Improvement of lipid profile by probiotic/protective cultures: study in a non-carcinogenic small intestinal cell model.

Plasma lipid levels are important risk factors for the development of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. Previous findings have shown that probiotic bacteria exert positive effects on hypercholesterolemia by lowering serum cholesterol and improving lipid profile that, in turn, leads to a reduced risk of coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis. Most of these studies were carried out with tumoral cell lines that have a metabolism quite different from that of normal cells and may thus respond differently to various stimuli. Here, we demonstrate the beneficial effects of some probiotics on cholesterol levels and pathways in normal small intestinal foetal epithelial tissue cells. The results show that Lactobacillus plantarum strain PCS 26 efficiently removes cholesterol from media, exhibits bile salt hydrolase activity, and up-regulates several genes involved in cholesterol metabolism. This study suggests that Lactobacillus plantarum PCS 26 might act as a liver X receptor agonist and help to improve lipid profiles in hypercholesterolemic patients or even dislipidemias in complex diseases such as the metabolic syndrome

Use of green tea to reduce methylmercury bioaccessibility in raw and cooked fish.

WEFTA. 15 a 18 out. 2018

Gentamicin sulphate permeation through porcine intestinal epithelial cell monolayer

Gentamicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic widely used in combination with dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) in topical drug formulations. It is not known, however, whether DMSO can enhance the permeation of gentamicin through biological membranes, leading to oto- and nephrotoxic side effects. A simple and reliable high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was applied for the quantitative determination of gentamicin collected from the apical and basolateral compartments of the porcine intestinal epithelial cell line IPEC-J2 cell monolayer using fluorometric derivatisation of the analyte with fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl chloride (FMOC) prior to chromatographic run in the presence and absence of 1% DMSO. The lack of change in transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) demonstrated that gentamicin and 1% DMSO did not affect IPEC-J2 cell monolayer integrity via the disruption of cell membranes. Chromatographic data also ascertained that gentamicin penetration across the cell monolayer even in the presence of 1% DMSO was negligible at 6 h after the beginning of apical gentamicin administration. This study further indicates that the addition of this organic solvent does not increase the incidence of toxic effects related to gentamicin permeation

The Regenerative Potential of Donkey and Human Milk on the Redox-Sensitive and Proliferative Signaling Pathways of Skin Fibroblasts

The influence of milk bioactive peptides on skin regenerative potential and rejuvenation is very often limited because of allergic reactions. The current study is aimed at exploring the influence of donkey colostrum and mature milk, human colostrum and mature milk, and β-casein and β-casomorphine-7, on the growth and inflammatory response of the culture of cultured skin fibroblasts exposed to these conditions for twenty-four hours. Their effects on the growth-regulatory kinases and redox-sensitive, proinflammatory transcriptional factor NF-κB were detected by using specific primary antibodies against NF-κB p65, Akt-1, phospho-Akt-1, Erk-1, phospho-Erk-1, JNK, phospho-JNK, phospho-STAT-1, and CD26, while logarithmic integrated fluorescence intensity patterns were recorded by flow cytometry. The downregulation of NF-κB p65 was observed after the exposure of skin fibroblasts to donkey milk and human colostrum, while β-casein and β-casomorphine-7 exerted the opposite effect, which suggests that noncasein bioactive peptides of donkey and human milk may be responsible for anti-inflammatory properties. The exposure to all milk species examined and β-casein leads to the activation of growth-regulatory kinases (Akt1/2/3 kinase, Erk kinase, JNK kinase, and Stat-1 kinase), especially for the p-Erk pathway, which suggests that essential amino acids of casein may be responsible for Erk-induced cell cycle activation and proliferation. The opposite effect was observed when cells were exposed to β-casomorphine-7, which may affect the skin fibroblast survival and their proliferative and regenerative potential. Donkey milk did not significantly change the CD26 antigen expression. In conclusion, our results suggest that among cell signaling molecules, the most sensitive but nonspecific downstream effector is p-Erk kinase, which may point to donkey milk usefulness in wound healing, regenerative, and aesthetic dermatology. The noncasein bioactive peptides of donkey milk may be responsible for the anti-inflammatory property of donkey milk and colostrum, which may indicate the usefulness in the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases

Faecal concentrations of short-chain fatty acids and selected bacteria in healthy and celiac children

Background: Knowledge about the interplay between diet, microbiota and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) so far exists. Moreover, raising evidence suggests their influence on the pathogenesis of the celiac disease (CD). Objective: Our aim was to study and evaluate differences in the composition of selected bacterial groups and SCFAs in faeces of healthy and CD children. Methods: The study included 41 children with CD, 8 newly discovered, not treated children (ND) and 33 children on gluten-free diet for more than 1 year (GFD) and 17 healthy children as a Control group. Bacterial communities and SCFAs in faecal samples were determined by real-time PCR and HPLC analysis, respectively. Results: There were no statistically significant differences between GFD and ND patients. GFD patients compared to Controls had significantly lower Lactobacillus spp. (p = 0.027) and Enterobacteriaceae family group (p = 0.003), but higher propionic acid (p = 0.034). Acetic (p = 0.027) and propionic acid (p = 0.014) were significantly higher in ND patients compared to Controls. Lactobacillus spp. negatively correlated with total SCFAs in the Control and the ND group. In ND and GFD patients, Lactobacillus spp. negatively correlated with Clostridium sensu stricto cluster I. A very strong positive correlation (p = 0.002) between Enterobacteriaceae family and Bacteroides fragilis was found in GFD patients. Conclusions: Changes in microbiota and SCFAs are clearly related to the pathogenesis of CD. As being potential pro-inflammatory agents in CD, acetic and propionic acid may serve as important disease-related markers. Their origin in relation to Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium is debatable and still need to be further investigated. Enterobacteriaceae family might not be directly addressed to pathogenesis of CD

Use of lactic acid bacteria as protective cultures in pork meat batter to prevent Clostridium spp. growth

Introduction: Food safety and preservation are major priorities for consumers and associated industry. Ancient methods of food preservation are still employed in the production of meat products, such as curing with nitrite or nitrate. Nitrite deriving from nitrate conversion is the real preservative agent. It has several toxic effects to humans, therefore its elimination or reduction is envisaged. Objective: to explore the possibility of using lactic acid bacteria (LAB) as protective cultures to prevent Clostridium spp. growth. Material and Methods: Lactobacillus plantarum PCS20 and Lactobacillus delbruecki DSM20074 were used as protective cultures; Clostridium botulinum DSM1975 and Clostridium perfringens DSM756 were the target pathogens. In-vitro studies (co-culture experiments and spot agar texts) were performed to evaluate the capability of the Lactobacillus strains of inhibiting the Clostridium strains. The survival of both LAB in pork meat batter supplied with NaCl at 2% was checked by using traditional plate counts and RAPD-PCR. Challenge texts were then performed aimed at studying in vivo the antimicrobial activity of the selected LAB inoculated in pork meat batter challenged with Clostridium strains in the presence and absence of 150 mg/kg NaNO3. Results: Both the spot agar texts and the co-culture inhibition assays showed an important antimicrobial activity of the two LAB against both clostridia. L.plantarum PCS20 could survive well in pork meat batter, as shown by RAPD-PCR analyses on colonies isolated from MRS plates. When pork meat batter was inoculated with C.botulinum DSM1975 or with Clostridium perfringens DSM 756, an important reduction of both pathogens was observed both in the presence and in the absence of nitrite. On the contrary, L.delbrueckii DSM20074 strain did not show extensive in vivo antimicrobial activity. Conclusion: The strain L.plantarum PCS20 has the potential of being used as a protective culture against Clostridium spp. in pork meat batter used for sausage production