Effects of Cinnamaldehyde on the Cell Wall ofA. fumigatusand Its Application in Treating Mice with Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis

Background.The invasive pulmonary aspergillosis is a kind of high incidence of disease with difficulties in treatment, poor prognosis, and high mortality.Objectives.The study aimed to reveal the effect of cinnamaldehyde on the fungal cell wall and verify its efficacy on invasive pulmonary aspergillosis on immunosuppressed Institute of Cancer Research mice (ICR mice).Methods.ICR mice were given cyclophosphamide 200 mg.kg−1. d−1by intraperitoneal injection for 2 days. On the 4th day, the mice were given 50μLofAspergillosis fumigatusspore (107colony form unit CFU/mL) by intranasal injection to establish immunosuppressive animal models with invasiveAspergillosis fumigatusinfection. Then the mice in treatment group orally administered cinnamaldehyde for 14 consecutive days, while voriconazole was given to the mice in the positive control group.Results.The clearance rate of pulmonary fungi, cure rate, and reduction of 1,3-β-D-glucans in treatment group were 80.00%, 80.00%, and 81.00%, respectively while in positive control group they were 67.00%, 60.00%, and 62.00%, respectively. There were significant differences in the results between two groups as mentioned above (P<0.05). Electron microscopy showed that, in treatment group, the cell wall ofAspergillus fumigatuswas dissolved and detached and the cell surface was incomplete. There were edema, degeneration, and necrosis in nucleus and organelle, which lead to cellular necrocytosis. The cytomembrane ofAspergillus fumigatuswas intact, clear, and complete, whereas the cytomembrane in the positive control group disappeared. The hyphal morphology ofAspergillus fumigatuswas deformed, but the cell wall was intact.Conclusion.Cinnamaldehyde has a good curative effect in the treatment of invasive pulmonary aspergillus infection in immunodeficient mice. It mainly affects the synthesis of 1,3-β-D-glucans from the cytoderm ofAspergillus fumigatusbut does not affect cell wall. It would potentially be an effective and novel drug for targeted treatment ofAspergillus fumigatusdeep infection.

The Role of Heavy Metals-Resistant Bacteria Acinetobacter sp. in Copper Phytoremediation using Eichhornia crasippes [(Mart.) Solms]

<p>Phytoremediation is a bioremediation process using plants and microorganisms to extract, sequester, or detoxify heavy metals. <em>Eichhornia crassipes </em>[(Mart.) Solms] is a well-known phytoremediating plant that has the ability to remove heavy metals from water by accumulating them in their tissues. <em>Acinetobacter </em>sp. IrC1 and <em>Acinetobacter </em>sp. IrC2 are copper resistant bacteria isolated from industrial waste in Rungkut, Surabaya. The aim of this research was to study the effect of <em>Acinetobacter </em>sp. IrC1 and <em>Acinetobacter </em>sp. IrC2 inoculation in copper phytoremediation process using <em>Eichhornia crassipes</em>. Bacterial isolate with colony form unit of 10⁸was inoculated into the rhizosphere of <em>Eichhornia crassipes </em>in water containing 10 mL · L^–1and 20 mL · L^–1 copper. Copper removal in contaminated water and copper accumulation in the plant roots was analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The results showed that inoculation treatment enhanced the potency of the plant to reduce copper from 94 % concentration level in the medium without bacterial inoculation to 98.3 % and 97 % in medium inoculated with <em>Acinetobacter </em>sp. IrC1 and <em>Acinetobacter </em>sp. IrC2, respectively. <em>Eichhornia crassipes </em>inoculated with <em>Acinetobacter </em>sp. IrC1 accumulated up to six fold higher copper concentrations in roots compared with un-inoculated controls. The roots of <em>Eichhornia crassipes</em> accumulated 596 mg · kg^–1and 391 mg · kg^–1 in medium containing 5 mL · L^–1 and 10 mL · L^–1 copper without inoculation, while, the upper part of the plants accumulated up to 353 2.5 mg · kg^–1 and 194 1.5 mg · kg^–1 in medium inoculated with <em>Acinetobacter</em> sp. IrC1, respectively. The findings of the study indicated that <em>Acinetobacter </em>sp. IrC1 and <em>Acinetobacter </em>sp. IrC2 can improve the phytoremediation potential of <em>Eichhornia crassipes</em>.</p>