Background: The rising public health threat brought about by antibiotic resistance, such as of Staphylococcus aureus, opened doors of opportunities for natural products research to explore novel antimicrobial agents. Objective: This study aimed to determine the antimicrobial activity of cell-free supernatants from Lactobacillus plantarum BS25 and Pediococcus acidilactici S3 against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC# 25923) and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (ATCC# 33591). Methodology: Cell-free supernatants (CFS) of Lactobacillus plantarum BS25 and Pediococcus acidilactici S3, isolated from fermented rice-fish mixture balao-balao and fermented spicy sausage longganisa, respectively, were tested against methicillin-susceptible (MSSA, ATCC 25923) and methicillin-resistant (MRSA, ATCC 33591) Staphylococcus aureus strains for antibacterial activity using the resazurin assay. Results: Both BS25 and S3 CFS showed high activities against MSSA and partial inhibition against MRSA. Proteinaceous components of the CFS were extracted using ammonium sulfate precipitation with BS25 and S3 exhibited low activities against MSSA but partial inhibition was observed against MRSA. Other small molecules were extracted from the CFS through liquid-liquid extraction using ethyl acetate and tested in 100, 250, 500, 750, and 1000 ppm concentrations. The 1000-ppm concentrations of the BS25 and S3 ethyl acetate extracts achieved the highest antibacterial activity against MSSA and MRSA. Conclusion This study showed that the crude cell-free supernatants, ammonium sulfate precipitates, and ethyl acetate extracts of BS25 and S3 CFS exhibited potential in inhibiting Gram-positive MSSA and MRSA. However, the partially-purified samples require relatively high concentrations in order to produce significant inhibition activities and therefore require further purification.
Lactobacillus plantarum ; Pediococcus acidilactici ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Background: One of the causes of inflammatory arthritis is excessive production of uric acid or hyperuricemia. It is a painful disease that is treated with a commercial xanthine oxidase inhibitor to decrease uric acid synthesis. However, the treatment is associated with adverse side effects and thus, there is interest in medicinal plants that could have similar therapeutic effects with minimal side effects. There are many reported indigenous plants and trees in the Philippines that are reported to have therapeutic and bioactive compounds. One such plant is Canarium ovatum or locally called pili. This study aimed to determine the antihyperuricemic activity of the ethanolic extract of the leaves of C. ovatum. Objective: Determine the antihyperuricemic activity of the crude ethanolic extract of C. ovatum leaves and its partially purified fractions through inhibition of xanthine oxidase and its effect on the blood uric acid level of oxonate-induced hyperuricemic mice. Methodology: The crude ethanol extract from C. ovatum leaves and its partially purified fractions obtained through column chromatography were tested for their in vitro xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitory activity by measuring spectrophotometrically the uric acid formation from xanthine as the substrate. The crude ethanol extract and the fraction with the most XO inhibitory activity were then tested for their in vivo XO inhibitory activity in oxonate-induced hyperuricemic mice by measuring their blood uric acid levels using uric acid test strips. Results: The crude ethanolic extract of C. ovatum leaves at 100ppm showed 83.62±2.05% in vitro inhibition of XO while the most active fraction showed 80.30±4.00% inhibition. Both were comparable (p>0.05) to the positive control, allopurinol, which showed 91.47±5.64% inhibition. In vivo, the crude extract and the fraction that showed the highest XO inhibitory activity at 200 mg/kg significantly (p<0.01 and p<0.05) respectively reduced the serum uric acid levels of the hyperuricemic mice one hour after induction as compared to the negative control. Moreover, their antihyperuricemic activity were not statistically significant as compared to that of allopurinol (p<0.0001). Conclusion The crude ethanolic extract of C. ovatum leaves and its most active fraction showed statistically significant in vitro xanthine oxidase inhibition and in vivo antihyperuricemic activity. The activities shown by both crude and active fraction were not statistically different from that determined for allopurinol. Therefore, further studies can be conducted to isolate the most active compound and study its pharmacokinetic properties.
Xanthine Oxidase ; Uric Acid ; Allopurinol

Plants have been a major source of natural products for sustaining human health. The use of the different parts of the plant as infusions, decoctions, extracts, and powders are being employed in the treatment of different diseases in humans, plants, and animals. One property of great significance in terms of therapeutic treatments, especially with the emergence of multi-drug resistant microbes, is the antimicrobial activity. A new promising source of antimicrobials that demonstrate novel mechanisms of therapeutic strategies is low molecular weight peptides. In this study, the antimicrobial activities of Mimosa pudica crude and partially purified peptide extracts against Gram-negative Enterobacter cloacae ATCC 23355 and Enterobacter aerogenes ATCC 13048, and Gram-positive Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 12228 using resazurin colorimetric assay and tricine SDS-PAGE bioautography were reported. M. pudica crude and partially purified extracts exhibited antimicrobial activity against all the bacteria tested. Specifically, the peptide that was partially purified from M. pudica with a molecular weight of 5.14 kDa inhibited the growth of Enterobacter cloacae.
Antimicrobial Peptides