Anticandidal activity of curcumin and methyl cinnamaldehyde

Cinnamaldehyde, its derivatives and curcumin are reported to have strong antifungal activity. In this work we report and compare anticandidal activity of curcumin (CUR) and α-methyl cinnamaldehyde (MCD) against 38 strains of Candida (3; standard, fluconazole sensitive, 24; clinical, fluconazole sensitive, 11; clinical, fluconazole resistant). The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC₉₀) of CUR ranged from 250 to 650 μg/ml for sensitive strains and from 250 to 500 μg/ml for resistant strains. MIC₉₀ of MCD varied between 100 and 250 μg/ml and 100–200 μg/ml for sensitive and resistant strains, respectively. Higher activity of MCD as compared to CUR was further reinforced by spot assays and growth curve studies. At their respective MIC₉₀ values, in the presence of glucose, average inhibition of H⁺-efflux caused by CUR and MCD against standard, clinical and resistant isolates was 24%, 31%, 32% and 54%, 52%, 54%, respectively. Inhibition of H⁺-extrusion leads to intracellular acidification and cell death, average pHi for control, CUR and MCD exposed cells was 6.68, 6.39 and 6.20, respectively. Scanning electron micrographs of treated cells show more extensive damage in case of MCD. Haemolytic activity of CUR and MCD at their highest MIC was 11.45% and 13.00%, respectively as against 20% shown by fluconazole at typical MIC of 30 μg/ml. In conclusion, this study shows significant anticandidal activity of CUR and MCD against both azole-resistant and sensitive clinical isolates, MCD is found to be more effective.     

Vaccination of ducks with recombinant outer membrane protein (OmpA) and a 41 kDa partial protein (P45N') of Riemerella anatipestifer.

The generation of protective immunity against Riemerella anatipestifer infection in ducks were investigated by immunizations with recombinant glutathione sulfatransferase (GST) fusion's proteins of OmpA, a 42kDa major outer membrane protein, and P45N', a 41kDa N-terminal fragment of a newly identified 45kDa potential surface protein from R. anatipestifer. The DNA encoding OmpA and P45N' were isolated from R. anatipestifer serotype 15 (field strain 110/89) and serotype 19 (reference strain 30/90), respectively. Immunoblotting and ELISA results showed that the purified recombinant proteins induced the production of antibodies in immunized ducks. However, neither was protective against subsequent challenge with the virulent serotype 15 strain, 34/90. All the five ducks immunized with formalinized R. anatipestifer strain 34/90 survived the challenge with the homologous strain whereas six out of seven ducks in the non-immunized control group died within a week following the challenge.     

Dietary ascorbic acid requirement for growth of striped catfish,Pangasianodon hypophthalmus (Sauvage, 1878) juveniles

A sixty‐day feeding trial was conducted to determine the ascorbic acid (AA) requirement for growth of striped catfish, Pangasianodon hypophthalmus juveniles. Seven iso‐nitrogenous and iso‐energetic (370 g protein per kg and 19.6 MJ/kg) purified diets were prepared with different levels of ascorbic acid such as control (0), T₁ (17.5), T₂ (35), T₃ (70), T₄ (175), T₅ (350) and T₆ (700) mg ascorbic acid (L‐ascorbyl‐2‐polyphosphate) equivalent per kg diet. Fish with a mean body weight of 3.2–3.4 g were stocked (fifteen fish per tank) in triplicates following a completely randomized design. Each group was fed to satiation twice a day for 60 days. Significant differences were observed in growth, survival, body composition and metabolic enzymes activities with different dietary ascorbic acid levels. Maximum weight gain, specific growth rate (SGR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) were found in fishes fed with 35 mg AA per kg diet, supported by best feed conversion. Fish fed a diet containing vitamin C had the highest activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) compared to those fed with vitamin C‐depleted diets. In this study, based on using broken‐line regression analysis, the dietary vitamin C requirement for growth of P. hypophthalmus juveniles was estimated to be in the range of 46–76 mg AA per kg, depending on the criterion used, growth and liver storage. Our results will be helpful for the formulation of cost‐effective ascorbic acid incorporated diets for striped catfish, P. hypophthalmus.