Efficacy and safety of Ginkgo biloba for patients with early diabetic nephropathy: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is not only an important microvascular complication of diabetes but also the main cause of end-stage renal disease. Ginkgo biloba has a variety of biological activities and has been widely used in China to treat kidney diseases such as DN. This article aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of G biloba in patients affected with DN in the early stage. METHODS: This protocol follows the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols and the recommendations of the Cochrane Collaboration Handbook. Seven electronic databases will be searched from inception to July 31, 2020. Two investigators will independently identify relevant randomized controlled trials, fetch data, and assess the risk of bias with tools provided by Cochrane. A comprehensive meta-analysis will be conducted with the Cochrane Collaboration software (Review Manager 5.3) for eligible and appropriate studies. Further, the evidence will be assessed with the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach. RESULTS: The results will be published in academic peer-reviewed journals, and the evidence gathered by this project will be dedicated to assessing the efficacy and safety of G biloba for DN patients in the early stage. CONCLUSION: This systematic review and meta-analysis will synthesize the available evidence to demonstrate the efficacy of G biloba in delaying the progression of patients with early DN. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO CRD42020166805.

The Effect of the Ultra-High-Pressure Homogenization of Protein Encapsulants on the Survivability of Probiotic Cultures after Spray Drying.

Interest in probiotic foods and ingredients is increasing as consumers become more aware of their potential health benefits. The production of these products often involves the use of dry culture powders, and the techniques used to produce such powders often suffer from significant losses of viable cells during drying or require the use of expensive drying technologies with limited throughput (e.g., freeze drying). In this study, the authors examined whether culture survivability during spray drying could be increased via the treatment of two common protein encapsulants with ultra-high-pressure homogenization (UHPH). Lactobacillus plantarum NRRL B-1927 (also known as ATCC 10241), a probiotic strain, was suspended in either soy protein isolate (SPI) or whey protein isolate (WPI) which had been either treated with UHPH at 150 Mpa or left untreated as a control. The suspensions were then dried using either concurrent-flow spray drying (CCSD), mixed-flow spray drying (MFSD) or freeze drying (FD) and evaluated for cell survivability, particle size, moisture content and water activity. In all cases, UHPH resulted in equal or greater survivability among spray dried cultures, showed reductions in particle size measures and, except for one marginal case (CCFD SPI), significantly reduced the moisture content of the dried powders. The combination of these findings strongly suggests that UHPH could allow probiotic powder manufacturers to replace freeze drying with spray drying while maintaining or increasing product quality.