Draft genome sequence of lactobacillus helveticus Lh 23, isolated from natural whey starter

Lactobacillus helveticus is a thermophilic lactic acid bacterium that is widely employed as a starter culture for manufacturing several Swiss and Italian hard-cooked cheeses. The sequencing of L. helveticus Lh 23, which consists of 2,100,230 bp with a GC content of 36.5%, reveals industrially useful traits and interesting metabolic pathways

Lysozyme side effects in Grana Padano PDO cheese: new perspective after 30 years using

Since thirty years, hen\u2019s egg white lysozyme is in use as an anti-clostridial agent in Grana Padano PDO cheese manufacturing in order to avoid the cheese blowing defect. However, as the EU legislation includes egg among allergens, Grana Padano falls into the category of food products containing allergens. In view of discontinuing this situation, this work aimed to investigate the effects of abandoning lysozyme use on cheese characteristics. Nine manufacturing processes, conducted with and without lysozyme, were monitored from milk to ripened cheese at four different dairies. Both the lactic acid bacteria microbiota (LAB) and chemical parameters related to cheese maturation were evaluated. The presence of the enzyme seems to affect the capacity of some LAB species and biotypes to grow in cheese during ripening. Accordingly, primary proteolysis was not affected, whereas differences were found in amino acids release that could be traced back to the lysozyme-dependent LAB growth

Lysozyme affects the microbial catabolism of free arginine in raw-milk hard cheeses

Lysozyme (LZ) is used in several cheese varieties to prevent late blowing which results from fermentation of lactate by Clostridium tyrobutyricum. Side effects of LZ on lactic acid bacteria population and free amino acid pattern were studied in 16 raw-milk hard cheeses produced in eight parallel cheese makings conducted at four different dairies using the same milk with (LZ\ufe) or without (LZ-) addition of LZ. The LZ-cheeses were characterized by higher numbers of cultivable microbial population and lower amount of DNA arising from lysed bacterial cells with respect to LZ \ufe cheeses. At both 9 and 16 months of ripening, Lactobacillus delbrueckii and Lactobacillus fermentum proved to be the species mostly affected by LZ. The total content of free amino acids indicated the proteolysis extent to be characteristic of the dairy, regardless to the presence of LZ. In contrast, the relative patterns showed the microbial degradation of arginine to be promoted in LZ \ufe cheeses. The data demonstrated that the arginine-deiminase pathway was only partially adopted since citrulline represented the main product and only trace levels of ornithine were found. Differences in arginine degradation were considered for starter and non-starter lactic acid bacteria, at different cheese ripening stages

Environmental impact of omnivorous, ovo-lacto-vegetarian, and vegan diet

Food and beverage consumption has a great impact on the environment, although there is a lack of information concerning the whole diet. The environmental impact of 153 Italian adults (51 omnivores, 51 ovo-lacto-vegetarians, 51 vegans) and the inter-individual variability within dietary groups were assessed in a real-life context. Food intake was monitored with a 7-d dietary record to calculate nutritional values and environmental impacts (carbon, water, and ecological footprints). The Italian Mediterranean Index was used to evaluate the nutritional quality of each diet. The omnivorous choice generated worse carbon, water and ecological footprints than other diets. No differences were found for the environmental impacts of ovo-lacto-vegetarians and vegans, which also had diets more adherent to the Mediterranean pattern. A high inter-individual variability was observed through principal component analysis, showing that some vegetarians and vegans have higher environmental impacts than those of some omnivores. Thus, regardless of the environmental benefits of plant-based diets, there is a need for thinking in terms of individual dietary habits. To our knowledge, this is the first time environmental impacts of three dietary regimens are evaluated using individual recorded dietary intakes rather than hypothetical diet or diets averaged over a population

Diet influences the functions of the human intestinal microbiome

Gut microbes programme their metabolism to suit intestinal conditions and convert dietary components into a panel of small molecules that ultimately affect host physiology. To unveil what is behind the effects of key dietary components on microbial functions and the way they modulate host\u2013microbe interaction, we used for the first time a multi-omic approach that goes behind the mere gut phylogenetic composition and provides an overall picture of the functional repertoire in 27 fecal samples from omnivorous, vegan and vegetarian volunteers. Based on our data, vegan and vegetarian diets were associated to the highest abundance of microbial genes/proteins responsible for cell motility, carbohydrate- and protein-hydrolyzing enzymes, transport systems and the synthesis of essential amino acids and vitamins. A positive correlation was observed when intake of fiber and the relative fecal abundance of flagellin were compared. Microbial cells and flagellin extracted from fecal samples of 61 healthy donors modulated the viability of the human (HT29) colon carcinoma cells and the host response through the stimulation of the expression of Toll-like receptor 5, lectin RegIII\u3b1 and three interleukins (IL-8, IL-22 and IL-23). Our findings concretize a further and relevant milestone on how the diet may prevent/mitigate disease risk

Diet influences the functions of the human intestinal microbiome

Gut microbes programme their metabolism to suit intestinal conditions and convert dietary components into a panel of small molecules that ultimately affect host physiology. To unveil what is behind the effects of key dietary components on microbial functions and the way they modulate host\u2013microbe interaction, we used for the first time a multi-omic approach that goes behind the mere gut phylogenetic composition and provides an overall picture of the functional repertoire in 27 fecal samples from omnivorous, vegan and vegetarian volunteers. Based on our data, vegan and vegetarian diets were associated to the highest abundance of microbial genes/proteins responsible for cell motility, carbohydrate- and protein-hydrolyzing enzymes, transport systems and the synthesis of essential amino acids and vitamins. A positive correlation was observed when intake of fiber and the relative fecal abundance of flagellin were compared. Microbial cells and flagellin extracted from fecal samples of 61 healthy donors modulated the viability of the human (HT29) colon carcinoma cells and the host response through the stimulation of the expression of Toll-like receptor 5, lectin RegIII\u3b1 and three interleukins (IL-8, IL-22 and IL-23). Our findings concretize a further and relevant milestone on how the diet may prevent/mitigate disease risk

The body of evidence of late-life depression: the complex relationship between depressive symptoms, movement, dyspnea and cognition

Background: Physical symptoms play an important role in late-life depression and may contribute to residual symptomatology after antidepressant treatment. In this exploratory study, we examined the role of specific bodily dimensions including movement, respiratory functions, fear of falling, cognition, and physical weakness in older people with depression.Methods: Clinically stable older patients with major depression within a Psychiatric Consultation-Liaison program for Primary Care underwent comprehensive assessment of depressive symptoms, instrumental movement analysis, dyspnea, weakness, activity limitations, cognitive function, and fear of falling. Network analysis was performed to explore the unique adjusted associations between clinical dimensions.Results: Sadness was associated with worse turning and walking ability and movement transitions from walking to sitting, as well as with worse general cognitive abilities. Sadness was also connected with dyspnea, while neurovegetative depressive burden was connected with activity limitations.Discussion: Limitations of motor and cognitive function, dyspnea, and weakness may contribute to the persistence of residual symptoms of late-life depression

BIM mediates synergistic killing of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells by BCL-2 and MEK inhibitors

B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is an aggressive hematological disease that kills ~50% of adult patients. With the exception of some BCR-ABL1(+) patients who benefit from tyrosine kinase inhibitors, there are no effective targeted therapies for adult B-ALL patients and chemotherapy remains first-line therapy despite adverse side effects and poor efficacy. We show that, although the MEK/ERK pathway is activated in B-ALL cells driven by different oncogenes, MEK inhibition does not suppress B-ALL cell growth. However, MEK inhibition synergized with BCL-2/BCL-XL family inhibitors to suppress proliferation and induce apoptosis in B-ALL cells. We show that this synergism is mediated by the pro-apoptotic factor BIM, which is dephosphorylated as a result of MEK inhibition, allowing it to bind to and neutralize MCL-1, thereby enhancing BCL-2/BCL-XL inhibitor-induced cell death. This cooperative effect is observed in B-ALL cells driven by a range of genetic abnormalities and therefore has significant therapeutic potential