Isolation and characterization of lactic acid bacteria from sugarcane waste

Aims@#Researchers are focusing more on the isolation of new probiotic bacteria to increase varieties for the growing market demand. This study aimed to isolate lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains from sugarcane waste materials and evaluate its characteristic. @*Methodology and results@#In the present study, two strains of LAB (Isolates A and B) were isolated from sugarcane waste and investigated in vitro for their characteristics as potential probiotics. These isolates were evaluated on their characteristics based on four biochemical tests (acid tolerance, bile tolerance, microbial adhesion, and phenol resistance), with the commercial strain Lactobacillus isolated from Yakult ® served as a positive control. Both isolated strains (>8 log10 CFU/mL) displayed higher survivability than control (>6 log10 CFU/mL) in simulated gastrointestinal conditions at pH 2.0 and pH 6.9 after 24 h. Furthermore, both isolated LABs were resistant to inhibitory substances which are 0.05-0.3% bile and 0.4% phenol. For bile tolerance, isolate A (OD 6.83) had a higher absorbance at 0.3% bile concentration as compared to isolate B (OD 2.20). However, isolate B (7.49 log10 CFU/mL) showed higher resistance towards 0.4% phenol than isolate A (7.11 log10 CFU/mL) after 24 h. Both isolate A and isolate B displayed low cell surface hydrophobicity, strong electron donor, and basic characteristic.@*Conclusion, significance and impact of study@#Both isolates were able to survive under gastrointestinal stress conditions, implying their potential as probiotics. This study demonstrated that valuable products such as probiotic strain could be isolated from sugarcane wastes to use in food production or medical treatment.

A cross-sectional study on nutritional status of ICU patients in the mainland China / 解放军医学杂志

Objective To investigate nutritional treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the mainland China. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in 116 ICUs of 118 mainland hospitals on April 26th, 2017. All patients of these ICUs were investigated at 0 o'clock on April 26th. Demographic and clinical parameters of those patients on April 25th (the investigation day) were recorded, including the dates of hospitalization, ICU admission and nutrition initiation and clinical outcome on 28 days after the investigation day. Results A total of 1953 patients were collected, including 631 females and 1306 males. The mean age was (64.1±19.3) years old (1950 cases). The means of Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation Ⅱ (APACHEⅡ) scores were (10.76±4.35)(1749 cases), (5.65±3.52)(1783 cases), (17.14±7.31)(1792 cases), respectively. The outcomes of 28 days after the investigation day were 1483 survivors (75.9%), 312 non-survivors (16.0%) and 158 cases (8.1%) being lost to follow-up. There were no significant differences between the males and the females in age, severity of disease and clinical outcomes of 28 days but in height and weight. There were 73.7%(1440 cases) of patients with normal or mildly injured gastrointestinal function, 10.8%(210 cases) with moderately or severely injured function, 1.7%(33 cases) with gastrointestinal failure and 13.2%(258 cases) without evaluation. To the investigation day, enteral nutrition (EN) had been initiated in 69.4%(1356 cases) of patients and parenteral nutrition (PN) in 36.4%(711 cases) of patients. There were 1720(88.1%) patients with EN administration on the investigation day. The proportion of patients with nausea, vomit/regurgitation, aspiration, abdominal pain, abdominal distention and diarrhea was 4.8%(93 cases), 5.4%(105 cases), 0.9%(17 cases), 8.7%(170 cases), 27.5%(538 cases) and 4.3%(84 cases) respectively, while that of patients using EN was 3.1%(40 cases), 4.25%(54 cases), 0.79%(10 cases), 4.41%(56 cases), 26.85%(341 cases) and 5.43%(69 cases) correspondingly. The proportion of cases starting EN within 24, 48 and 72 hours after ICU entry was 22.4%(437/1953), 38.6%(754/1953) and 46.6%(911/1953), respectively. The proportion of cases receiving ≥80% estimated energy target (=past body weight ×25 kcal/kg.d) within 3, 7 and 14 days after ICU entry was 12.9%(78/607), 18.7%(189/1010) and 23%(305/1325) respectively, while that of cases with EN was 9.9%(60/607), 15.0%(151/1010) and 18.6%(246/1325) correspondingly. Conclusions Nowadays, most of patients in the mainland ICUs receive nutrition therapy and the EN usage rate is much higher than the PN rate. However, the time of EN initiation and the target-reaching rate of energy are suboptimal and an individualized plan of nutrition therapy is still missing. Details of energy delivery still need to be improved.

Growth and Tolerance Assessment of a Lutein-fortified Infant Formula / 대한소아소화기영양학회지

PURPOSE: To evaluate safety, gastrointestinal tolerance, and growth of a new experimental starter formula (NESF) fortified with lutein, prebiotics, probiotics, nucleotides and beta-carotene, fed to infants within the first months of life. METHODS: This was a non-randomized, open, uncontrolled study conducted from December 2010 to May 2011. Twenty-three healthy infants aged 10 days to 2 months old were enrolled. Outcomes included gastrointestinal tolerance, physical growth and safety. Prior to the initiation of the trial, the Scientific Research Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences confirmed that the NESF met all safety and nutritional parameters. RESULTS: NESF was well tolerated. The majority of infants fed this formula passed semi-liquid, yellow or yellow-brown. The mean stool frequency/day was 2.5+/-0.4 on study-day 14 and 1.8+/-0.5 on study-day 28. The mean daily weight gain was 30.9+/-3.8 grams and the mean length gain during the 28 days of follow up was 3.1+/-0.8 cm, corresponding to the average physical growth normally seen in the first months of life in Russian infants. Six children left the study: one refused to drink the formula, one left the study as parents changed residence; and one child's parents have recalled their informed consent due to adverse event unrelated to the product. Three infants presented adverse events possibly related to the product (rash; colic and abdominal pain; constipation). Seventeen infants completed the trial. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that lutein-fortified formula is safe, well-tolerated and supported physical growth of evaluated infants.