BackgroundAcute toxoplasmosis in pregnant women presents a high risk of Toxoplasma transmission to the fetus. Early diagnosis is difficult, especially when serological testing for IgG/IgM antibodies fail to differentiate between a recent and a past infection. In this case, we rely on IgG avidity or PCR assays.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to compare conventional ELISA and IgG avidity, with PCR using B1 and P30 primers for the early diagnosis of toxoplasmosis in pregnant women.MethodsSera were collected from 143 pregnant women and measured by ELISA for anti-Toxoplasma IgG, IgM, IgA and IgG avidity. DNA was extracted from 57 peripheral blood and 14 amniotic fluid samples for PCR amplification.ResultsA total of 57 out 143 women were seropositive: 30 (52.6%) were IgG+/IgM− and 27 (43.8%) were IgG+/IgM+; IgA antibodies were positive in 7 (12.2%) cases. IgG avidity was low in 9 women suggesting an acute infection; 3 women presented an intermediate avidity. PCR detected Toxoplasma DNA in 9 women presenting low avidity and was negative for the intermediate avidity cases.ConclusionPCR combined to avidity IgG performed better than ELISA IgG, IgM and/or IgA assays alone. PCR was useful in the case of intermediate avidity.

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Several new sulfamidocarbonyloxyphosphonates were prepared in two steps, namely carbamoylation and sulfamoylation, by using chlorosulfonyl isocyanate (CSI), α-hydroxyphosphonates, and various amino derivatives and related (primary or secondary amines, β-amino esters, and oxazolidin-2-ones). All structures were confirmed by 1H, 13C, and 31P NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, and mass spectroscopy, as well as elemental analysis. Eight compounds were evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial activity against four reference bacteria including Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), and Gram-negative Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Klebsiella pneumonia (ATCC 700603), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), in addition to three clinical strains of each studied bacterial species. Compounds 1a–7a and 1b showed significant antibacterial activity compared to sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, the reference drug used in this study.

Background:The Pharmaceutical companies are very interested in the discovery of new natural bioactive molecules with an impoortant effect and less toxicity, in order to replace old drugs, especially antibiotics which had lost their effectiveness following the spread of multi-resistant bacteria. This study was aimed to investigate, in vitro, some extracts (aqueous extracts, oily extracts and essential oils) of arabic and myrrh gums, plant exudates commonly used in folk medicine for treating several diseases. Materials and Methods: The antimicrobial activity against clinical bacterial and fungal strains was carried out using disk diffusion and broth dilution methods. Cytotoxic activity was mesured using the brine shrimp lethality bioassay determining the LC 50 and genotoxic activity by the preincubation Ames Test using Salmonella strains TA100, TA98 and TA1535 treated with or without the metabolic activation (S9 fraction). Results: An interesting antimicrobial activity was demonstrated, especilly against Gram negative strains. Inhibition zones vary between 16 and 30 mm and MIC's values between 15.62 and 250 μg/ml. All the tested extracts exhibited a bactericidal activity.The arabic gum extracts showed no cytotoxic effect with LC 50 > 100 µg/ml. Myrrh gum extracts showed a significant toxicity to the brine shrimp nauplii with LC 50 < 100 µg/ml. Results of the Ames test indicated that all tested extracts did not possess genotoxic potential. Conclusion: Our study highlighted the antimicrobial potential of gums extracts, making them an excellent drug candidates against resistant pathogens.