Submit to Applied Sciences Review for Applied Sciences Propose a Special Issue

Journal Browser

Natural Compounds with Antimicrobial and Immunomodulatory Activity

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Applied Biosciences and Bioengineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 13501

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Giovanna Donnarumma

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Naples, Italy
Interests: microbiology; biofilm; microbial pathogenesis; immunomodulation; antimicrobial peptides; microbiota; probiotics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Alessandra Fusco

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Naples, Italy
Interests: microbiology; bacteria; fungi; biofilm; host-pathogen interactions; innate immunityantimicrobial peptides; microbiota; probiotics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Is well known that natural products with potential for use in human therapy or prophylaxis have been the major source of novel antibiotics. Their extraction from various sources (e.g., being plant-, animal- or microbe-derived), is one of the most dynamically growing research trends. On the other hand, the increasing frequency of antibiotic-resistant infections pushes studies in this direction because of infections by multidrug-resistant bacteria—especially due to the ability of some species to form multi-resistant biofilms—are responsible for the highest mortality rates around the world and have become a major public health issue during these last years. Recently, several antibacterials derived from microbes have been developed and approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for clinical use. The antimicrobial activity of these natural compounds is not exclusively due to the ability to inhibit microbial growth but also the power to stimulate the innate immune system toward improving host defense mechanisms, including the production of antimicrobial peptides, and to reduce the level of expression of various virulence factors and to influence all other manifestations of pathogenic behavior of microorganisms. In fact, some natural products could reverse the resistance of bacteria to antibiotics, making the target bacteria susceptible to these drugs again. In addition, they can also exhibit potent synergism against drug-resistant bacteria when used in combination with various types of antibiotics.

For this Special Issue, we encourage authors to disseminate innovative studies on natural products with antimicrobial properties and to introduce interesting perspectives on their potential therapeutic use.

Prof. Dr. Giovanna Donnarumma
Dr. Alessandra Fusco
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

natural products
antimicrobial activity
bacteria
antibiotic resistance

Published Papers (5 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

Jump to: Review

11 pages, 1778 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Study on the Role of Berberine and Berberis lycium Royle Roots Extract against the Biochemical Markers and Cyclin D1 Expression in HCC Animal Model

by Kiren Mustafa, Shaoxuan Yu, Hassan Mohamed, Tang Qi, Haifang Xiao, Sun ciali, Wu Yang, Tahira Naz, Shaista Nosheen, Xueyuan Bai and Yuanda Song

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(24), 11810; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app112411810 - 12 Dec 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1961

Abstract

Diethylamine nitrosamine (DEN), as an initiator of liver tumor, and carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), as a tumor promoter, have been used to study the molecular events of liver cancer in animal models. Recently, our in vitro study reported BLE (Berberis lycium Royle ethanol extract) as the most effective agent against liver cancer, thus we continued our study in vivo to assess the hepatoprotective effect of BLE and its most active alkaloid, berberine, in albino mice (70 male). Moreover, we investigated the biochemical/immunohistochemical effects of a single alkaloid versus the effect of Berberis extract in mice liver. Hepatic cancer was induced in mice by a single intraperitoneal injection with DEN (100 mg/kg b.wt), followed by biweekly injections of CCl₄ (0.5 mL/kg) for 30 days. The development of liver cancer was assessed after 60 days of DEN injection by measuring the elevated level of the serum tumor marker alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and liver function test (ALT, AST, ALP, and BUN) markers. After the confirmation of liver cancer development, the BLE extract and berberine were fed to mice for 90 days and the serum biomarkers for liver injury (LFTs and AFP) were measured again. Overall, berberine (120 mg/kg b.wt) proved to be a stronger agent in reducing the symptoms of HCC in mice, as compared with BLE. Histopathological analysis agreed well with the biochemical observations. Immunohistochemistry analysis suggested significant suppression of the quantitative expression of the key oncogene cyclin D1 at low (60 mg/kg) and high (120 mg/kg) doses of berberine. These findings implicate the amelioration of hepatocarcinoma by berberine more prominently in mice, by suppression of cyclin-dependent kinase activator (CD1) expression, reducing LFTs, as well as AFP, in the serum. Thus, our findings are novel, as berberine may help in controlling the perturbation in CD1 associated with aggressive forms of HCC. However, future studies should be directed at finding out whether berberine has any effect on inhibitors (p27 and CDKI) of cyclin-dependent kinase too. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds with Antimicrobial and Immunomodulatory Activity)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 3610 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Synthesis of Chitosan-Coated Silver Nanoparticle Bioconjugates and Their Antimicrobial Activity against Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria

by Surbhi Shinde, Veronica Folliero, Annalisa Chianese, Carla Zannella, Anna De Filippis, Luigi Rosati, Marina Prisco, Annarita Falanga, Avinash Mali, Marilena Galdiero, Massimiliano Galdiero and Gianluigi Franci

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(19), 9340; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11199340 - 08 Oct 2021

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3054

Abstract

The increase in multidrug-resistant bacteria represents a true challenge in the pharmaceutical and biomedical fields. For this reason, research on the development of new potential antibacterial strategies is essential. Here, we describe the development of a green system for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) bioconjugated with chitosan. We optimized a Prunus cerasus leaf extract as a source of silver and its conversion to chitosan–silver bioconjugates (CH-AgNPs). The AgNPs and CH-AgNPs were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), and zeta potential measurement (Z-potential). The cytotoxic activity of AgNPs and CH-AgNPs was assessed on Vero cells using the 3-[4.5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2.5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) cell proliferation assay. The antibacterial activity of AgNPs and CH-AgNPs synthesized using the green system was determined using the broth microdilution method. We evaluated the antimicrobial activity against standard ATCC and clinically isolated multisensitive (MS) and multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDR) Escherichia coli (E. coli), Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis), Klebsiella pneumonia (K. pneumoniae), and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), using minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays and the broth dilution method. The results of the antibacterial studies demonstrate that the silver chitosan bioconjugates were able to inhibit the growth of MDR strains more effectively than silver nanoparticles alone, with reduced cellular toxicity. These nanoparticles were stable in solution and had wide-spectrum antibacterial activity. The synthesis of silver and silver chitosan bioconjugates from Prunus cerasus leaf extracts may therefore serve as a simple, ecofriendly, noncytotoxic, economical, reliable, and safe method to produce antimicrobial compounds with low cytotoxicity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds with Antimicrobial and Immunomodulatory Activity)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 5087 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Biocompatible 3D Printed Chitosan-Based Scaffolds Containing α-Tocopherol Showing Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activity

by Carlo Bergonzi, Annalisa Bianchera, Giulia Remaggi, Maria Cristina Ossiprandi, Francesca Zimetti, Cinzia Marchi, Franco Bernini, Ruggero Bettini and Lisa Elviri

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(16), 7253; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11167253 - 06 Aug 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 1662

Abstract

Active dressings acting on multiple fronts are requested in the field of care for chronic skin ulcers in order to ameliorate patient compliance and tissue restoration. Currently, three-dimensional polymeric hydrogels are widely investigated; however, no prototypes aiming to control oxidative stress and bacterial proliferation in the wound bed have been developed up until now. The present work describes the formulation of a novel chitosan-based printable material containing α-tocopherol at stable dosages to obtain reproducible 3D scaffolds possessing antioxidant and antimicrobial activity without the use of organic solvents. Stability assays mimicking the manufacturing process and storage conditions reveal no significant drug loss. Chemico-physical characterizations including porosity and behavior after dehydration/hydration demonstrate that the dressings are highly porous, can be dehydrated up to 80%, and can recover more than 90% of water upon 1 h of rehydration. Elasticity determined by stress/strain tests was higher than human skin and was sufficiently resistant for potential clinical manipulation. Footage of fibroblasts in in vitro cultures demonstrated the biocompatibility of the constructs over 28 days. Finally, scaffolds loaded with α-tocopherol showed dose-dependent antioxidant activity (up to 80% in less than 1 h), while antimicrobial action versus multi-drug resistant strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphilococcus aureus was assessed by inhibition rings obtained through the Kirby–Bauer technique. The proposed hydrogels can be useful as dressings for the treatment of chronically infected wounds. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds with Antimicrobial and Immunomodulatory Activity)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 4075 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Immunomodulatory Activity of Electrospun Polyhydroxyalkanoate Fiber Scaffolds Incorporating Olive Leaf Extract

by Jose Gustavo De la Ossa, Alessandra Fusco, Bahareh Azimi, Jasmine Esposito Salsano, Maria Digiacomo, Maria-Beatrice Coltelli, Karen De Clerck, Ipsita Roy, Marco Macchia, Andrea Lazzeri, Giovanna Donnarumma, Serena Danti and Rossella Di Stefano

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(9), 4006; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11094006 - 28 Apr 2021

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2617

Abstract

Olive tree is a well-known source of polyphenols. We prepared an olive leaf extract (OLE) and characterized it via high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. OLE was blended with different polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), namely, poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBHV) and polyhydroxybutyrate/poly(hydroxyoctanoate-co-hydroxydecanoate) (PHB/PHOHD), to produce fiber meshes via electrospinning: OLE/PHBV and OLE/ (PHB/PHOHD), respectively. An 80–90% (w/w%) release of the main polyphenols from the OLE/PHA fibers occurred in 24 h, with a burst release in the first 30 min. OLE and the produced fiber meshes were assayed using human dermal keratinocytes (HaCaT cells) to evaluate the expression of a panel of cytokines involved in the inflammatory process and innate immune response, such as the antimicrobial peptide human beta defensin 2 (HBD-2). Fibers containing OLE were able to decrease the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines at 6 h up to 24 h. All the PHA fibers allowed an early downregulation of the pro-inflammatory cytokines in 6 h, which is suggestive of a strong anti-inflammatory activity exerted by PHA fibers. Differently from pure OLE, PHB/PHOHD fibers (both with and without OLE) upregulated the expression of HBD-2. Our results showed that PHA fiber meshes are suitable in decreasing pro-inflammatory cytokines and the incorporation of OLE may enable indirect antibacterial properties, which is essential in wound healing and tissue regeneration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds with Antimicrobial and Immunomodulatory Activity)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

33 pages, 4648 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Rosmarinic Acid and Ulvan from Terrestrial and Marine Sources in Anti-Microbial Bionanosystems and Biomaterials

by Serena Coiai, Beatrice Campanella, Roberta Paulert, Francesca Cicogna, Emilia Bramanti, Andrea Lazzeri, Laura Pistelli and Maria-Beatrice Coltelli

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(19), 9249; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11199249 - 05 Oct 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3298

Abstract

In order to increase their sustainability, antimicrobial renewable molecules are fundamental additions to consumer goods. Rosmarinic acid is extracted from several terrestrial plants and represents an effective anti-microbial agent. Ulvan, extracted from algae, is an anti-microbial polysaccharide. The present review is dedicated to discussing the sources and the extraction methodologies for obtaining rosmarinic acid and ulvan. Moreover, the preparation of bioanosystems, integrating the two molecules with organic or inorganic substrates, are reviewed as methodologies to increase their effectiveness and stability. Finally, the possibility of preparing functional biomaterials and anti-microbial final products is discussed, considering scientific literature. The performed analysis indicated that the production of both molecules is not yet performed with mature industrial technologies. Nevertheless, both molecules could potentially be used in the packaging, biomedical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, sanitary and personal care sectors, despite some research being required for developing functional materials with specific properties to pave the way for many more applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds with Antimicrobial and Immunomodulatory Activity)

► Show Figures