Search

Background/Purpose: Gastrointestinal (GI) dysmotility is categorized by muscle or nerve dysfunctions in any portion of the GI tract, which leads to abnormalities in GI motor and sensory function. Symptoms may vary depending on the organ affected and can be debilitating. Treatment usually involves diet and lifestyle changes. Pharmacotherapy is limited in effectiveness with various side effects. Transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TES), a noninvasive, needleless technique that provides electrical stimulation using cutaneous non‐needle electrodes, has become increasingly popular. It has been shown to be beneficial in treating GI motility disorders. Methods: This review paper navigates through the different TES techniques, including transcutaneous peripheral nerve (vagal/sacral/tibial nerves) electrical stimulation, transcutaneous electrical acustimulation (stimulation via acupuncture point), transcutaneous interferential current therapy, and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. Key Results: As we delve deeper, we explore the promising effects of TES on dysphagia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, functional dyspepsia, gastroparesis, postoperative ileus, constipation, and irritable bowel syndrome. The literature at hand speaks volumes about the therapeutic prowess of this noninvasive technique. Conclusion & Inferences: The time is ripe to evaluate further the full therapeutic potential of TES, a noninvasive, nonpharmaceutical, nonsurgical, and home‐based self‐administrative technique in managing GI motility disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: We aim to conduct a systematic review and determine the association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Methods: Literature search for eligible studies was performed across major databases. The main endpoint was to assess the association between GERD and OSA. Subgroup analyses were performed to determine this strength of the association stratified by the diagnostic tools used for OSA (nocturnal polysomnogram or Berlin questionnaire) and GERD (validated reflux questionnaire or esophagogastroduodenoscopy). We also compared sleep efficiency, apnea hypopnea index, oxygen desaturation index, and Epworth Sleepiness Scale in OSA patients with or without GERD. Results were pooled together using Reviewer Manager 5.4. Results: Six studies involving 2950 patients with either GERD or OSA were included in the pooled analysis. Our findings suggest that there was a statistically significant unidirectional association between GERD and OSA (odds ratio [OR] = 1.53, P = 0.0001). Subgroup analyses redemonstrated an OSA‐GERD association irrespective of the tools used for diagnosing either GERD or OSA (P = 0.24 and P = 0.82, respectively). Sensitivity analyses demonstrated the same association after controlling for gender (OR = 1.63), BMI (OR = 1.81), smoking (OR = 1.45), and alcohol consumption (OR = 1.79). In patients with OSA, there were no statistically significant differences between patients with or without GERD in terms of apnea hypopnea index (P = 0.30), sleep efficiency (P = 0.67), oxygen desaturation index (P = 0.39), and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (P = 0.07). Conclusion: There exists an association between OSA and GERD that is independent of the modalities used for screening or diagnosing both disorders. However, the presence of GERD did not affect the severity of OSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bigels are novel biphasic systems containing hydrogel and oleogel structures, which are designed to deliver multiple bioactives for synergistic activity. The current study develops bigels based on a carrageenan hydrogel and a monoglyceride (GMS) oleogel. Results show that the microstructures of bigels are facilely modified by two surface active ingredients (Tween 20 and polyglycerol polyricinoleate), which then influence the microstructures of the bigels. When curcumin and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) are delivered simultaneously, the bioactives work synergistically to slow thermal degradation. Simulated digestion tests indicate that the bigel structures can delay the release of the two bioactives in artificial saliva and simulated gastric fluid (SGF), and allow fast release in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF). DPPH and ABTS tests show the digested Tween 20 bigels containing EGCG and curcumin present synergistic antioxidant activity. Anticancer activity is evaluated in human colon adenocarcinoma HCT116, and the two bioactives work cooperatively to lower cell viability. The bioactives released from Tween 20 bigels have higher cytotoxicity than those from polyglycerol polyricinoleate bigels. The results reveal that facile structural design of bigels has the potential to achieve synergistic stability and bioactivity of co‐delivered bioactives, which is meaningful for the development of functional pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This study aimed to investigate the effects of antibacterial agent ultrasonic immersion on the quality of salted casings in terms of microorganism, physicochemical characters and structure characteristics. The results showed that citric acid immersion had the most significant effect as compared to that of control samples, with a reduction of 1.00, 1.65 and 1.66 log CFU g−1 in Staphylococcus, Halophile and Psychrophiles compared to control samples respectively. Citric acid and tea polyphenol treatment increased the elongation at break of casings by 11.3% and 10.4%, and the most significant increase in the tensile strength of samples with chitosan oligosaccharide was 13.7%. Meanwhile, all samples were not discriminative in colour, collagen solubility, water solubility, thermal swelling and thermal shrinking rate. Furthermore, a compact and dense casing surfaces found by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images after antibacterial agent treatment. Therefore, antibacterial agent immersion has the potential to control microorganisms' growth, improve mechanical properties and extend the application field of salted casings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

R3326 --> To analyze histone post‐translational modifications (PTMs) through mass spectrometry, both bottom‐up and middle‐down approaches to proteomics are commonly employed. In this study, we compared the histone PTMs that can be detected in Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) using three different digestion conditions. First, we tested a bottom‐up approach where histone proteins are propionylated then digested with trypsin for cleavage on the carboxyl end of arginine. Second, we tested a middle‐down approach where histones are digested with the V8 protease in the buffer ammonium bicarbonate. This leads to cleavage on the carboxyl end of glutamate. We tested another middle‐down approach using V8 in the buffer sodium phosphate for the third digestion condition. This leads to cleavage on the carboxyl end of both glutamate and aspartate. Our results indicate which histone PTMs can be identified under each digestion condition on samples of gills, kidney, and testes of Mozambique tilapia. We specify which PTMs are only detected using one method, and which are detected through multiple methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]