Monitoramento da higiene de têxteis usados na indústria de alimentos

Protective clothing is required in the food-processing industry, to protect workers from contamination by bacteria, fungi, viruses, prions etc. contained in the secretions and raw meat of slaughtered animals, and to protect the meat from being contaminated by microorganisms carried by the workers. It is well-understood that textiles are a control point (CP), and must be appropriately cleaned and disinfected in order to prevent biocontamination. Although the laundering procedure itself is important for achieving disinfection, it is also essential to maintain an appropriate hygiene level in the laundry, in order to prevent recontamination of textiles by environmental viable microorganisms. In this study, a sanitary-microbiologicalanalysis was carried out in selected CPs in two laundries. Chemo-thermal washing efficiency was determined by evaluating the anti-bacterial effect against Enterococcus faecium and Staphylococcus aureus. The hygienic state of the laundries was determined by evaluating the number and type of microorganisms at selected CPs throughout the whole laundering procedure. The results indicated that the sanitary condition of both laundries did not reach the required levels and that several microbes were resistant to cleaning and disinfecting agents. It is obvious from the results that achievement of an appropriate hygiene level during laundering textiles from the food processing industry requires the implementation of appropriate corrective monitoring measures.Na indústria de alimentos é necessário o uso de roupas de proteção, para proteger os trabalhadores da contaminação por bactérias, fungos, virus, prions, etc, encontrados nas secreções e carne dos animais abatidos, assim como proteger a carne da contaminação com microrganismos carreados pelos trabalhadores. Os têxteis são um Ponto de Controle (PC), e devem ser limpos e desinfetados de forma adequada para prevenir a biocontaminação. Embora o processo de lavagem seja importante para obter a desinfecção, é também essencial manter um nível apropriado de higiene dentro da lavanderia para prevenir recontaminação dos têxteis com microrganismos do ambiente. Nesse trabalho, realizou-se uma análise microbiológica de Pontos Críticos de duas lavanderias. A eficiência da lavagem termoquímica foi determinada através da análise do efeito antibacteriano contra Enterococcus faecium e Staphylococcus aureus. A higiene nas lavanderias foi avaliada através da determinação do número e tipos de microrganismos presentes em PCs selecionados no processo de lavagem. Os resultados indicaram que as condições de higiene nas duas lavanderias não atingiram os níveis necessários, e que vários microrganismos apresentaram resistência aos agentes sanificantes e de limpeza, indicando a necessidade de implementação de medidas corretivas apropriadas

Clinical significance of chitotriosidase in plasma and dried blood spot

Nasljedni metabolički poremećaji su monogenske bolesti, kod kojih se kao posljedica mutacije gena javlja sinteza nefunkcionalnog enzima ili njegova nedostatna sinteza. Zbog toga može doći do nakupljanja supstrata ili jednog od međuprodukata metaboličkog puta. Lizosomske bolesti nakupljanja spadaju u skupinu nasljednih metaboličkih poremećaja. Gaucherova bolest je najčešća lizosomska bolest. Riječ je o sfingolipidozi uzrokovanoj deficijencijom lizosomalnog enzima β- glukocerebrozidaza. Kao rezultat nedostatka β-glukocerebrozidaze dolazi do akumulacije glukozilceramida u lizosomima makrofaga te se tako formiraju Gaucherove stanice u kojima se nakuplja enzim hitotriozidaza. Stoga je hitotriozidaza biomarker koji se može određivati kod Gaucherovih bolesnika. Također smatra se korisnim biomarkerom i u sarkoidozi, multiploj sklerozi te drugim patološkim stanjima. U ovom diplomskom radu mjerila se aktivnost enzim hitotriozidaze u 84 uzorka plazme bolničkih pacijenata te suhe kapi krvi na filtar papiru. Usporedbom rezultata dobivenih u obje vrste uzoraka cilj je bio razviti metodu za određivanje hitotriozidaze u suhoj kapi krvi na filtar papiru jer ona kao uzorak ima veliki broj prednosti u odnosu na plazmu. Nakon uspostavljanja zadovoljavajućih uvjeta mjerenja hitotriozidaze u suhoj kapi krvi na filtar papiru i njezinim mjerenjem spektrofluorimetrijom, dobiveni otkloni fluorescencije pokazali su da korelacija između dobivenih rezultata u suhoj kapi krvi na filter papiru i rezultata u uzorcima plazme s povišenom aktivnosti ne postoji.Hereditary disorders are monogenetic diseases. In this type of disease synthesis of disfunctional enzyme or lack of synthesised enzyme are caused by mutation of a gene. Moreover, those diseases can cause accumulation of certain substrates or intermediates of metabolic pathways. Lysosomal storage disorder is one of the types of this hereditary disorders. Most common one is called Gauche disease. It is a sphingolipidosis caused by the deficiency of glucocerebrosidase. Consequent accumulation of glucosylceramide inside the lysosomes of macrophages results in formation of so called Gaucher cells. Chitotriosidase (CT) is enzyme that can be determined as biomarker in patients with Gaucher disease because it accumulates in macrophages. Moreover, CT is also a useful biomarker in sarcoidosis, multiple sclerosis and samo other conditions. In this work we carried out the analysis of 84 samples of plasma and dried blood spot. In both sample types we measured CT activity.. The goal was to develop a method for determination of CT in dried blood spot, which has many advantages compared to plasma samples. Therefore, after we achieved appropriate conditions for CT determination in dried blood spot we measured CT activity in both samples for each patient using flourescence spectroscopy. Fluorescence readings showed no correlation among dried blood spot samples and plasma samples in which we expected high CT activity