Antibacterial and antifungal activity of Indonesian ethnomedical plants

Methylene chloride and methanol extracts of 20 Indonesian plants with ethnomedical uses have been assessed for in vitro antibacterial and antifungal properties by disk diffusion method. Extracts of the six plants: Terminalia catappa, Swietenia mahagoni Jacq., Phyllanthus acuminatus, Ipomoea spp., Tylophora asthmatica and Hyptis brevipes demonstrated high activity in this bioassay system. These findings should stimulate the search for novel, natural product such as new antibacterial and antifungal agents.     

Partition chromatographic separation of pesticide residues from fats.

A simple, rapid, and efficient partitioning column consisting of acetonitrile on Florisil has been developed for the separation of pesticides from fish, beef, and butter fat. The efficiency of the cleanup column is between 97 and 100%. Nine pesticides having partition coefficients between n-hexane and acetonitrile of less than or equal to 0.05 were satisfactorily separated from fat with good recoveries. When the column was used to clean up temephos in a fish extract, 99.91% of the fat was eluted with 20 ml n-hexane with no loss of the pesticide.     

Soil phosphorus fractions after 111 years of animal manure and fertilizer applications

Accumulated soil P in agricultural soils is a major source of soluble and particulate forms of P entering water resources and degrading water quality. However, few research sites are currently available to evaluate the long-term effects of different cropping systems and fertility practices on soil inorganic and organic P accumulation. The objectives of this study were: (1) to compare the forms and quantity of different inorganic and organic soil P fractions in plots on Sanborn Field, which has been cultivated for 111 years; and (2) to assess the use of standard soil test P extractants for determining changes in soil P dynamics over time. A modified sequential P extraction procedure was used to separate labile and stable inorganic and organic P pools from surface soils collected on Sanborn Field in 1915, 1938, 1962, and 1999 from plots in continuous corn, continuous wheat, continuous timothy, and a corn-wheat-clover rotation amended with either manufactured fertilizers, horse or dairy manure or receiving no fertilization since 1888. Additional samples were collected from a native grass prairie site of a similar soil series to estimate soil characteristics at Sanborn Field before initial cultivation in 1888. Observed accumulation of Bray-1 P among fertilizer and manure treatments was attributed to over-application of P due to unrealistically high yield goals for each cropping system. Long-term cultivation of Sanborn Field increased soil bulk density and lowered soil pH and total organic C compared with native prairie. Fertilization either by addition of manufactured fertilizer or manure significantly increased inorganic resin-P and inorganic NaOH-extractable P. Applications of animal manure also significantly increased most organic P fractions compared with the unfertilized treatment. The native prairie had a larger proportion of total P in organic forms compared with cultivated plots, especially in organic NaOH-extractable P, but no significant decreases in either residual or total P were observed due to cultivation. This study confirms that soil P availability in cropping systems that are amended with predominantly organic P amendments may differ from conventional cropping systems relying on manufactured P fertilizers. However, no direct evidence was found to support the hypothesis that any individual inorganic or organic soil P fraction has a better relationship than conventional soil test P extractants with plant P uptake under contrasting organic and conventional fertility practices.     

Animal disease and public health

Extract

It has been recognized for many centuries that human and animal health are closely related. One of the earliest examples of such recognition which is easily available is from the book of Judges in the Old Testament, where it is reported that the Philistines, after capturing the Ark of the Covenant in a battle with the Israelites, suffered a plague associated with large numbers of rodents and with “emerods”, which we might well believe to be bubos. It seems reasonable to explain this severe epidemic, which apparently killed 50,000 Bethsemites apart from other people, as an example of bubonic plague. Several of the other early accounts of epidemics in which there was an association of large numbers of rats with the occurrence of the disease would appear to be accounts of bubonic plague.     

Identification of fatty acid esters of pectenotoxin-2 seco acid in blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) from Ireland

Pectenotoxins from marine dinoflagellates of the genus Dinophysis are rapidly hydrolyzed by many shellfish to give pectenotoxin-2 seco acid, which isomerizes to 7-epi-pectenotoxin-2 seco acid. Three series of fatty acid esters of pectenotoxin-2 seco acid (PTX-2 seco acid) and 7-epi-PTX-2 seco acid were detected by LC-MS analysis of extracts from blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) from Ireland. The locations of the fatty acid ester linkages were identified by a combination of LC-MSn in positive- and negative-ion modes, LC-MS analysis of the products from reaction of the esters with sodium periodate, and NMR analysis of purified samples of the two most abundant ester derivatives. The 37-O-acyl esters of PTX-2 seco acid were the most abundant, followed by the corresponding 11-O-acyl esters, accompanied by low levels of the 33-O-acyl esters. The most abundant fatty acid esters in the fractionated sample were, in order, the 16:0, 22:6, 14:0, 16:1, 18:4, and 20:5 fatty acids, although a wide array of other PTX-2 seco acid fatty acid esters were also present at low levels.     

Liquid chromatographic and spectroscopic characterization of pentamidine isethionate and impurities in bulk drug and injectables

A liquid chromatographic (LC) method is described for evaluating purity of pentamidine isethionate (PI), a life-saving drug used in the treatment of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, which is a leading cause of death in persons with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Six potential impurity compounds were synthesized to test the selectivity of the chromatographic system and to permit quantitation of impurities in various lots of PI products. The drug and impurities were separated with gradient elution on a cyano-bonded LC column. The analytic system provided information on the identities and levels of impurities in early experimental lots of PI. These results assisted the manufacturer in altering reaction conditions and purification procedures to ensure that succeeding lots were within the specification limits, i.e., no more than 0.4% of any single impurity or 0.7% of total impurities found in the final product.