A description of new antimicrobial agents suitable for food industries has become necessary, and natural compounds are being considered as promising sources of new active derivatives to be used with the aim of improving food safety. We have previously described desirable antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities against foodborne bacteria by analogs to A-type proanthocyanidins (PACs) with a nitro (NO) group at carbon 6 of the A-ring. We report herein the synthesis of eight additional analogs with chloro and bromo atoms at the A-ring and the systematic study of their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities in order to evaluate their possible application as biocides or food preservatives, as well as to elucidate new structure-activity relationships.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe heterogenicity of antimicrobial resistance genes described in clinically significant bacterial isolates and their potential role in reducing the efficacy of classically effective antibiotics pose a major challenge for global healthcare, especially in infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria. We analyzed 112 multidrug-resistant (MDR) isolates from clinical samples in order to detect high resistance profiles, both phenotypically and genotypically, among four Gram-negative genera (, , and ). We found that 9.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Previously we have reported a r16S gene next generation sequencing study on the effect of high fat diets in the intestinal microbiota using a murine model. However, many important microbial traits occur at strain level and, in order to detect these population changes, culture-dependent approaches need to be applied. With this goal, we decided to study a very well-known commensal genus, , and therefore, intestinal enterococci methodically isolated during the above-mentioned experiment were analyzed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Frailty is a reversible multidimensional syndrome that puts older people at a high risk of adverse health outcomes. It has been proposed to emerge from the dysregulation of the complex system dynamics of physiologic control systems. We propose the analysis of the fractal complexity of hand movements as a new method to detect frailty in older adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDeveloping new types of effective antimicrobial compounds derived from natural products is of interest for the food industry. Some analogs to A-type proanthocyanidins have shown promising antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities against foodborne bacteria. We report herein the synthesis of seven additional analogs with NO group at A-ring and their abilities for inhibiting the growth and the biofilm formation by twenty-one foodborne bacteria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExtra virgin olive oil (EVOO) has proven to yield a better health outcome than other saturated fats widely used in the Western diet, including a distinct dysbiosis-preventive modulation of gut microbiota. Besides its high content in unsaturated fatty acids, EVOO also has an unsaponifiable polyphenol-enriched fraction that is lost when undergoing a depurative process that gives place to refined olive oil (ROO). Comparing the effects of both oils on the intestinal microbiota of mice can help us determine which benefits of EVOO are due to the unsaturated fatty acids, which remain the same in both, and which benefits are a consequence of its minority compounds, mainly polyphenols.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFButter and virgin olive oil (EVOO) are two fats differing in their degree of saturation and insaponifiable fraction. EVOO, enriched in polyphenols and other minority components, exerts a distinct effect on health. Using next generation sequencing, we have studied early and long-term effects of both types of fats on the intestinal microbiota of mice, finding significant differences between the two diets in the percentage of certain bacterial taxa, correlating with hormonal, physiological and metabolic parameters in the host.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUbiquity (devices becoming part of the context) and transparency (devices not interfering with daily activities) are very significant in healthcare monitoring applications for elders. The present study undertakes a scoping review to map the literature on sensor-based unobtrusive monitoring of older adults' frailty. We aim to determine what types of devices comply with unobtrusiveness requirements, which frailty markers have been unobtrusively assessed, which unsupervised devices have been tested, the relationships between sensor outcomes and frailty markers, and which devices can assess multiple markers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe present paper describes a system for older people to self-administer the 30-s chair stand test (CST) at home without supervision. The system comprises a low-cost sensor to count sit-to-stand (SiSt) transitions, and an Android application to guide older people through the procedure. Two observational studies were conducted to test (i) the sensor in a supervised environment ( = 7; m = 83.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFis a commensal bacterium with specific strains involved in opportunistic and nosocomial infections. Therefore, it is important to know how the strains of this species are selected in the gut. In this study, fifteen strains, isolated over twelve weeks from the faeces of mice fed standard chow or one of three high fat diets enriched with extra virgin olive oil, refined olive oil or butter were subjected to a genetic "Multilocus Sequence Typing" study that revealed the presence of mainly two genotypes, ST9 and ST40, the latter one prevailing at the end of the research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLower-limb strength is a marker of functional decline in elders. This work studies the feasibility of using the quasi-periodic nature of the distance between a subjects' back and the chair backrest during a 30-s chair-stand test (CST) to carry out unsupervised measurements based on readings from a low-cost ultrasound sensor. The device comprises an ultrasound sensor, an Arduino UNO board, and a Bluetooth module.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA comparative study on potential risks was carried out in a collection of 50 enterococci isolated from faeces of mice fed a standard or a high-fat diet enriched with extra virgin olive oil, refined olive oil or butter, at the beginning, after six weeks and after twelve weeks of experiments. Strains were biochemically assessed and genetically characterized. and were the most frequently isolated species in any diet and time points.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExtra virgin olive oil (EVOO) has been reported to have a distinct influence on gut microbiota in comparison to other fats, with its physiological benefits widely studied. However, a large proportion of the population consumes olive oil after a depurative process that not only mellows its taste, but also deprives it of polyphenols and other minority components. In this study, we compare the influence on the intestinal microbiota of a diet high in this refined olive oil (ROO) with other fat-enriched diets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe type of fat in the diet determinates the characteristics of gut microbiota, exerting a major role in the development of metabolic syndrome. We hypothesize that a diet enriched with extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) has a distinctive effect on the intestinal microbiome in comparison with an enriched butter diet (BT) and this effect is related to the physiological benefits exerted by EVOO. Swiss Webster mice were fed standard (SD) or two high fat diets enriched with EVOO or butter.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFat type in diet is responsible for specific changes in gut microbiota (GM). Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) has been shown to be beneficial for blood pressure and to produce effects on GM. To analyze the cause-effect relationship between intestinal microbial changes and blood pressure, we studied the effect of EVOO on fecal microbiota and systolic blood pressure (SBP) levels in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFManzanilla Aloreña (or Aloreña) table olives are naturally fermented traditional green olives with a denomination of protection (DOP). The aim of this study was to search for lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with technological properties of interest for possible inclusion in a starter or protective culture preparation or also as probiotics. A collection of 144 LAB obtained from Aloreña green table olives naturally-fermented by four small-medium enterprises (SMEs) from Málaga (Spain), including lactobacilli (81.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnterocin AS-48 (30-60 microg/g) significantly reduced viable counts of Listeria monocytogenes in Russian-type salad during one week storage at 10 degrees C. Antilisterial activity of AS-48 (30 microg/g) in salad was strongly enhanced by essential oils (thyme verbena, thyme red, Spanish oregano, ajowan, tea tree, clove, and sage oils tested at 1%, as well as with 2% rosemary oil). Antilisterial activity also increased in combination with bioactive components from essential oils and plant extracts, with other related antimicrobials of natural origin or derived from chemical synthesis (carvacrol, eugenol, thymol, terpineol, tyrosol, hydroxytyrosol, caffeic, ferulic and vanillic acid, luteolin, geranyl butyrate, geranyl phenylacetate, pyrocatechol, hydrocinnamic acid, tert butylhydroquinone, phenylphosphate, isopropyl methyl phenol, coumaric acid, and 2-nitropropanol), and with food preservatives (citric and lactic acid, sucrose palmitate, sucrose stearate, p-hydroxybenzoic methylester acid -- PHBME, and Nisaplin).
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