Search Results (3)

This study reported the fabrication and characterization of gastric dressing, composed of gelatine (GEL), chitosan (CH), and pomegranate peel (PP) extract. The structural changes occurring after γ-irradiation of GEL–CH–PP dressing were reported. The results showed that the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy of un-irradiated GEL–CH–PP showed two paramagnetic centers, which corresponded to g = 2.19 and g = 2.002. After irradiation, a new active centre appeared at g = 2.0035 at 10 kGy. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses revealed an increase in peak intensity at C–H chains, as well as the C=O carboxyl groups at 10 kGy, due to the cross-linking phenomenon. The X-ray diffraction analysis showed a low change of crystallinity between the range of 2θ (15–30°). Moreover, γ-rays enhanced scavenging DPPH radical activity (51±%) and chelating power activities 79.12%. A significant inhibition of antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities (p < 0.01) was noticed. The hemolysis rates showed 0.42%, suggesting a high hemocompatibility, and exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity in vitro (48%). In vivo, the healing effects of GEL–CH–PP dressing showed that the incidence and severity of gastric histopathological lesions decreased, compared with the ulcerated group, which could explain the bioavailability and the pharmacokinetic findings. The results highlight the loading of bioactive agents into polymer-based gastric dressings, with promising pharmacokinetics properties and effects on the induced ulcera in rabbits. Full article

The INFOGEST digestion method was adapted for the evaluation of sterol bioaccessibility in a plant sterol (PS)-enriched beverage [¹]. Recent modifications of the method, such as the addition of gastric lipase and cholesterol esterase, showed that the presence of sterols in digestion reagents has an important role on sterol bioaccessibility [²]. However, the specific sterol contribution from these extracts is unknown. Therefore, in the present study, the sterol content of the extracts used in the INFOGEST 2.0 digestion method (rabbit gastric extract—RGE, porcine pancreatin and bovine bile) is determined via GC-FID. The results show that the cholesterol content of the extracts is as follows: bovine bile > porcine pancreatin > RGE (4.07 ± 0.18, 1.41 ± 0.07 and 0.57 ± 0.05 mg/g extract, respectively). Considering the amount of each extract added to the digestion, the greatest cholesterol contributor is porcine pancreatin, followed by bovine bile and RGE (1.72 ± 0.08, 1.00 ± 0.04, and 0.046 ± 0.004 mg, respectively). However, cholesterol in bile is found in pre-formed micelles that increase its solubility, and, therefore, it would compete for sterol micellarization against sterol provided by the digested foods. This fact has been observed in previous studies in which the cholesterol content of the blanks of digestion was inversely correlated with PS bioaccessibility [²]. On the other hand, bovine bile contains stigmasterol, β-sitosterol and sitostanol (0.14 ± 0.01, 0.93 ± 0.07 and 0.18 ± 0.01 mg/g extract, respectively), while porcine pancreatin contains campesterol, stigmasterol, β-sitosterol and sitostanol (0.103 ± 0.004, 0.25 ± 0.02, 2.17 ± 0.42 and 0.32 ± 0.01 mg/g extract, respectively). Nevertheless, these PSs present in the extracts appear in negligible amounts in the digestion blank, reflecting their low solubility vs. cholesterol. In conclusion, in order to optimize the INFOGEST 2.0 gastrointestinal method for the evaluation of sterol bioaccessibility, the characterization of the sterol content in digestion reagents provides valuable information since it may affect their solubility. Full article

Synbiotics are a mixture of probiotics (live microbes) and prebiotics (nutrients for intestinal microbiota—soluble fibers, polyphenols, and polyunsaturated fatty acids) that are now being considered important tools to help in maintaining animals in good health. Synbiotics may improve animal health through different effects. Synbiotics can modulate the gastrointestinal microbiota community in favor of beneficial intestinal and cecal microorganisms, improve immune system functions, and provide specific active molecules that can improve the digestion of feed and absorption of nutrients. Achieving adequate efficiency of the synbiotic products depends on maintaining probiotic survival and prebiotic stability against processing, storage, and gastrointestinal conditions. The development of nano-encapsulation technique facilitates the protection of live microorganism as well as the controlled and sustained release of bioactive molecules. In this study, the synbiotic, fabricated to be used as a dietary supplement for growing rabbits, consisted of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast (SCY) and Moringa oleifera leaf extract (MOLE) encapsulated, or not, with alginate nanoparticles. Sixty-four, 40-day-old, growing rabbits were equally allocated into four groups, receiving per each kg diet: non-capsulated 11 × 10¹² SCY + 0.15 g MOLE (NCS), encapsulated 5.5 × 10¹² SCY + 0.075 g MOLE (LCS) encapsulated 11 × 10¹² SCY + 0.15 g MOLE (HCS), or no synbiotic (control). The treatments continued for six consecutive weeks, from 40 to 82 days of age. During the experimental period, growth performance variables including body weight (BW), feed consumption, BW gain, and feed conversion ratio were recorded weekly. At the end of the treatment, at 82 days of age, blood samples and intestinal and cecal samples were individually collected from six randomly selected rabbits. Also, in vitro gastrointestinal system simulation was used to test the survival of the yeast cells through the gastrointestinal tract. Results revealed that the encapsulation process significantly improved yeast survival against gastric and intestinal digestion. Compared to the control, NCS and LCS treatments, the HCS treatment increased the number of intestinal and cecal yeast cells (p < 0.05) and lactobacillus bacteria (p = 0.062) and decreased the number of salmonella (p < 0.05) and coliform (p = 0.08) bacteria. Rabbits treated with HCS had the highest (p < 0.05) phagocytic activity, lysosomal activity, and lowest serum concentrations of immunoglobulin E and malondialdehyde compared to the control, NCS and LCS treatments. The HCS treatment significantly improved body weight gain and feed conversion ratio compared to control treatment, while the NCS and LCS treatments showed intermediate values. In conclusion, the encapsulation process improved the efficiency of the innovative synbiotic. The high dose of encapsulated synbiotic adjusted gut microflora constitutes and boosted the immunity and growth performance of rabbits during the fattening period. These positive effects on immunity and growth performance are mostly related to the prevalence of beneficial intestinal and cecal microorganisms, indicating the opportunity of using synbiotics, specifically in an encapsulated form, as antibiotic alternatives. These findings pave the way towards more sustainable animal production, ensuring the maintenance of adequate animal health while excluding the hazards of antibiotics use and their related risks to the health of humans and animals. Full article