Systemic Dietary Hesperidin Modulation of Osteoclastogenesis,Bone Homeostasis and Periodontal Disease in Mice

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of hesperidin (HE) on in vitro osteoclastogenesis and dietary supplementation on mouse periodontal disease and femoral bone phenotype. RAW 264.7 cells were stimulated with RANKL in the presence or absence of HE (1, 100 or 500 µM) for 5 days, and evaluated by TRAP, TUNEL and Western Blot (WB) analyses. In vivo, C57BL/6 mice were given HE via oral gavage (125, 250 and 500 mg/kg) for 4 weeks. A sterile silk ligature was placed between the first and second right maxillary molars for 10 days and microcomputed tomography (μCT), histopathological and immunohistochemical evaluation were performed. Femoral bones subjected or not to dietary HE (500 mg/kg) for 6 and 12 weeks were evaluated using μCT. In vitro, HE 500 µM reduced formation of RANKL-stimulated TRAP-positive(+) multinucleated cells (500 µM) as well as c-Fos and NFATc1 protein expression (p < 0.05), markers of osteoclasts. In vivo, dietary HE 500 mg/kg increased the alveolar bone resorption in ligated teeth (p < 0.05) and resulted in a significant increase in TRAP+ cells (p < 0.05). Gingival inflammatory infiltrate was greater in the HE 500 mg/kg group even in the absence of ligature. In femurs, HE 500 mg/kg protected trabecular and cortical bone mass at 6 weeks of treatment. In conclusion, HE impaired in vitro osteoclastogenesis, but on the contrary, oral administration of a high concentration of dietary HE increased osteoclast numbers and promoted inflammation-induced alveolar bone loss. However, HE at 500 mg/kg can promote a bone-sparing effect on skeletal bone under physiological conditions.     

Progress on Electrospun Composite Fibers Incorporating Bioactive Glass: An Overview

Electrospinning is a promising approach for the development of fibrous tissue engineering (TE) scaffolds suitable for hard and soft tissues. Apart from physicomechanical properties, electrospun fibers are required to incorporate bioactive cues to control cellular functions, including facilitating biomineralization and osteogenic differentiation in case of bone TE, as well as vascularization, to support successful tissue regeneration. In recent years, bioactive glass (BG) addition to electrospun biopolymer fibers has shown promising results in enhancing the properties of fibers, including the improvement of biological performance. In this article, a comprehensive overview of BG-containing electrospun polymer composite fibers is presented, identifying the parameters that affect the mechanical properties as well as the biological response in vivo and in vitro. Subsequently, the effects of BG addition on the properties of the scaffolds are discussed. Recent developments in the fields of bone regeneration, wound healing, and drug delivery using BG-containing electrospun fibrous scaffolds are described in detail. Essential aspects related to BG-polymer composite fibers for translational research in TE are highlighted for future research in this field.     

Dry surface biofilms in the food processing industry: An overview on surface characteristics,adhesion and biofilm formation,detection of biofilms,and dry sanitization methods

Bacterial biofilm formation in low moisture food processing (LMF) plants is related to matters of food safety, production efficiency, economic loss, and reduced consumer trust. Dry surfaces may appear dry to the naked eye, however, it is common to find a coverage of thin liquid films and microdroplets, known as microscopic surface wetness (MSW). The MSW may favor dry surface biofilm (DSB) formation. DSB formation is similar in other industries, it occurs through the processes of adhesion, production of extracellular polymeric substances, development of microcolonies and maturation, it is mediated by a quorum sensing (QS) system and is followed by dispersal, leading to disaggregation. Species that survive on dry surfaces develop tolerance to different stresses. DSB are recalcitrant and contribute to higher resistance to sanitation, becoming potential sources of contamination, related to the spoilage of processed products and foodborne disease outbreaks. In LMF industries, sanitization is performed using physical methods without the presence of water. Although alternative dry sanitizing methods can be efficiently used, additional studies are still required to develop and assess the effect of emerging technologies, and to propose possible combinations with traditional methods to enhance their effects on the sanitization process. Overall, more information about the different technologies can help to find the most appropriate method/s, contributing to the development of new sanitization protocols. Thus, this review aimed to identify the main characteristics and challenges of biofilm management in low moisture food industries, and summarizes the mechanisms of action of different dry sanitizing methods (alcohol, hot air, UV-C light, pulsed light, gaseous ozone, and cold plasma) and their effects on microbial metabolism.     

Comparative lactic acid fermentation with five Lactobacillus strains of supernatants made of extruded and saccharified chickpea flour

Glucose-rich supernatants were developed based on the enzymatic hydrolysis of raw and extruded chickpea flours first treated with alcalase® and then with a combination of alpha-amylase and amyloglucosidase or only amyloglucosidase. The optimum treatments were the extruded hydrolysates further treated with amyloglucosidase ‘EF(AMG)’, or the raw chickpea flour treated with a combination of alpha-amylase and amyloglucosidase ‘RF (Amyl+AMG)’. The resulting supernatants were further fermented with five different strains of Lactobacillus and monitored for 24 h in terms of pH, titratable acidity, and microbial counts. Also, the glucose content and oligosaccharides, total protein, and viability were determined. Both supernatants presented a successful fermentation as estimated by the pH drop (<4.2), lactic acid produced (>0.7%), and microbial counts 9 log (CFU mL⁻¹) which increased up to 5 log during the 24 h fermentation. However, the EF(AMG) supernatant induced fewer reductions in glucose and protein contents in comparison to the RF (Amyl+AMG) counterpart. Among bacteria, the strain Lp 29 in EF(AMG) showed the fastest growth rate (K) and the highest residual protein. In all cases, the proposed technology enhanced the growth of five Lactobacillus strains by taking advantage of the hydrolyzed chickpea chemical composition.     

Mass spectrometry-based approaches to assess the botanical authenticity of dietary supplements

Dietary supplements are legally considered foods despite frequently including medicinal plants as ingredients. Currently, the consumption of herbal dietary supplements, also known as plant food supplements (PFS), is increasing worldwide and some raw botanicals, highly demanded due to their popularity, extensive use, and/or well-established pharmacological effects, have been attaining high prices in the international markets. Therefore, botanical adulteration for profit increase can occur along the whole PFS industry chain, from raw botanicals to plant extracts, until final PFS. Besides the substitution of high-value species, unintentional mislabeling can happen in morphologically similar species. Both cases represent a health risk for consumers, prompting the development of numerous works to access botanical adulterations in PFS. Among different approaches proposed for this purpose, mass spectrometry (MS)-based techniques have often been reported as the most promising, particularly when hyphenated with chromatographic techniques. Thus, this review aims at describing an overview of the developments in this field, focusing on the applications of MS-based techniques to targeted and untargeted analysis to detect botanical adulterations in plant materials, extracts, and PFS.     

Temperature dependence on hydrogen production from hydrolysis reaction of recycled aluminum

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - Hydrogen (H2) is an energy carrier capable of replacing fossil fuels without the main effect of combustion-based pollutant generation into the...     

Criteria and methodologies for determining the causes of swelling of canned tomatoes in tinplate containers

This review provides the current laboratory criteria for the detection and evaluation of the possible causes of alteration of non-concentrated industrial derivatives of tomatoes (peeled tomatoes, pulps, purees, sauces, and fillets), packaged in coated or uncoated tinplate cans. We discuss how the product alterations are typically the consequence of technological errors either in the can production, or in the storage process, or in the product sterilization. The described procedures include the quantitative determination of the distribution of gases (H₂, CO₂, N₂, and O₂) present in the headspace of the container. The gas composition and ratios can be used as markers to allow easy diagnosis of the causes of microbiologic and/or physical–chemical alterations of the tomatoes, which are usually made evident by swelling of the containers. These tests should be integrated by microbiological analyses aimed at a restricted group of microorganisms, with the chemical analysis of the container and the chemical analysis of the altered product. By way of example, we report the assessment of the causes of alteration in four different case-studies.