A Cost-Effective and Sensitive Method for the Determination of Lincomycin in Foods of Animal Origin Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography.

BACKGROUND: Lincomycin (LIN) is extensively used for treating diseases in livestock and promoting growth in food animal farming, and it is frequently found in both the environment and in food products. Currently, most of the methods for detecting lincomycin either lack sensitivity and precision or require the use of costly equipment such as mass spectrometers. RESULT: In this study, we developed a reliable high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UVD) method and used it to detect LIN residue in 11 types of matrices (pig liver and muscle; chicken kidney and liver; cow fat, liver and milk; goat muscle, liver and milk; and eggs) for the first time. The tissue homogenates and liquid samples were extracted via liquid-liquid extraction, and subsequently purified and enriched via sorbent and solid phase extraction (SPE). After nitrogen drying, the products were derivatized with p-toluene sulfonyl isocyanic acid (PTSI) (100 µL) for 30 min at room temperature. Finally, the derivatized products were analyzed by HPLC at 227 nm. Under the optimized conditions, the method displayed impressive performance and demonstrated its reliability and practicability, with a limit of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) of LIN in each matrix of 25-40 µg/kg and 40-60 µg/kg, respectively. The recovery ranged from 71.11% to 98.30%. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that this method had great selectivity, high sensitivity, satisfactory recovery and cost-effectiveness-fulfilling the criteria in drug residue and actual detection requirements-and proved to have broad applicability in the field of detecting LIN in animal-derived foods.

In Vitro Characterization of Polysaccharides from Fresh Tea Leaves in Simulated Gastrointestinal Digestion and Gut Microbiome Fermentation.

Tea plants have a long cultivation history in the world, but there are few studies on polysaccharides from fresh tea leaves. In this study, tea polysaccharides (TPSs) were isolated from fresh tea leaves. Then, we investigated the characteristics of TPSs during in vitro simulated digestion and fermentation; moreover, the effects of TPSs on gut microbiota were explored. The results revealed that saliva did not significantly affect TPSs' molecular weight, monosaccharide composition, and reducing sugar content, indicating that TPSs cannot be digested in the oral cavity. However, TPSs were partially decomposed in the gastrointestinal tract after gastric and intestinal digestion, resulting in the release of a small amount of free glucose monosaccharides. Our in vitro fermentation experiments demonstrated that TPSs are degraded by gut microbiota, leading to short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production and pH reduction. Moreover, TPSs increased the abundance of Bacteroides, Lactobacillus, and Bifidobacterium but reduced that of Escherichia, Shigella, and Enterococcus, demonstrating that TPSs can regulate the gut microbiome. In conclusion, TPSs are partially decomposed by gut microbiota, resulting in the production of SCFAs and the regulation of gut microbiota composition and function. Therefore, TPSs may be used to develop a prebiotic supplement to regulate the gut microbiome and improve host health.

Synergism with Shikimic Acid Restores ß-Lactam Antibiotic Activity against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has evolved into a dangerous pathogen resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics (BLAs) and has become a worrisome superbug. In this study, a strategy in which shikimic acid (SA), which has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activity, is combined with BLAs to restart BLA activity was proposed for MRSA treatment. The synergistic effects of oxacillin combined with SA against oxacillin resistance in vitro and in vivo were investigated. The excellent synergistic effect of the oxacillin and SA combination was confirmed by performing the checkerboard assay, time-killing assay, live/dead bacterial cell viability assay, and assessing protein leakage. SEM showed that the cells in the control group had a regular, smooth, and intact surface. In contrast, oxacillin and SA or the combination treatment group exhibited different degrees of surface collapse. q-PCR indicated that the combination treatment group significantly inhibited the expression of the mecA gene. In vivo, we showed that the combination treatment increased the survival rate and decreased the bacterial load in mice. These results suggest that the combination of oxacillin with SA is considered an effective treatment option for MRSA, and the combination of SA with oxacillin in the treatment of MRSA is a novel strategy.