80 research outputs found

    Functional and Probiotic Attributes of an Indigenous Isolate of Lactobacillus plantarum

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    BACKGROUND:Probiotic microorganisms favorably alter the intestinal microflora balance, promote intestinal integrity and mobility, inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria and increase resistance to infection. Probiotics are increasingly used in nutraceuticals, functional foods or in microbial interference treatment. However, the effectiveness of probiotic organism is considered to be population-specific due to variation in gut microflora, food habits and specific host-microbial interactions. Most of the probiotic strains available in the market are of western or European origin, and a strong need for exploring new indigenous probiotic organisms is felt. METHODS AND FINDINGS:An indigenous isolate Lp9 identified as Lactobacillus plantarum by molecular-typing methods was studied extensively for its functional and probiotic attributes, viz., acid and bile salt tolerance, cell surface hydrophobicity, autoaggregation and Caco-2 cell-binding as well as antibacterial and antioxidative activities. Lp9 isolate could survive 2 h incubation at pH 1.5-2.0 and toxicity of 1.5-2.0% oxgall bile. Lp9 could deconjugate major bile salts like glycocholate and deoxytaurocholate, indicating its potential to cause hypocholesterolemia. The isolate exhibited cell-surface hydrophobicity of approximately 37% and autoaggregation of approximately 31%. Presence of putative probiotic marker genes like mucus-binding protein (mub), fibronectin-binding protein (fbp) and bile salt hydrolase (bsh) were confirmed by PCR. Presence of these genes suggested the possibility of specific interaction and colonization potential of Lp9 isolate in the gut, which was also suggested by a good adhesion ratio of 7.4+/-1.3% with Caco-2 cell line. The isolate demonstrated higher free radical scavenging activity than standard probiotics L. johnsonii LA1 and L. acidophilus LA7. Lp9 also exhibited antibacterial activity against E. coli, L. monocytogenes, S. typhi, S. aureus and B. cereus. CONCLUSION:The indigenous Lactobacillus plantarum Lp9 exhibited high resistance against low pH and bile and possessed antibacterial, antioxidative and cholesterol lowering properties with a potential for exploitation in the development of indigenous functional food or nutraceuticals

    In vitro culture of functionally active buffalo hepatocytes isolated by using a simplified manual perfusion method.

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    In farm animals, there is no suitable cell line available to understand liver-specific functions. This has limited our understanding of liver function and metabolism in farm animals. Culturing and maintenance of functionally active hepatocytes is difficult, since they survive no more than few days. Establishing primary culture of hepatocytes can help in studying cellular metabolism, drug toxicity, hepatocyte specific gene function and regulation. Here we provide a simple in vitro method for isolation and short-term culture of functionally active buffalo hepatocytes.Buffalo hepatocytes were isolated from caudate lobes by using manual enzymatic perfusion and mechanical disruption of liver tissue. Hepatocyte yield was (5.3 Β± 0.66)Γ—107 cells per gram of liver tissue with a viability of 82.3 Β± 3.5%. Freshly isolated hepatocytes were spherical with well contrasted border. After 24 hours of seeding onto fibroblast feeder layer and different extracellular matrices like dry collagen, matrigel and sandwich collagen coated plates, hepatocytes formed confluent monolayer with frequent clusters. Cultured hepatocytes exhibited typical cuboidal and polygonal shape with restored cellular polarity. Cells expressed hepatocyte-specific marker genes or proteins like albumin, hepatocyte nuclear factor 4Ξ±, glucose-6-phosphatase, tyrosine aminotransferase, cytochromes, cytokeratin and Ξ±1-antitrypsin. Hepatocytes could be immunostained with anti-cytokeratins, anti-albumin and anti Ξ±1-antitrypsin antibodies. Abundant lipid droplets were detected in the cytosol of hepatocytes using oil red stain. In vitro cultured hepatocytes could be grown for five days and maintained for up to nine days on buffalo skin fibroblast feeder layer. Cultured hepatocytes were viable for functional studies.We developed a convenient and cost effective technique for hepatocytes isolation for short-term culture that exhibited morphological and functional characteristics of active hepatocytes for studying gene expression, regulation, hepatic genomics and proteomics in farm animals

    Current status and emerging role of glutathione in food grade lactic acid bacteria

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have taken centre stage in perspectives of modern fermented food industry and probiotic based therapeutics. These bacteria encounter various stress conditions during industrial processing or in the gastrointestinal environment. Such conditions are overcome by complex molecular assemblies capable of synthesizing and/or metabolizing molecules that play a specific role in stress adaptation. Thiols are important class of molecules which contribute towards stress management in cell. Glutathione, a low molecular weight thiol antioxidant distributed widely in eukaryotes and Gram negative organisms, is present sporadically in Gram positive bacteria. However, new insights on its occurrence and role in the latter group are coming to light. Some LAB and closely related Gram positive organisms are proposed to possess glutathione synthesis and/or utilization machinery. Also, supplementation of glutathione in food grade LAB is gaining attention for its role in stress protection and as a nutrient and sulfur source. Owing to the immense benefits of glutathione, its release by probiotic bacteria could also find important applications in health improvement. This review presents our current understanding about the status of glutathione and its role as an exogenously added molecule in food grade LAB and closely related organisms.</p
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