Penetrating Crohn’s disease – adult vs pediatric patients

Crohn’s disease (CD) is increasing in prevalence worldwide, especially with young people. Magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) differs from routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by oral administration of neutral fluid contrast before scanning. It allows for recognising and monitoring changes during therapy as well as assessing complications, which makes it valuable diagnostic modality

First-line ultrasound assessment of penetrating Crohn’s disease in pediatric patients

Introduction: Crohn’s disease is classified as chronic inflammatory bowel disease. The incidence in Europe ranges from 1 to almost 11.4 per 100,000 population per year. Ultrasound examination plays an important role in imaging diagnostics of inflammatory bowel lesions. It allows for assessing response to therapy as well as recognizing possible penetrating complications of the disease, i.e. fistula or abscess

Z zagadnień bezpieczeństwa biznesu

Praca recenzowana / peer-reviewed pape

Dandelion seeds as a new and valuable source of bioactive extracts obtained using the supercritical fluid extraction technique

The present study was intended to explore dandelion seeds as a new source of biologically active constituents using an environmentally friendly extraction technique. The process-function relationships were determined by following the influence of temperature (40 and 60 °C) and pressure (from 100 to 450 bar) on the amount of separated extract, its density, composition, and bioactivity. It was shown that the supercritical CO2-assisted technique enables the separation of 0.6–25.0% extract having a density in a range of 827–941 kg/m3. Extracts contained a high amount of unsaturated fatty acids (89.9–90.6%) including linoleic acid (71%) and α-linolenic acid (up to 0.9%), as well as phenolic (5.5–12.1 mg GAE/g) and flavonoid compounds (208.6–564.5 μg QE/g). The antioxidant activity test showed that 20 mg/mL extract solutions inhibit 26.0–64.4% DPPH radical. In addition, extracts showed significant antimicrobial activity, especially against Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis and Micrococcus luteus. There was no cytotoxic effect on normal green monkey kidney cells and human skin fibroblasts nor on hypopharyngeal cancer, cervical adenocarcinoma, and colon cancer cells. The study indicated the possible safe application of bioactive dandelion seeds extract in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industry

The Prevalence of Virulence Determinants and Antibiotic Resistance Patterns in Methicillin—Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a Nursing Home in Poland

Nursing homes (NH) contribute to the regional spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Moreover, residents are vulnerable to the colonization and subsequent infection of MRSA etiology. We aimed at investigating the molecular and phenotypic characteristics of 21 MRSA collected from the residents and personnel in an NH (Lublin, Poland) during 2018. All MRSA were screened for 20 genes encoding virulence determinants (sea-see, eta, etb, tst, lukS-F-PV, eno, cna, ebpS, fib, bbp, fnbA, fnbB, icaADBC) and for resistance to 18 antimicrobials. To establish the relatedness and clonal complexes of MRSA in NH we applied multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat fingerprinting (MLVF), pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing. We identified four sequence types (ST) among two clonal complexes (CC): ST (CC22) known as EMRSA-15 as well as three novel STs—ST6295 (CC8), ST6293 (CC8) and ST6294. All tested MRSA were negative for sec, eta, etb, lukS-F-PV, bbp and ebpS genes. The most prevalent gene encoding toxin was sed (52.4%; n = 11/21), and adhesins were eno and fnbA (100%). Only 9.5% (n = 2/21) of MRSA were classified as multidrug-resistant. The emergence of novel MRSA with a unique virulence and the presence of epidemic clone EMRSA-15 creates challenges for controlling the spread of MRSA in NH

Differentiation by random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) of Candida albicans isolated from upper respiratory tract in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Cancer patients are predisposed to fungal infections caused by Candida albicans, especially to oral or respiratory tract candidiasis. The aim of this study was to estimate genetic diversity by RAPD-PCR (random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction) of C. albicans isolated from upper respiratory tract of 100 patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Among 52 strains, 34 genotypes were defined. 10 clusters comprising 28 (53.85%) isolates with similarity coefficient ≥ 80% were formed. The remaining 24 (46.15%) isolates represented individual genotypes. The RAPD-PCR technique revealed genomic variability within C. albicans isolated from upper respiratory tract of the cancer patients

A Novel Strategy for the Separation of Functional Oils from Chamomile Seeds

The main aim of this study was to evaluate the oils from chamomile seeds as a new source of bioactive compounds suitable for human consumption. A green extraction technique with supercritical carbon dioxide (sc-CO2) at pressures up to 450 bar and temperatures up to 60 °C was employed for the production of a high amount of biologically active oil. Additionally, exhausted waste material was re-extracted using sc-CO2 with the addition of ethanol. By optimization in operating pressure, temperature, production cost, fraction of milled seeds, and co-solvent addition, the amount of separated chamomile oil increased from 2.4 to 18.6% and the content of unsaturated fatty acids up to 88.7%. Oils contained α-bisabolol oxide A and B in amounts up to 1.4%. Linoleic acid was detected in an amount up to 711.1 mg/g and α-linolenic acid up to 27.5 mg/g. The total phenolic content in separated oil reached 80.4 mg GAE/g while the total flavonoid content reached 11.6 mg QE/g. The obtained chamomile oils showed antioxidant activity with an IC50 of up to 3.9 mg/mL. Among the 23 tested microorganisms, the antimicrobial activity of oils was the most pronounced against Gram-positive bacteria. The cytotoxic activity of oils was tested on normal and cancer-derived cell lines. Results indicated a significant potential for oil from chamomile seeds, produced in an eco-friendly manner, as a functional food

The separation of biologically active extracts from chamomile seeds

The main aim of this study was to evaluate chamomile seeds as a new source of valuable bioactive compounds. For this purpose, a green extraction technique was employed with supercritical carbon dioxide (sc-CO2) as a solvent and ethanol as a co-solvent. The extracts from chamomile seeds with an average particle size of 0.20 mm were extracted at pressures of 30 and 45 MPa and temperatures of 40 and 60 °C. The composition of extracts was investigated by a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analytical method as well as Folin−Ciocalteu assay (for total phenolic content) and total flavonoid content test. The antioxidant activity of obtained chamomile extracts was evaluated using DPPH radical. The antimicrobial effect of extracts was tested on yeasts, Gram-positive, and Gram-negative bacteria while the cytotoxic effect was evaluated on normal and cancer cells. The extraction process parameters were evaluated and results showed a significant effect of operating pressure, temperature, and the addition of co-solvent on the amount of separated chamomile extract and its composition. The extraction yield ranged from 2.1 to 5.4% and extracts contained high amounts of unsaturated fatty acids. The addition of ethanol as a co-solvent (40 w/w%) had a slight influence on total phenolic and flavonoid contents increasing their values from 29.1 to 31.5 mg GAE/g and from 2.1 to 4.2 mg QE/g, respectively. The obtained supercritical chamomile extracts showed antioxidant activity achieving values of IC50 around 10 mg/mL. The antimicrobial activity of extracts was most pronounced against Bacillus subtilis. Extracts did not show cytotoxic activity against normal cells. Overall, results indicated a significant potential of extracts from chamomile seeds, produced in an environmentally friendly manner, to be used as a functional food or phytopharmaceuticals