Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras) oil encapsulation by spray drying using a rice and whey protein blend as a coating material

As popular coating material for encapsulation like milk proteins and maltodextrin do not fully mask unpleasant fish flavors, rice and whey protein blend was tested to aid the use of Baltic herring (BH) oil in functional foods. Particle size and morphology of emulsions (7.5% whey protein, 7.5% rice protein, 15% BH oil and water) produced at pH 3, 6 or 8 with one or two step homogenization and resulting powders were characterized together with fatty acid composition, volatile compounds and oxidative stability. The use of rice and whey proteins lead to stable emulsions with bimodal size distribution and large dispersion (0.05-100 mu m). Emulsion's pH affected powder particle sizes, with pH 3 resulting in powders with biggest particle sizes. Morphology of powders showed spherical shape with porous structure. Emulsions with pH 6.5 produced powders with the highest induction periods (1.59-1.73 h) and low content of volatile compounds

Influence of Selected Compositions of Wall Materials and Drying Techniques Used for Encapsulation of Linseed Oil and Its Ethyl Esters

The aim of the study was to compare the encapsulation of linseed oil and its ethyl esters using two coating materials (maltodextrin with whey protein concentrate (WPC) vs. maltodextrin with gum arabic) and two drying methods (spray-drying vs. freeze-drying) to obtain powders with the highest oxidative stability. A comparison was made based on the properties of emulsions (morphology, particle size distribution, and stability) and powders (morphology, physicochemical properties, fatty acid composition, and oxidative stability). The powder’s oxidative stability was determined based on the Rancimat protocol. The most uniform distribution of oil droplets in prepared emulsions was stated for ethyl esters in a mixture of maltodextrin and gum arabic. Emulsions with WPC had a bimodal character, while those with gum arabic had a monomodal character. Gum arabic promoted emulsion stability, while in samples containing WPC, sedimentation and creaming processes were more visible. Powders obtained using spray-drying had a spherical shape, while those obtained by freeze-drying were similar to flakes. Although encapsulation efficiency was the highest for freeze-dried powders made of linseed ethyl esters with gum arabic, the highest oxidative stability was stated for powders made by spray-drying with WPC as wall material (independently of linseed sample form). These powders can be easily applied to various food matrices, increasing the share of valuable α-linolenic acid

Synthetic Pyrethroids Exposure and Embryological Outcomes: A Cohort Study in Women from Fertility Clinic

Pyrethroids exposure has been associated with adverse reproductive outcome. However, there is no study that explores the effect of environmental exposure and embryological outcomes. This question was addressed in a prospective cohort of couples undergoing fertility treatment. The study aims to assess the association between urinary metabolites of synthetic pyrethroids and embryological outcomes (MII oocyte count, top quality embryo, fertilization and implantation rate). We included 450 women aged 25–45 undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycle at Infertility Clinic in Poland. Urine samples were collected at the time of fertility procedure(s) to assess four urinary synthetic pyrethroids concentrations (3-phenoxybenzoic acid (3PBA), cis-3-(2,2-dichlorovinyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropane carboxylic acid (cis-DCCA), trans-3-(2,2-dichlorovinyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropane carboxylic acid (trans-DCCA), cis-2,2-dibromovinyl-2,2-dimethylocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (DBCA)) using validated gas chromatography ion-tap mass spectrometry and calculated for each cycle-specific metabolite. To evaluate the effect of environmental exposure to synthetic pyrethroids and embryological outcomes (methaphase II (MII) oocyte yield, top quality embryo, fertilization rate, implantation rate), multivariable generalized linear mixed analyses with random intercepts were prepared. Urinary 3-PBA concentrations decrease MII oocyte count (p = 0.007) in the fourth quartile (>75 percentile) compared to women in the first quartile (≤25 percentile). Additionally, when 3-PBA was treated as continuous variable, the negative association between exposure to pyrethroids and MII oocyte count was also observed (p = 0.012). Exposure to other pyrethroid metabolities (CDCCA, TDCCA, DBCA) was not related to any of the examined embryological outcomes. Exposure to synthetic pyrethroids may be associated with poorer embryological outcome among couples seeking fertility treatments. As this is the first study on this topic, the results need to be confirmed in further studies

Screening for <i>EGFR</i> Amplifications with a Novel Method and Their Significance for the Outcome of Glioblastoma Patients

<div><p>Glioblastoma is a highly aggressive tumour of the central nervous system, characterised by poor prognosis irrespective of the applied treatment. The aim of our study was to analyse whether the molecular markers of glioblastoma (<i>i.e. TP53</i> and <i>IDH1</i> mutations, <i>CDKN2A</i> deletion, <i>EGFR</i> amplification, chromosome 7 polysomy and <i>EGFRvIII</i> expression) could be associated with distinct prognosis and/or response to the therapy. Moreover, we describe a method which allows for a reliable, as well as time- and cost-effective, screening for <i>EGFR</i> amplification and chromosome 7 polysomy with quantitative Real-Time PCR at DNA level. In the clinical data, only the patient’s age had prognostic significance (continuous: HR = 1.04; p<0.01). At the molecular level, <i>EGFRvIII</i> expression was associated with a better prognosis (HR = 0.37; p = 0.04). Intriguingly, <i>EGFR</i> amplification was associated with a worse outcome in younger patients (HR = 3.75; p<0.01) and in patients treated with radiotherapy (HR = 2.71; p = 0.03). We did not observe any difference between the patients with the amplification treated with radiotherapy and the patients without such a treatment. Next, <i>EGFR</i> amplification was related to a better prognosis in combination with the homozygous <i>CDKN2A</i> deletion (HR = 0.12; p = 0.01), but to a poorer prognosis in combination with chromosome 7 polysomy (HR = 14.88; p = 0.01). Importantly, the results emphasise the necessity to distinguish both mechanisms of the increased <i>EGFR</i> gene copy number (amplification and polysomy). To conclude, although the data presented here require validation in different groups of patients, they strongly advocate the consideration of the patient’s tumour molecular characteristics in the selection of the therapy.</p></div

Kaplan-Meier diagrams depicting differences in survival times related to the clinical aspects.

<p>The attached table presents statistical data for each diagram. Cox's proportional hazard refers to univariate analysis for diagram A and to multivariate analysis for diagrams B, C, D. The calculated HR values pertain to the second subgroup listed (“total” subgroup for diagram B), while the HR values of the first subgroup (cumulatively of “partial” and “subtotal” subgroups for diagram B) equal to 1. ♦ - complete responses; Δ - censored responses. A. age of the patient, the threshold of 60 years included in the “younger” subgroup; B. extent of resection; C. radiotherapy; D. radio-chemotherapy.</p

Kaplan-Meier diagrams depicting differences in survival times related to the <i>EGFR</i> amplification and clinical aspects.

<p>The attached table presents statistical data for each diagram. Cox’s proportional hazard refers to multivariate analysis. The calculated HR values pertain to the second subgroup listed, while the HR values of the first subgroup equal to 1. ♦ - complete responses; Δ - censored responses. A. <i>EGFR</i> amplification in patients aged 60 years and less; B. <i>EGFR</i> amplification in patients treated with radiotherapy; C. comparison of patients not treated with radiotherapy with those with the <i>EGFR</i> amplification treated with radiotherapy; D. <i>EGFR</i> amplification in a cumulative group of younger patients and those treated with radiotherapy.</p

Selected results of the statistical analyses.

<p>Cox’s Proprtional Hazard values pertain to the univariate analysis for age and to the multivariate analysis (adjusted for age) for other analyses. HR values refer to the presence of given feature.</p><p>For example:</p><p>In the group of patients younger than 60 years old, the risk of death over given time is 3.745 times higher in those with <i>EGFR</i> amplification than in those without the amplification.</p><p>Abbreviations:</p><p><i>TP53</i>– <i>TP53</i> mutation;</p><p><i>EGFR</i> – <i>EGFR</i> amplification;</p><p>Poly 7– chromosome 7 polysomy;</p><p><i>EGFRvIII</i> – <i>EGFRvIII</i> expression;</p><p><i>CDKN2A</i> – <i>CDKN2A</i> deletion;</p><p>y. o. – years old.</p

Kaplan-Meier diagrams depicting differences in survival times related to the molecular aspects.

<p>The attached table presents statistical data for each diagram. Cox’s proportional hazard refers to multivariate analysis. The calculated HR values pertain to the second subgroup listed, while the HR values of the first subgroup equal to 1. ♦ - complete responses; Δ - censored responses. A. <i>EGFRvIII</i> expression; B. <i>CDKN2A</i> deletion; C. The combination of <i>CDKN2A</i> deletion with <i>EGFR</i> amplification; D. the combination of chromosome 7 polysomy with <i>EGFR</i> amplification.</p

A diagram depicting the premises upon which the <i>EGFR</i> gene copy number analysis is based.

<p>In normal cells both the ratio of <i>EGFR</i> to <i>GPER</i> and the ratio of <i>GPER</i> to <i>RNase</i> is equal to 1. In cells with chromosome 7 polysomy the ratio of <i>GPER</i> to <i>RNase</i> increases, while in cells with <i>EGFR</i> amplification the ratio of <i>EGFR</i> to <i>GPER</i> increases. In cells with both the polysomy and the amplification both ratios are increased and the ratio of <i>EGFR</i> to <i>RNase</i> is equal to their product. A. normal cell; B. cell with chromosome 7 polysomy; C. cell with extrachromosomal <i>EGFR</i> amplification.</p