Effects of K8 CECT 5711 on the Immune Response of Elderly Subjects to COVID-19 Vaccination: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Elderly people are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, with a high risk of developing severe disease and a reduced immune response to the COVID-19 vaccine. A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial to assess the effect of the consumption of the probiotic K8 CECT 5711 on the immune response generated by the COVID-19 vaccine in an elderly population was performed. Two hundred nursing home residents >60 yrs that had not COVID-19 were randomized to receive K8 or a placebo daily for 3 months.

Efficacy of CECT7263 for infantile colic treatment: an open-label, parallel, randomised, controlled trial.

Infantile colic is a prevalent condition characterised by excessive crying with no effective treatment available. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of CECT7263 and a combination of this and CECT5716 versus simethicone in reducing the daily time spent crying in colicky infants. A multicentre randomised, open-label, parallel, controlled trial of 28 days was performed in 150 infants who were diagnosed with colic according to the Rome III criteria and who randomly received simethicone (80 mg/day; Simethicone group), CECT7263 (2×10 cfu/day, Bb group), or a combination of CECT5716 and CECT7263 (1×10 cfu/day per strain, Bb+Lf group).

Effects of a Combination of Extracts from Olive Fruit and Almonds Skin on Oxidative and Inflammation Markers in Hypercholesterolemic Subjects: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Hydroxytyrosol (HT) from olives and polyphenols from almond skin (ASPs) possess cardioprotective properties. This pilot study evaluates the effect of supplementation with a combination of olive fruit and almond skin extracts on low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol oxidation, lipid homeostasis, and inflammatory parameters in adults with moderate hypercholesterolemia. A randomized, parallel, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study of 8 weeks was performed.

Effects of CECT5716 Lc40 on infant growth and health: a randomised clinical trial in nursing women.

The breast milk microbiota has been described as a source of bacteria for infant gut colonisation. We studied the effect of CECT5716 (Lc40) on growth and infection incidence of the infants, when the probiotic is administrated to the mothers. Moreover, whether such effects might depend on the interaction between the mother or infant microbiota and the probiotic administration.

A Gene Homologous to rRNA Methylase Genes Confers Erythromycin and Clindamycin Resistance in Bifidobacterium breve.

Bifidobacteria are mutualistic intestinal bacteria, and their presence in the human gut has been associated with health-promoting activities. The presence of antibiotic resistance genes in this genus is controversial, since, although bifidobacteria are nonpathogenic microorganisms, they could serve as reservoirs of resistance determinants for intestinal pathogens. However, until now, few antibiotic resistance determinants have been functionally characterized in this genus.

In vitro and in vivo anti-microbial activity evaluation of inactivated cells of Lactobacillus salivarius CECT 5713 against Streptococcus mutans.

Objective: Defining the etiology of dental caries is a complex problem. The microbiological approach has included Streptococcus mutans as one of the bacterial species involved in this disease. This research investigates the inhibitory effects of heat-inactivated Lactobacillus salivarius CECT 5713 against S.

Resequencing the Genome of Strain CECT7263.

The probiotic properties of CECT7263, as well as its safety, have been the focus of in several studies since 2008, including the sequencing of its genome in 2012. This study aims to complete the available genomic data to deepen the knowledge of some phenotypic characteristics of this strain.

Draft Genome Sequence of CECT8605.

CECT8605 has shown potential probiotic properties in both and assays. Besides its beneficial characteristics, general aspects concerning genetic stability and safety for human consumption have been studied. Its genome sequence has been a useful tool to support preliminary conclusions based on empirical observations.

Lactobacillus fermentum CECT 5716 Reduces Staphylococcus Load in the Breastmilk of Lactating Mothers Suffering Breast Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Introduction: Recent results indicate that human mastitis and painful breastfeeding may be characterized by a mammary bacterial dysbiosis, a process in which the population of potential pathogens increases at the expense of the normal mammary microbiota. The objective of the present study is the evaluation of three different doses of Lactobacillus fermentum CECT5716 to reduce the load of Staphylococcus in the breastmilk of women suffering from painful breastfeeding.

Materials And Methods: A randomized double-blinded controlled study with four study groups was performed.

Long-term safety of early consumption of Lactobacillus fermentum CECT5716: A 3-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial.

Lactobacillus fermentum CECT5716 is a probiotic strain originally isolated from human breast milk. Previous clinical studies in infants showed that the early administration of a milk formula containing this probiotic strain was safe and may be useful for the prevention of community-acquired infections. This is a 3-year follow-up study aimed at evaluating the long-term effects produced by the early consumption of an infant formula supplemented with L.

Prevention of diet-induced obesity by apple polyphenols in Wistar rats through regulation of adipocyte gene expression and DNA methylation patterns.

This study was conducted to determine the mechanisms implicated in the beneficial effects of apple polyphenols (APs) against diet-induced obesity in Wistar rats, described in a previous study from our group. Supplementation of high-fat sucrose diet with AP prevented adiposity increase by inhibition of adipocyte hypertrophy. Rats supplemented with AP exhibited improved glucose tolerance while adipocytes isolated from these rats showed an enhanced lipolytic response to isoproterenol.

Intestinal anti-inflammatory activity of hydroalcoholic extracts of Phlomis purpurea L. and Phlomis lychnitis L. in the trinitrobenzenesulphonic acid model of rat colitis.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Different species from genus Phlomis, frequently native from the the eastern Mediterranean zone, have been used in traditional medicine as an anti-inflammatory remedy. Among other constituents, they contain polyphenols that show antioxidant properties, which are interesting for the treatment of inflammatory pathologies associated with oxidative stress in humans, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study was to evaluate the intestinal anti-inflammatoy effect of hydroalcoholic extracts of Phlomis lychnitis and P.

Screening of polyphenolic plant extracts for anti-obesity properties in Wistar rats.

Background: Polyphenols have been reported to prevent chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases. The objective of the study was to conduct a screening for potential anti-obesity polyphenolic plant extracts using a diet-induced animal model. Rats were fed a high-fat-sucrose (HFS) diet with or without supplementation of different polyphenolic plant extracts (almond, apple, cinnamon, orange blossom, hamamelis, lime blossom, grape vine, and birch) for 56-64 days.

Metabolism of prebiotic products containing beta(2-1) fructan mixtures by two Lactobacillus strains.

The capacity of two probiotic strains, isolated from human breast milk, to use several beta(2-1) fructan mixtures as carbon and energy source in in vitro cultures has been tested. Results showed that both strains, Lactobacillus gasseri CECT5714 and Lactobacillus fermentum CECT5716, reached higher growth levels on culture media containing fructooligosaccharide mixtures produced by enzymatic synthesis, compared to those obtained by inulin hydrolysis. Furthermore, the shortest beta(2-1) fructan, kestose, was the only prebiotic compound in the mixtures significantly metabolized in all growth media tested.

Expression of an Aspergillus niger glucose oxidase in saccharomyces cerevisiae and its use to optimize fructo-oligosaccharides synthesis.

Fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) represent the most abundantly supplied and utilized group of nondigestible oligosaccharides as food ingredients. These prebiotics can be produced from sucrose using the transglycosylating activity of beta-fructofuranosidases (EC 3.2.

Cloning and characterization of a beta-galactosidase encoding region in Lactobacillus coryniformis CECT 5711.

A chromosomal DNA fragment of 7.8 kb from Lactobacillus coryniformis CECT 5711 was cloned in Escherichia coli K-12 and was found to express a functional beta-galactosidase. Nucleotide sequence analysis showed that this fragment contained two partially overlapping genes, the lacL (1,881 bp) and the lacM (960 bp), that encode the subunits of a heterodimeric beta-galactosidase, with estimated molecular masses of 72,129 and 35,233 Da, respectively.

Inactivation of the lys7 gene, encoding saccharopine reductase in Penicillium chrysogenum, leads to accumulation of the secondary metabolite precursors piperideine-6-carboxylic acid and pipecolic acid from alpha-aminoadipic acid.

Pipecolic acid serves as a precursor of the biosynthesis of the alkaloids slaframine and swainsonine (an antitumor agent) in some fungi. It is not known whether other fungi are able to synthesize pipecolic acid. Penicillium chrysogenum has a very active alpha-aminoadipic acid pathway that is used for the synthesis of this precursor of penicillin.

Co-transformation with autonomous replicating and integrative plasmids in Penicillium chrysogenum is highly efficient and leads in some cases to rescue of the intact integrative plasmid.

The efficiency of co-transformation in Penicillium chrysogenum Wisconsin 54-1255 pyrG(-) and the fate of the transforming DNA were studied using an integrative (pEF43) and an autonomous replicating plasmid (pAM9L). The results showed a co-transformation frequency of nearly 70% of all transformants tested. The total efficiency of transformation was shown to be dependent on the plasmid marker used as transformant selection (i.

A novel epimerization system in fungal secondary metabolism involved in the conversion of isopenicillin N into penicillin N in Acremonium chrysogenum.

The epimerization step that converts isopenicillin N into penicillin N during cephalosporin biosynthesis has remained uncharacterized despite its industrial relevance. A transcriptional analysis of a 9-kb region located downstream of the pcbC gene revealed the presence of two transcripts that correspond to the genes named cefD1 and cefD2 encoding proteins with high similarity to long chain acyl-CoA synthetases and acyl-CoA racemases from Mus musculus, Homo sapiens, and Rattus norvegicus. Both genes are expressed in opposite orientations from a bidirectional promoter region.

The cefT gene of Acremonium chrysogenum C10 encodes a putative multidrug efflux pump protein that significantly increases cephalosporin C production.

Transcriptional analysis of the region downstream of the pcbAB gene (which encodes the alpha-aminoadipyl-cysteinyl-valine synthetase involved in cephalosporin synthesis) of Acremonium chrysogenum revealed the presence of two different transcripts corresponding to two new ORFs. ORF3 encodes a putative D-hydroxyacid dehydrogenase and cefT (for transmembrane protein) encodes a multidrug efflux pump belonging to the Major Facilitator Superfamily (MFS) of membrane proteins. The CefT protein has 12 transmembrane segments (TMS) and contains motifs A, B, C, D2 and G characteristic of the Drug:H(+) antiporter 12-TMS group of the major facilitator superfamily.

Subcellular localization of the homocitrate synthase in Penicillium chrysogenum.

There are conflicting reports regarding the cellular localization in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and filamentous fungi of homocitrate synthase, the first enzyme in the lysine biosynthetic pathway. The homocitrate synthase (HS) gene (lys1) of Penicillium chrysogenum was disrupted in three transformants (HS(-)) of the Wis 54-1255 pyrG strain. The three mutants named HS1(-), HS2(-) and HS3(-) all lacked homocitrate synthase activity and showed lysine auxotrophy, indicating that there is a single gene for homocitrate synthase in P.

Conversion of pipecolic acid into lysine in Penicillium chrysogenum requires pipecolate oxidase and saccharopine reductase: characterization of the lys7 gene encoding saccharopine reductase.

Pipecolic acid is a component of several secondary metabolites in plants and fungi. This compound is useful as a precursor of nonribosomal peptides with novel pharmacological activities. In Penicillium chrysogenum pipecolic acid is converted into lysine and complements the lysine requirement of three different lysine auxotrophs with mutations in the lys1, lys2, or lys3 genes allowing a slow growth of these auxotrophs.

Intrachromosomal recombination after targeted monocopy integration in Penicillium chrysogenum: stabilization of the direct repeats to prevent loss of the inserted gene.

Monocopy systems obtained by targeted integration at the pyrG locus of P. chrysogenum led to the formation of unstable direct repeats in the genome. A previously isolated pyrG mutant was sequenced and the mutation was found to be located at nucleotide position 665 of the pyrG gene.

Targeted inactivation of the mecB gene, encoding cystathionine-gamma-lyase, shows that the reverse transsulfuration pathway is required for high-level cephalosporin biosynthesis in Acremonium chrysogenum C10 but not for methionine induction of the cephalosporin genes.

Targeted gene disruption efficiency in Acremonium chrysogenum was increased 10-fold by applying the double-marker enrichment technique to this filamentous fungus. Disruption of the mecB gene by the double-marker technique was achieved in 5% of the transformants screened. Mutants T6 and T24, obtained by gene replacement, showed an inactive mecB gene by Southern blot analysis and no cystathionine-gamma-lyase activity.

Overexpression of the lys1 gene in Penicillium chrysogenum: homocitrate synthase levels, alpha-aminoadipic acid pool and penicillin production.

Homocitrate synthase activity (encoded by the lys1 gene) catalyzes the first step of the lysine and penicillin pathway and is highly sensitive to feedback regulation by L-lysine. The transcript levels of the lys1 gene and the homocitrate synthase activity are high during the growth phase and decrease during the antibiotic production phase, except in the high penicillin producer strain AS-P-99 which maintained high levels of homocitrate synthase activity in cultures at 96 h and 120 h. The lys1 gene was overexpressed in Penicillium chrysogenum using additional copies of lys1 with its own promoter or under the control of the pcbC promoter in either autonomously replicating or integrative vectors.