approach to evaluate the fermentation pattern of inulin-rich food in obese individuals.

Alterations of the gut microbiome have been associated with obesity and metabolic disorders. The gut microbiota can be influenced by the intake of dietary fibres with prebiotic properties, such as inulin-type fructans. The present study tested the hypothesis that obese individuals subjected for 12 weeks to an inulin-enriched v.

Effects of a diet based on inulin-rich vegetables on gut health and nutritional behavior in healthy humans.

Background: Inulin-type fructans (ITFs) are a type of fermentable dietary fiber that can confer beneficial health effects through changes in the gut microbiota. However, their effect on gut sensitivity and nutritional behavior is a matter of debate.

Objective: We evaluated the impact of consuming ITF-rich vegetables daily on gut microbiota, gastro-intestinal symptoms, and food-related behavior in healthy individuals.

Characterization of fructans and dietary fibre profiles in raw and steamed vegetables.

Dietary fibre (DF) has many positive effects on human health associated with its functionality in the gastrointestinal tract. These benefits vary according to the type of DF. Vegetables can be a natural source of DF in the diet.

Nutritive value of three tropical forage legumes and their influence on growth performance, carcass traits and organ weights of pigs.

The effects of tropical forage legumes on feed intake, growth performance and carcass traits were investigated in 16 groups of two Large White × Duroc pigs. The diets consisted of a commercial corn-soybean meal diet as the basal diet and three forage-supplemented diets. Four groups of control pigs received daily 4 % of body weight of the basal diet, and 12 groups of experimental pigs were fed the basal diet at 3.

Feeding value of hays of tropical forage legumes in pigs: Vigna unguiculata, Psophocarpus scandens, Pueraria phaseoloides and Stylosanthes guianensis.

The effects of four tropical forage legume hays (Vigna unguiculata, Psophocarpus scandens, Pueraria phaseoloides and Stylosanthes guianensis) on voluntary feed intake (VFI) and their nutritive value were studied in growing pigs using a corn-soybean meal-based diet containing varying proportions of forage legume hays (0, 10, 20 and 40 % or 0, 12.5 and 25 % for VFI and nutritive value determination, respectively). There was no difference in VFI between species (P > 0.

Forage plants as an alternative feed resource for sustainable pig production in the tropics: a review.

Globally, pressure on concentrate feed resources is increasing, especially in the tropics where many countries are net importers of food. Forage plants are a possible alternative, but their use as feed ingredients for pigs raises several issues related to their higher fibre and plant secondary metabolites contents as well as their lower nutritive value. In this paper, the nutritive value of several forage species and the parameters that influence this nutritive value in relationship to the plant family, the physiological stage, the plant part and the preservation method (fresh, hay and silage) are reviewed.

Comparison of two bacteriophage tests and nucleic acid amplification for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in sub-Saharan Africa.

Setting: National reference laboratory in Zambia, a high-incidence setting with a high prevalence of HIV infection.

Objective: To compare the performance of a commercial bacteriophage kit with a nucleic acid amplification kit and an 'in-house' bacteriophage method for rapid diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB).

Methods: Sputum specimens from suspected pulmonary TB cases were examined by direct fluorescence microscopy and culture on Löwenstein Jensen (LJ).

Development of a bacteriophage phage replication assay for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.

Successful infection and replication of bacteriophages is indicative of the presence of viable bacteria. We describe here the development of a bacteriophage replication assay for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by using mycobacteriophage D29. Optimization of phage inoculate and incubation times allowed highly sensitive detection of M.

HIV-1 and recurrence, relapse, and reinfection of tuberculosis after cure: a cohort study in South African mineworkers.

Background: The proportion of recurrent tuberculosis cases attributable to relapse or reinfection and the risk factors associated with these different mechanisms are poorly understood. We followed up a cohort of 326 South African mineworkers, who had successfully completed treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis in 1995, to determine the rate and mechanisms of recurrence.

Methods: Patients were examined 3 and 6 months after cure, and then were monitored by the routine tuberculosis surveillance system until December, 1998.

Utility of nucleic acid amplification techniques for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in sub-Saharan Africa.

Setting: Lusaka, Zambia.

Objectives: To investigate the utility of nucleic amplification tests for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in a resource-poor setting with a high incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Design: Sputum specimens from suspects attending a referral chest clinic were examined by low-cost 'in-house' one-tube nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the enhanced Gen-Probe Amplified Mycobacterium Direct Test (AMTD), auramine smear and Lowenstein-Jensen culture.

Tuberculosis treatment failure and drug resistance--same strain or reinfection?

Tuberculosis patients may have Mycobacterium tuberculosis in their sputum at the end of treatment, and may show new drug resistance, due to either inadequate treatment of the original episode or reinfection with a new strain during therapy. In a cohort study of mineworkers with tuberculosis in South Africa, 57 of 438 patients had positive sputum cultures 6 months after recruitment in 1995. Of the 31 patients who initially had fully sensitive strains, 3 developed multidrug resistance (MDR) and 3 single-drug resistance (SDR).