Safety of a new extensively hydrolysed formula in children with cow's milk protein allergy: a double blind crossover study

BACKGROUND: Formulae for infants with cow's milk protein allergy (CMA) should be based on extensively hydrolysed protein. 'Extensively' however is not strictly defined. Differences in molecular weight and peptide chain length may affect its clinical outcome. We studied the safety of a new extensively hydrolysed casein based formula (Frisolac Allergycare(®): FAC) for children with IgE mediated CMA. METHODS: Thirty children, aged 1.5 – 14.8 years old (median 4.9 years) with persistent CMA were enrolled in this double-blind reference product (Nutramigen(®): NUT) controlled crossover study. All had positive skin prick tests (SPT) and IgE mediated allergy, showing immediate reactions after ingestion of small amounts of milk. Twenty-five children also had positive radio allergen sorbent tests (RAST) to cow's milk. Formulae provided consisted of 80% elementary formula in combination with 20% reference or test product. Crossover periods lasted for two weeks. From both products molecular weight (MALDI-TOF method and HPLC) and peptide chain length distribution (adapted Edman degradation) were determined. RESULTS: Maximum molecular weights of NUT and FAC are 2.1 and 2.56 kDa, respectively. The contribution of free amino acids and small peptides <0.5 kDa is 46% for FAC and 53% for NUT. About 50% of the protein fraction of both products consists of peptides longer than four amino acids. Three children did not complete the study. The other children all tolerated FAC very well; no adverse reactions were reported. CONCLUSIONS: The new extensively hydrolysed casein-based formula (FAC) can safely be used in children with IgE mediated cow's milk allergy

Open Data for Global Science

The global science system stands at a critical juncture. On the one hand, it is overwhelmed by a hidden avalanche of ephemeral bits that are central components of modern research and of the emerging ‘cyberinfrastructure’4 for e-Science.5 The rational management and exploitation of this cascade of digital assets offers boundless opportunities for research and applications. On the other hand, the ability to access and use this rising flood of data seems to lag behind, despite the rapidly growing capabilities of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to make much more effective use of those data. As long as the attention for data policies and data management by researchers, their organisations and their funders does not catch up with the rapidly changing research environment, the research policy and funding entities in many cases will perpetuate the systemic inefficiencies, and the resulting loss or underutilisation of valuable data resources derived from public investments. There is thus an urgent need for rationalised national strategies and more coherent international arrangements for sustainable access to public research data, both to data produced directly by government entities and to data generated in academic and not-for-profit institutions with public funding. In this chapter, we examine some of the implications of the ‘data driven’ research and possible ways to overcome existing barriers to accessibility of public research data. Our perspective is framed in the context of the predominantly publicly funded global science system. We begin by reviewing the growing role of digital data in research and outlining the roles of stakeholders in the research community in developing data access regimes. We then discuss the hidden costs of closed data systems, the benefits and limitations of openness as the default principle for data access, and the emerging open access models that are beginning to form digitally networked commons. We conclude by examining the rationale and requirements for developing overarching international principles from the top down, as well as flexible, common-use contractual templates from the bottom up, to establish data access regimes founded on a presumption of openness, with the goal of better capturing the benefits from the existing and future scientific data assets. The ‘Principles and Guidelines for Access to Research Data from Public Funding’ from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), reported on in another article by Pilat and Fukasaku,6 are the most important recent example of the high-level (inter)governmental approach. The common-use licenses promoted by the Science Commons are a leading example of flexible arrangements originating within the community. Finally, we should emphasise that we focus almost exclusively on the policy—the institutional, socioeconomic, and legal aspects of data access—rather than on the technical and management practicalities that are also important, but beyond the scope of this article

A multi-targeted approach to suppress tumor-promoting inflammation

Cancers harbor significant genetic heterogeneity and patterns of relapse following many therapies are due to evolved resistance to treatment. While efforts have been made to combine targeted therapies, significant levels of toxicity have stymied efforts to effectively treat cancer with multi-drug combinations using currently approved therapeutics. We discuss the relationship between tumor-promoting inflammation and cancer as part of a larger effort to develop a broad-spectrum therapeutic approach aimed at a wide range of targets to address this heterogeneity. Specifically, macrophage migration inhibitory factor, cyclooxygenase-2, transcription factor nuclear factor-κB, tumor necrosis factor alpha, inducible nitric oxide synthase, protein kinase B, and CXC chemokines are reviewed as important antiinflammatory targets while curcumin, resveratrol, epigallocatechin gallate, genistein, lycopene, and anthocyanins are reviewed as low-cost, low toxicity means by which these targets might all be reached simultaneously. Future translational work will need to assess the resulting synergies of rationally designed antiinflammatory mixtures (employing low-toxicity constituents), and then combine this with similar approaches targeting the most important pathways across the range of cancer hallmark phenotypes

Endo-xylogalacturonan hydrolase

A cDNA library of Aspergillus tubingensis was constructed in the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis, using a carbon source rich in xylogalacturonan. The library was screened using a hairy regions preparation from apple, and xylogalacturonan prepared from gum tragacanth as substrates. A novel endo-xylogalacturonase was found, XGH. The enzyme specifically degrades xylose-substituted galacturonic acid backbones. In lab scale filtration experiments, XGH was able to decrease membrane fouling caused by hairy regions from appl

Some preliminary results on the action of rhamnogalacturonase on rhamnogalacturonan oligosaccharides from beet pulp

Sugar-beet pulp was saponified and then hydrolysed with 0.1 M HCl at 80 degrees C for 72 h, and a rhamnogalacturonan fraction was isolated by ion-exchange chromatography on AG 1X8 resin. Four individual oligomers, and a mixture of oligomers with higher degrees of polymerization, were obtained by chromatography on BioGel P-4. They all presented the alpha-D-GalAp-(1[-->2)-alpha-L-Rhap-(1-->4)-alpha-D-GalAp-(1](n)-->2)-L- Rhap structure (with n greater than or equal to 2) The five fractions were submitted to hydrolysis with rhamnogalacturonase. The enzyme was active on oligomers with degrees of polymerization greater than or equal to 10, and gave as main products alpha-L-Rhap-(1-->4)-alpha-D-GalAp-(1-->2)-or-L-Rhap(1-->4)-D-GalAp and alpha-D-GalAp-(1-->2)-alpha-L-Rhap-(1-->4)-alpha-D-GalAp-(1-->2)-alpha-L -Rhap-(1-->4)-D-GalAp

Mode of action of RG-hydrolase and RG-lyase toward rhamnogalacturonan oligomers. Characterization of degradation products using RG-rhamnohydrolase and RG-galacturonohydrolase

The mode of action of RG-hydrolase and RG-lyase toward purified linear rhamnogalacturonan (RG) oligomers has been studied. Major tools in the characterization of the degradation products were the exo-acting RG-rhamnohydrolase and RG-galacturonohydrolase. They were used to prepare a series of standards of RG oligomers for HPAEC. H-1 NMR spectroscopy confirmed the structure assignment made using HPAEC for a selection of isolated degradation products. Identification of degradation products from purified RG oligomers was then performed by comparing retention times of HPAEC peaks with those of standards. RG-hydrolase was able to cleave RG oligomers which contained five Rha units or more, i.e. DP 9 with a Rha unit at both, nonreducing and reducing end. Its preferential cleavage site was at four units from the first nonreducing Rha. RG-lyase was active toward oligomers that contained at least six GalA units, i.e. DP 12 with a GalA at the nonreducing and a Rha at the reducing end. The preferential cleavage site was for the smaller oligomers four residues, and for the largest oligomer six residues from the reducing Rha. From the observed cleavage patterns it can be speculated that in hairy regions, the RG stretches have to be at least 13 residues long for RG-hydrolase and 16 residues long for RG-lyase in order to produce one tetramer. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Characterization of the Carbohydrate Part of Arabinogalactan Peptides in Triticum durum desf. Semolina

status: publishe