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This study characterized a lactic acid bacterium Leuconostoc mesenteroides HJ69 at biochemical and molecular level, isolate from traditional Korean fermented food Kimchi. Cell free supernatant (CFS) of L. mesenteroides HJ69 exhibited significant ( P < 0.05) antibacterial effect as diameters of inhibition zones (14.34 ± 0.31 - 18.21 ± 0.23 mm) against the tested foodborne pathogenic bacteria with minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration values found in the range of 250-2,000 and 500-2,000 μg/mL, respectively. Further, CFS of L. mesenteroides HJ69 revealed its mode of action on membrane integrity as confirmed by the increased release of potassium ions (800 and 750 mM/L), loss of 260-nm absorbing materials (3.85 and 3.77 OD), and increase in relative electrical conductivity (8.6 and 8.2%) against two selected bacteria L. monocytogenes KCTC-3569 (Gram-positive) and Escherichia coli O157:H7 (Gram-negative), respectively. The above findings hypothesize that L. mesenteroides HJ69 compromised its mode of action on membrane integrity, suggesting its enormous potential in the food industry. Practical Applications Asian countries have enormous use of fermented food products enriched with large populations of health-beneficial lactic acid bacteria (LAB). This study describes the isolation of a LAB strain Leuconostoc mesenteroides HJ69 from traditional Korean fermented food Kimchi along with its biochemical and molecular characterization. The cell free supernatant of L. mesenteroides HJ69 displayed remarkable antibacterial effect against various foodborne pathogenic bacteria with a hypothesized mode of action in several assays. These findings suggest that L. mesenteroides HJ69 could be an effective candidate for its practical application in food industry to control the proliferation of foodborne pathogenic bacteria as a natural antimicrobial agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory disease of the large intestine whose effects are bloody diarrhea, cramping and bloating. The disease is usually relapsing and remitting. However, the cause of ulcerative colitis is not yet known. Due to this reason, finding an effective treatment has been a great challenge. The suggested medical treatment is usually composed of two portions; keeping the flare up from happening and treating the flare up when it has happened. Active flare ups are treated with corticosteroids. There are several hypothesis which suggest that ulcerative colitis could be due to the micro flora present in gut. For this reason, several researchers tried to modify the gut microflora with probiotics. However, there is no probiotics found that can induce emission faster than the placebo. The ulcerative colitis patients taking probiotics showed fewer and less severe symptoms during the flare up. This means that even though the probiotics did not end up the flare up faster, it slowed up the severity of the symptoms of the patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lactic acid bacteria exhibit the most effective potential to divert significant amount of fermentable sugars towards the biosynthesis of functional exopolysaccharide. Exopolysaccharides from lactic acid bacteria are receiving a renewed interest due to the claims of human health benefits. This review provides an update on multiple uses and production of exopolysaccharides with major emphasis on their chemical properties, characterization, and some other molecular strategies adopted for their genetics and biological tailoring to better understand the process of exopolysaccharide production along with their antiviral efficacy with multiple modes of action. Additionally, microbiological, biochemical, nutritional and biotechnological aspects of exopolysaccharide production have also been discussed. Moreover, appropriate suggestions have been made on lactic acid bacteria improvements, leading to enhanced production with advanced modification and production process that may contribute to the economic soundness of applications in food and pharmacological industries with this promising group of biomolecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory disease of the large intestine whose effects are bloody diarrhea, cramping and bloating. The disease is usually relapsing and remitting. However, the cause of ulcerative colitis is not yet known. Due to this reason, finding an effective treatment has been a great challenge. The suggested medical treatment is usually composed of two portions; keeping the flare up from happening and treating the flare up when it has happened. Active flare ups are treated with corticosteroids. There are several hypothesis which suggest that ulcerative colitis could be due to the micro flora present in gut. For this reason, several researchers tried to modify the gut microflora with probiotics. However, there is no probiotics found that can induce emission faster than the placebo. The ulcerative colitis patients taking probiotics showed fewer and less severe symptoms during the flare up. This means that even though the probiotics did not end up the flare up faster, it slowed up the severity of the symptoms of the patients.

The protective potential of Emblica officinalis (amla) was investigated on metal-induced lipid per oxidation in human erythrocytes. Increases in the levels of MDA and catalase activity were assessed as lipid per oxidation. In addition, glutathione peroxidase (GPX), glutathione (GSH), and ascorbic acid levels were assessed as antioxidant indices. Preliminary investigation of the extract exhibited a significant reduction in lipid per oxidation and an increase in antioxidant abilities, such as a decrease in MDA, GPx and GSH (P<0.05). A significant reduction in erythrocyte hemolysis induced by hydrogen peroxide was observed using amla extract (P<0.05). These findings show that amla extract has significant protective potential against lipid per oxidation.