Estudio de viabilidad de un sistema de iluminación con alta eficiencia energética

La propuesta de negocio que se desarrolla a continuación es la de una empresa que realiza proyectos de iluminación utilizando luminarias con sistema innovador llamado Lighthermy, de ahí el nombre de la empresa. El sistema Lighthermy aprovecha el calor desprendido por las iluminarias LED, para usarlo como energía útil para ACS o para calefacción. Los canales de comercialización son la venta directa, con comerciales propios y la venta vía representantes y distribuidores. Con lo que las ventas conseguidas se obtendrán con diferentes márgenes, según el canal. Para la realización de este plan de negocio se ha estudiado, en primer lugar, la situación actual del sector de la iluminación en general, y de iluminación técnica en particular, con el correspondiente marco jurídico que regula este sector. Seguidamente se ha analizado el entorno con el que se encontrará el sistema Lighthermy, estudiando sus competidores, sus proveedores, sus posibles clientes y perfil de éstos. Posteriormente se ha detallado la estrategia comercial de la empresa y la estructura organizativa que presentará. Por último, se ha efectuado el estudio económico-financiero en un horizonte temporal de cuatro años

Whey and Buttermilk-Based Formulas Modulate Gut Microbiota in Mice with Antibiotic-Induced Dysbiosis

ScopeDiet is one of the main factors that modifies intestinal microbiota composition. The search for foods that can reverse situations of intestinal dysbiosis such as that induced by antibiotics is of great interest. Buttermilk and whey are the main by‐products produced by the dairy industry containing bioactive compounds. The aim of this study is to investigate the ability of whey and buttermilk‐based formulas supplemented with lactoferrin and milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) to modulate the effects of clindamycin on mouse intestinal microbiota.Methods and resultsMale C57BL/6 mice are treated with saline (control), clindamycin (Clin), a formula containing whey (F1) or buttermilk (F2), Clin+F1 or Clin+F2, and their fecal microbiota profiles are analyzed by sequencing of 16S rRNA gene using the MinION device. Clin induces alterations in both the composition and metabolic functions of the mice intestinal microbiota. The treatment with F1 or F2 reverses the effects of clindamycin, restoring the levels of Rikenellaceae and Lactobacillaceae families and certain pathways related to short‐chain fatty acids production and tetrahydrofolate biosynthesis.ConclusionWhey and buttermilk supplemented with lactoferrin and MFGM may be a bioactive formula for functional foods to prevent or restore microbiota alterations induced by antibiotic administration

The role of Lactoferrin in intestinal health

The intestine represents one of the first barriers where microorganisms and environmental antigens come into tight contact with the host immune system. A healthy intestine is essential for the well-being of humans and animals. The period after birth is a very important phase of development, as the infant moves from a protected environment in the uterus to one with many of unknown antigens and pathogens. In that period, mother’s milk plays an important role, as it contains an abundance of biologically active components. Among these components, the iron-binding glycoprotein, lactoferrin (LF), has demonstrated a variety of important benefits in infants and adults, including the promotion of intestinal health. This review article aims to provide a compilation of all the information related to LF and intestinal health, in infants and adults

Effect of in vitro gastrointestinal digestion on the antibacterial activity of bioactive dairy formulas supplemented with lactoferrin against Cronobacter sakazakii

Milk is a source of proteins with high nutritional value and relevant biological activities. Bioactive milk proteins, like lactoferrin, are important for newborn development and can also be used as ingredients in functional products to improve health. Lactoferrin is essential in infant’s diet, since protects against infections and promotes immune system maturation. Bovine lactoferrin is used to supplement formula milk in order to strengthen baby’s defences against some pathogenic bacteria. Thus, lactoferrin supplemented formula can be a barrier against emergent pathogens, such as Cronobacter sakazakii, which has caused great concern in the last few years. Milk proteins generate bioactive peptides in the digestion process, and it is known that industrial processing can modify their susceptibility to digestion. Treatments such as heating have been shown to denature whey proteins and make them more easily digestible. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the effect of technological treatments and gastrointestinal digestion on the antibacterial activity against C. sakazakii of proteins present in dairy formulas supplemented with lactoferrin. Commercial bovine lactoferrin has been shown to have antibacterial activity against C. sakazakii, both in the native state and after static in vitro gastrointestinal digestion. In addition, the digests obtained from dairy formulas subjected to technological treatments, either homogenization or pasteurization, have higher antibacterial activity than non-treated formulas. The release of low molecular weight peptides during the in vitro gastric digestion is probably the cause that would explain the enhanced antibacterial activity of the digested dairy formulas

Effect of a Ketogenic medium chain Triglyceride-enriched diet on the fecal microbiota in canine idiopathic epilepsy: a pilot study

Ketogenic diets have been successfully used in people and dogs with idiopathic epilepsy. This study examined the effect of a ketogenic medium chain triglycerides (MCT)- enriched diet administered for one month on the fecal microbiota of epileptic (n = 11) (six with drug-sensitive epilepsy, DSE; five with drug-refractory epilepsy, DRE) and non-epileptic beagle dogs (n = 12). A significant reduction after diet in the relative abundance of bacteria from the Actinobacteria phylum was observed in all dogs. Epileptic dogs showed a higher relative abundance of Lactobacillus compared with non-epileptic dogs at baseline but these differences disappeared after diet. Epileptic dogs also showed a significantly higher abundance of Negativicutes and Selenomonadales after dietary intervention. Baseline microbiota patterns were similar in non-epileptic beagles and dogs with DSE but significantly different from dogs with DRE. In non-epileptic and DSE groups, the MCT diet decreased the relative abundance of Firmicutes and increased that of Bacteroidetes and Fusobacteria, but the opposite effect was observed in dogs with DRE. These results suggest that the MCT diet effect would depend on individual baseline microbiota patterns and that ketogenic diets could help reduce gut microbiota differences between dogs with DRE and DSE

Microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids as modulators of intestinal serotonin transporter

Serotonin is a key neuromodulator of intestinal physiology. Serotonin transporter (SERT) is responsible for serotonin uptake, modulating its availability and consequently, serotonergic signalling. Recently, microbiota has been described to affect intestinal homeostasis through microbiota recognition receptors (TLRs). In fact,TLRs activation seems to regulate intestinal serotonergic system. However, whether intestinal microbiota can modulate SERT by short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) is unknown. Microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids such as acetate, propionate and butyrate, are important metabolites from non-digestible dietary fibers bacterial fermentation. These metabolites have been shown to maintain intestinal homeostasis through protecting epithelial barrier integrity, promoting IgA production and regulating T-cell differentiation. In this study human enterocyte-like Caco-2/TC7 cells were used as intestinal epithelial cells model, which expresses serotonin transporter. Caco-2/TC7 cells were treated for 24 h with different concentrations of acetate, propionate and butyrate and then, and 5-HT uptake was measured. SERT molecular expression was analysed by measuring both, mRNA levels by real-time PCR and protein expression by western blotting. Our results show that the treatment with SCFA modulates SERT function and expression, in a different way for each fatty acid. Consequently, a different production of SCFA by microbiota could differently modulate SERT and affect to serotonergic signalling and intestinal physiology. Our study contributes to growing evidence about the key role of microbiota on host physiology regulation, and it opens a cutting-edge opportunity of microbiota modulation to balance serotonergic signalling alterations

EFECTOS BENEFICIOSOS SOBRE LA SALUD INTESTINAL DE LAS BACTERIAS PRESENTES EN LOS PRODUCTOS LÁCTEOS

Nuestro trabajo primeramente se centró en recoger información en los supermercados y enlas páginas web de las casas comerciales de los yogures para identificar qué microorganismos son losque se encuentran en estos alimentos. Después, se buscó en la bibliografía que efectos positivos parala salud aportaban los probióticos que se habían identificado.<br /

The Significant Influence of a Second Metal on the Antiproliferative Properties of the Complex [Ru(¿6-C10H14)(Cl2)(dmoPTA)]

Complexes [Ru(¿6-C10H14)(Cl2)(HdmoPTA)](OSO2CF3) (1), [Ru(¿6-C10H14)(Cl2)(dmoPTA)] (2) and [Ru(¿6-C10H14)(Cl2)-µ-dmoPTA-1¿P:2¿2N, N’-MCl2] (M=Zn (3), Co (4), Ni (5), dmoPTA=3, 7-dimethyl-1, 3, 7-triaza-5-phosphabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis and spectroscopic techniques. The crystal structures of 1, 3 and 5 were obtained by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The antiproliferative activity of the complexes was evaluated against colon cancer cell line Caco-2/TC7 by using the MTT protocol. The monometallic ruthenium complexes 1 and 2 were found to be inactive, but the bimetallic complexes 3, 4 and 5 display an increased activity (IC50 3: 9.07±0.27, 4: 5.40±0.19, 5: 7.15±0.30 µM) compared to cisplatin (IC50=45.6±8.08 µM). Importantly, no reduction in normal cell viability was observed in the presence of the complexes. Experiments targeted to obtain information on the possible action mechanism of the complexes, such as cell cycle, ROS and gene expression studies, were performed. The results showed that the complexes display different properties and action mechanism depending on the nature of metal, M, bonded to the CH3NdmoPTA atoms. © 2021 The Authors. Chemistry - A European Journal published by Wiley-VCH Gmb

Estudio de las propiedades anticancerígenas de nuevos compuestos de platino frente al cáncer de colon.

El cáncer colorrectal, el tipo de cáncer más frecuentemente diagnosticado en España, carece actualmente de un fármaco eficaz. El tratamiento actual se basa en el uso del compuesto metálico oxaliplatino, el cual genera gran cantidad de efectos secundarios. Por ello, se está llevando a cabo una búsqueda de fármacos efectivos que se basen en complejos metálicos como el platino y el rutenio.En este estudio, se ha evaluado la citotoxicidad de diferentes compuestos derivados de rutenio y de platino, tanto en células de tejido intestinal sanas como en células del cáncer colorrectal, con el objetivo de encontrar un posible agente antitumoral para el cáncer de colon. Además, se han identificado posibles dianas génicas sobre las cuales actúan los complejos de platino que tienen la capacidad de reducir la viabilidad celular de células tumorales. Para lograr los objetivos planteados, se emplearon células de la línea celular Caco-2/TC7, y en ellas se llevaron a cabo ensayos de viabilidad celular utilizando la técnica del MTT y, además, se evaluaron los niveles de expresión génica mediante PCR (reacción en cadena de la polimerasa) cuantitativa.Los resultados obtenidos demostraron que los compuestos de rutenio C112, C87 y C163 presentan potencial como posibles agentes antitumorales, al igual que los compuestos de platino C227, C239 y C242. Estos últimos compuestos podrían ejercer su actividad antitumoral al incrementar la expresión de la caspasa-9 y reducir la expresión de la caspasa-3. Adicionalmente, el compuesto C242 también induce una sobreexpresión de los genes Bcl-2, caspasa-9 y PARP-1.<br /

Gut microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids: novel regulators of intestinal serotonin transporter

Serotonin (5-HT) is a key neurotransmitter synthesized both in the gut and the central nervous system. It exerts its signaling through specific receptors (5-HTR), which regulate numerous behaviors and functions such as mood, cognitive function, platelet aggregation, gastrointestinal motility, and inflammation. Serotonin activity is determined mainly by the extracellular availability of 5-HT, which is controlled by the serotonin transporter (SERT). Recent studies indicate that, by activation of innate immunity receptors, gut microbiota can modulate serotonergic signaling by SERT modulation. As part of its function, gut microbiota metabolize nutrients from diet to produce different by-products, including short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs): propionate, acetate, and butyrate. However, it is not known whether these SCFAs regulate the serotonergic system. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of SCFAs on the gastrointestinal serotonergic system using the Caco-2/TC7 cell line that expresses SERT and several receptors constitutively. Cells were treated with different SCFAs concentrations, and SERT function and expression were evaluated. In addition, the expression of 5-HT receptors 1A, 2A, 2B, 3A, 4, and 7 was also studied. Our results show that the microbiota-derived SCFAs regulate intestinal serotonergic system, both individually and in combination, modulating the function and expression of SERT and the 5-HT1A, 5-HT2B, and 5-HT7 receptors expression. Our data highlight the role of gut microbiota in the modulation of intestinal homeostasis and suggest microbiome modulation as a potential therapeutic treatment for intestinal pathologies and neuropsychiatric disorders involving serotonin