In Silico Screening of a Bile Acid Micelle Disruption Peptide for Oral Consumptions from Edible Peptide Database

Recently, many bioactive peptides have been identified using bioinformatics tools. Previously, our group developed a method to screen dual-functional peptides that have direct intestinal delivery with porous silica gel and bile acid micelle disruption. However, newly designed peptides were not found in any storage protein. Therefore, in this study, in silico screening was performed using a 350,000 edible peptide library consisting of 4- to 7-mer independent peptides. As an initial screening, all edible peptides were applied to the random forest model to select predicted positive peptides. For a second screening, the peptides were assessed for the possibility of intestinal delivery using a 3D color map. From this approach, three novel dual-functional peptides, VYVFDE, WEFIDF, and VEEFYC were identified, and all of them were derived from storage proteins (legumin, myosin, and 11S globulin). In particular, VEEFYCS, in which a serine residue (S) is added to VEEFYC, was assumed to be released by thermolysin from the 11S-globulin derived from Ginkgo biloba by LC-MS/MS analysis. VEEFYCS was found to have suitable direct intestinal delivery and bile acid micelle disruption activity.

Review on the Regional Effects of Gastrointestinal Luminal Stimulation on Appetite and Energy Intake: (Pre)clinical Observations

Macronutrients in the gastrointestinal (GI) lumen are able to activate “intestinal brakes”, feedback mechanisms on proximal GI motility and secretion including appetite and energy intake. In this review, we provide a detailed overview of the current evidence with respect to four questions: (1) are regional differences (duodenum, jejunum, ileum) present in the intestinal luminal nutrient modulation of appetite and energy intake? (2) is this “intestinal brake” effect macronutrient specific? (3) is this “intestinal brake” effect maintained during repetitive activation? (4) can the “intestinal brake” effect be activated via non-caloric tastants? Recent evidence indicates that: (1) regional differences exist in the intestinal modulation of appetite and energy intake with a proximal to distal gradient for inhibition of energy intake: ileum and jejunum > duodenum at low but not at high caloric infusion rates. (2) the “intestinal brake” effect on appetite and energy appears not to be macronutrient specific. At equi-caloric amounts, the inhibition on energy intake and appetite is in the same range for fat, protein and carbohydrate. (3) data on repetitive ileal brake activation are scarce because of the need for prolonged intestinal intubation. During repetitive activation of the ileal brake for up to 4 days, no adaptation was observed but overall the inhibitory effect on energy intake was small. (4) the concept of influencing energy intake by intra-intestinal delivery of non-caloric tastants is intriguing. Among tastants, the bitter compounds appear to be more effective in influencing energy intake. Energy intake decreases modestly after post-oral delivery of bitter tastants or a combination of tastants (bitter, sweet and umami). Intestinal brake activation provides an interesting concept for preventive and therapeutic approaches in weight management strategies.

Development of Probiotic Lactobacillus sporogenes Loaded Biological Macromolecules using Novel Assembly Design for Long-term Preservation as Bio-therapeutic Agent

The goal present investigation was to formulate and characterized of biological macromolecules of alginate (ALG) and carboxymethylcellulose sodium (CMC) containing probiotic bacteria of Lactobacillus sporogenes (LS) co-encapsulated with a prebiotics, Bioecolians (α-Gluco-oligosaccharides). The prepared beads were characterized in terms of yield, size, encapsulation efficiency, viabilities in simulated gastric (pH 1.2, 2 hours) and bile (1% w/v, 3 hours) conditions. The beads were also characterized by FTIR, DSC, SEM and XRD to investigate molecular structure, surface properties and morphology of beads. The results showed that spherical beads with size distribution ranging from 1.18 ± 0.11 to 1.45 ± 0.15 mm for ALG and from 1.3 ± 0.12 to 1.5 ± 0.16 mm for ALG-CMC with encapsulation efficiency higher than 90% were achieved. The results indicated that incorporation of carboxymethylcellulose sodium into alginate beads improved viability of the bacteria in simulated gastric conditions as well as bile conditions. According to our in vitro studies, Probiotic beads using combination of ALG-CMC are suitable encapsulating polymer for gastro-intestinal delivery as designed by novel assembly using peristaltic pump for automated production.

Engineered Lactobacillus paracasei Producing Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) Prevents Colitis in Mice

Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) is an N-acylethanolamide produced on-demand by the enzyme N-acylphosphatidylethanolamine-preferring phospholipase D (NAPE-PLD). Being a key member of the larger family of bioactive autacoid local injury antagonist amides (ALIAmides), PEA significantly improves the clinical and histopathological stigmata in models of ulcerative colitis (UC). Despite its safety profile, high PEA doses are required in vivo to exert its therapeutic activity; therefore, PEA has been tested only in animals or human biopsy samples, to date. To overcome these limitations, we developed an NAPE-PLD-expressing Lactobacillus paracasei F19 (pNAPE-LP), able to produce PEA under the boost of ultra-low palmitate supply, and investigated its therapeutic potential in a murine model of UC. The coadministration of pNAPE-LP and palmitate led to a time-dependent release of PEA, resulting in a significant amelioration of the clinical and histological damage score, with a significantly reduced neutrophil infiltration, lower expression and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress markers, and a markedly improved epithelial barrier integrity. We concluded that pNAPE-LP with ultra-low palmitate supply stands as a new method to increase the in situ intestinal delivery of PEA and as a new therapeutic able of controlling intestinal inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease.

Dietary inulin increases Lactiplantibacillus plantarum strain Lp900 persistence in rats depending on the dietary-calcium level.

Synbiotics are food supplements that combine probiotics and prebiotics to synergistically elicit health benefits in the consumer. Lactiplantibacillus plantarum strains display high survival during transit through the mammalian gastrointestinal tract and were shown to have health-promoting properties. Growth on the fructose polysaccharide inulin is relatively uncommon in L. plantarum, and in this study we describe the plasmid-encoded β-fructosidase (FosE) with inulin hydrolyzing properties of L. plantarum strain Lp900. FosE contains an LPxTG-like motif involved in sortase-dependent cell-wall anchoring, but is also (partially) released in the culture supernatant. Additionally, we examined the effect of diet supplementation with inulin on the intestinal persistence of Lp900 in adult male Wistar rats in diets with distinct calcium levels. Inulin supplementation in high dietary calcium diets significantly increased the intestinal persistence of L. plantarum Lp900, whereas this effect was not observed upon inulin supplementation of the low-calcium diet. Moreover, intestinal persistence of L. plantarum Lp900 was determined when provided as a probiotic (by itself) or as a synbiotic (i.e., in an inulin suspension) in rats that were fed un-supplemented diets containing the different calcium levels, revealing that the synbiotic administration increased bacterial survival and led to higher abundance of L. plantarum Lp900 in rats, particularly in the low calcium diet context. Our findings demonstrate that inulin supplementation can significantly enhance the intestinal delivery of L. plantarum Lp900, but that this effect strongly depends on calcium levels in the diet. IMPORTANCE Synbiotics combine probiotics with prebiotics to synergistically elicit a health benefit in the consumer. Previous studies have shown that prebiotics can selectively stimulate the growth in the intestine of specific bacterial strains. In synbiotic supplementations the prebiotics constituent could increase the intestinal persistence and survival of accompanying probiotic strain(s) and/or modulate the endogenous host microbiota to contribute to the synergistic enhancement of the health-promoting effects of the synbiotic constituents. Our study establishes a profound effect of dietary calcium-dependent inulin supplementation on the intestinal persistence of inulin-utilizing L. plantarum Lp900 in rats. We also show that in rats on a low dietary calcium regime, the survival and intestinal abundance of L. plantarum Lp900 is significantly increased by administering it as an inulin-containing synbiotic. This study demonstrates that prebiotics can enhance the intestinal delivery of specific probiotics, and that the prebiotic effect is profoundly influenced by the calcium content of the diet.