Ciprofloxacin Solution Research Articles

Detoxification of Ciprofloxacin in an Anaerobic Bioprocess Supplemented with Magnetic Carbon Nanotubes: Contribution of Adsorption and Biodegradation Mechanisms.

In anaerobic bioreactors, the electrons produced during the oxidation of organic matter can potentially be used for the biological reduction of pharmaceuticals in wastewaters. Common electron transfer limitations benefit from the acceleration of reactions through utilization of redox mediators (RM). This work explores the potential of carbon nanomaterials (CNM) as RM on the anaerobic removal of ciprofloxacin (CIP). Pristine and tailored carbon nanotubes (CNT) were first tested for chemical reduction of CIP, and pristine CNT was found as the best material, so it was further utilized in biological anaerobic assays with anaerobic granular sludge (GS). In addition, magnetic CNT were prepared and also tested in biological assays, as they are easier to be recovered and reused. In biological tests with CNM, approximately 99% CIP removal was achieved, and the reaction rates increased ≈1.5-fold relatively to the control without CNM. In these experiments, CIP adsorption onto GS and CNM was above 90%. Despite, after applying three successive cycles of CIP addition, the catalytic properties of magnetic CNT were maintained while adsorption decreased to 29 ± 3.2%, as the result of CNM overload by CIP. The results suggest the combined occurrence of different mechanisms for CIP removal: adsorption on GS and/or CNM, and biological reduction or oxidation, which can be accelerated by the presence of CNM. After biological treatment with CNM, toxicity towards Vibrio fischeri was evaluated, resulting in ≈ 46% detoxification of CIP solution, showing the advantages of combining biological treatment with CNM for CIP removal.

Innovative sequential combination of fixed bed adsorption/desorption and photocatalysis cost-effective process to remove antibiotics in solution

In this paper, a Reed-based composite (R) beads, combined with photocatalysis, for the oxidative degradation of fluoroquinolones ciprofloxacin (CIP) in simulated hospital wastewater was developed. It is well known that hospital effluents present very diluted pollution (less than 5 mg/L), The first purpose, which concerns the first step to treat CIP solution (4 mg/L) via adsorption on (R) beads in continuous column system. The second aim was to regenerate the material for the simultaneous R reuse and CIP desorption in a low volume of a highly concentrated solution (≈30 mg/L). The third purpose was to degrade the concentrated solution of antibiotic using continuous and batch photocatalytic reactors. After CIP uptake on R-beads, two acid solutions were investigated for the regeneration step. Indeed desorption process was investigated using acetic acid (0.1 M) and hydrochloric acid (0.1 M) as eluents, leading to a highly concentrated CIP solution (≈30 mg/L) compared to the feed solution (4 mg/L). Consequently, these results provide new study into the application of sequential combination to effectively mineralize antibiotics with continuous treatment.

Rapid degradation of ciprofloxacin over BiOCl: Insight into the molecular structure transformation and antibacterial activity elimination

Currently, the widespread usage of antibiotics brings great challenge to sustainable water environment due to the production of drug-resistant bacteria, the rapid and effective removal of antibiotics attracts more and more attention. Herein, a BiOCl microsphere prepared by a facile hydrolysis method via controlling the EG-H2O ratio was found to have unexpected photocatalytic activity for ciprofloxacin (CIP) removal. The photodegradation rate of CIP over optimal BiOCl-20 reached 92.9% in only 3 min of simulated sunlight irradiation, and the mineralization rate was 30.8% after 60 min reaction. The antibacterial tests of CIP solution under different irradiation minutes were evaluated using Escherichia coli (E. coli) as the model bacteria. The results indicated that CIP photodegradation intermediates had also certain antimicrobial potency, which could be eliminated almost completely after 3 min irradiation, although there still had some incompletely mineralized intermediates. In view of these results, the macroscopic degradation behavior of CIP over BiOCl-20 as well as the microscopic existence state and reaction behavior of the intermediates should be clarified. A ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was employed for determination of CIP and its intermediates. Ten primary intermediates were separated and identified, and their corresponding molecular structures were elucidated. Three main photodegradation pathways were deduced, and the correlation between molecular structure transformation and antibacterial activity of CIP was established. Because of the destruction of piperazine ring and defluorination of quinolone ring, the antibacterial activity of the treated CIP solution was weakened or even eliminated. Finally, a possible photodegradation mechanism was proposed, the OVs, O2−, h+ and OH played significant roles in the CIP photodegradation. This work does have great perspective for BiOCl potential application in CIP wastewater treatment.

THE CHEMISORPTION-RELEASE AND ANTIBACTERIAL POTENTIAL STUDIES OF CIPROFLOXACIN FROM HYDROXYAPATITE-BASED IMPLANTS

Implant infections are the result of bacterial adhesion to the implant surface and subsequent biofilm formation at the implant site. A sustained and high antibiotic concentration over minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of pathogenic bacteria at the implant site is expected to inhibit bacterial adhesion, colonization, and biofilm formation. In the present study we performed implants based on hydroxyapatite (HAp), HAp reinforced with titanium particles (HAp/Ti) and Hap/Ti with added calcium fructoborate (CaFb) by chemisorption deposition method (HAp/Ti/CaFb). The implants were immersed in ciprofloxacin (CP) solution for 24 hours, then was determined the release profile of antibiotic for 14 days and the antibacterial effect of the three types of composite. The period of antibiotic release may be considered as sufficient to support osteointegration under antibacterial protection.

Comparative Study of Antimicrobial Potentials of Leaf and Root Extracts of Calliandra portoricensis (Jacq)-benth (Fabaceae) on Some Human Pathogens

The plant Calliandra portoricesis had been widely used over the years in traditional medicine. Such uses included; treatment of swollen gum, tooth ache and inflammation, worm expeller, viperean venom antidote and more. This investigation was aimed at screening and anti-microbial evaluation of various leaf and root extracts of the plant. By this, explore substitution of root with leaf as excessive root harvesting could lead to shrub extinction. The dried and pulverized samples were subjected to successive extraction using solvents of varying polarities; n-hexane, ethyl acetate and 70% aqueous methanol. The respective extracts were concentrated en vacuo in a rotatory evaporator at temperature not exceeding 40°C. Seven human pathogens were selected comprising the G +ve, G-ve, fungi, group that was known to acquire resistance easily and nosocomial strains namely; Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococus fecalis, Candida albican and Aspergillus nigar. Ciprofloxacin and fluconazole solutions served as the control reference standards. Agar well diffusion assay method was used and the Inhibition Zone Diameters (mm) of growth were measured to assess activities for all the extracts. The Minimum Inhibitory Concenyrations (MIC) and Total Activity (TA) were also determined. The experimental values indicated that both leaf and root materials of this plant exhibited anti bacterial and anti fungal properties on the selected human pathogens especially with respect to the reference control standards at P ≤ 0.05. Except for anthraquinones, the leaf though exhibited weaker activities than root for same quantity of materials showed close similarity in activity pattern. In this sense, with an appropriate quantitative adjustments, leaf material could effectively substitute the root for antimicrobial purposes.

Designed sponges based on chitosan and cyclodextrin polymer for a local release of ciprofloxacin in diabetic foot infections.

Diabetic foot infections are the most common complications requiring hospitalisation of patients with diabetes. They often result in amputation to extremities and are associated with high morbi-mortality rates, especially when bone is infected. Treatment of these complications is based on surgical procedures, nursing care and systemic antibiotic therapy for several weeks, with a significant risk of relapse. Due to low blood flow and damage caused by diabetic foot infection, blood supply is decreased, causing low antibiotic diffusion in the infected site and an increase of possible bacterial resistance, making this type of infection particularly difficult to treat. In this context, the aim of this work was to develop a medical device for local antibiotic release. The device is a lyophilized physical hydrogel, i.e a sponge based on two oppositely charged polyelectrolytes (chitosan and poly(cyclodextrin citrate)). Cyclodextrins, via inclusion complexes, increase drug bioavailability and allow an extended release. Using local release administration increases concentrations in the wound without risk of toxicity to the body and prevents the emergence of resistant bacteria. The hydrogel was characterised by rheology. After freeze-drying, a curing process was implemented. The swelling rate and cell viability were evaluated, and finally, the sponge was impregnated with a ciprofloxacin solution to evaluate its drug release profile and its antibacterial activity.

Montmorillonite impregnated electrospun cellulose acetate nanofiber sorptive membrane for ciprofloxacin removal from wastewater

The present study investigates the efficiency of electrospun montmorillonite-impregnated cellulose acetate nanofiber membranes (MMT-CA-NFM) for adsorptive removal of ciprofloxacin (CIP). Surface morphology, nanofiber characteristics and pHzpc of NFM were analysed by FE-SEM, EDS and pH drift method, respectively. The surface morphology of NFM showed random arrangements of nanofiber. Experiments were performed in batch mode to examine the effect of contact time, adsorbent dose, initial CIP concentration, pH, electrolyte, temperature and agitation speed. It was observed that 60 min contact was sufficient to reach reaction equilibrium and corresponding percentage removal was 76 % when CIP concentration, MMT-CA-NFM dose and solution pH were 10 mg/L, 4 g/L and 6.0 respectively. Equilibrium of the adsorption was described well by both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The sorption capacity was determined to be 13.8 mg/g. The sorption most closely followed Elovich kinetics model among the models tested. The pH range 6–7.5, where the zwitter ionic nature of CIP was dominant, was found to be most favourable for adsorption. Decrease of ΔG with increase in temperature demonstrated that CIP removal was favourable at higher temperature and positive values of ΔH confirmed endothermic nature of reaction. In continuous mode of operation using fixed bed column, the height of mass transfer zone was found to be 14.96 cm and adsorption rate and capacity constant in continuous mode were also calculated. The regeneration experiments indicated that 10 mM NaOH solution can desorb CIP from exhausted NFM and adsorbent demonstrated good reusability for removal of the antibiotic studied.

Facile Synthesis of an Economic 3D Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Platform for Ultrasensitive Detection of Antibiotics

Recently, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has attracted extensive concern of domestic and international researchers owing to the enormous signal amplification and unparalleled detection capability. However, developing the multifunctional SERS substrate materials through one facile way still remains a great challenge today. Herein, a novel dual functional sponge-based three-dimensional (3D) platform (AgNPs/PDA/MS) with both the ultra-sensitive SERS activity and enrichment effect on probes was synthesized easily for the first time. The 3D substrate possessed an ultra-low limit of detection (LOD) of 10−14 M, high enhancement factor (EF, 5.30 × 1010), and excellent enhancement uniformity (relative standard deviation, RSD = 3.515%) for methylene blue (MB). Moreover, it was successfully applied in the detection of ciprofloxacin (CIP) and enrofloxacin (ENR) antibiotics solutions at the low concentration, which exhibited the LODs of 0.351 and 0.359 ppb, respectively. More strikingly, the linear correlation between Raman intensities and the concentrations of CIP (R2 = 0.9827) and ENR (R2 = 0.9788) indicates the substrate has potential in quantitative SERS analyses. Thus, AgNPs/PDA/MS SERS substrate is of great significance to sensitively detect antibiotics and presents the practical application potential in food safety and environmental protection.

Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin by black Ti3+/N-TiO2 under visible LED light irradiation: Kinetic, energy consumption, degradation pathway, and toxicity assessment

In this work, the photocatalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) by black Ti3+/N-TiO2 under visible LED light irradiation (b-N-TiO2/LED) was studied for the first time. Characterization of the prepared photocatalyst was performed by XRD, UV–Vis DRS, FE-SEM, EDS, HRTEM, and BET techniques. The b-N-TiO2 nanoparticles with high surface area of near 100 m2 g−1 and narrow band gap of 2.0 eV, exhibited a remarkable photocatalytic performance on the degradation (100 %) and mineralization (82 %) of CIP under visible LED light irradiation. The maximum degradation was found at reaction time = 70 min, initial CIP concentration = 0.5 mg L−1, pH = 6.7, and catalyst dosage = 0.43 g L−1. Based on the results, both the hole (h+) and hydroxyl radical (OH) played a major role than the superoxide radical (O2−) in CIP degradation. Although common coexisting anions in water had a slight negative effect on CIP degradation; humic acid (HA), especially in higher amounts, showed a considerable inhibitory effect on degradation process. Besides, the intermediates of CIP degradation were ultimately transformed into simple compounds. Accordingly, toxicity assessments revealed that the treatment of CIP solution by b-N-TiO2/LED process remarkably resulted in diminished toxicity compared to the untreated controls. The energy utilized in this study was far less than that used in other studies. Moreover, we found that b-N-TiO2 had desirable stability and can be reused for more than five runs of experiments. Collectively, based on our findings, the b-N-TiO2/LED process is a promising, low cost and feasible candidate can be used for degradation and mineralization of antibiotics like CIP in real water samples.

THE EFFECTIVENESS TEST OF TURMERIC EXTRACT TOWARD BACILUS CEREUS BACTERIA WITH THE COMPARISON OF CIPROFLOXACIN

This research aims to find out effectiveness test of turmeric rhizome in concentration of 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% toward Bacillus cereus bacterial and Ciprofloxacin the same concentration as the comparison. Bacillus cereus Bacteria is a gram-positive rod-shaped bacteria and it is dangerous for humans. This research was conducted with an experimental method with post-test only design and sampling using purposive sampling method. The effectiveness test of turmeric rhizome extract toward Bacillus cereus bacteria was carried out by diffusion using disc paper by calculating the diameter of the bacterial inhibition zone against disc paper that had been moistened with turmeric rhizome extract or Ciprofloxacin solution. The results obtained in this research were carried out with the Post Hoc test, the test was found that there were significant differences from each treatment given with a 95% confidence index. In bacteria treated with 25% ciprofloxacin toward Bacillus cereus, the effectiveness was above 50% turmeric rhizome extract and under 75% turmeric extract. Turmeric extract of 75% 10.6 mm had bacterial effect as Ciprofloxacin 25% of 10.1 mm toward the growth of Bacillus cereus bacterial.

Antibiotic Prophylaxis Is Not Required for Endoscopic Ultrasonography-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration of Pancreatic Cystic Lesions, Based on a Randomized Trial

Guidelines recommend routine antibiotic prophylaxis for patients undergoing endoscopic ultrasonography-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) of pancreatic cysts, but there is conflicting evidence for its necessity. We investigated whether performing the procedure without antimicrobial prophylaxis increases the incidence of infection. We performed a multicenter, randomized, noninferiority trial to compare prophylaxis with ciprofloxacin vs placebo in patients with a pancreatic cyst requiring EUS-FNA at multiple centers in Spain. From September 2014 to June 2018, patients were randomly assigned to groups that received the prophylaxis with ciprofloxacin (n= 112) or saline solution (n=114, placebo). We recorded patients' demographic data, lesion characteristics, and procedure data and followed patients for 21 days. A total of 205 patients completed the trial (90.7%), receiving ciprofloxacin or the control, with no statistically significant differences in demographics, baseline data, or procedure characteristics between groups. The primary outcome was FNA-related infection. Secondary outcomes were incidence of fever, procedure complications, and medication-related adverse events. The only case of FNA-related infection (0.44%) occurred in a patient in the placebo group (0.87%); this patient developed acute pancreatitis and bacteremia after the procedure. Prevention of infection was not inferior in the control group; the difference between proportions was 0.87% (95% confidence interval, -0.84% to 2.59%). There were no differences between groups in fever (2 patients in each group: 1.78% vs 1.76%; P= 1.00) or other adverse events. In a randomized trial of patients undergoing EUS-FNA for pancreatic cyst evaluation, we found the risk of infection to be low. The incidence of infections did not differ significantly with vs without ciprofloxacin prophylaxis. (ClinicalTrials.gov, Number: NCT02261896).

ДИНАМИКА ЛЕЙКОЦИТАРНЫХ ИНДЕКСОВ КРОВИ ЦЫПЛЯТ ПРИ ПРИМЕНЕНИИ ЦИПРОФЛОКСАЦИНА В УСЛОВИЯХ ЭКСПЕРИМЕНТАЛЬНОЙ ИНФЕКЦИИ

Diseases of bacterial etiology lead to decrease in productivity and increase in poultry waste, which causes significant dam-age to poultry farming. An important reason for the increase in the incidence of staphylo-coccal infections is the resistance and adapt-ability of microorganisms to chemotherapeu-tic agents. The purpose of the presented as-say was to study the effect of Ciprofloxacin on the dynamics of leukocyte indices in ex-perimental staphylococcosis of chickens. Three groups of cockerels were involved in the experiment (I – control, II – Staphylo-coccus aureus infection, III – Staphylococ-cus aureus infection + Ciprofloxacin solution administration peros during 5 days in a dose of 200 mg/l). Blood was taken directly on the very day of infection for II and III groups, as well as on the 3, 5 and 7 days after infection. Krebs index, leukocyte index, immunoreactivity index, leukocyte index of intoxication, leukocyte shift index, and lym-phocyte granulocyte index was determined after counting the leukogram. During the whole experiment, significant statistically reliable changes in the leukocyte indices of chicks of groups II and III were revealed, relative to the control index, which indicates the activation of a number of immune reac-tions that have a significant impact on the physiological status of the bird. The use of indices for differential counts of leukocytes is a more informative method than taking into account changes in the concentration of certain blood cells.

Preparation of PLGA-chitosan based nanocarriers for enhancing antibacterial effect of ciprofloxacin in root canal infection

The aim of this study is to prepare and evaluate the antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of ciprofloxacin (CIP) loaded PLGA nanoparticles (F2) and CIP-PLGA nanoparticles coated with chitosan (F3) versus ciprofloxacin solution (Fl) as a control on Enterococcus faecalis. F2 was prepared using double emulsion evaporation technique then coated with chitosan (F3). The prepared F2 and F3 were evaluated for size, surface charge, encapsulation efficiency, morphology and in vitro release. F1, F2, F3, and Chitosan (CS) were assessed in vitro using agar diffusion technique and biofilm inhibition assay. Finally, biofilm inhibition on teeth using Colony Forming Unit (CFU) was implemented with different concentrations of the three formulae. The results revealed that F2 is 202.9 nm with a negative charge −0.0254 mv, while F3 is 339.6 nm with a positive charge +28.5 mv. The encapsulation efficiency of F2, and F3 was 64% and 78% respectively. The amount released was 92.62% and 78.3% for F2 and F3, respectively, after 72 h, while F1 showed 100% released in the first hour. CS, F1, F2, and F3, showed antibacterial effect with inhibition zone of 12 mm, 22 mm, 20 mm, and 32 mm respectively. Biofilm inhibition of F1, F2, and F3 were 60%, 74%, and 91.8%, respectively. F3 colony count was less than F2, and F1 in all concentrations. It can be concluded that F3 had proven to exhibit potential antibacterial and antibiofilm activity in a controlled release pattern consequently, they can be used as an intra-canal medication.

Development of novel Nd2WO6/ZnO incorporated on GO nanocomposite for the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants and biological studies

In this work, the Nd2WO6/ZnO–GO (NWZG) nanocomposite were prepared by simple hydrothermal route. The crystalline structure, morphology and elemental composition of the as prepared NWZG nanocomposite were characterized by numerous spectroscopic techniques. For the first time, Nd2WO6/ZnO–GO was utilized as a photocatalyst for the degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) antibiotic drug and methylene blue (MB) dye solution under UV light irradiation. Interestingly, NWZG nanocomposite exhibited enhanced photocatalytic performance could degrade above 96% and 98% of CIP and MB solution, respectively. The radical trapping experiment results revealed that the O 2 radicals are the major active species. Furthermore, NWZG nanocomposite demonstrated extraordinary chemical stability and reusability even after five repeated cycles. Besides, NWZG nanocomposite portrayed significant antibacterial properties against both Gram-positive (Bacillus cereus) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacterial strains. Moreover, AC impedance spectroscopy studies showed that NWZG nanocomposite have the superior electrical conductivity and dielectric behaviour when compared to pristine one.

Fingerprint Spectrophotometric Methods for the Determination of Co-Formulated Otic Solution of Ciprofloxacin and Fluocinolone Acetonide in Their Challengeable Ratio.

Six spectrophotometric methods were developed to determine a new single-dose otic solution known as “Otovel®,” which consists of two components: the major one is ciprofloxacin (CIP) and the minor is fluocinolone acetonide (FLU). The ratio of (CIP) and (FLU) in Otovel® is 12 : 1, which is considered a challengeable ratio for UV determination. Thus, spectrum addition as a sample enrichment technique was required for the analysis of (FLU) low concentration. All these methods were capable of resolving the spectra for each component in D 0 belonging to the fingerprint resolution technique. The former absorptivity centering (a-centering) method was recently developed in 2018; it was effectively applied for its solution of both binary components in Otovel®, while another method, ratio subtraction (RS), is considered as an original resolution method that could be applied to determine only one component in mixtures. However, the other four methods that are related to their original method (RS) were extended ratio subtraction (EXRS), constant multiplication (CM), unified constant subtraction (UCS), and spectrum subtraction (SS). They were also easily applied for completing the quantification of binary mixture drugs present in Otovel®. The linearity ranges were found to be 3.0–15.0 μg/mL for (CIP) and (FLU), respectively. All results acquired from the proposed methods were successfully estimated according to ICH criteria and were statistically compared with official ones where no differences were noticed.

The effective photocatalysis and antibacterial properties of AgBr/Ag2MoO4@ZnO composites under visible light irradiation

A novel Z-scheme AgBr/Ag2MoO4@ZnO photocatalyst was fabricated via a hydrothermal process and in situ growth method. X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy were used to determine the structure of the photocatalyst. The results showed that the composites were tightly connected by the (101) lattice plane of ZnO, the (222) plane of Ag2MoO4 and the (200) lattice plane of AgBr. Because of the strong redox activity and good separability of photoelectrons and holes induced by the Z-scheme structure, the photodegradation rate for ciprofloxacin (CIP) solution was 80.5% by the photocatalysis of 0.5 AgBr/Ag2MoO4@ZnO. In addition, more than 99.999% of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells were killed within 60 min. These results demonstrate that AgBr/Ag2MoO4@ZnO is a promising photocatalyst, which can be used in organic pollutant degradation and the photocatalytic antibacterial area.

Room-temperature in situ synthesis of BiOBr/Bi2O3 composites for the catalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin using indoor fluorescent light illumination

In this study, a complete room-temperature process for the synthesis of BiOBr/Bi2O3 composites has been developed. The process is facile, rapid and gives high yield. Initially, BiOBr photocatalyst was synthesized via solid-state synthesis using polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG400) as a morphology control agent. Subsequently, an in situ method in aqueous NaOH solution was adopted for the conversion of pristine BiOBr to BiOBr/Bi2O3 composites with variable proportion of α-Bi2O3, at room-temperature. Alkali etching duration played a key role towards crystalline, surface, morphological and optical properties of BiOBr/Bi2O3 composites, as confirmed by XRD, SEM, XPS, FTIR, UV-DRS, BET and PL characterizations. Compared to pristine BiOBr, the BiOBr/Bi2O3 composites exhibited high activity for ciprofloxacin (CIP) degradation under indoor fluorescent light illumination. Their photocatalytic activity increases with the increase in etching duration up to a period of 60 min and then decreases. The degradation efficiency of aqueous CIP solution (100 mL, 20 ppm) reached 95.3% within 90 min in the presence of BiOBr/Bi2O3-60 which showed the best performance, and the composite remained stable even after five consecutive cycles. Meanwhile, photogenerated holes (h+) and superoxide radical anions $$(^{\cdot} {\text{O}}_{2}^{-})$$ were found to be the dominant degrading species during active species studies, and a possible mechanism for the photocatalytic degradation of CIP over BiOBr/Bi2O3-60 composite photocatalyst has been proposed.

The use of sea water as a homemade remedy for infectious conjunctivitis-any cause for alarm?

Abstract Aim This study sought to ascertain the usefulness of sea water (SW) in the treatment of infectious conjunctivitis as a homemade medicine. Methods The SW was collected at the sea shore (Gulf of Guinea) in Cape Coast, into a sterile container and kept at 4 °C. This was prepared into different concentrations for assaying in comparison to Normal Saline (NS) and Autoclaved Sea water (AS) which was prepared in the laboratory. The pH, ionic concentration and salinity of SW and NS were determined prior to the antimicrobial assay. Conventional ophthalmic solutions of Chloramphenicol (CH) Gentamycin (Gen), Ciprofloxacin (Cipro) and Tobramycin (Tobra) were used as standards for comparison. The antibacterial susceptibility test was performed against the strains of Staphylococcus spp, Bacillus. spp, Corynebacterium spp, Pseudomonas spp, Haemophilus spp and Klebseilla spp. isolated from clinical cases of infectious conjunctivitis. Minimum inhibition concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined for all test agents. Results AS, NS and CH showed bacteriostatic activity against all gram positive bacteria with MIC values of 350–560 µg/mL, 36,000 µg/mL and 5000 µg/mL respectively. NS did the same against only Pseudomonas spp. All Gen, Cipro and Tobra revealed bactericidal activity against all bacteria with MIC and (MBC) value of 3000 µg/mL. However, SW showed no antimicrobial effect but rather introduced other additional bacteria upon subculturing. Conclusion The use of SW as a homemade therapy for infectious conjunctivitis is a risky practice, however, when autoclaved could be beneficial against Gram positive bacteria. Alternatively, normal saline could serve the purpose of first aid homemade therapy for infectious conjunctivitis.

Enhancing photo-degradation of ciprofloxacin using simultaneous usage of eaq- and OH over UV/ZnO/I- process: Efficiency, kinetics, pathways, and mechanisms.

The aim of this study is to develop the process relies on the UV irradiation of ZnO and I-, i.e. UV/ZnO /I- (UZI), to create both oxidizer and reducer agents simultaneously for photo-degradation of the Ciprofloxacin (CIP). This paper shows that while applying UV irradiation, UV/ZnO and UV/I- for 20 min can lead to achieve 37.5%, 58.12%, and 61.4% photo-degradation of 100 mg L-1 CIP at pH 7, respectively. Moreover, the UZI treatment can provide 91.54% photo-degradation efficiency. The LC-MS analysis of the UZI effluent indicates that 10 min process was adequate to degrade CIP into simple ring-shaped metabolites while 15 min treatment, mostly of CIP intermediates were linear and biodegradable organic compounds. Furthermore, fourteen little fragments were identified in the CIP photo-degradation via UZI, during the photoreaction time of 2.5 to 20 min. Then, a pseudo first-order kinetics equation was utilized to model the observed photo-degradation process. Finally, the computational results show that the increased concentration of the CIP solution from 100 to 400 mg L-1 decreases the observed rate constant (kobs) from 0.4125 to 0.2189 min-1 while increases the photoreaction rate (robs) from 41.25 to 87.56 mg L-1 min-1.

Pulsed discharge plasma induced WO3 catalysis for synergetic degradation of ciprofloxacin in water: Synergetic mechanism and degradation pathway

Pulsed discharge plasma (PDP) was adopted to induce WO3 for synergetic degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) in water. WO3 was firstly characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), Photocurrents and Photoluminescence. The degradation results showed that PDP could induce WO3 photocatalysis successfully, and a synergetic effect was established in PDP/WO3 system. After 60 min treatment time, 0.16 g/L WO3 increased the CIP removal from 71.3% to 99.6%, with the enhancement of the first-order kinetic constant from 0.020 min−1 to 0.081 min−1. Then, the effect of peak voltage, air flow rate and pH on CIP removal was evaluated. Active species trapping test verified that ·OH and ·O2− played the major role for plasma-degradation of CIP degradation, whereas OH and h+ were conductive to catalytic degrade CIP. WO3 addition lead to the decline of O3 and enhancement of OH no matter in deionized water or CIP solution. The degradation process was explored using fluorescence spectrograph, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and ion chromatography (IC). Finally, the possible degradation pathways of CIP degradation were proposed. The reuse test suggested WO3 possessed excellent catalytic performance as well as good stability.