The effect of inorganic processing during malting on the enzymatic activity of wheat malt

Определяющей целью солодоращения является повышение ферментативной активности зерна. Нами предлагается способ интенсификации солодоращения пшеницы посредством применения неорганического стимулятора роста «Энерген». В исследовании использовали пшеницу Алтайской селекции трех сортов: «Алтайская 100», «Дуэт» и «Алейская». Предложенный неорганический препарат вносили при замачивании в последнюю замочную воду в количестве 0,6 г/дм и выдерживали с ним в контакте пшеницу в течение 6 ч. За данный период в ферментативной системе обработанного зерна произошли более выраженные изменения в сравнении с контрольным вариантом (необработанным зерном). К концу замачивания уровень активности ферментов опытных образцов стал выше уровня аналогичных активностей ферментов контрольных вариантов на 11,8 и 9,9 % соответственно для амилолитической и протеолитической активностей. Последующее проращивание зерна повысило ферментативную активность пшеничного солода. По окончании 7 сут данной стадии прирост амилолитической активности над активностями необработанного зерна для разных сортов составил от 31,5 до 59,0 %, протеолитической - от 97,8 до 125,4 %. При этом отмечено маловыраженное отличие показателей амилолитической и протеолитической активностей проращиваемого обработанного пшеничного солода шестых и седьмых суток ращения, что позволяет сократить продолжительность данной стадии и всего производства солода на одни сутки. Готовый пшеничный солод отличался высокой ферментативной активностью (в диапазоне для трех сортов): амилолитическая - 344,9-360,8 ед./г, протеолитическая - 324,9-257,8 ед./г, более низкой в сравнении с контрольным вариантом продолжительностью осахаривания - от 18 до 20 мин. Кроме этого, предложенный способ солодоращения позволяет использовать пшеницу с высоким содержанием белка, как, например, сорт «Алейская» с массовой долей белка 14,6 %, поскольку в процессе проращивания под стимулирующим действием неорганического препарата «Энерген» процесс протеолиза протекает более интенсивно, и в конечном солоде содержание белка снижается до 10,4 %. The defining goal of malting is to increase the enzymatic activity of grain. We propose a method for intensifying the malting of wheat through the use of an inorganic growth stimulator «Energen». The study used wheat of the Altai selection of three varieties: «Altai 100», «Duet» and «Aleyskaya». The proposed inorganic preparation was introduced during soaking into the last soak water in an amount of 0.6 g/dm and wheat was kept in contact with it for 6 hours. During this period, more pronounced changes occurred in the enzymatic system of the processed grain in comparison with the control variant (unprocessed grain). By the end of soaking, the enzyme level of the experimental samples is 11.8 and 9.9 % higher than the level of similar enzymes of the control variants, respectively, for amylolytic and proteolytic activities. The subsequent germination of grain increased the enzymatic activity of wheat malt. At the end of seven days of this stage, the increase in amylolytic activity over the activities of unprocessed grain for different varieties ranged of 31.5 to 59.0 %, proteolytic - of 97.8 to 125.4 %. At the same time, there was a little pronounced difference in the indicators of amylolytic and proteolytic activities of the germinated processed wheat malt of the sixth and seventh days of fermentation, which makes it possible to shorten the duration of this stage and the entire malt production by one day. The finished wheat malt was characterized by high enzymatic activity (in the range for three varieties): amylolytic 344.9-360.8 units /g, proteolytic 324.9-257.8 units/g, lower duration of saccharification in comparison with the control variant of 18 to 20 minutes. In addition, the proposed method of malting allows the use of wheat with a high protein content, such as the Aleyskaya variety with a mass fraction of protein of 14.6 %, since during germination under the stimulating effect of the inorganic preparation Energen, the proteolysis process proceeds more intensively, and in the final malt the protein content decreases to 10.4 %.

Production Process of a Carbonated Drink from Red Flesh Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus)

The purpose of this study is to present a suitable production process of a carbonated drink from ingredients originated from red flesh dragon fruits. Additionally, optimal parameters in the hydrolysis and pasteurization stages of the juice were determined so that the product could retain the highest bioactive ingredients while still maintaining favorable color. The investigated parameters of pectinase hydrolysis process included hydrolysis temperature (35, 40, 45 and 50oC), hydrolysis time (1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours and 4 hours), concentration pectinase enzyme level (0.4; 0.6, 0.8 and 1%) and enzyme pectinase content (0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8%). Outcomes which were considered in optimization processes included polyphenol content, vitamin C content and DPPH scavenging activity. The results are expected to aid in diversification of products from dragon fruit raw materials to meet the increasing demand of consumers.

Vitamin D3 Prevents the Deleterious Effects of Testicular Torsion on Testis by Targeting miRNA-145 and ADAM17: In Silico and In Vivo Study

Testicular torsion (TT) is the most common urological emergency in children and young adults that can lead to infertility in many cases. The ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury due to TT has been implicated in the pathogenesis of testicular damage. The main pathological mechanisms of contralateral injury after ipsilateral TT are not fully understood. In the presented study, we investigated the molecular and microscopic basis of ipsilateral and contralateral testicular injury following ipsilateral testicular torsion detorsion (T/D) and explored the possible protective role of vitamin D3. The biochemical analysis indicated that IR injury following T/D significantly decreased the activity of testicular glutathione peroxidase (GPx) enzyme, level of serum testosterone, serum inhibin B, and expression of testicular miRNA145, while increased the activity of testicular myeloperoxidase (MPO) enzyme, level of testicular malondialdehyde (MDA), level of serum antisperm-antibody (AsAb), and expression of ADAM-17. The histological and semen analysis revealed that torsion of the testis caused damages on different tissues in testis. Interestingly, administration of vitamin D3 prior to the IR injury reversed the deterioration effect of IR injury on the testicular tissues as indicated by biochemical and histological analysis which revealed normal appearance of the seminiferous tubules with an apparent decrease in collagen fiber deposition in both ipsilateral and contralateral testes. Our results revealed that the protective effect of vitamin D3 treatment could be attributed to target miRNA145 and ADAM17 protein. To further investigate these findings, we performed a detailed molecular modelling study in order to explore the binding affinity of vitamin D3 toward ADAM17 protein. Our results revealed that vitamin D3 has the ability to bind to the active site of ADAM17 protein via a set of hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions with high docking score. In conclusion, this study highlights the protective pharmacological application of vitamin D3 to ameliorate the damages of testicular T/D on the testicular tissues via targeting miRNA145 and ADAM17 protein.

Expression of Paraoxonase-2 in Different Stages of Cutaneous T Cell Lymphoma: Is It a Potential Biomarker for Aggressiveness?

Introduction: Paraoxonase 2 (PON2) is an intracellular membrane protein that belong to the PON gene family. This enzyme exerting a crucial role against production of reactive oxygen species within mithochondrial respiratory chain. Some reports provided clinical evidence for a link between PON2 and different types of malignancies and recently a growing attention has been focused on exploring the role of PON2 in cancer. Moreover, in contrast to solid tumors, a low expression levels of PON2 protein were detected in hematological malignancies like acute myeloid leukemia and B-cell lymphomas. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of PON2 in the cutaneous T cells Lymphoma (CTCL). Methods: We performed an immunohistochemistry analysis of PON2 protein expression at various stages CTCL. We analyzed PON2 protein using skin biopsies from stage I (n= 3) and stage II (n= 6) Mycosis Fungoides (MF) and stage III/IV (n= 5) erythrodermic MF/Sézary Syndrome (SS) and control (n=6) tissues. Values were expressed as percentage of PON2-positive staining cells, whereas the intensity of PON2 positivity was semi-quantitatively scored from negative to -/+/+++. Subsequent statistical analysis was carried out to explore the existence of correlations between intra-tumor enzyme level and clinical-pathological features at diagnosis. Results: In our preliminary study, results showed PON2 down-expression in SS compared to controls. Among CTCL, we found significant differences in enzyme levels between MF and erythrodermic MF/SS; in fact, PON2 expression was higher in patients with not erythrodermic MF compared to patients with erythrodermic MF/SS. (Table I) Moreover, we found no significant differences in enzyme levels between MF patients and controls. Conclusion: Our study is the first to demonstrate downregulation of PON2 intra-tumoral in SS patients while protein levels were higher in stage I and II MF patients. These findings seem to suggest that PON2 expression levels could be negatively related with tumor aggressiveness in CTCL: an interesting phenomenon where PON2 is upregulated in the early stages and downregulated in the late stages of CTCL. Further, in vitro studies are needed to clarify the mechanism related to PON2 expression. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Pancreatic Injury and Coronavirus Disease-2019

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 can induce dysfunction in a couple of organs, including kidney, heart, liver, gut, and pancreas. Pancreatic injury is an inflammatory situation of the exocrine pancreas, precipitated mostly by gallstones and alcohol intake. We found the fact that lack of research about the influence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in pancreatic injury. METHODS: A literature searching was conducted through the PubMed, Science Direct, Medline, and Google Scholar searching engines using the following keywords: (“severe acute respiratory tract syndrome-coronavirus 2019” OR “COVID-19” OR “coronavirus 2019” OR “SARS-CoV-2”) AND (“pancreas” OR “pancreatitis” OR “hyperamylasemia” OR “pancreatic injury” OR “pancreatic damage” OR “pancreatic disturbance”). All articles and abstracts in English from literature review, case report, original article, systematic review, and meta-analysis were involved. RESULTS: A total of 17 literatures were gathered. Through the studies, we found that several pathways may damage pancreas in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, either due to direct virus-mediated damage of the exocrine pancreas via the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 receptors, the severe COVID-19 contamination which can lead to systemic inflammation and pancreatic injury, or the virus-mediated injury to the islet cells. The prevalence of pancreatitis in patients with COVID-19 was low. Elevated pancreatic enzyme level was one of the sign of pancreatic involvement. CONCLUSION: Pancreatic injury may occur in patients with severe COVID-19 due to several pathways. Assessment of pancreatitis severity may aid in managing pancreatitis in this particular population.

Roles of Suaeda vermiculata Aqueous-Ethanolic Extract, Its Subsequent Fractions, and the Isolated Compounds in Hepatoprotection against Paracetamol-Induced Toxicity as Compared to Silymarin

Suaeda vermiculata, a halophyte consumed by livestock, is also used by Bedouins to manage liver disorders. The aqueous-ethanolic extract of S. vermiculata, its subsequent fractions, and pure compounds, i.e., pheophytin-A (1), isorhamnetin-3-O-rutinoside (2), and quercetin (3), were evaluated for their hepatoprotective efficacy. The male mice were daily fed with either silymarin, plant aq.-ethanolic extract, fractions, pure isolated compounds, or carboxyl methylcellulose (CMC) for 7 days ( n = 6 /group, p.o.). On the day 7th of the administrations, all, except the intact animal groups, were induced with hepatotoxicity using paracetamol (PCM, 300 mg/kg). The anesthetized animals were euthanized after 24 h; blood and liver tissues were collected and analysed. The serum aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) levels decreased significantly for all the S. vermiculata aq.-ethanolic extract, fraction, and compound-treated groups when equated with the PCM group ( p < 0.0001 ). The antioxidant, superoxide dismutase (SOD), increased significantly ( p < 0.05 ) for the silymarin-, n-hexane-, and quercetin-fed groups. Similarly, the catalase (CAT) enzyme level significantly increased for all the groups, except for the compound 2-treated group as compared to the CMC group. Also, the glutathione reductase (GR) levels were significantly increased for the n-butanol treated group than for the PCM group. The oxidative stress biomarkers, lipid peroxide (LP) and nitric oxide (NO), the inflammatory markers, IL-6 and TNF-α, and the kidney’s functional biomarker parameters remained unchanged and did not differ significantly for the treated groups in comparison to the PCM-induced toxicity bearing animals. All the treated groups demonstrated significant decreases in cholesterol levels as compared to the PCM group, indicating hepatoprotective and antioxidant effects. The quercetin-treated group demonstrated significant improvement in triglyceride level. The S. vermiculata aq.-ethanolic extract, fractions, and the isolated compounds demonstrated their hepatoprotective and antioxidant effects, confirming the claimed traditional use of the herb as a liver protectant.

Prevalence of abnormal cardiovascular magnetic resonance findings in recovered patients from COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background The prevalence of abnormal cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) findings in recovered coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of abnormal CMR findings in recovered COVID-19 patients. Methods A systematic literature search was performed to identify studies that report the prevalence of abnormal CMR findings in recovered COVID-19 patients. The number of patients with abnormal CMR findings and diagnosis of myocarditis on CMR (based on the Lake Louise criteria) and each abnormal CMR parameter were extracted. Subgroup analyses were performed according to patient characteristics (athletes vs. non-athletes and normal vs. undetermined cardiac enzyme levels). The pooled prevalence and 95% confidence interval (CI) of each CMR finding were calculated. Study heterogeneity was assessed, and meta-regression analysis was performed to investigate factors associated with heterogeneity. Results In total, 890 patients from 16 studies were included in the analysis. The pooled prevalence of one or more abnormal CMR findings in recovered COVID-19 patients was 46.4% (95% CI 43.2%–49.7%). The pooled prevalence of myocarditis and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) was 14.0% (95% CI 11.6%–16.8%) and 20.5% (95% CI 17.7%–23.6%), respectively. Further, heterogeneity was observed (I2 > 50%, p < 0.1). In the subgroup analysis, the pooled prevalence of abnormal CMR findings and myocarditis was higher in non-athletes than in athletes (62.5% vs. 17.1% and 23.9% vs. 2.5%, respectively). Similarly, the pooled prevalence of abnormal CMR findings and LGE was higher in the undetermined than in the normal cardiac enzyme level subgroup (59.4% vs. 35.9% and 45.5% vs. 8.3%, respectively). Being an athlete was a significant independent factor related to heterogeneity in multivariate meta-regression analysis (p < 0.05). Conclusions Nearly half of recovered COVID-19 patients exhibited one or more abnormal CMR findings. Athletes and patients with normal cardiac enzyme levels showed a lower prevalence of abnormal CMR findings than non-athletes and patients with undetermined cardiac enzyme levels. Trial registration The study protocol was registered in the PROSPERO database (registration number: CRD42020225234).

A study of etiological clinical biochemical and radiological profile of patients with acute pancreatitis in rural population

Background: Pancreatitis has been recognized since antiquity. Acute pancreatitis is an acute inflammatory process of the pancreas with variable involvement of other tissues or remote organ systems, presenting with variable clinical and systemic manifestations, presenting with mild self-limiting disease to severe life-threatening multi-organ failure.Methods: This was a prospective study of 60 patients, who were admitted with the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis (AP) during the period from December 2017 to June 2019. The data was collected from the all the patients who met the inclusion criteria, and recorded in the proforma prepared for the study.Results: Out of 60 patients 86.7% were male and 13.3% were female. The highest incidence was noted in 40-51 years age group (35%). Alcohol was the most common cause (75% patients). Abdominal pain was the most common mode of presentation (100%), and epigastric tenderness was the most common sign (100%). More than 3-fold elevation of serum amylase and lipase was seen in 26.7% and 33.3% of patients respectively. USG and CT scan was diagnostic only in 58.5% and 76.7% of patients respectively. All patients were managed conservatively. There was no mortality.Conclusions: In AP patients one should not only rely on enzyme level elevations for diagnosing AP. Patients with only a small increase in amylase and/or lipase levels or even with normal levels may also have or develop acute pancreatitis. High degree of suspicion is required; USG, CT scan and enzyme levels study are complimentary to the clinical suspicion.

Pollutant Degrading Enzyme: Catalytic Mechanisms and Their Expanded Applications

The treatment of environmental pollution by microorganisms and their enzymes is an innovative and socially acceptable alternative to traditional remediation approaches. Microbial biodegradation is often characterized with high efficiency as this process is catalyzed via degrading enzymes. Various naturally isolated microorganisms were demonstrated to have considerable ability to mitigate many environmental pollutants without external intervention. However, only a small fraction of these strains are studied in detail to reveal the mechanisms at the enzyme level, which strictly limited the enhancement of the degradation efficiency. Accordingly, this review will comprehensively summarize the function of various degrading enzymes with an emphasis on catalytic mechanisms. We also inspect the expanded applications of these pollutant-degrading enzymes in industrial processes. An in-depth understanding of the catalytic mechanism of enzymes will be beneficial for exploring and exploiting more degrading enzyme resources and thus ameliorate concerns associated with the ineffective biodegradation of recalcitrant and xenobiotic contaminants with the help of gene-editing technology and synthetic biology.