radical scavenging activity during the antioxidant assay.