Faculty of Health Sciences School of pharmacy 0002280t jacquilalli@yahoo.co.uk / Despite commercial interest and ethnobotanical data, the chemical composition and pharmacological activities of a number of indigenous Pelargonium species remain unexplored. Twenty-one Pelargonium species, from the section Pelargonium, were included in this study. The volatile compounds of 13 species were extracted by hydrodistillation and their chemical compositions determined by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). The essential oil data was chemotaxonomically informative confirming taxonomic relationships between P. graveolens and P. radens; P. papilionaceum and P. vitifolium and between P. panduriforme and P. quercifolium. New chemical affinities were established among P. betulinum, P. hispidum and P. scabrum; P. capitatum (provenance WSBG), P. glutinosum and P. quercifolium (provenance SBG) and among P. graveolens, P. radens and P. tomentosum. The non-volatile compounds were extracted with acetone and the extracts were analysed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The representative flavonoid patterns of the Pelargonium species indicated that P. betulinum, P. capitatum, P. graveolens, P. hispidum, P. panduriforme and P. vitifolium have numerous similarities in their chemical profiles. Pelargonium scabrum and P. sublignosum share definite chemical patterns. The HPLC fingerprints of P. papilionaceum and P. vitifolium were chemically diverse. A microdilution bioassay was performed on the acetone extracts and the essential oils to assess their antimicrobial (both bacterial and fungal) potential. The essential oils and extracts were more selective for the Gram-positive test pathogens than for the Gram-negative bacterium. The crude extracts of P. glutinosum (provenance SBG), P. pseudoglutinosum, P. scabrum and P. sublignosum exhibited considerable antimicrobial activity against the Gram-positive bacteria (B. cereus and S. aureus) with P. pseudoglutinosum exerting the highest activity (MIC = 0.039 mg/ml). The essential oils showed reduced antimicrobial activity compared to the plant extracts. Using the DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) assay, exceptional anti-oxidant activity was observed for the crude extracts of P. betulinum and P. crispum (IC50 values of 4.13 μg/ml and 4.49 μg/ml, respectively, compared to ascorbic acid, IC50 = 4.72 μg/ml). The essential oils of P. quercifolium showed the greatest inhibition of 5-lipoxygenase activity (IC50 = 33.24 μg/ml v - 38.67 μg/ml). The antimalarial activity of the non-volatile extracts was evaluated against the choloroquine-resistant Gambian FCR-3 strain of Plasmodium falciparum using the hypoxanthine incorporation assay. Pelargonium panduriforme (provenance SBG) exerted the greatest activity (IC50 = 1.34 ± 0.29 μg/ml). Other species possessing similarly potent antimalarial activity included P. citronellum (provenance NBG), P. citronellum (provenance SBG), P. quercifolium (provenance SBG) and P. radens. A microculture tetrazolium salt reduction (MTT) assay was used to determine the cellular toxicity of the acetone extracts and essential oils against transformed human kidney epithelium (Graham) cells. The acetone extracts of P. sublignosum and P. citronellum (provenance NBG) displayed the highest toxicities (IC50 = 11.89 ± 1.54 μg/ml and 19.14 ± 0.98 μg/ml, respectively). Pelargonium vitifolium (IC50 = 178.48 ± 5.44 μg/ml) and P. tomentosum (provenance SBG) (IC50 = 195.13 ± 7.90 μg/ml) appeared to be non-toxic. The Pelargonium essential oils proved to be considerably toxic (IC50 ≤0.10 μg/ml - 30.30 ± 1.81 μg/ml). The flavonoid derivatives detected in the Pelargonium acetone extracts may have contributed to their positive biological activities. The results from the MTT assay suggested that the antimicrobial and antimalarial activity of the extracts may be ascribed to general cytotoxic effects. The pharmacological properties manifested by the extracts and essential oils of certain Pelargonium species substantiates their use in traditional medicines and validates their commercial exploitation in the perfumery, cosmetic, food and pharmaceutical industries; however, their toxicity profiles must be considered

Background and Objective: To evaluate non-adherence to guideline on rational antibioticotherapy, proportions of hospital infections and empirical treatments in antibioticotherapy, and the need for making intervention to non-rational antibiotics prescriptions. Design: Observational study of non-adherence to guidelines on rational antibioticotherapy. Analysis of antibiotics prescriptions in tertiary hospital settings. Setting: 34 wards in tertiary hospital - University hospital at Kaunas University of Medicine. Main Outcome Measures: Proportions of non-rational treatment. Results: 331 (29,82%) patient of 1110, received antibiotics prescription. 166 (50.15%) rescriptions for treatment and 165 (49.75 %) for prophylaxis. Empiric treatment 279 (84.29%) cases, 52 (15.71%) treatment cases based on bacteriological analysis. Community infections 111 (67.27%) cases. 206 (62,24%) prescriptions were non-adherent to guidelines rational antibioticotherapy. Correlation of non-adherence with rational antibioticotherapy for hospital and community infections was found as r = 0.43 (P < 0.05) and 0.64 (P < 0.01), correspondingly; and for empiric treatment and treatment based on bacteriological analysis as r=0.8 (P < 0.01) and 0.06 (P > 0.05), correspondingly. Conclusions: Empirical treatments in hospital settings comprise high (84%) proportion of cases of antibioticotherapy. Hospital infections comprise high (33%) proportion of infections in hospital settings. Prescription analysis has shown... [to full text]

Antimicrobial proteins contained in the albumen represent maternal effects, including the non- genetic component allocated into the egg during its oogenesis. Especially for species, whose broods are exposed to environmental influences until completation, these proteins play a crucial role in the viability of embryos due to their potential to influence the risk of microbial infection, which is considered one of the main causes of reduced hatchability. Also, it is assumed that these proteins, beacause of their specific traits, may influence phenotype of chicks, especially its size and immunity in the early postembryonal stage. In my thesis I focused on three antimicrobial proteins of avian egg white - avidin, lysozyme and ovotransferrin, which vary in their antimicrobial activity. For a better understanding of causal relationships between the concentrations of these proteins in the albumen and their effect on hatching success or offspring phenotype, a series of manipulation experiments and correlative measurements were performed. These experiments were held on the eggs of two precocial species - Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) and Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos). Our results indicate a crucial role of antimicrobial proteins in reducing the risk of bacterial infection and their natural concentration...