Search

The main objective of this study is to isolate and identify lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from various Egyptian dairy products, examine their antibacterial and hemolysis potential, and ensure their safety when used as starter cultures in different dairy industries. Egyptian dairy products are often made without the use of commercial starter cultures, using raw milk and artisanal methods. The most popular traditional dairy products are Laban Rayeb and Zabady, as well as the cheese varieties of Ras, Domiati, and Karish. The microbial communities used for fermentation and the diversity of lactic acid bacteria are the most important factors that can affect the quality of these products. In order to investigate the diversity of cocci lactic acid bacteria in Egyptian dairy products, 70 samples of raw or fermented milk and cheeses were collected from traditional cheese-making factories, local markets, and farmhouses located in the Delta area of Egypt. Following this, the LAB were isolated from the samples. One hundred fifty-seven isolates of Gram-positive, catalase-negative, and cocci bacterial species were identified via rep-PCR, and some isolates were confirmed using pheS and 16S rRNA gene sequencing, as follows: Streptococcus infantarius subsp. infantarius (three isolates), Enterococcus hirae (three isolates), Enterococcus faecium (ninety-six isolates), Enterococcus faecalis (forty isolates), Enterococcus durans (six isolates), Lactococcus garvieae (one isolate), Pediococcus acidilactici (seven isolates), and Lactococcus lactis subsp. Lactis (one isolate). These findings validate that five strains have strong antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, and Listeria monocytogenes, and one hundred thirty-four strains were safe for hemolysis. The five strains were selected as protective cultures, including Pediococcus acidilactici, Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, E. faecalis, and E. faecium.

Enterococcus faecium is sometimes used in food production; however, its acquisition of antibiotic resistance has become an alarming health concern. The E. lactis species is closely related to E. faecium and has good probiotic potential. This study aimed to investigate the antibiotic resistance of E. lactis. We analyzed the antibiotic resistance phenotype and whole-genome sequences of 60 E. lactis isolates (23, 29, and 8 isolates from dairy products, Rice wine Koji, and human feces, respectively). These isolates showed varying degree of resistance to 13 antibiotics, and were sensitive to ampicillin and linezolid. The E. lactis genomes carried only a subset of commonly reported antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in E. faecium. Five ARGs were detected across the investigated E. lactis, including two universally present genes (msrC and AAC(6′)-Ii) and three rarely detected ARGs (tet(L), tetM, and efmA). To identify other undescribed antibiotic resistance-encoding genes, a genome-wide association study was performed, returning 160 potential resistance genes that were associated with six antibiotics, namely chloramphenicol, vancomycin, clindamycin, erythromycin, quinupristin-dalfopristin, and rifampicin. Only around one-third of these genes encode known biological functions, including cellular metabolism, membrane transport, and DNA synthesis. This work identified interesting targets for future study of antibiotic resistance in E. lactis. The fact that the lower number of ARGs present in E. lactis supports that it may be an alternative to E. faecalis for use in the food industry. Data generated in this work is of interest to the dairy industry.

Zhalajiao, a traditional Chinese fermented food, is popular due to its unique flavor. Traditional Zhalajiao fermentation is closely related to flavor compounds production. However, the mechanisms underlying the formation of these crucial flavor components in Zhalajiao remain unclear. Here, we explored the dynamic changes in physical and chemical properties, microbial diversity, and flavor components of Zhalajiao at various fermentation times. In total, 6 organic acids, 17 amino acids, and 21 key volatile compounds were determined as flavor components. In Zhalajiao, Lactobacillus and Cyanobacterium were the main bacteria that were involved in the formation of crucial flavor compounds. Candida showed a significant correlation with 14 key flavor compounds during fermentation (p < 0.05) and was the main fungal genus associated with flavor formation in Zhalajiao. This research offers a theoretical foundation for the flavor regulation and quality assurance of Zhalajiao.

Purpose: Cardiac metastasis is a rare fatal event. An intracavitary right tumor mainly in the ventricle is difficult to manage. Literature reports suggest that cardiac surgery in oligometastatic patients could offer median survival of 1 year. We investigated salvage treatment comprising transcoronary tumor embolization followed 15 days later by cardiac radiotherapy (40.5 Gy/15 fractions). Cases: We report two cases of severe right cardiac metastasis with a history of abdominal cancer managed by this salvage treatment following residual cardiac mass after previous cardiac surgery. Conclusion: Both symptomatic patients improved progressively and were locally controlled for at least 1 year without toxicity.

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of chickpea as a prebiotic, antioxidant and thickener agent on the probiotic viability and physicochemical properties of stirred bio-yoghurt. Stirred bio-yoghurts were made using probiotic cultures (Bifidobacterium bifidum and a mixture of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis and Lactobacillus acidophilus) with chickpea flour at different concentrations (1, 2 and 3%). Physicochemical, antioxidant, rheological, microbiological and sensorial properties of stirred bio-yoghurt were evaluated during storage. The obtained results showed that the chickpea flour stimulated the growth of probiotic bacteria. The bacterial counts in bio-yoghurt made using Bifidobacterium bifidum were log 8.28, 8.12, 8.04 and 7.32 CFUg−1 with 3, 2, 1% chickpea flour and control respectively. Stirred bio-yoghurt supplemented with chickpea flour received high values of antioxidant capacity (91, 83 and 76.6%) at concentrations of 3%, 2% and 1% chickpea flour respectively, while control received low value (31.12%). The viscosity of stirred bio-yoghurt was enhanced by chickpea supplementation. The sensory evaluation revealed that samples with 1 and 2% chickpea flour were preferred by panelists in texture and flavour properties. The obtained results concluded that the chickpea flour could replace the skimmed milk powder at concentrations of 1 or 2% to enhance the quality of stirred bio-yoghurt and reduce the production cost.

In this study, an in vivo lipid-lowering animal experiment was performed on Lactobacillus plantarum KFY02 (LP-KFY02) newly isolated from Xinjiang fermented yogurt. The study used a high-fat diet (HFD) to induce obese mice. Serum and tissue samples from mice were examined by molecular biological detection. The results indicated that LP-KFY02 could inhibit increases in various organ indexes of mice caused by HFD. LP-KFY02 could reduce the levels of alkaline phosphatase (AKP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) in the serum and liver of obese mice with HFD and improve high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels. Observation of pathological changes also showed that LP-KFY02 could alleviate the damage caused by obesity on the tissue samples from the liver of mice and reduce the expansion of fat cells. The results of qPCR experiments further showed that LP-KFY02 could effectively up-regulate the mRNA expression of lipoprotein lipase (LPL), peroxisome proliferative-activating receptor α (PPAR-α), cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase (CYP7A1), and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A (CPT1A) in the liver and epididymal adipose tissues, as well as cut down the mRNA expression of peroxisome proliferative-activating receptor γ (PPAR-γ) and CCAAT enhancer-binding proteins (C/EBP-α). Furthermore, ELISA results showed LP-KFY02 obviously decreased the level of pro-inflammatory factors interleukin (IL)-6, TNF-α, IL-1β and IFN-γ in serum, but increased the anti-inflammatory factors IL-4 and IL-10 content. LP-KFY02 could effectively treat obesity arose from HFD, and its effect is comparable to commercially available L-carnitine, and superior to the Lactobacillus delbruechii subsp. bulgaricus commonly used in industry. LP-KFY02 is a health beneficial strain with probiotic potential.

Background Patients with low HEART (History, Electrocardiogram, Age, Risk factors, and Troponin level) risk scores who are discharged from the emergency department (ED) may present clinical challenges and diagnostic dilemmas. The use of downstream non-invasive stress imaging (NISI) tests in this population remains uncertain. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the value of NISI in risk stratification and predicting cardiac events in patients with low-risk HEART scores (LRHSs).Methods We prospectively included 1384 patients with LRHSs between March 2019 and March 2021. All the patients underwent NISI (involving myocardial perfusion imaging/stress echocardiography). The primary endpoints included cardiac death, non-fatal myocardial infarction and unplanned coronary revascularisation. Secondary endpoints encompassed cardiovascular-related admissions or ED visits.Results The mean patient age was 64±14 years, with 670 (48.4%) being women. During the 634±104 days of follow-up, 58 (4.2%) patients experienced 62 types of primary endpoints, while 60 (4.3%) developed secondary endpoints. Multivariable Cox models, adjusted for clinical and imaging variables, showed that diabetes (HR: 2.38; p=0.008), HEART score of 3 (HR: 1.32; p=0.01), history of coronary artery disease (HR: 2.75; p=0.003), ECG changes (HR: 5.11; p