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Erythritol, a natural sweetener, is widely used in the food, medicinal and chemical industries because of its advantages of low calorie, good stability and high food safety. Yarrowia lipolytica is widely used as an efficient fermentation strain for erythritol production. However, the current research on erythritol production by Yarrowia lipolytica concentrates on control of the fermentation process and metabolic pathway regulation and has bottlenecks in the yield of erythritol and the fermentation process. On this basis, this article reviews recent progress in research on erythritol production by Yarrowia lipolytica from three aspects: fermentation substrate utilization, fermentation process control and metabolic pathway modification by genetic engineering. This review is expected to provide a reference for breaking the bottlenecks in erythritol production by Yarrowia lipolytica.

As a phenotypically and phylogenetically diverse group, lactic acid bacteria are found in a variety of natural environments and play an important role in medicine, bioengineering, food fermentation and agriculture. Lactic acid bacteria have a long history of use in food and have been considered as suitable vehicles for the production and targeted delivery of health-promoting or therapeutic bioactive substances due to their safety and probiotic properties, and the operability of their genetic systems. This article summarizes the latest studies on lactic acid bacteria as delivery vehicles in vivo with a focus on gene expression systems of lactic acid bacteria, the expression forms of bioactive substances and the application of lactic acid bacteria as delivery vehicles in the treatment of various diseases. It is hoped that this review will provide a basis for subsequent research.

Previous studies have shown that Lactobacillus plantarum AR495 has good anti-inflammatory and anti-osteoporosis effects. In order to further explore the effect and mechanism of AR495 in alleviating osteoporosis (OA), a rat model of OA was established to investigate the effects of AR495 on OA markers, inflammatory factor levels and oxidative stress injury in OA rats and to verify the recovery of cartilage matrix and bone by pathological staining of joints and microtomography (micro-CT) imaging. The results showed that AR495 could significantly alleviate excessive body mass gain caused by decreased physical activity in OA rats (P < 0.05). Pathological analysis showed that AR495 could significantly reduce the level of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the joint tissue of OA rats, inhibit the production of matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13) and the production of C-telopeptide of type II collagen (CTX-II) as a degradation product of cartilage matrix, thereby alleviating the degradation of articular cartilage matrix in rats. Micro-CT imaging showed that AR495 could significantly alleviate bone loss in the joint of OA rats and effectively protect the integrity of cartilage and synovium of rats. In addition, AR495 could significantly increase the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and reduce the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) in peripheral blood (P < 0.05). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis showed that AR495 could stimulate the expression of the mucin-2 (MUC-2) and occludin-1 genes in intestinal goblet cells and repair the intestinal barrier function. It can be seen that AR495 can alleviate OA inflammation level and create a beneficial internal environment for chondrocytes to exert their functions and produce collagen matrix, thereby alleviating and restoring joint injury and improving OA symptoms.

A confined environment is a special kind of extreme working environment, and prolonged exposure to it tends to increase psychological stress and trigger rhythmic disorders, emotional abnormalities and other phenomena, thus seriously affecting work efficiency. However, the mechanisms through which confined environments affect human health remain unclear. Therefore, this study simulates a strictly controlled confined environment and employs integrative multi-omics techniques to analyze the alterations in gut microbiota and metabolites of workers under such conditions. The aim is to identify metabolic biomarkers and elucidate the relationship between gut microbiota and metabolites. High-throughput sequencing results showed that a confined environment significantly affects gut microbial composition and clusters subjects' gut microbiota into two enterotypes (Bla and Bi). Differences in abundance of genera Bifidobacterium, Collinsella, Ruminococcus_gnavus_group, Faecalibacterium, Bacteroides, Prevotella and Succinivibronaceae UCG-002 were significant. Untarget metabolomics analyses showed that the confined environment resulted in significant alterations in intestinal metabolites and increased the activity of the body's amino acid metabolism and bile acid metabolism pathways. Among the metabolites that differed after confined environment living, four metabolites such as uric acid and beta-PHENYL-gamma-aminobutyric acid may be potential biomarkers. Further correlation analysis demonstrated a strong association between the composition of the subjects' gut microbiota and these four biomarkers. This study provides valuable reference data for improving the health status of workers in confined environments and facilitates the subsequent proposal of targeted prevention and treatment strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractType 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the metabolic diseases with the highest morbidity rates in the world. Probiotics have positive health impacts on human health and a considerable amount of research has demonstrated their beneficial effects in treating T2DM. However, probiotic intervention in T2DM has complex mechanisms because the pathogenesis of T2DM is complex. This review summarized the mechanisms of probiotic intervention in diabetes from the perspective of diabetes pathogenesis. First, the objectives of probiotic intervention in diabetes aimed at the intestinal tract reparative effects, pancreatic function, host metabolism and self-recovery were comprehensively reviewed. Next, we concluded the clinical application status of ingested probiotics in patients with T2DM, and an obvious imbalance exists between theoretical probiotic research and clinical applications. Finally, we summarized the emerging research on probiotic interventions in T2DM and analyzed the literature in this regard, including next-generation probiotics; suggestions for probiotics consumption with the aim of diabetic complications; as well as the association between novel mechanisms of diabetes remission with the potential for probiotic intervention. In conclusion, this review sheds light on the potential role of probiotics, from proposed mechanisms to prospects in relieving T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]