Arcobacter spp.

Bakterije roda Arcobacter pripadaju porodici Campylobacteriaceae, no od Campylobacter vrsta razlikuje se po sposobnosti rasta na 15 °C i u aerobnim uvjetima. Ove bakterije izolirane su iz oboljelih životinja, ljudi, ali i s trupova životinja nakon klaoničke obrade, te svježeg mesa, kao i vode. Farmske životinje, posebice perad, smatraju se rezervoarima bakterije. Razvijene su različite mikrobiološke metode za izolaciju Arcobacter spp., ali standardni protokol još uvijek ne postoji. Za brzu i specifi čnu identifikaciju osnovane su metode bazirane na DNA. Iako su faktori virulencije i patogenost Arcobacter spp. i dalje predmet ispitivanja, potrebno je razviti mjere za eliminaciju ovog hazarda iz prehrambenog lancaArcobacter species belong to the family Campylobacteriaceae; ability to grow at 15 °C and aerobically distinguishes them from Campylobacter species. Arcobacter spp. have been isolated from many sources (ill animals, humans, carcasses after slaughter, raw meat and water). Farm animals, especially poultry are signifi cant reservoir of Arcobacter spp. Different culture-based methods have been develop for isolation, but standard protocol has not been established. DNA-based assays have been established for rapid and specifi c identifi cation of Arcobacter spp. Although virulence factors and patogenicity need further studies, it is necessary to develop measures for eradication of Arcobacter spp. from the food chai

Infection risks by V. parahaemolyticus in seafood

Danas se morski organizmi sve više uzgajaju u kavezima, a sve manje izlovljavaju iz prirode. Intenziviranjem proizvodnje, povećali su se rizici zaživotinog, ali i postmortalnog kontaminiranja riba patogenim mikroorganizmima. U ovom je radu stavljen naglasak na kontaminaciju morske hrane mikroogranizmima iz roda Vibrio spp. Poseban je naglasak stavljen na V. parahaemolyticus kao najčešćeg uzročnika gastroenteritisa uzrokovanog trovanjem morskom hranom u ljudi. Uspoređene su koncentracije vibrija u morskoj hrani diljem svijeta, a poglavito su uspoređene zemlje Azije, Oceanije, Sjeverne Amerike sa Hrvatskom, te je donesen zaključak da iako se V. parahaemolyticus može relativno često dokazati u namirnicama podrijetlom iz našeg Jadrana, kultura konzumiranja termički obrađenih morskih namirnica ipak sprečava klinička oboljenja ljudi, za razliku od Azije i Oceanije gdje je kultura konzumiranja sirovih morskih plodova usađena u tradiciju i SAD-a gdje je takav način konzumacije izrazito popularan (sushi) u posljednjih nekoliko desetljeća.Sea organisms nowadays are even more bred in sea cages than they are caught in nature. By intensifying the production, the risks of fish contamination by pathogenic microorganisms have increased, for both the living fish and post- mortem. This paper emphasizes the contamination of seafood by microorganisms from Vibrio spp. genus. A special emphasis has been put on V. parahaemolyticus as the most frequent causative agent of gastroenteritis caused by seafood poisoning in humans. Vibrio concentrations have been compared in seafood worldwide, and especially in the countries of Asia, Oceania and North America with Croatia. It has been concluded that although V. parahaemolyticus can be found relatively often in food originating from our Adriatic, consuming culture of thermally treated seafood still prevents clinical diseases in humans, as opposed to Asia and Oceania, where the consuming culture of raw seafood is a part of their tradition, and the USA, where such manner of consumption has been extremely popular (sushi) in the last couple of decades

Methods for detection of antibiotics and sulphonamides in meat

U posljednje vrijeme sve je veća primjena antibiotika i sulfonamida u uzgoju životinja a posebno u terapiji različitih bolesti domaćih životinja. Korištenje antibakterijskih lijekova u uzgoju, kao i vrijeme proteklo od tretmana životinjalijekovima pa do klanja, zasigurno utječe na prisutnost rezidua u mesu. Zbog tih razloga kontrola antibiotika odnosno sulfonamida ili njihovih tragova u mesu životinjai proizvoda od mesa potrebna je kao jedna od temeljnih odrednica veterinarskog javnog zdravstva u službi očuvanja zdravlja ljudi. U radu su opisani neki od postupaka dokaza ostataka antibiotika i sulfonamida u mesu.In recent time application of antibiotics and sulphonamides in breeding of animals, and particularly for therapeutic uses, is even increased. Use of antibacterial therapeutics in breeding, as well as time passed since treatment of animals untill slaughter, have had a great influence on presence of residue in meat. These are the reasons why it is necessary to control presence of antibiotics and sulphonamides in meat and meat products. This control is one of the main determinants in veterinary public health. Some methods for detection of antibacterial residue in meat are described

Methods for detection of antibiotics and sulphonamides in meat

U posljednje vrijeme sve je veća primjena antibiotika i sulfonamida u uzgoju životinja a posebno u terapiji različitih bolesti domaćih životinja. Korištenje antibakterijskih lijekova u uzgoju, kao i vrijeme proteklo od tretmana životinjalijekovima pa do klanja, zasigurno utječe na prisutnost rezidua u mesu. Zbog tih razloga kontrola antibiotika odnosno sulfonamida ili njihovih tragova u mesu životinjai proizvoda od mesa potrebna je kao jedna od temeljnih odrednica veterinarskog javnog zdravstva u službi očuvanja zdravlja ljudi. U radu su opisani neki od postupaka dokaza ostataka antibiotika i sulfonamida u mesu.In recent time application of antibiotics and sulphonamides in breeding of animals, and particularly for therapeutic uses, is even increased. Use of antibacterial therapeutics in breeding, as well as time passed since treatment of animals untill slaughter, have had a great influence on presence of residue in meat. These are the reasons why it is necessary to control presence of antibiotics and sulphonamides in meat and meat products. This control is one of the main determinants in veterinary public health. Some methods for detection of antibacterial residue in meat are described

Presence of Coxiella burnetii in raw milk from milk vending machines in the Republic of Croatia

C. burnetii uzročnik je Q-groznice u ljudi i predstavlja patogen od javno zdravstvenog značenja. Rezervoar bolesti su goveda, koze, ovce i druge životinje. Mlijeko iz mljekomata predstavlja jedan od mogućih izvora ovog patogena posebice u slučajevima kada se ono konzumira bez prethodne toplinske obrade. U nedostatku podataka o prisutnosti C. burnetii u sirovom mlijeku provedeno je prvo istraživanje prisutnosti ovog uzročnika u uzorcima sirovog mlijeka iz mljekomata u Hrvatskoj te je po prvi put uzročnik dokazan primjenom molekularne metode. Istraživanje je provedeno u dva ciklusa u veljači i lipnju te je utvrđena prevalencija od 17,54% (17,86 i 17,24%) uzoraka mlijeka, a kod tri proizvođača mlijeka ponovljeno u ovim uzorcima uzorkovanim u vremenskom razmaku od četiri mjeseca. Preporučuje se provoditi kontinuirani monitoring ovog patogena u stadima i provođenje preventivnih veterinarsko sanitarnih mjera prilikom mužnje, prerade i prodaje sirovog mlijeka s ciljem zadržavanja ove relativno niske prevalencije te sprječavanja širenja ovog patogena koji se kad jednom dospije u stado teško uklanja.C. burnetii is known as the cause of human Q-fever disease and as such is a pathogen of public health interest. Disease reservoirs are cattle, goats, sheep and other animals. Raw milk from vending machines is a potential source of this bacteria. For the first time in Croatia, raw milk from vending machines was sampled for molecular analyses on C. burnetii and this pathogen was confirmed for the first time. Due to a lack of evidence of the presence of C. burnetii in raw milk, this study included almost all milk vending machines in Croatia and was conducted in two sampling periods, in February and June. The mean prevalence of C. burnetii in raw milk was 17.54% (17.86 and 17.25% by sampling period). However, it is of particular concern that this pathogen was found in both samples from three producers. Monitoring of C. burnetii and veterinary and sanitary measures during milking, processing and selling raw milk are recommended. This would assist in maintaining this relatively low prevalence and preventing the spread to other herds, where it will be very difficult to eradicate after pathogen first herd introduction

Microbiological quality of marketed fresh and frozen seafood caught off the Adriatic coast of Croatia

Fresh and frozen seafood products (fish, shellfish, crustaceans, molluscs) in wide use in Croatia and typical for the Mediterranean diet, were examined for presence of microbiological contamination through winter and summer seasons. Total bacterial counts of aerobic mesophilic bacteria (AB), aerobic psychrophilic bacteria (AP), Salmonella spp., Enterobacteriaceae, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, sulphite-reducing clostridia (SRC), Listeria monocytogenes, Vibrio cholerae and V. parahaemolyticus tests were performed. The microbiological quality of individual samples varied widely between the animal species and within winter/summer seasons regarding total counts of aerobic mesophilic and psychrophilic bacteria. The poorest quality was for (both summer and winter) fish samples, where 66.6 % of fresh and frozen fish were found unacceptable by Croatian standards. The overall prevalence of V. parahaemolyticus was 5 %. Its recovery rate was higher in fresh/frozen shellfish in both seasons than in other specimens or other storage/season conditions. Fresh crustaceans sampled in winter demonstrated significantly higher aerobic mesophilic counts than frozen ones. Unacceptable Enterobacteriaceae levels were obtained in 40 % of the summer fresh fish samples. The results of this survey constitute an indicator of bacteriological contamination of a variety of seafood. The findings could serve as a basis for future testing of seafood, and possibly as a template for developing a regional/Mediterranean testing scheme on the microbial contamination of seafood in order to establish data with comparative epidemiological and statistical values

Oxidative Stability, Microbial Safety, and Sensory Properties of Flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) Oil Infused with Spices and Herbs

In our study, we assessed whether the addition of basil, fennel, oregano, rosemary, and chili can improve oxidative stability and sensory properties of flaxseed oil (FO) during 180 days of storage or induce oil contamination by microorganisms. Results showed that addition of spices and herbs in FO affected the hydrolytic changes, but far less than 2% of free fatty acids after storage, which was in line with regulations. Further, the addition of spices and herbs in FO decreased peroxide value (even up to 68.7% in FO with oregano) vs. FO whose value increased during storage, indicating increased oxidative stability and prolongation of shelf life of infused oils. The antioxidant activity of the infused oils ranged from 56.40% to 97.66%. In addition, the phenol content was higher in all infused oils (6.81–22.92 mg/kg) vs. FO (5.44 mg/kg), indicating that herbs and spices could scavenge free radicals and inhibit lipid peroxidation, while sensory analysts showed that FO infused with chili had the lowest bitterness intensity. According to the presence of certain microorganisms, results highlighted the need to develop new methods for inactivating microorganisms that would not only provide a microbial safety, but also preserve the beneficial properties of the oils/products

Funkcni usporadani nervovych spojeni zprostredkujicich vyvolane odmitani potravy u krys

A major goal of present neuroscience is to understand the principles of learning and memory. Rapid development of methodological tools of molecular and cellular biology has considerably advanced our ability to study the synaptic and subsynaptic events underlying neural plasticity. The need to find an instance of behavioral learning which can proceed under conditions comparable with those prevailing in isolated tissues called attention of neurobiologists to the CTA paradigm, the critical associative phase of which is not prevented by anaesthesia, hypothermia or functional decortication. During CTA acquisition, gustatory information about novel food (conditioned stimulus - CS) is entered into a temporary file storing gustatory short term memory (GSTM) traces where it waits several hours for the possible onset of visceral symptoms of intoxication (unconditioned stimulus - US). The result of the GSTM-US association is formation of the gustatory long term memory trace (GLTM), corresponding to the CTA engram. Acquisition and retrieval of CTA is implemented by the interaction of several brain structures. The role of three important gustatory and visceral relays in CTA acquisition and retrieval- gustatory neocortex (GC), amygdala (AM) and PBN was studied in lateralization experiments. Reversible unilateral lesions of PBN and AM or of AM and GC were induced by injection of TTX either in the same hemisphere or in the opposite hemispheres during CTA acquisition. It was found that contralateral TTX injections into the above structures caused a complete blockade of CTA acquisition which was not affected by ipsilateral TTX administration. Retrieval of CTA acquired during unilateral blockade of PBN or AM in one hemisphere has been examinated during unilateral TTX blockade of GC alone, AM alone or during combined GC and AM inactivation either in the same or in contralateral hemispheres. A clear CTA retrieval impairment was found only when structures in the opposite hemispheres were blocked. These results indicate a complete lateralization of CTA engram can be formed in each hemisphere separately without participation of the contralateral hemisphere. The contribution of protein kinase C (PKC) to the acquisition of conditioned taste aversion (CTA) was tested by andinjection of three PKC inhibitors - polymyxin B, H7 and staurosporine into the PBN. From the tested drugs only polymyxin B prevented CTA acquisition. Application of H7 and staurosporine into the PBN did not impair CTA learning. The blocking effect of polymyxin B is dose dependent (5 and 10 mM concentration did not disrupt CTA formation) and site specific (application of polymyxin B into the visual cortex did not elicit CTA blockade). The ability of polymyxin B to discrupt CTA learning is not due to irreversible damage of PBN. These results suggest that polymyxin B blocks acquisition of CTA in some nonspecific way not necessarily involving inhibition of PKC. This conclusion is supported by failure of two other more specific PKC inhibitors to affect CTA learning. These results are in agreement with previous findings that only relatively nonspecific inhibitors like 2- deoxy-galactose or colchicine (Bures 1991, Bielavska and Bures 1993) can mimick the disruptive effect of TTX on CTA acquisition when injected into the PBN. The exact role of PKC in CTA acquisition still remains openAvailable from STL Prague, CZ / NTK - National Technical LibrarySIGLECZCzech Republi