Comparison of the Antibacterial Activity of Selected Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs) and Deep Eutectic Solvents Comprising Organic Acids (OA-DESs) Toward Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Species.

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have been intensively investigated in recent years for their antibacterial properties, with DESs that comprise organic acids (OA-DESs) showing promising antibacterial action. However a majority of the reports focused only on a limited number strains and techniques, which is not enough to determine the antibacterial potential of a substance. To bridge this gap, the antibacterial activity of classical DESs and OA-DESs is assessed on twelve Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria strains, with some of them exhibiting specific resistance toward antibiotics. The investigated formulations of OA-DESs comprise glycolic, malic, malonic, and oxalic acids as representatives of this group. Using a range of microbiological assays as well as physicochemical characterization methods, a major difference of the effectiveness between the two groups is demonstrated, with OA-DESs exhibiting, as expected, greater antibacterial effectiveness than classical DESs. Most interestingly, slight differences in the minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentration values as well as time-kill kinetics profiles are observed between Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains. Transmission electron microscopy analysis reveals the effect of the treatment of the bacteria with the representatives of both groups of DESs, which allows us to better understand the possible mechanism-of-action of these novel materials.

Nutritional strategies for autophagy activation and health consequences of autophagy impairment.

OBJECTIVES: Currently, the plague of chronic diseases, such as overweight, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, is associated with chronic inflammation as an effect of homeostasis disbalance. One of the processes involved in homeostasis maintenance is autophagy, which is also referred to as self-eating or cellular recycling. Due to the correlation between the epidemic scale of chronic diseases and autophagy impairment, strategies for autophagy activation are urgently needed. METHODS: In this review, we comprehensively summarized the current data on autophagy types, dysfunction, associated diseases, and ways of activation available in scientific databases and published up until 2022. RESULTS: Our review indicates that impaired autophagy is associated with inflammatory bowel diseases, cancer, overweight, obesity, type I diabetes, diseases of the cardiovascular system, neurodegenerative diseases, depression, and anxiety. We highlight nutritional behavior as one of the factors behind autophagy induction and homeostasis restoration. CONCLUSIONS: Autophagy is involved in different dysfunctions and diseases; thus, activation strategies are urgently needed. A high potential in the prevention and therapies of chronic diseases by means of autophagy induction can be expected from nutritional behaviors. To date, most studies were carried out in vitro or in a murine model. Thus, further, well-designed, clinical trials are needed to provide the missing understanding of the nutritional potential to regulate specific signaling pathways that keep autophagy running smoothly.

Utilization of physiological and taxonomic fluorescent probes to study Lactobacilli cells and response to pH challenge.

pH stress is recognized as an important feature for Lactobacillus in relation to lifestyle and commercial utility. Hence, this study aims to investigate the cell function of Lactobacilli cells subjected to pHs between 7.0 and 2.0. For this purpose, the Lactobacilli isolates of vegetable origin were first hybridized with fluorescent oligonucleotide rRNA probes for detecting Lactobacillus species. Then, cells were exposed to pH stress and labelled with fluorescent probes, carboxyfluorescein diacetate (CFDA) and propidium iodine (PI), which provided the insight into esterase activity and membrane integrity of cells. Among isolates, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) enabled us to specifically detect L. plantarum and L. brevis. Interestingly, FCM analysis revealed that at pHs between 7.0 and 4.0 the cell membrane was intact, while after the exposure at pH 3.0, and 2.0 became perturbed or impaired. Finally, L. brevis and L. plantarum differed from each other in fluorescence labeling behaviour and culturability. However, the results showed that the same standard protocol for labeling enables discrimination of subpopulations of tested species. Depending on the species, the substantial culturability loss was observed at pH 3.0 and 2.0. These results suggest that the taxonomic and physiological fluorescent probes could be suitable for in situ detection of specific bacteria and rapid assessment of the physiological status of cells.

Physiological functions at single-cell level of Lactobacillus spp. isolated from traditionally fermented cabbage in response to different pH conditions.

Changes in pH are significant environmental stresses that may be encountered by lactobacilli during fermentation processes or passage through the gastrointestinal tract. Here, we report the cell response of Lactobacillus spp. isolated from traditionally fermented cabbage subjected to acid/alkaline treatments at pH 2.5, 7.4 and 8.1, which represented pH conditions of the gastrointestinal tract. Among six isolates, four species of Lactobacillus plantarum and two of Lactobacillus brevis were identified by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The fluorescence-based strategy of combining carboxyfluorescein diacetate (CFDA) and propidium iodine (PI) into a dual-staining assay was used together with epifluorescence microscopy (EFM) and flow cytometry (FCM) for viability assessment. The results showed that the cells maintained esterase activity and membrane integrity at pH 8.1 and 7.4. There was also no loss of culturability as shown by plate counts. In contrast, the majority of 2.5 pH-treated cells had a low extent of esterase activity, and experienced membrane perturbation. For these samples, an extensive loss of culturability was demonstrated. Comparison of the results of an in situ assessment with that of the conventional culturing method has revealed that although part of the stressed population was unable to grow on the growth media, it was deemed viable using a CFDA/PI assay. However, there was no significant change in the cell morphology among pH-treated lactobacilli populations. These analyses are expected to be useful in understanding the cell response of Lactobacillus strains to pH stress and may facilitate future investigation into functional and industrial aspects of this response.