Plants of two species of Actinidia genus grown in an adverse steppe climate were examined in terms of secondary metabolites’ accumulation, antioxidant potential, and antimicrobial ability. The aim of the work was to reveal whether the introduced plants A. arguta and A. polygama retain their well-known health benefits. Total content of polyphenols (549.2 and 428.1 mg GAE/100 g FW, respectively), flavonoids, and phenolic acids as well as total antioxidant activity and reducing power of the fruit isopropanol extracts were found to be equal or even higher than the reported data on kiwifruit varieties cultivated in China and other regions. Antioxidant potential and phenolic compounds’ content in the fruit peel of both species were higher when compared to pulp, while corresponding indices of leaves exceeded those of the fruit. Disc-diffusion assays showed low to moderate antibacterial activity of A. arguta and A. polygama fruit and leaf extracts against collection Gram-negative and Gram-positive strains. Clinical strains of P. aeruginosa and E. coli resistant to the action of ofloxacin were notably inhibited by A. arguta and A. polygama fruit and leaf crude extracts. Inhibiting effects of plant extracts on clinical strains of K. pneumoniae and A. baumannii were comparable with the effect of ofloxacin. GC-MS assays identified 23 and 36 chemical constituents, respectively in A. arguta and A. polygama fruit isopropanol extracts. The main compounds in both extracts were 2-propenoic acid, pentadecyl ester followed by squalene, 7,9-di-tert-butyl-1-oxaspiro(4,5)deca-6,9-dien-2,8-dione, octadecanoic acid, 2-oxo-methyl ester, ethyl-isoallocholate, and phytol having known bioactivities. Our findings confirmed the preservation of useful properties by the introduced plants and also indicated the rich health-promoting abilities and expedience of cultivating A. arguta and A. polygama in a steppe climate.

Currently, the problem of the development of resistance to drugs among microorganisms that colonize the urogenital system is becoming especially relevant due to broadly distributed dysbiotic conditions of the reproductive system of men and women. Therefore, there should be constant monitoring of the qualitative and quantitative composition of microbiota of the urogential tract and determination of the levels of antibiotic-resistance of strains of conditionally pathogenic microorganisms in the reproductive system of various layers of the population. We monitored 774,375 people of various age and sex – patients of the independent diagnostic laboratory INVITRO in the city Dnipro in 2017–2019. Among the examined people, 640,783 of the patients were diagnosed with the development of dysbiotic disorders, accounting for 82.7% of the total amount of the applications for medical help. According to the results of identification of the range of dysbiotic conditions of the urogenital system of patients of different ages and sexes, we determined the dominating role of facultative anaerobes in the development of dysbiotic impairments caused by colonizations by large numbers of conditionally-pathogenic microorganisms: in women, Gardnerella accounted for 86.1%, Staphylococcus – 63.2%, Streptococcus – 54.1%, Candida – 69.3%; in men, Streptococcus were found in 83.0%, Staphylococcus – 79.4%, Corynebacterium – 54.2% and Candida – 37.6% of the cases. Share of obligate anaerobes was also quite large: women were diagnosed with Prevotella in 59.7%, Peptostreptococcus in 53.2%, Fusobacterium in 45.4% of the cases cases; men were observed to have Peptostreptococcus 62.4%, Clostridium in 54.3%, Bacteroides in 32.5% of the cases. We determined high parameters of frequency of diagnosing antibiotic-resistant isolates of conditionally pathogenic microorganisms that circulate in the urogenital tract of patients with dysbiotic impairments, belonging to the following families: Mycoplasmataceae – 78.6%, Enterobacteriaceae – 56.0% and genera – Staphylococcus – 76.1%, Gardnerella – 24.3%, Corynebacterium – 21.2%. The research revealed increase in the frequency of detection of strains of urapathogenic bacteria resistant to the applied antibiotic preparations in 2018–2019 compared with the data of 2017: increases of 10.3% and 6.4% in representatives of family Mycoplasmataceae resistant to ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin respectively, 4.8% and 4.0% in Enterobacteriaceae resistant to chloramphenicol and ampicillin respectively, and 8.9% in the genus Staphylococcus resistant to vancomycin.

The problem of nosocomial infections is considered in connection with more frequent formation and wide distribution in clinical practice of new strains of hospital bacteria that have a cross-resistence to antibacterial drugs. The nosocomial agents were isolated from wounds and identified as Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. 72.0% of S. aureus strains and 61.5% of P. aeruginosa clinical isolates had the capability of forming biofilms. The sensitivity to antibiotics of all isolated strains was investigated with tne agar diffusion test. This method showed that all strains of S. aureus with the capability to form biofilms had resistence to erythromycin, gentamycin, ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin. The had the greatest sensitivity to klindamycin (90.3%), vancomycin (80.6%) and gatifloxacin (80.6% cultures). The strains of S. aureus with the capability to form biofilms were more resistent to antibiotics than strains of S. aureus without such properties. Only cefotaxim suppressed the growth of 75.0% of strains of staphylococci. All isolated strains of S. aureus without the capability to form biofilms were sensitive to doxycyclin, gentamycin, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin and klindamycin. All clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa with capability to form biofilms had resistence to ampicillin, gentamycin, imipenem, cefotaxime and ceftriaxone. They were most sensitive (75.0%) to piperacillin and cefoperazone/sulbactam. The strains of P. aeruginosa without the capability to form biofilms kept the resistence to gentamycin, imipenem and ceftriaxone. They showed the greatest sensitivity (75.0%) to ciprofloxacin (80.0% isolates) and also to amikacin, ampicillin, meropenem, norfloxacin and cefotaxime (60.0% cultures). We investigated the minimum inhibitory concentrations of gentamycin and ciprofloxacin, which appeared higher for P. aeruginosa than for S. aureus. The most effective disinfectant against all isolated nosocomial agents without the capacity for biofilm formation was “Desactin” in a concentration 0.1% or 0.2%. For strains of staphylococci with this capability, the efficiency of “Desactin” went down by 9.7%. The best biocide effect against the strains of P. aeruginosa with the capability of forming biofilms was shown by 0.1% solution of “Neochlorine tabs”, which suppressed the growth of 75.0% of tested cultures. As a result, we detected a direct relationship between resistance to antibiotics and disinfectants and the capacities for biofilm formation among the nosocomial agents S. aureus and P. aeruginosa.

В умоваõ мікровеãетаційноãо досëіду на проросткаõ озимої пшениці встановëе� но, що ступінь виживання фосфатмобіëізуючиõ бактерій Enterobacter dissolvens і Pseudomonas putida при куëьтивуванні їõ у середовищі із сëабкорозчинним трикаëьційфосфатом є значно вищим, у порівнянні з середовищем із розчин� ним фосфатом (КН 2 РО 4). Досëідним куëьтурам вëастива висока адãезивна здатність до коренів пшениці, вони накопичуються у титраõ, біëьшиõ за 5,7 lg КУО на 1 ã коренів. Встановëено, що штам P. putida біëьш активно коëонізував корені проростків пшениці, ніж E. dissolvens, що õарактерно дëя бактерій цьоãо роду. К ë ю ч о в і с ë о в а : фосфатмобіëізуючі бактерії, мікровеãетаційний метод, коëонізація коренів.

This article presents a study of monitoring the spread of antibiotic-resistant strains of sanitary-indicative microflora of food products sold on the consumer market of Dnipropetrovsk region. The increase of population in the world leads to an increase in the quality of livestock and poultry products. World experience shows that it is impossible to abandon the use of antibiotics in the rearing of pigs, cattle and poultry. Firstly, it is related to therapeutic and preventive measures in the fight against various diseases. Secondly, due to biochemical transformations in muscle fibers with the participation of antibiotics, consumer quality indicators (color, consistency) and technological quality indicators (moisture-absorbing and moisture-retaining ability) are improved. Therefore, livestock products can be one of the sources of sanitary microflora entering into the human body. In addition to the ability to cause an infectious process due to the synthesis of various pathogenic factors, including enzymes, toxins, adhesion substances, etc., in the sanitary-indicative microflora there is interstitial, intraspecific and intergeneric transfer of antibiotic resistance genes. This contributes to the emergence of cultures with acquired resistance to antibiotics and the formation of multi-resistant variants. Elimination of such strains from the human body will present certain difficulties. It was found that in the studied samples of milk and dairy products, as well as meat and offal of cattle and poultry, representatives of coliform bacteria, staphylococci and enterococci were less common. The isolated strains of sanitary-indicative microflora were the most resistant to ampicillin, oxacillin, tetracycline and doxycillin. 10 strains of S. aureus and 7 strains of S. epidermidiswas classified as MRSA and MRSE, respectively. Five of them were resistant to vancomycin and three to linezolid. Among the isolated cultures of enterococci were strains that were resistant to 5-6 or more drugs simultaneously. Of the bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae, the ability to synthesize extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) was detected in 18 cultures, which accounted for 25.0 % of the total number of opportunistic enterobacteria. The ESBL strains of bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae differed from other isolates by resistance to at least 4 antibiotics, among which at least one belonged to the group of thirdgeneration cephalosporins. 7 strains of Escherichia coli, two strains of P. vulgaris and three strains of K. pneumoniae were characterized by resistance to 6 or more tested drugs.