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Objectives This study hypothesized that to analyse the anti-inflammatory effect of triterpenoid compound betulin in ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthmatic mice. Methods In this study, betulin was intraperitoneally administered in OVA-challenged and sensitized mice. The effect of betulin on inflammatory cells, lung function, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, antioxidants status, oxidative stress markers, serum IgE level and inflammatory cytokines status in BALF was examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expression of tTG, TGF-β1, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 in lung tissue was scrutinized by RT-qPCR analysis, and the expression of TREM-1, p-IκB-α and NF-κBp65 proteins in lung tissue was examined by western blot analysis. Key findings We found that the betulin treatment has effectively attenuated the proliferation of inflammatory cells, reduced the ROS generation, elevated the antioxidant enzymes and attenuated the level of oxidative markers in asthma induced mice. Moreover, reduced the level of serum IgE and pro-inflammatory cytokines, and increased the anti-inflammatory cytokine IFN-γ. Betulin treatment down-regulated the expression of MMP-9, tTG and TGF-β1 genes; moreover, betulin treatment effectively down-regulated the TREM-1, p-IκB-α and NF-κBp65 proteins level in lung. Conclusion Betulin exhibited effective anti-asthmatic activity by attenuating the accumulation of inflammatory cells, expression of tTG, TGF-β1 and MMP-9 genes in lung tissue.

-phthalate (DEHP) is the phthalate ester frequently utilized as a plasticizer, commonly found in cosmetics, packaging materials; moreover, it has carcinogenic and mutagenic effects on humans. In the current study, we isolated the soil bacterium Rhodococcus sp. PFS1 and to assess its DEHP degradation ability in various environmental conditions. The strain PFS1 was isolated from paddy field soil and identified by the 16S rRNA sequencing analyses. The strain PFS1 was examined for its biodegradation ability of DEHP at various pH, temperature, salt concentration, glucose concentration, and high and low concentrations of DEHP. Moreover, the biodegradation of DEHP at a contaminated soil environment by strain PFS1 was assessed. Further, the metabolic pathway of DEHP degradation by PFS1 was analyzed by HPLC-MS analysis. The results showed that the strain PFS1 effectively degraded the DEHP at neutral pH and temperature 30 °C; moreover, expressed excellent DEHP degradation at the high salt concentration (up to 50 g/L). The strain PFS1 was efficiently degraded the different tested phthalate esters (PAEs) up to 90%, significantly removed the DEHP contamination in soil along with native organisms which are present in soil up to 94.66%; nevertheless, the PFS1 alone degraded the DEHP up to 87.665% in sterilized soil. According to HPLC-MS analysis, DEHP was degraded into phthalate (PA) by PFS1 strain via mono(2ethylehxyl) phthalate (MEHP); then PA was utilized for cell growth. These results suggest that Rhodococcus sp. PFS1 has excellent potential to degrade DEHP at various environmental conditions especially in contaminated paddy field soil.

Nosocomial infections or Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) influence the clinical outcomes in hospital in-patients and indicate a serious global concern in medicine. Fomites of hospital environments carry a deadly pathogen and transmit infectious diseases. The emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the hospital environment has increased due to misuse and/or overuse of antibiotics. The present study was aimed to evidence the MDR bacterial pathogens from the fomites of the hospital environment. The study was conducted in Acute care hospital, in Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu, India. Totally 65 samples were collected from the different areas of the hospital including Operation Theatre (OT), Orthopaedics Surgery (OS), Wound and emergency Unit (WEU), Intensive care unit (ICU), Dialysis Unit (DU), Special Ward (SW) from March 2022 to September 2022 and the samples were processed for the isolation of bacteria using Nutrient agar, Macconkey agar and Blood agar. Totally 84 isolates were identified in that 48 and 36 isolates were gram positive and gram-negative respectively. Bacillus spp, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus spp, Micrococcus spp, E. coli, Salmonella spp and the proteus spp. were the common isolates of this study and most of them showed multidrug resistance. In gram-positive isolates Bacillus spp. (22%) was dominant followed by Staphylococcus aureus (21%) and in gram-negative bacterial isolates Salmonella spp. (17%) were dominant followed by E.coli (16%). Among the bacterial isolates, 18% showed multidrug resistance (MDR) followed by 3% and 2% of XDR and PDR respectively. All the studied surfaces of the hospital carried minimum bacterial contamination. So more hygienic practices and effective disinfection practices should be implemented in the studied hospital to prevent the spread of nosocomial infections.

The herbal-based drug isolation-related research has increased recently around the globe. Accordingly, the current study was designed to evaluate the phytochemical content of ethanol extract of Martynia annua and its chitosan nanoparticles (MA-CNPs) antibacterial activity against bacterial pathogens such as Bacteroides fragilis, Streptococcus oralis MTCC 2696, Propionibacterium acnes MTCC 1951, Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 424, Staphylococcus aureus MTCC 2940, E. coli MTCC 443, Bacillus cereus MTCC 441, Streptococcus mutans MTCC 890, Aeromonas hydrophila MTCC 12301, and Streptococcus faecalis by agar well diffusion methods. The obtained results showed that the ethanol extract of M. annua contains more pharmaceutically valuable phytochemicals than other solvent extracts and its mediated chitosan nanoparticles showed effective antibacterial activities. The ethanol extract also effectively reduced, capped, and stabilized the chitosan into MA-CNPs. The green synthesized MA-CNPs were characterized and confirmed through UV-visible spectrophotometer, FT-IR, SEM, and DLS analyses. The MA-CNPs exhibited considerable antibacterial activity in the order of Bacteroides fragilis > Streptococcus oralis > Propionibacterium acnes > Pseudomonas aeruginosa > Staphylococcus aureus > E. coli > Bacillus cereus > Streptococcus mutans > Aeromonas hydrophila> Streptococcus faecalis. Finally, the results strongly recommended that the ethanol extract of M. annua-mediated chitosan nanoparticles could be considered an effective nanomaterial to control microbial pathogens. Further, therapeutical uses of MA-CNPs need in vitro and in vivo investigation.