Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is listed as a high-priority pathogen because its infection is associated with a high mortality rate. It is urgent to search for new agents to treat such an infection. Our previous study isolated a soil bacterium (Brevibacillus sp. SPR-20), showing the highest antimicrobial activity against S. aureus TISTR 517 and MRSA strains. The present study aimed to purify and characterize anti-MRSA substances produced by SPR-20. The result showed that five active substances (P1–P5) were found, and they were identified by LC-MS/MS that provided the peptide sequences of 14–15 residues. Circular dichroism showed that all peptides contained β-strand and disordered conformations as the major secondary structures. Only P1–P4 adopted more α-helix conformations when incubated with 50 mM SDS. These anti-MRSA peptides could inhibit S. aureus and MRSA in concentrations of 2–32 μg/mL. P1 (NH₂-VVVNVLVKVLPPPVV-COOH) had the highest activity and was identified as a novel antimicrobial peptide (AMP). The stability study revealed that P1 was stable in response to temperature, proteolytic enzymes, surfactant, and pH. The electron micrograph showed that P1 induced bacterial membrane damage when treated at 1× MIC in the first hour of incubation. The killing kinetics of P1 was dependent on concentration and time. Mechanisms of P1 on tested pathogens involved membrane permeability, leakage of genetic material, and cell lysis. The P1 peptide at a concentration up to 32 μg/mL showed hemolysis of less than 10%, supporting its safety for human erythrocytes. This study provides promising anti-MRSA peptides that might be developed for effective antibiotics in the post-antibiotic era.

A method of analysis using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed for the separation and quantitation of the metabolites of stevioside: steviol-16,17α-epoxide, 15α-hydroxysteviol, steviolbioside, isosteviol, and steviol. The separation was carried out on a reversed-phase C18 Nova-Pack column with gradient elution of acetonitrile/water mixture. The applicability of the method was demonstrated in the detection and separation of stevioside and its metabolites found in blood, feces, and urine of hamsters after ingestion of stevioside.

Brevibacillus sp. SPR20 produced potentially antibacterial substances against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The synthesis of these substances is controlled by their biosynthetic gene clusters. Several mutagenesis methods are used to overcome the restriction of gene regulations when genetic information is absent. Atmospheric and room temperature plasma (ARTP) is a powerful technique to initiate random mutagenesis for microbial strain improvement. This study utilized an argon-based ARTP to conduct the mutations on SPR20. The positive mutants of 40% occurred. The M27 mutant exhibited an increase in anti-MRSA activity when compared to the wild-type strain, with the MIC values of 250–500 and 500 μg/mL, respectively. M27 had genetic stability because it exhibited constant activity throughout fifteen generations. This mutant had similar morphology and antibiotic susceptibility to the wild type. Comparative proteomic analysis identified some specific proteins that were upregulated in M27. These proteins were involved in the metabolism of amino acids, cell structure and movement, and catalytic enzymes. These might result in the enhancement of the anti-MRSA activity of the ARTP-treated SPR20 mutant. This study supports the ARTP technology designed to increase the production of valuable antibacterial agents.

It has been previously demonstrated in light microscopic and immunohistochemical studies that ovariectomized rats receiving young coconut juice at 100 mL/kg BW showed much better wound healing and improved skin complexion. Nevertheless, it was found that young coconut juice at 100 mL/kg BW/day caused unfavorable side effects, such as glycogen deposition in the liver. Therefore, in the current study, 3 lower doses (10, 20, and 40 mL/kg BW/day) were optimized, and the ultrastructure was further investigated. Compared to normal rats, all the parameters regarding skin changes, including epidermal and dermal thickness, the number of hair follicles, the diameters of collagen fibrils, perimeters, and nuclei of fibroblast and keratinocyte cells, and ultrastructural changes in keratinocyte and fibroblast cells were significantly reduced in ovariectomized rats. Those parameters in the ovariectomized rats were restored to normal by injecting estradiol benzoate or by feeding young coconut juice to the rats, where the effect was found to be dose-related but not in the case of all the parameters. In most cases, a dose of young coconut juiceof 40 mL/kg BW/day was the optimal dose. The results suggest that young coconut juice may be as effective as estradiol benzoate in reducing skin atrophy/aging, probably as a selective estrogen receptor moderator.

Traditional medicine is efficacious to protect complications of diabetes mellitus, such as diabetic neuropathy. Therapy with herbal medicine has been developed for people with diabetes empirically over the years. This literature review aims to assess effect of herbal medicine for patients with diabetic neuropathies. We conducted a literature analysis using articles that were randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs). Three databases were searched from PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL that have been published from January 2000 until October 2021until October 2021 and obtained four articles that met the study criteria. The review analysis results showed a significant effect between Gua Sha therapy, green tea extract, and topical Citrullus colocynthis on reducing diabetic neuropathy pain (p < 0.05). Nutmeg Extracts did not show significant results on diabetes mellitus pain after being treated for four weeks (p = 0.063). The review results in the physical and neural function also showed the significant increase in mean scores. Despite the positive findings, it is too early to conclude on the efficacy of herbal medicine to treat diabetic neuropathy due to the high clinical heterogeneity and the number of sample size of the study was too small. However, it may be indicative of the effect of herbal medicine in reducing pain in diabetic neuropathy.