Social exclusion of older persons: a scoping review and conceptual framework

As a concept, social exclusion has considerable potential to explain and respond to disadvantage in later life. However, in the context of ageing populations, the construct remains ambiguous. A disjointed evidence-base, spread across disparate disciplines, compounds the challenge of developing a coherent understanding of exclusion in older age. This article addresses this research deficit by presenting the findings of a two-stage scoping review encompassing seven separate reviews of the international literature pertaining to old-age social exclusion. Stage one involved a review of conceptual frameworks on old-age exclusion, identifying conceptual understandings and key domains of later-life exclusion. Stage two involved scoping reviews on each domain (six in all). Stage one identified six conceptual frameworks on old-age exclusion and six common domains across these frameworks: neighbourhood and community; services, amenities and mobility; social relations; material and financial resources; socio-cultural aspects; and civic participation. International literature concentrated on the first four domains, but indicated a general lack of research knowledge and of theoretical development. Drawing on all seven scoping reviews and a knowledge synthesis, the article presents a new definition and conceptual framework relating to old-age exclusion

Phytotherapy in Streptococcus agalactiae: An Overview of the Medicinal Plants Effective against Streptococcus agalactiae

Streptococcus agalactiae is a spherical and Gram-positive bacterium that causes postpartum sepsis, endometritis, chorioamnionitis and premature delivery in pregnant women. The use of herbs and natural ingredients for the treatment of various disorders has been common. The present review is a report on the medicinal plants with anti-Streptococcus agalactiae effects. In this review, the search was carried out in Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar and Science direct by keywords such as bacteria, Streptococcus agalactiae and medicinal plants. According to the search results, 10 medicinal plants are used as anti-bacterial against Streptococcus agalactiae. Results of this study suggest that the active ingredients listed in this review paper used for pharmacological studies on Streptococcus agalactiae so it can produce effective natural antibiotic for the future

Molecular Detection of Carbapenem Resistance in Acinetobacter Baumannii Isolated From Patients in Khorramabad City, Iran

BACKGROUND: Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen, which causes a wide range of infections in hospitals, especially in intensive care units. Nowadays, due to the high resistance of Acinetobacter bumanni to antibiotics, this study, in addition to the phenotypic and genotypic investigations of drug resistance, focused on determining the molecular types of Acinetobacter baumannii isolated from patients in Khorramabad city by the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 50 samples of Acinetobacter baumannii were collected from educational hospitals in Khorramabad city, Iran, from January to August 2015. They were identified in the laboratory using biochemical tests and culture methods. After determining the drug resistance pattern by the disc diffusion method and percentage of resistance genes to carbapenems, Acinetobacter baumannii isolates were analyzed using the PFGE method using the Apa1 enzyme. RESULTS: The highest antibiotic resistance observed for Acinetobacter baumannii strains was against ampicillin-sulbactam (100) and aztreonam (98). The highest sensitivity was to polymixin B (100) and colistin (94), and also to the OXA-51-like gene present in all samples. The OXA-23-like gene was positive in 44 (88) samples. PFGE results showed that Acinetobacterbaumannii strains had 33 different pulsotype patterns, of which 27 patterns had more than one strain and 23 had only one strain. CONCLUSION: Due to the high resistance of Acinetobacter baumannii and its ease of spread and its ability to transfer resistance genes, resistance control methods should be used in the disinfection of hospital areas. Hospital staff should observe hygiene standards and there should also be a reduction in antibiotic use

Determination of Different Fluoroquinolone Mechanisms Among Clinical Isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii in Tehran, Iran

Background: Acinetobacter baumannii isolates resistant to fluoroquinolones, such as levofloxacin and ciprofloxacin are being increasingly developed every day. Objectives: In this study, ciprofloxacin resistance in A. baumannii isolates was determined by the presence or absence of efflux pump inhibitors, as the efflux pumps play an important role in the creation of ciprofloxacin resistance. Methods: One hundred and three Acinetobacter isolates were collected from ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and burn patients of Tehran hospitals, Iran, during six months of 2014. Susceptibility rates of the isolates to levofloxacin and ciprofloxacin antibiotics were assessed using the agar disk diffusion and broth microdilution. The effects of the efflux pump inhibitors including phenylalanine-arginine beta-naphthylamide (PA beta N) and 1-(1-naphtylmethyl)-piperazine (NMP) on ciprofloxacin resistance were investigated. Further, the quinolone resistance qnrA, qnrB, qnrS, and adeABC genes were evaluated using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. Finally, to examine the mutation in quinolone resistance-determining regions, the PCR products of the gyrA and parC genes were sequenced. Results: According to the results of the antibiogram test, 74.7 and 33 of the studied isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin, respectively. Also, there was a significant relationship between the type of the specimen and resistance to ciprofloxacin (P = 0.02) and resistance to levofloxacin (P = 0.04). As for the synergistic study of the inhibitors with ciprofloxacin, the reduction of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was observed in 40 and 56.6 of the isolates in the presence of PA beta N and NMP, respectively. The prevalence rates of qnrA, qnrB, qnrS, AdeA, AdeB, and AdeC genes were 0, 0, 3.9, 100, 100 and 100, respectively. In all the resistant isolates, mutation of in the gyrA gene was observed, but no mutation was seen in the parC gene. Conclusions: The presence of the efflux pumps and the gyrA gene mutation are still considered as the most important factors causing fluoroquinolone resistance; however, identification of the qnr genes for the first time in Tehran hospitals, Iran, can lead to further concerns in the future

Systematic review for phytotherapy in Streptococcus Mutans

Streptococcus mutans is one of the bacteria that are a major cause of tooth decay. Streptococcus mutans plays a special role in plaque formation and tooth decay. S. mutans, which is a gram-positive cocci and encapsulated bacterium, produces acid and is considered as an extracellular glucan polymer. Medicinal plants are of special value and importance in securing health status at the society level in terms of both treatment and prevention of human diseases and are as old as human history. The present review study reports on medicinal plants that are used as antibacterials against S. mutans. In this study, the search process was done using keywords, such as bacteria, Streptococcus mutans, and medicinal plants. Databases such as ISI Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar and Science Direct were searched and the relevant articles were used for reviewing purposes. Based on the results, there are 48 medicinal plants with anti-S. mutans effects. © 2017, Pharmainfo Publications. All rights reserved

Phytotherapy for Streptococcus sanguis

Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sanguisare the most important bacterial agents of dental caries. Streptococcus sanguisis the most commonly isolated species of the dental plaque. Medicinal plants are rich sources of bioactive and antioxidant substances which treat various diseases with various mechanisms. Since Streptococcussanguisis one of the bacterial agents responsible for dental caries, the efforts in this article were on reporting the medicinal plants which have an effective effect on this bacteria. Searching for articles with words of Streptococcussanguis, phytotherapy, medicinal herbs, and tooth diseases was done in present reviewing study. Searching was done from databases such as Scopus, ISC, SID, Meiran, and some other databases. Accordingly, 23 drugs which are effective on Streptococcus sanguisare used. It was determined based on the obtained results that Cinnamomum cassia, Stachys byzanthina, Stachys lavandulifolia, Phlomis brugueur, Juglans regia, Lonicera japonica, Jasminum sambac, Eucommia ulmoides, Camellia sinensis, Gynostemma pentaphyllum, Cymbopogon citratus, Ilex paraguariensis, Rosmarinus officinalis, Kaempferia pandurata, Azardirachta indica, Acacia nilotica, Ocimum basilicum, Emblica officinalis, Terminalia bellirica, Syzygium cuminii, Syzygium aromaticum, Diclinanona calycina and Thyrsodium spruceanum medicinal plants are the most important medicinal plants with anti-Streptococcus sanguis properties. Medicinal plants used in this study have anti-Streptococcus sanguis properties due to presents of bioactive substances, antioxidants, flavonoids, flavones, anthocyanins, and the like