Surgical Antibiotic Prophylaxis Used in A University Clinics Hospital and Antibiotic Costs: A 3-year Survey.

Background: Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) represent one of the most common post-operative complications and are the third most prevalent nosocomial infections.

Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze the conditions of using antibiotics in surgery at the University Clinics of Lubumbashi.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted, collecting data from medical registers over a 3-year period, from 2017 to 2019.

Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents (NADESs) for the Extraction of Bioactive Compounds from Quinoa ( Willd.) Leaves: A Semi-Quantitative Analysis Using High Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography.

Natural deep eutectic solvents (NADESs) have emerged as a promising eco-friendly alternative to petrochemicals for extracting plant metabolites. Considering that the demand for sustainable "green" ingredients for industrial applications is growing, those solvents are purported to develop extracts with interesting phytochemical fingerprints and biological activities. Given the interest in flavonoids from Willd.

Benefits of Traditional Medicinal Plants to African Women's Health: An Overview of the Literature.

In many African areas, herbal products still represent a significant source of healthcare. However, a major gender bias is evident in the literature, as most of the work is carried out by male researchers, collecting data from male traditional practitioners, and thus often neglecting women's specific health issues. This warrants a detailed review of the current knowledge about the major medicinal plants historically and still used for women's health.

Inventory of the best-selling medicinal plants on the Lubumbashi markets (DR Congo) and authentication of samples from the 3 most popular species.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Knowledge of the high-sale medicinal plants and their authentication are essential parameters to ensure the safety of people using herbal medicine and to plan the safeguarding of medicinal species threatened with extinction.

Aims: The present study, carried out in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo, aimed to geolocate medicinal plant sales points, list the best-selling species, and authenticate samples of the most popular species on the market.

Methods: A survey was conducted among the medicinal plant sellers in Lubumbashi's markets and other public spaces, to identify the best-selling species.

In Vitro Modulation of Human Foam Cell Formation and Adhesion Molecules Expression by Ginger Extracts Points to Potential Cardiovascular Preventive Agents.

Recent findings from the World Heart Federation (WHF) reported a significant increase in cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related deaths, highlighting the urgent need for effective prevention strategies. Atherosclerosis, a key precursor to CVD, involves the accumulation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and its oxidation within the endothelium, leading to inflammation and foam cell formation. Ginger extracts, known for their antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties, show promise in preventing CVD initiation by inhibiting LDL oxidation and reducing foam cell formation.

Safety and efficacy evaluation of Simo decoction and in herbal medicine practice.

Objective: The traditional Chinese patent medicine (TCPM), Simo decoction (Simo decoction oral solution), with its primary ingredient (Binglang, L.), known for its potential carcinogenic effects, is the subject of this study. The research aims to analyze the effectiveness and potential risks of Simo decoction, particularly as a carcinogen, and to suggest a framework for evaluating the risks and benefits of other herbal medicines.

Natural compounds proposed for the management of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Although non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) presents as an intricate condition characterized by a growing prevalence, the often-recommended lifestyle interventions mostly lack high-level evidence of efficacy and there are currently no effective drugs proposed for this indication. The present review delves into NAFLD pathology, its diverse underlying physiopathological mechanisms and the available in vitro, in vivo, and clinical evidence regarding the use of natural compounds for its management, through three pivotal targets (oxidative stress, cellular inflammation, and insulin resistance). The promising perspectives that natural compounds offer for NAFLD management underscore the need for additional clinical and lifestyle intervention trials.

Microfluidic Diffusion Sizing Applied to the Study of Natural Products and Extracts That Modulate the SARS-CoV-2 Spike RBD/ACE2 Interaction.

The interaction between SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD and ACE2 proteins is a crucial step for host cell infection by the virus. Without it, the entire virion entrance mechanism is compromised. The aim of this study was to evaluate the capacity of various natural product classes, including flavonoids, anthraquinones, saponins, ivermectin, chloroquine, and erythromycin, to modulate this interaction.

Evaluating phytochemical constituents and antiplasmodial and antioxidant activities of , , , and extracts.

Introduction: , , and are used against malaria in traditional medicine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). To evaluate their potential in the treatment of this disease, the antiplasmodial property of these four plants was evaluated. All experiments were conducted on methanolic extracts performed on selected organ parts of these plants.

Smallholders' knowledge about healing goat gastrointestinal parasite infections with wild plants in southern DR Congo.

Gastrointestinal parasite (GIP) infections control has an important role to play in increasing livestock production from a limited natural resource base and to improve animal health and welfare. This study aimed to collect indigenous knowledge and identify wild plants locally used by goat smallholders of three territories of Haut-Katanga province for treating signs of gastrointestinal parasitism. Ethnoveterinary surveys were conducted by semi-structured interviews and a bibliographic screening of the biological activities relating to cited plants was carried out.

Assessment of the Cytotoxicity, Mutagenicity, and Genotoxicity of Two Traditional Chinese Herbs: and .

Herbal remedies used in traditional medicine often contain several compounds combined in order to potentiate their own intrinsic properties. However, herbs can sometimes cause serious health troubles. In Belgium, patients who developed severe aristolochic acid nephropathy ingested slimming pills containing root extracts of an species, as well as the bark of .

Flavonoids and saponins: What have we got or missed?

Background: Flavonoids and saponins are important bioactive compounds that have attracted wide research interests. This review aims to summarise the state of the art of the pharmacology, toxicology and clinical efficacy of these compounds.

Methods: Data were retrieved from PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Proquest, CNKI, Chongqing VIP, Wanfang, NPASS and HIT 2.

Nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry to monitor chromium (VI) reduction by hydrogen peroxide, ascorbic acid, and aluminum powder.

The reduction of K Cr O solutions by H O was studied by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometry and UV-vis spectroscopy in HCl/KCl buffer (pH 2), NaCl/glycine/HCl buffer (pH 3), and sodium acetate/acetic acid buffer (pH 4). Because of Cr(III) paramagnetism, 1/T and 1/T of the solutions increase during the reduction of diamagnetic Cr(VI). This increase is proportional to the produced Cr(III) concentration.

Endogenous Synthesis of Tetrahydroisoquinoline Derivatives from Dietary Factors: Neurotoxicity Assessment on a 3D Neurosphere Culture.

Tetrahydroisoquinoline (THIQ) alkaloids and their derivatives have a structural similarity to 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), a well-known neurotoxin. THIQs seem to present a broad range of actions in the brain, critically dependent on their catechol moieties and metabolism. These properties make it reasonable to assume that an acute or chronic exposure to some THIQs might lead to neurodegenerative diseases including essential tremor (ET).

Development of a Method for Producing oxLDL: Characterization of Their Effects on HPV-Positive Head and Neck Cancer Cells.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and cancers are the two main causes of death worldwide. The initiation and progression of atherosclerosis is, in large part, caused by oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDL); interestingly, oxLDL may also play a role in cancer cell metabolism and migration. As oxLDL are generally obtained by tedious ultracentrifugation procedures, "" oxLDL were obtained by applying a purification kit to isolate LDL and VLDL from human plasma; isolating LDL from VLDL by gel permeation chromatography (GPC); and oxidating LDL through CuSO incubation.

Perceptions and use of traditional African medicine in Lubumbashi, Haut-Katanga province (DR Congo): A cross-sectional study.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the desire of the Ministry of Health to integrate Traditional African Medicine into the Official Health System remains limited by the lack of reliable data on several aspects of this medicine. This study aims to determine the perceptions of the Lubumbashi population towards Traditional African Medicine and the contexts of recourse to these therapeutic modalities. We conducted semi-structured interviews of population samples in each of the 7 Lubumbashi municipalities, which were semi-randomly selected in proportions to each population size, from January to June 2017 and from February to July 2018.

Impact of collaborative physician-pharmacist stewardship strategies on prophylactic antibiotic practices: a quasi-experimental study.

Background: An effective use of surgical antibiotic prophylaxis (SAP) appears essential to prevent the development of infections linked to surgery while inappropriate and excessive prescriptions of prophylactic antibiotics increase the risk of adverse effects, bacterial resistance and Clostridium difficile infections. In this study, we aimed to analyze SAP practices in an acute secondary hospital in Belgium during the years 2016-2021 in order to evaluate the impacts of combined stewardship interventions, implemented thanks to a physician-pharmacist collaboration.

Methods: A quasi-experimental study on SAP practices was conducted during 5 years (2016-2021) in a Belgian University Hospital.

The Xanthophyll Carotenoid Lutein Reduces the Invasive Potential of and Increases Its Susceptibility to Tobramycin.

Recently, the xanthophyll carotenoid lutein has been qualified as a potential quorum sensing (QS) and biofilm inhibitor against To address the potential of this xanthophyll compound as a relevant antivirulence agent, we investigated in depth its impact on the invasion capabilities and aggressiveness of PAO1, which rely on the bacterial ability to build and maintain protective barriers, use different types of motilities and release myriad virulence factors, leading to host cell and tissue damages. Our data, obtained on the PAO1 strain, indicate that all- lutein (Lut; 22 µM) disrupts biofilm formation and disorganizes established biofilm structure without affecting bacterial viability, while improving the bactericidal activity of tobramycin against biofilm-encapsulated PAO1 cells. Furthermore, this xanthophyll affects PAO1 twitching and swarming motilities while reducing the production of the extracellular virulence factors pyocyanin, elastase and rhamnolipids as well as the expression of the QS-regulated and genes without inhibiting the QS-independent gene.

Impact of Growth Sites on the Phenolic Contents and Antioxidant Activities of Three Algerian Species ( L., (L.) Huds., and L.).

Research studies about the effect of environmental agents on the accumulation of phenolic compounds in medicinal plants are required to establish a set of optimal growth conditions. Hence, in this work, we considered the impact of habitat types, soil composition, climatic factors, and altitude on the content of phenolics in species [ L. (MP), (L.

Creation of an Anti-Inflammatory, Leptin-Dependent Anti-Obesity Celastrol Mimic with Better Druggability.

Obesity is characterized by an excessive body mass, but is also closely associated with metabolic syndrome. And, so far, only limited pharmacological treatments are available for obesity management. Celastrol, a pentacyclic triterpenoid from a traditional Chinese medicine ( Hook.

Effects of Chemopreventive Natural Compounds on the Accuracy of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine Translesion Synthesis.

Translesion synthesis is a DNA damage tolerance mechanism that relies on a series of specialized DNA polymerases able to bypass a lesion on a DNA template strand during replication or post-repair synthesis. Specialized translesion synthesis DNA polymerases pursue replication by inserting a base opposite to this lesion, correctly or incorrectly depending on the lesion nature, involved DNA polymerase(s), sequence context, and still unknown factors. To measure the correct or mutagenic outcome of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine bypass by translesion synthesis, a primer-extension assay was performed on a template DNA bearing this lesion in the presence of nuclear proteins extracted from human intestinal epithelial cells (FHs 74 Int cell line); the reaction products were analyzed by both denaturing capillary electrophoresis (to measure the yield of translesion elongation) and pyrosequencing (to determine the identity of the nucleotide inserted in front of the lesion).

Toxicity and Anti-Proliferative Properties of Ethanol Extract on Cervical Cancer HeLa Cells and Zebrafish Embryos.

In this study, we showed that crude extract of (AI-EtE) expressed its toxicity to HeLa cells with an IC50 dose of 38.8 µg/mL and to zebrafish embryos with malformations, lethality and hatching inhibition at 72-hpf at doses higher than 75 µg/mL. More interestingly, flow cytometry revealed that AI-EtE significantly promoted the number of cells entering apoptotic.