Formation and evaluation of chitosan nanoparticles with antibacterial and emulsifying properties for food application

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Influence of gellan conformation on milk protein gelation

Orientador: Rosiane Lopes da CunhaDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia de AlimentosResumo: Tendo em vista a necessidade do entendimento das interações entre ingredientes para o desenvolvimento de novos produtos lácteos e para o controle e manipulação de suas características de estabilidade e textura, este trabalho teve como objetivo elucidar as interações entre as proteínas do leite e a goma gelana. Foi estudado o efeito de diferentes concentrações de gelana, caseinato de sódio e concentrado protéico de soro de leite, assim como o estado conformacional do polissacarídeo, nas propriedades de textura, microestrutura e estabilidade em relação à perda de água dos sistemas formados. A transição conformacional da gelana em diversos valores de pH foi estudada por ensaios reológicos oscilatórios a baixas freqüências. Foi observado que a transição de estado desordenado ¿ ordenado do polissacarídeo é irreversível com a temperatura em pH 3,5, enquanto em maiores valores de pH os géis formados são termorreversíveis. Além disso, sistemas em pH 3,5 apresentaram viscosidade e caráter elástico mais pronunciados, enquanto que na faixa de pH de 5,3 a 7,0, não foram observadas mudanças significativas nas características reológicas do material. Em sistemas mistos proteínas-polissacarídeos, diferentes estruturas foram observadas de acordo com as concentrações de biopolímeros e o estado conformacional do polissacarídeo, resultando em alterações das propriedades mecânicas, de retenção de água e de solubilidade dos sistemas. Sistemas bipoliméricos caseinato de sódio ¿ gelana formaram coacervados em altas concentrações de proteína e apresentaram microestrutura compacta, refletindo em maiores valores de tensão de ruptura, elasticidade e baixa capacidade de retenção de água. Já nos sistemas tripoliméricos, não foram observados coacervados devido ao favorecimento das interações entre as proteínas que ocasionou um aumento dos valores de capacidade de retenção de água das amostras. A gelana e as proteínas do soro apresentaram incompatibilidade termodinâmica em altas concentrações poliméricas, confirmada pelos ensaios de solubilidade protéica em água, levando a formação de sistemas mais frágeis, menos deformáveis e com uma estrutura mais porosa, que contribuiu para o aumento da capacidade de retenção de água e redução da sinerese dos mesmos. O uso de gelana em estado desordenado no preparo das amostras com alta concentração protéica induziu a formação de complexos eletrostáticos entre as proteínas e as moléculas de gelana individuais, diminuindo a rigidez dos sistemasAbstract: As the ingredient interactions are important for the development of new milk products and for the control and management of its stability and texture properties, the aim of this work was to elucidate the milk proteins and gellan gum interactions. The effect of different concentrations of gellan gum, sodium caseinate and whey protein concentrate, as well as the polysaccharide conformational transition on the systems texture properties, microstructure and water release were studied. The gellan gum conformational transition was studied in different pH values by oscillatory shear measurements at low frequencies. It was observed that the conformational polysaccharide transition (coil-helix) was thermoirreversible at pH 3.5 while at higher pH values the gels were temperature reversible. Moreover, systems at pH 3.5 showed higher viscosity and storage modulus, but at 5.3 ¿ 7.0 pH range it was not observed significant differences on the material rheological properties. Protein-polysaccharide systems showed different structures according to the polymers concentration and polysaccharide conformation, resulting on variations of its mechanical properties, water binding and solubility. Bi-polymeric systems composed of caseinate and gellan formed coacervates at high protein concentration leading to a compact structure which reflected in higher rupture stress, elasticity and water holding capacity. Nevertheless, on multipolymeric samples it was not observed coacervates probably due the enhance of protein-protein interactions that lead to increase on water holding capacity values. Gellan gum and whey proteins showed thermodynamic incompatibility at high polymer concentrations, confirmed by the solubility measurements, and induced the formation of weaker and less deformable gels, which had a porous structure with more ability to hold water. The use of coil gellan on the preparation of the samples with high protein concentration resulted on electrostatic complexes formation between the proteins and the individual gellan molecules, reducing the gels hardnessMestradoMestre em Engenharia de Alimento

Structural and mechanical properties of organogels: Role of oil and gelator molecular structure

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2017.03.021.This work aims at evaluating the influence of oil and gelator structure on organogels' properties through rheological measurements, polarized microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Four different food-grade gelators (glyceryl tristearate GT; sorbitan tristearate ST; sorbitan monostearate SM and glyceryl monostearate - GM) were tested in medium-chain triglyceride and high oleic sunflower (MCT and LCT, respectively) oil phases. Organogels were prepared by mixing the oil phase and gelator at different concentrations (5, 10, 15, 20 and 25%) at 80 °C during 30 min. All organogels presented birefringence confirming the formation of a crystalline structure that changed with the increase of the gelator concentration. Through the evaluation of SAXS peaks it has been confirmed that all structures were organized as lamellas but with different d-spacing values. These particularities at micro- and nanoscale level lead to differences in rheological properties of organogels. Results showed that the oil type (i.e. medium- and long-chain triglyceride) and hydrophilic head of gelators (i.e. sorbitan versus glyceryl) exert influence on the organogels physical properties, but the presence of monostearate leads to the formation of stronger organogels. Moreover, gels produced with LCT were stronger and gelled at lower organogelator concentration than MCT.The authors thank the FCT Strategic Project of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, the project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462) and the project “BioInd - Biotechnology and Bioengineering for improved Industrial and Agro-Food processes”, REF. NORTE-07- 0124-FEDER-000028 co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2 – O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER. The financial support of CAPES/FCT Project “Nanotechnological systems based in biocompatible ingredients: characterization, controlled release and in vitro digestion” (CAPES/FCT n° 348/13) and CNPq (Universal 479459/2012-6) are gratefully acknowledged. The authors also thank the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS) for the opportunity to carry out SAXS measurements.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) seroprevalence, cervical HPV prevalence, genotype distribution and cytological lesions in solid organ transplant recipients and immunocompetent women in Sao Paulo, Brazil

INTRODUCTION: Solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients are at increased risk of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) persistent infection and disease. This study aimed to evaluate HPV seroprevalence, cervical HPV prevalence, genotype distribution, and frequency of HPV-related cervical lesions in SOT recipients in comparison to immunocompetent women. METHODS: Cross-sectional study including SOT and immunocompetent women aged 18 to 45 years who denied previous HPV-related lesions. Cervical samples were screened for HPV-DNA by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based DNA microarray system (PapilloCheck®) and squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) by liquid-based cytology. A multiplexed pseudovirion-based serology assay (PsV-Luminex) was used to measure HPV serum antibodies. RESULTS: 125 SOT and 132 immunocompetent women were enrolled. Cervical samples were collected from 113 SOT and 127 immunocompetent women who had initiated sexual activity. HPV-DNA prevalence was higher in SOT than in immunocompetent women (29.6% vs. 20.2%, p = 0.112), but this difference was not statistically significant. High-risk (HR)-HPV was significantly more frequent in SOT than in immunocompetent women (19.4% vs. 7.9%, p = 0.014). Simultaneous infection with ≥2 HR-HPV types was found in 3.1% of SOT and 0.9% of immunocompetent women. HPV seropositivity for at least one HPV type was high in both groups: 63.8% of 105 SOT and 69.7% of 119 immunocompetent women (p = 0.524). Low-grade (LSIL) and high-grade SIL (HSIL) were significantly more frequent in SOT (9.7% and 5.3%, respectively) than in immunocompetent women (1.6% and 0.8%, respectively) (p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These results may reflect the increased risk of HPV persistent infection and disease progression in SOT women due to chronic immunosuppression

Vaccine breakthrough hypoxemic COVID-19 pneumonia in patients with auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs

Life-threatening `breakthrough' cases of critical COVID-19 are attributed to poor or waning antibody response to the SARS- CoV-2 vaccine in individuals already at risk. Pre-existing autoantibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing type I IFNs underlie at least 15% of critical COVID-19 pneumonia cases in unvaccinated individuals; however, their contribution to hypoxemic breakthrough cases in vaccinated people remains unknown. Here, we studied a cohort of 48 individuals ( age 20-86 years) who received 2 doses of an mRNA vaccine and developed a breakthrough infection with hypoxemic COVID-19 pneumonia 2 weeks to 4 months later. Antibody levels to the vaccine, neutralization of the virus, and auto- Abs to type I IFNs were measured in the plasma. Forty-two individuals had no known deficiency of B cell immunity and a normal antibody response to the vaccine. Among them, ten (24%) had auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs (aged 43-86 years). Eight of these ten patients had auto-Abs neutralizing both IFN-a2 and IFN-., while two neutralized IFN-omega only. No patient neutralized IFN-ss. Seven neutralized 10 ng/mL of type I IFNs, and three 100 pg/mL only. Seven patients neutralized SARS-CoV-2 D614G and the Delta variant (B.1.617.2) efficiently, while one patient neutralized Delta slightly less efficiently. Two of the three patients neutralizing only 100 pg/mL of type I IFNs neutralized both D61G and Delta less efficiently. Despite two mRNA vaccine inoculations and the presence of circulating antibodies capable of neutralizing SARS-CoV-2, auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs may underlie a significant proportion of hypoxemic COVID-19 pneumonia cases, highlighting the importance of this particularly vulnerable population

Breaking oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by yeast

Several biotechnological processes can show an undesirable formation of emulsions making difficult phase separation and product recovery. The breakup of oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by yeast was studied using different physical and chemical methods. These emulsions were composed by deionized water, hexadecane and commercial yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). The stability of the emulsions was evaluated varying the yeast concentration from 7.47 to 22.11% (w/w) and the phases obtained after gravity separation were evaluated on chemical composition, droplet size distribution, rheological behavior and optical microscopy. The cream phase showed kinetic stability attributed to mechanisms as electrostatic repulsion between the droplets, a possible Pickering-type stabilization and the viscoelastic properties of the concentrated emulsion. Oil recovery from cream phase was performed using gravity separation, centrifugation, heating and addition of demulsifier agents (alcohols and magnetic nanoparticles). Long centrifugation time and high centrifugal forces (2 h/150,000 × g) were necessary to obtain a complete oil recovery. The heat treatment (60 °C) was not enough to promote a satisfactory oil separation. Addition of alcohols followed by centrifugation enhanced oil recovery: butanol addition allowed almost complete phase separation of the emulsion while ethanol addition resulted in 84% of oil recovery. Implementation of this method, however, would require additional steps for solvent separation. Addition of charged magnetic nanoparticles was effective by interacting electrostatically with the interface, resulting in emulsion destabilization under a magnetic field. This method reached almost 96% of oil recovery and it was potentially advantageous since no additional steps might be necessary for further purifying the recovered oil128568576CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP305477/2012-9; 130752/2012-62011/51707-1; 2012/14003-

Breaking Oil-in-water Emulsions Stabilized By Yeast.

Several biotechnological processes can show an undesirable formation of emulsions making difficult phase separation and product recovery. The breakup of oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by yeast was studied using different physical and chemical methods. These emulsions were composed by deionized water, hexadecane and commercial yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). The stability of the emulsions was evaluated varying the yeast concentration from 7.47 to 22.11% (w/w) and the phases obtained after gravity separation were evaluated on chemical composition, droplet size distribution, rheological behavior and optical microscopy. The cream phase showed kinetic stability attributed to mechanisms as electrostatic repulsion between the droplets, a possible Pickering-type stabilization and the viscoelastic properties of the concentrated emulsion. Oil recovery from cream phase was performed using gravity separation, centrifugation, heating and addition of demulsifier agents (alcohols and magnetic nanoparticles). Long centrifugation time and high centrifugal forces (2h/150,000×g) were necessary to obtain a complete oil recovery. The heat treatment (60°C) was not enough to promote a satisfactory oil separation. Addition of alcohols followed by centrifugation enhanced oil recovery: butanol addition allowed almost complete phase separation of the emulsion while ethanol addition resulted in 84% of oil recovery. Implementation of this method, however, would require additional steps for solvent separation. Addition of charged magnetic nanoparticles was effective by interacting electrostatically with the interface, resulting in emulsion destabilization under a magnetic field. This method reached almost 96% of oil recovery and it was potentially advantageous since no additional steps might be necessary for further purifying the recovered oil