Novel approaches to purifying bacteriocin: A review

ABSTRACT

Bacteriocin is a proteinaceous biomolecule produced by bacteria (both Gram-positive and Gram-negative) that exhibits antimicrobial activity against closely related species, and food-borne pathogens. It has recently gained importance and attracted the attention of several researchers looking to produce it from various substrates and bacterial strains. This ushers in a new era of food preservation where the use of bacteriocin in food products will be an alternative to chemical preservatives, and heat treatment which are understood to cause unwanted side effects, and reduce sensory and nutritional quality. However, this new market depends on the success of novel downstream separation schemes from various types of crude feedstocks which are both effective and economic. This review focuses on the downstream separation of bacteriocin from various sources using both conventional and novel techniques. Finally, recommendations for future interesting areas of research that need to be pursued are highlighted.     

Soluble microbial products formation in anaerobic chemostats in the presence of toxic compounds

Anaerobic chemostats fed on glucose (approximately 10 g chemical oxygen demand (COD)/L) were used to investigate the effects of toxicity on soluble microbial product (SMP) formation. Addition of the toxic compounds chloroform and chromium increased the net accumulation of SMP, despite reducing the percentage of SMP in the effluent due to the overwhelming production of volatile fatty acids (VFAs). In the reactor spiked with chloroform the normalized accumulation of SMP (SMP/So) increased from 2% to 8%, whereas in the reactor spiked with Cr (VI) the SMP/So ratio reached as high as 20% after the spike, and in both cases SMP net accumulation was proportional to the concentration of toxicant. After the chloroform and chromium spikes biomass seemed to produce more extra cellular polymeric substances (EPS) suggesting that this might have helped them to cope with the stress. Chromatography results indicate that some of the high MW compounds present in the SMP might have been due to EPS release into the bulk solution, and that other compounds, probably released as a result of cell lysis, were also present. Hydrolysis of EPS did not seem to contribute to SMP accumulation in the presence of toxic compounds, and DNA analysis suggested that cell lysis products was an important contribution to SMP accumulation, in the presence of chromium.     

Efficacy of high-dose glycine in the treatment of enduring negative symptoms of schizophrenia

PURPOSE: To assess the effectiveness and safety of self-expanding metallic stents as a primary palliative treatment for inoperable malignant colorectal strictures. METHODS: Under radiological guidance 20 self-expanding metallic Wallstents were implanted in 16 consecutive patients with colorectal stenoses caused by malignant neoplasms, when surgical treatment of the condition had been ruled out. The patients were followed up clinically for 1-44 months, until death or termination of this study. RESULTS: The stents were successfully implanted in all cases and resolved the clinical obstruction in all the patients except one, who underwent subsequent colostomy. During follow-up of the remaining 15 patients, clinical complications arising from the procedure were pain (two patients), minor rectal bleeding (one patient), and severe rectal bleeding (one patient) (26%). There were three cases of stent migration and three cases of stent occlusion, and reintervention by us was necessary in 20% of cases (3/15). The mean life span following the procedure was 130 days, and none of the patients exhibited clinical symptoms of obstruction at the time of death (12 patients) or termination of the study (3 patients). CONCLUSION: Deployment of metallic stents under radiologic guidance is an effective alternative as a primary palliative measure in malignant colorectal obstruction, though the possible clinical complications and need for repeat intervention during follow-up should be taken into account.     

Medication adherence in rheumatoid arthritis patients: older is wiser

OBJECTIVES: To create a profile of individuals nonadherent to their medications in an age-stratified sample (ages 34-84) of community-dwelling rheumatoid arthritis patients. The relative contributions of age, cognitive function, disability, emotional state, lifestyle, and beliefs about illness to nonadherence were assessed. DESIGN: A direct observation approach was used in conjunction with structural equation modeling. All participants were administered a preliminary assessment battery. Medications were then transferred to vials with microelectronic caps that recorded medication events for all medications for the next 4 weeks. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: A volunteer sample of 121 community-dwelling rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients were recruited from newspaper ads, posters, and via informal physician contact from private rheumatology practices in Atlanta and Athens, Georgia. Written verification of the RA diagnosis and a disease severity rating were obtained from personal physicians before patients were enrolled in the study. Patients were tested in a private physician's office, and their medication adherence was monitored electronically for a month in their every-day work and home settings. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Structural equation modeling techniques were used to develop a model of adherence behavior. Cognitive and psychosocial measures were used to construct latent variables to predict adherence errors. The model of medication adherence explained 39% of the variance in adherence errors. The model demonstrated that older adults made the fewest adherence errors, and middle-aged adults made the most. A busy lifestyle, age, and cognitive deficits predicted nonadherence, whereas coping with arthritis-related moods predicted adherence. Illness severity, medication load, and physical function did not predict adherence errors. Omission of medication accounted for nearly all errors. CONCLUSION: Despite strong evidence for normal, age-related cognitive decline in this sample, older adults had sufficient cognitive function to manage medications. A busy lifestyle and middle age were more determinant of who was at risk of nonadherence than beliefs about medication or illness. Thus, practicing physicians should not assume that older adults have insufficient cognitive resources to manage medications and that they will be the most likely to make adherence errors. Very busy middle-aged adults seem to be at the greatest risk of managing medications improperly.     

Genitourinary anomalies in the CHARGE association

PURPOSE: We identified the incidence and types of genital and urinary anomalies, and established a plan for evaluating the urinary system in the CHARGE association. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 32 patients in whom the CHARGE association was diagnosed. RESULTS: Of the 32 patients identified 22 (69%) had genitourinary abnormalities. Genital anomalies, including micropenis, penile agenesis, hypospadias, chordee, cryptorchidism, a bifid scrotum, atresia of the uterus, cervix and vagina, and hypoplastic labia majora, labia minora and clitoris, were present in 18 patients (56%). Of the 24 patients who underwent renal ultrasound 10 (42%) were diagnosed with urinary tract anomalies including a solitary kidney, hydronephrosis, renal hypoplasia and duplex kidneys. Further evaluation revealed vesicoureteral reflux, neurogenic bladder secondary to spinal dysraphism, nephrolithiasis, ureteropelvic junction obstruction and a nonfunctioning upper pole in both duplex kidneys. CONCLUSIONS: There is a high incidence of genitourinary anomalies in the CHARGE association. Because of this high incidence of anomalies, patients with this condition should undergo a careful genitourinary evaluation, including renal and bladder ultrasound, and voiding cystourethrography screening.     

Antisaccade task performance in questionnaire-identified schizotypes

Individuals who scored high on Perceptual Aberration-Magical Ideation Scales (Per-Mag; n = 90), the Social Anhedonia Scale (SocAnh; n = 39), and control participants (n = 89) were administered saccadic refixation (prosaccade) and saccadic suppression (antisaccade) tasks. Eye movements were scored in terms of error rates and latency. None of the groups differed in terms of their performance on the prosaccade task. Both the Per-Mag (p < 0.01) and SocAnh (p < 0.05) groups exceeded the controls in terms of mean antisaccade errors. The high-risk groups did not differ from each other. Eighteen of the Per-Mag individuals and 10 of the SocAnh individuals displayed deviant antisaccade performance. These findings are particularly interesting in light of suggestive evidence that antisaccade task deficits may serve as a marker of susceptibility to schizophrenia. It is hypothesized that the individuals who scored aberrantly on the Chapman scales and displayed antisaccade performance deficits are most likely to be at risk for the development of psychosis.     

The use of imaging studies in the diagnosis and management of thyroid cancer and hyperparathyroidism

With the variety of radiopharmaceutical agents and refined imaging techniques, thyroid and parathyroid imaging provides much valuable clinical information. The use of imaging is most important in the follow-up of differentiated (DTC) and medullary thyroid cancer (MTC). Patients with DTC are followed with serum thyroidglobulin and 131I whole body scintigraphy when the serum thyroglobulin level is elevated. When the 131I scintigram is negative, 201Tl scintigraphy may best identify the site of recurrent DTC. Alternative radioisotopes, ultrasound, CT, and FDG PET are also useful in localizing the site of DTC metastases. MTC recurrences and metastases are more difficult to image. Selective venous catheterization is the most sensitive and specific method for detecting areas of recurrent MTC. High-resolution ultrasound, CT, MR imaging, and scintigraphy are all capable of, and useful in, detecting macroscopic foci of metastatic tumor. Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy and 99mTc DMSA have been the most frequently used nuclear imaging agents in patients with recurrent MTC. Imaging for hyperparathyroidism remains controversial. Sestambi has become the preferred isotope for parathyroid scintigraphy; whereas high-resolution ultrasound is also frequently used. Preoperative imaging is being used as a method to allow a unilateral neck exploration, more recently, in conjunction with intraoperative 1-84 PTH assay and with intraoperative use of the gamma probe. Most often, parathyroid imaging is performed before reoperation for persistent hyperparathyroidism.     

Ovine arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase in the pineal and pituitary glands: differences in function and regulation

The enzyme arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AANAT; EC 2.3.1.87) has been conventionally linked with the biosynthesis of melatonin within the pineal gland and retina. This study establishes that AANAT messenger RNA (mRNA) and functional enzyme occurs within the pars tuberalis (PT) and to a lesser degree within the pars distalis (PD) of the sheep pituitary gland; expression in these tissues is approximately 1/15th (PT) and 1/300th (PD) of that in the ovine pineal gland. AANAT mRNA in the PT appears to be expressed in the same cells as the Mel1a receptor. No evidence was obtained to indicate that either PT or PD cells have the ability to synthesize melatonin, suggesting that this enzyme plays a different functional role in the pituitary. We also found that cAMP regulation of the abundance of AANAT mRNA differs between the PT and pineal gland. Forskolin (10 microM) has no effect on pineal AANAT mRNA levels, yet represses expression in the PT. This suppressive influence could be mediated by ICER (inducible cAMP response early repressor), which is induced by forskolin in both tissues. Although it appears that the specific function and regulation of AANAT in the pituitary gland differ from that in the pineal gland, it seems likely that AANAT may play a role in the broader area of signal transduction through the biotransformation of amines.