Aging acceleration of balsamic vinegar applying micro-oxygenation technique.

The effect of micro-oxygenation (MOX) technique on quality and sensorial characteristics of balsamic vinegar was investigated, aiming to aging acceleration. Aging experiments were conducted using a multiple diffuser micro-oxygenator for up to 6 months with an oxygen flow of 30 mg/L/month, including oak chips (1 g/L) or not. Barrel maturation was simultaneously carried out.

Evaluation of Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria Strains on Growth, Yield and Quality of Industrial Tomato.

Plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) are used as biostimulants to improve the growth and yield as well as the quality of crops. In the present study, nine strains of PGPB and one solid mix consisting of two of them were evaluated on the cultivation of industrial tomato under specific soil and climatic conditions. The results showed that treatment increased dry weight of the tomato plants by 39%, and the photosynthetic rate was increased by 9.

Comparing the Antimicrobial Actions of Greek Honeys from the Island of Lemnos and Manuka Honey from New Zealand against Clinically Important Bacteria.

Honey is a natural food with a long history as a traditional medicine because of its many biological characteristics, including antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, the antimicrobial actions of eight different honeys from Lemnos island (north-eastern Greece) plus manuka honey (from New Zealand, UMF 30+, licensed in many countries as topical medical preparation) were evaluated against 10 clinically relevant bacteria, including five Gram-positive and five Gram-negative. To achieve this, an agar well diffusion assay measured the diameter of inhibition zones (mm) of two selected concentrations for each honey (25% and 12.

Distinct roles of TLR4 and CD14 in LPS-induced inflammatory responses of neonates.

During infections, pathogens bind to toll-like receptor (TLR)4 and CD14 receptors and induce cytokine release, leading to inflammation. Here, we investigated TLR4 and CD14 expression on peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) and their roles in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cytokine and chemokine release. Full-term and preterm neonates and adults were studied.

Interleukin-8 and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 mRNA expression in perinatally infected and asphyxiated preterm neonates.

Background: Inflammation due to perinatal infection (PI) and perinatal asphyxia (PA) may cause damage to various tissues and very often to the immature brain of the fetus and the newborn. Previously, we have shown that the neonatal immune system has the ability to produce increased chemokine protein levels in the serum during the inflammatory response caused by PI and PA.

Aim: The aim of our present study was to investigate mRNA levels of the proinflammatory chemokines interleukin-8 (IL-8) and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) in peripheral blood leukocytes from infected and asphyxiated neonates.

Genetic variants of surfactant proteins A, B, C, and D in bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

BPD_28D (O2 dependency at 28 days of life) and BPD_36W (O2 dependency at 36 wks post-menstrual age) are diseases of prematurely born infants exposed to mechanical ventilation and/or oxygen supplementation. In order to determine whether genetic variants of surfactant proteins (SPs-A, B, C, and D) and SP-B-linked microsatellite markers are risk factors in BPD, we performed a family based association study using a Greek study group of 71 neonates (<30 wks gestational age) from 60 families with, 52 BPD_28D and 19 BPD_36W, affected infants. Genotyping was performed using newly designed pyrosequencing assays and previously published methods.

Family-based association tests suggest linkage between surfactant protein B (SP-B) (and flanking region) and respiratory distress syndrome (RDS): SP-B haplotypes and alleles from SP-B-linked loci are risk factors for RDS.

Genetic variants of surfactant protein B (SP-B) have been associated with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in the prematurely born infant. We wished to determine linkage between RDS and SP-B single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) [-18 (A/C), 1013 (A/C), 1580 (C/T), and 9306 (A/G)] or SP-B-linked microsatellite [(D2S388, D2S2232, (AAGG)n, and GATA41E01 (or D2S1331)] loci and identify susceptibility or protective alleles and haplotypes. We genotyped 132 families consisting of one or two parents and at least one child affected with RDS and performed biallelic and multiallelic family-based association test (FBAT) analysis, and extended transmission disequilibrium test (ETDT).

Inflammatory chemokine expression in the peripheral blood of neonates with perinatal asphyxia and perinatal or nosocomial infections.

Aim: The inflammatory response induced by perinatal infections and asphyxia is considered to participate in neonatal brain damage. Inflammatory responses are characterized by the expression of chemokines. Although chemokine levels have been investigated in healthy newborns, their role during neonatal pathological conditions has not been studied.

Inflammatory mediators in perinatal asphyxia and infection.

Aim: To determine serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-1beta, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in asphyxiated neonates and compare these inflammatory factors with those found in neonates with perinatal infection.

Methods: 88 neonates were studied, of whom 36 were asphyxiated, 18 were infected and the remaining 34 were controls. Peripheral blood samples were obtained on the 1st, 3rd and 5th postnatal days.

Prothrombotic factors in neonates with cerebral thrombosis and intraventricular hemorrhage.

Aim: To investigate whether the factor V Leiden mutation (FVL), the prothrombin gene G20210A variant or the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T genotype are risk factors for central nervous system (CNS) thrombosis or intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in neonates.

Methods: Thirteen full-term infants with cerebral infarct documented with magnetic resonance imaging were assessed with the whole spectrum of assays for thrombophilia including the three DNA-based prothrombotic factors. The frequency of congenital defects was compared with that observed in 38 healthy full-term infants.

Early markers of brain damage in premature low-birth-weight neonates who suffered from perinatal asphyxia and/or infection.

We studied 57 low-birth-weight premature neonates, of whom 29 suffered from perinatal asphyxia and/or infection, while the remaining 28 did not and served as controls. We measured peripheral nucleated red blood cell (NRBC) absolute numbers as well as interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha cytokine serum levels at 24 h postnatally and on days 3 and 7 following birth. Fourteen of the asphyxiated/infected neonates and 12 controls had neurologic assessments at the corrected postnatal age of 18 months.

Determination of slime-producing S. epidermidis specific antibodies in human immunoglobulin preparations and blood sera by an enzyme immunoassay: correlation of antibody titers with opsonic activity and application to preterm neonates.

Slime-producing Staphylococcus epidermidis is responsible for severe infections in immunocompromised patients and, particularly, in premature infants who are transiently deficient in IgG. A sulfated polysaccharide with molecular mass of 20-kDa (20-kDa PS) has been recognized as the major polysaccharide component and antigenic determinant of S. epidermidis extracellular slime layer.

Indications of coagulation and/or fibrinolytic system activation in healthy and sick very-low-birth-weight neonates.

A combined hemostatic defect consisting of a reduction in certain procoagulants, anticoagulants (antithrombin III-ATIII-, protein C-PC-) and components of the fibrinolytic system (plasminogen-Plg-) was demonstrated in very-low-birth-weight infants (VLBW <1,500 g) with gestational age 26-32 weeks. Sixteen of them were healthy, 28 were suffering from RDS and 24 from septicemia. The hemostatic defect was more profound in the RDS group, nevertheless increased TAT (thrombin + ATIII complex) and/or PAP values (plasmin + a2-antiplasmin complex) was a more frequent finding in the septicemic group of infants (91.

Immune protection of human milk.

Human milk contains a very large number of specific and non-specific immunologic and nonimmunologic factors who provide passive and active protection to the newborn. The immunologic factors are either immunostimulatory or immunosuppressive. The immunostimulatory ones increase host defense mechanisms mainly against infective illness, and the immunosuppressive ones downregulate inflammation and the development of allergies.

Human milk and intestinal host defense in newborns: an update.

In this update of the role of breast milk ingestion on passive and active protection of the human neonate, new observations and studies are presented that appear to support the concept that preterm and term infants should receive their mother's milk so far as possible. New objective evidence has been presented to support the role of breast milk in the protection of the newborn from intestinal and systemic infections. New concepts of the active role of breast milk growth factors on an accelerated development of the infant's own mucosal barrier function are presented, as well as preliminary data to support the role of breast milk growth factors in gut development.

In vivo distribution of human milk leucocytes after ingestion by newborn baboons.

The in vivo distribution of enterally administered human milk leucocytes labelled with indium hydroxyquinoline (111In) was studied in premature baboons. The animals were killed at 72 hours of age and tissue samples examined for radioactivity. Maximum activity was found in the luminal contents, and activity in the liver and spleen was higher than in bone marrow, the site where free isotope is normally deposited.

Outbreak of colonization of neonates with Enterobacter sakazakii.

An outbreak of colonization of 11 neonates with Enterobacter sakazakii occurred in a neonatal intensive care unit from the 10 September to 17 October 1984. During this period Ent. sakazakii was isolated from throat and rectal swabs and tracheal aspirates, but not from blood, of the neonates.

Immunologic deficiencies in small-for-dates neonates.

Health is dependent upon good nutrition because of the interactions of immunologic function with nutritional status. Full-term neonates--and even more so prematures--present with various immaturities of their humoral and cellular immunologic mechanisms, particularly during the first days of life. Foetal growth retardation causes further deficiencies to the immature neonatal host defence mechanisms by decreasing thymic hormone activity and by reducing the numbers and activity of T and B-lymphocytes in their peripheral blood.