In the clinical field, the most important form of toxic hepatic injury is caused by therapeutic agents. Drug-induced liver injury is the most frequent reason for the withdrawal of an approved drug from the market, and it is also responsible for more than 50% of cases of acute liver failure in the United States.1) More than 600 drugs have been associated with hepatotoxicity, and there are now a number of reports that reactive metabolites formed from drugs such as acetaminophen, tamoxifen, diclofenac, and troglitazone are known to cause hepatotoxicity. 2)Cisplatin (cis-diamminedichloroplatinum [II]) is one of the most effective antineoplastic drugs, and it is particularly used for the treatment of ovarian, testicular and head and neck cancers. 3,4) In spite of its chemotherapeutic activity, various adverse effects, including renal dysfunction, nausea and vomiting, myelosuppression, ototoxicity, and nephrotoxicity, associated with its clinical use are well known. 5) Among them, nephrotoxicity is frequent and a major limitation to the use of this drug. Several mechanisms, including oxidative stress, inflammation, genotoxic damage, and cell cycle arrest, have been examined in cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. [6][7][8] However, cisplatin-induced liver toxicity and the mechanisms have been little studied, except for some clinical reports. 9-11)Myristica fragrans HOUTT. (Myristicaceae) is a perennial herb native to Indonesia and cultivated in South Africa, the Molucca Islands, India and other tropical areas. Its fruits, commonly known as mace (outer husk) or nutmeg (inner seed or kernel), has been used traditionally for spice and also possesses carminative, astringent, hypolipidaemic, antithrombotic, antiplatelet aggregation, antifungal, aphrodisiac, anxiogenic, antidiarrheal and anti-inflammatory activities.12-14) Macelignan (Fig. 1) isolated from M. fragrans has been reported to have antioxidant activity and cause alteration in hepatic enzyme activities, [15][16][17] however, the protective effect of macelignan against hepatotoxicity has not yet been examined.The objective of the current study was to examine the protective effects of macelignan on cisplatin-induced hepatotoxicity. For this purpose, we evaluated the levels of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Several studies have reported that cisplatin activity is related to the cascades of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) including c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs, also referred to as stress-activated protein kinases, SAPK), extracellular signal-regulated kinases (EKRs), and p38 kinases. 18,19) Accordingly, we examined whether the protective activity of macelignan against cisplatin-induced hepatotoxicity is associated with the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. (Fig. 1) was isolated from Myristica fragrans HOUTT. (Myristicaceae) as described previously. 20) Dried seed kernels (100 g) of Myristica fragrans were ground and extracted twice with 75% aqueous methanol (400 ml, v/v) for 24 h at room te...

Xanthomonas campestris pv. glycines is the causal agent of bacterial pustule disease of soybeans. The objective of this work was to construct a nonpathogenic mutant derived from the pathogenic wild-type strain YR32 and to evaluate its effectiveness in preventing growth of its parent on the soybean phyllosphere. A mini-Tn5-derived transposon was used to generate nonpathogenic mutants. Southern hybridization and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis confirmed the presence of a single transposon in each of the nonpathogenic mutants. One of the nonpathogenic mutants, M715, failed to induce a hypersensitive response in tomato leaves. An ice nucleation gene (inaZ) carried in pJL1703 was introduced into strain YR32 as a reporter gene to demonstrate that the presence of M715 could reduce colonization of the soybean phyllosphere by YR32. de Wit serial replacement analysis showed that M715 competed equally with its wild-type parental strain, YR32. Epiphytic fitness analysis of YR32 in the greenhouse indicated that the population dynamics of strains YR32, YR32(pJL1703), and M715 were similar, although the density of the mutant was slightly less than that of its parent. The M715 mutant was able to survive for 16 days after inoculation on soybean leaves and maintained population densities of approximately 10 4 to 10 5 cells g (fresh weight) of leaf ؊1 . Therefore, M715 shows promise as an effective biocontrol agent for bacterial pustule disease in soybeans.

Sweatings, the exudates that leach out from fermenting fruits during rambutan fruit fermentation are considered as a waste by-product and are allowed to be drained off. This could lead to a pollution problem. Besides, it is a waste if the sweatings are possible to be transformed into food products and ingredients. However, prior transformation, the fundamental knowledge of the sweatings should be understood. Hence, the main aim of this study was to investigate the physicochemical properties of sweatings as affected by fermentation time and turning intervals during natural fermentation of rambutan fruits. In this study, peeled rambutan fruit was fermented for 8 days and turned. Different batches of the fruits were turned every 24, 48 or 72 h and sweatings from the process were collected and analyzed. The results showed that fermentation time significantly reduced (p<0.05) the yield, pH and sucrose content of the sweatings by 79-84%, 32-33%, 76.5-80.8%, respectively. Fermentation time also significantly increased (p<0.05) the titratable acidity, total soluble solids, fructose, glucose, total sugar, citric acid, lactic acid, acetic acid and ascorbic acid contents of the sweatings by 5

Microorganisms such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa have always been adaptable in surviving the harsh environment such as antimicrobial agents via the quorum sensing (QS) mechanism. Studies have shown that quorum sensing mechanism cases have been highly associated with foodborne illnesses. Since synthetic compounds such as azithromycin (AZM) are reported to have detrimental effects on human, using medicinal local plants have been gaining attention as an anti-quorum agent. The aim of this study was to determine the anti-quorum sensing activity of the Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb. extract against P. aeruginosa ATCC35554 quorum sensing system including swarming motility, pyocyanin production and biofilm formation. The results indicated that the extract required a high concentration to inhibit and kill the P. aeruginosa with minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values of 200 and >700 mg/mL, respectively. Thus, anti-quorum sensing assays were done in concentration up to 200 mg/mL. The inhibition of quorum sensing activity of C. xanthorrhiza Roxb. extract on P. aeruginosa quorum sensing was concentration dependent manner. At 200 mg/mL of the extract exhibited 72.12% reduction of swarming motility, 84.30% inhibition of the pyocyanin production and 78.35% reduction in the biofilm formation. In conclusion the crude extract of C. xanthorrhiza Roxb. extract has ability to reduce the virulence factors; swarming motility, pyocyanin production and biofilm formation regulated by quorum sensing. Thus, the extract C. xanthorrhiza Roxb. extract has anti-quorum sensing or quorum quenching activity.

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