Films of chitosan and chitosan-oligosaccharide neutralized and thermally treated: Effects on its antibacterial and other activities

The present study focuses on the effects of heat and neutralization treatments on solubility, water vapour permeability and antimicrobial activity of chitosan (Ch) and chitosan/chitooligosaccharide (ChO)-based films. ChO films showed stronger antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Serratia liquefaciens and Lactobacillus plantarum than Ch films, indicating that this effect is attributed to the presence of chitooligosaccharides (COS) in the films. Heat and neutralization treatments decreased significantly the solubility of chitosan films and gave rise to a sharp loss in their antimicrobial activity. The incorporation of COS in chitosan films increased the inhibitory effect against the studied microorganisms without affecting significantly the water vapour permeability of the films. Thus, it is possible to get a more insoluble chitosan film with high antimicrobial activity by means of incorporation of COS combined with heat or neutralization treatments.MINECO, project (MAT2010-21621-C02-01

Effectiveness of a cognitive behavioral intervention in patients with medically unexplained symptoms: cluster randomized trial

BACKGROUND: Medically unexplained symptoms are an important mental health problem in primary care and generate a high cost in health services.Cognitive behavioral therapy and psychodynamic therapy have proven effective in these patients. However, there are few studies on the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions by primary health care. The project aims to determine whether a cognitive-behavioral group intervention in patients with medically unexplained symptoms, is more effective than routine clinical practice to improve the quality of life measured by the SF-12 questionary at 12 month. METHODS/DESIGN: This study involves a community based cluster randomized trial in primary healthcare centres in Madrid (Spain). The number of patients required is 242 (121 in each arm), all between 18 and 65 of age with medically unexplained symptoms that had seeked medical attention in primary care at least 10 times during the previous year. The main outcome variable is the quality of life measured by the SF-12 questionnaire on Mental Healthcare. Secondary outcome variables include number of consultations, number of drug (prescriptions) and number of days of sick leave together with other prognosis and descriptive variables. Main effectiveness will be analyzed by comparing the percentage of patients that improve at least 4 points on the SF-12 questionnaire between intervention and control groups at 12 months. All statistical tests will be performed with intention to treat. Logistic regression with random effects will be used to adjust for prognostic factors. Confounding factors or factors that might alter the effect recorded will be taken into account in this analysis. DISCUSSION: This study aims to provide more insight to address medically unexplained symptoms, highly prevalent in primary care, from a quantitative methodology. It involves intervention group conducted by previously trained nursing staff to diminish the progression to the chronicity of the symptoms, improve quality of life, and reduce frequency of medical consultations. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01484223 [http://ClinicalTrials.gov].S

Ochratoxin A in Spanish exportation wine market

The Rioja Qualified Designation of Origin (DOCa Rioja) is leader of the Spanish market of quality wines, with nearly the 40% of the total sales of Spanish wines. It has a great international prestige and it exports about 30% of its production, mainly to Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. A study on ochratoxin A (OTA) occurrence in DOCa Rioja exportation wine market was carried out. Wines from Australia, France, Italy and Spain were analyzed. An analytical method based on immunoaffinity column clean-up and high-performance liquid-chromatography with fluorimetric detection (detection limit 0.002μg/l) was used to determine the occurrence of OTA in wines. The mean OTA concentration of the analyzed wines was 0.077μg/l and its contribution to the latest mean weekly OTA intake established and published by European Food Safety Authority in 2006 could be considered negligible. The highest OTA presence and concentration in wines from the southern wine-growing European regions was observed. The OTA occurrence found in the wines analyzed in this survey, was significantly higher than the one obtained in DOCa Rioja wines in a previous survey carried out by our team.Peer reviewe