Antibiotic resistance of probiotic strains of lactic acid bacteria isolated from marketed foods and drugs / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To identify the antimicrobial resistance of commercial lactic acid bacteria present in microbial foods and drug additives by analyzing their isolated strains used for fermentation and probiotics.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Antimicrobial susceptibility of 41 screened isolates was tested with disc diffusion and E-test methods after species-level identification. Resistant strains were selected and examined for the presence of resistance genes by PCR.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Distribution of resistance was found in different species. All isolates were susceptible to chloramphenicol, tetracycline, ampicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, cephalothin, and imipenem. In addition, isolates resistant to vancomycin, rifampicin, streptomycin, bacitracin, and erythromycin were detected, although the incidence of resistance to these antibiotics was relatively low. In contrast, most strains were resistant to ciprofloxacin, amikacin, trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole, and gentamycin. The genes msrC, vanX, and dfrA were detected in strains of Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus plantarum, Streptococcus thermophilus, and Lactococcus lactis.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Antibiotic resistance is present in different species of probiotic strains, which poses a threat to food safety. Evaluation of the safety of lactic acid bacteria for human consumption should be guided by established criteria, guidelines and regulations.</p>

Lignan: an important natural estrogen from plants / 中国中药杂志

Lignan is an important phytoestrogen with weakly estrogenic and anti-estrogenic properties, and possesses diverse bioactivities, including antioxidation, antitumor and antivirus etc. In particular, it may prevent hormone-dependent diseases, such as breast cancer, prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia. However, many important scientific problems have not been constrained, whether do the metabolites of lignans from foods have their potential genic toxicity? What are the anticancer mechanisms of lignans? What is the dosage of lignans to achieve the desired biological effect? In this paper, the references on lignans have systematically been reviewed in the following aspects: classification, distribution, metabolism, pharmacological activities and analytical methods, and a prospective of future studies on lignans is also elucidated.