Salivary Secretory Immunoglobulin a secretion increases after 4-weeks ingestion of chlorella-derived multicomponent supplement in humans: a randomized cross over study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chlorella, a unicellular green alga that grows in fresh water, contains high levels of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fibers. Some studies have reported favorable immune function-related effects on biological secretions such as blood and breast milk in humans who have ingested a chlorella-derived multicomponent supplement. However, the effects of chlorella-derived supplement on mucosal immune functions remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether chlorella ingestion increases the salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) secretion in humans using a blind, randomized, crossover study design.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Fifteen men took 30 placebo and 30 chlorella tablets per day for 4 weeks separated by a 12-week washout period. Before and after each trial, saliva samples were collected from a sterile cotton ball that was chewed after overnight fasting. Salivary SIgA concentrations were measured using ELISA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Compliance rates for placebo and chlorella ingestions were 97.0 ± 1.0% and 95.3 ± 1.6%, respectively. No difference was observed in salivary SIgA concentrations before and after placebo ingestion (<it>P </it>= 0.38). However, salivary SIgA concentrations were significantly elevated after chlorella ingestion compared to baseline (<it>P </it>< 0.01). No trial × period interaction was identified for the saliva flow rates. Although the SIgA secretion rate was not affected by placebo ingestion (<it>P </it>= 0.36), it significantly increased after 4-week chlorella ingestion than before intake (<it>P </it>< 0.01).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results suggest 4-week ingestion of a chlorella-derived multicomponent supplement increases salivary SIgA secretion and possibly improves mucosal immune function in humans.</p

Mechanisms of extrudate swell and melt fracture in SBR compounds

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN012257 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Improvement of mechanical and dynamic properties of high silica filled epoxide functionalized natural rubber

In this research, 3 different low degrees (4, 8, and 14 mol%) of epoxide functionalized natural rubber were prepared via chemical modification of natural rubber, which was then vulcanized. Each of them was mixed with silica (50 parts per hundred of rubber) without a silane coupling agent and investigated their properties. It was found that the tensile and tear properties, as well as abrasion resistance of the silica filled epoxide functionalized natural rubber vulcanizates were higher than the silica filled natural rubber vulcanizate. These properties improvements could be attributed to the interaction of the silanol groups of the silica with the epoxide groups of the modified rubber chains via chemical and physical interactions. This could be supported by the occurrence of tear parts from the morphology investigation of the tensile fractured surface of the modified rubber vulcanizates using a scanning electron microscope. The presence of silicon elements in the rubber matrix was evidenced by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-Ray spectrometer. Moreover, the silica filled epoxide functionalized natural rubber having 14 mol% epoxide content without a silane coupling agent exhibited low abrasion loss, low heat build-up and enhancement in loss tangent at 0 °C, hence improved wet skid resistance, compared to the silica filled natural rubber without a silane coupling agent. This work demonstrated that the prepared low degree of epoxide functionalized natural rubber could be potentially applied to the tire tread rubber application without the use of a silane coupling agent

Antigen Detection Assay for Identification of Penicillium marneffei Infection

Two recently produced monoclonal antibodies were used to develop an antigen capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for rapid diagnosis of Penicillium marneffei. The method was evaluated with 53 patients with culture-confirmed penicilliosis and 240 controls. The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the ELISA were 92.45, 97.5, and 96.59%, respectively

Molecular Typing of Penicillium marneffei Isolates from Thailand by NotI Macrorestriction and Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis

Penicillium marneffei is recognized as one of the most frequently detected opportunistic pathogens of AIDS patients in northern Thailand. We undertook a genomic epidemiology study of 64 P. marneffei isolates collected from immunosuppressed patients by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) with restriction enzyme NotI. Among the 69 isolates fingerprinted by PFGE, 17 were compared by HaeIII restriction endonuclease typing. The PFGE method demonstrated a higher degree of discriminatory power than restriction endonuclease typing with HaeII. Moreover, an impressive diversity of P. marneffei isolates was observed, as there were 54 distinct macrorestriction profiles among the 69 isolates of P. marneffei. These profiles were grouped into two large clusters by computer-assisted similarity analysis: macrorestriction pattern I (MPI) and MPII, with nine subprofiles (MPIa to MPIf and MPIIa to MPIIc). We observed no significant correlation between the macrorestriction patterns of the P. marneffei isolates and geographical region or specimen source. It is interesting that all isolates obtained before 1995 were MPI, and we found an increase in the incidence of infections with MPII isolates after 1995. We conclude that PFGE is a highly discriminatory typing method and is well suited for computer-assisted analysis. Together, PFGE and NotI macrorestriction allow reliable identification and epidemiological characterization of isolates as well as generate a manageable database that is convenient for expansion with information on additional P. marneffei isolates

Comparative in vivo and in vitro analyses of putative virulence factors of Burkholderia pseudomallei using lipopolysaccharide, capsule and flagellin mutants

Burkholderia pseudomallei is a gram-negative bacillus that is the causative agent of melioidosis. We evaluated host-pathogen interaction at different levels using three separate B. pseudomallei mutants generated by insertional inactivation. One of these mutants is defective in the production of the polysaccharide side chains associated with lipopolysaccharide; one does not produce the capsular polysaccharide with the structure -3)-2-O-acetyl-6-deoxy-β-d-manno-heptopyranose-(1-; and the third mutant does not produce flagellin. We compared the in vivo virulence in BALB/c mice, the in vitro fate of intracellular survival inside human polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs) and macrophages (Mφs) and the susceptibility to killing by 30% normal human serum, reactive nitrogen and oxygen intermediates and antimicrobial peptides with that of their wild-type counterpart. The lipopolysaccharide and capsule mutants demonstrated a marked reduction in virulence for BALB/c mice, but the flagellin mutant was only slightly less virulent than the parent strain. The results from the BALB/c mice experiments correlated with survival in Mφs. The lipopolysaccharide and capsule mutants were also more susceptible to killing by antimicrobial agents. All bacteria were equally susceptible to killing by PMNs. Altogether, the data suggest that lipopolysaccharide and capsule and, to a much lesser extent, flagella, are most likely associated with the virulence of this bacterium and highlight the importance of intracellular killing by PMNs and Mφs in disease pathogenesis