Production of alkaline protease by Aspergillus niger in a new combinational paper waste culture medium.

Enzymes derived from microbial sources have gained increasing popularity in industrial applications over the past decades. Despite the high production cost, alkaline proteases have wide applications in industries such as tanneries, food production, and detergents. In recent years, there has been a shift towards utilizing natural carbon sources for cultivating microorganisms and extracting proteases in order to reduce production costs. This study aimed to investigate the biochemical and kinetic properties of protease enzymes obtained from Aspergillus niger cultivated in a paper waste medium and compare with the enzyme produced in a basal medium. Glucose is a more favorable carbon source compared to cellulose, so paper waste was pretreated with cellulose-degrading bacteria to convert cellulose into smaller carbohydrates. After the growth of A. niger in basal and combinational media, the enzymatic properties were compared between the extracted enzymes by using casein as substrate. The results demonstrated that A. niger could produce protease enzymes in the paper waste medium similar to the basal medium with more than 5-fold cost saving. The specific activity of the enzymes isolated from the basal and paper waste media was calculated to be 184.95 ± 10.56 U ml-1 and 169.88 ± 11.05 U ml-1, respectively. Carbon sources did not affect the optimum pH and temperature of the protease enzyme, which were found to be 8 and 37 °C, respectively. This study provides valuable insights into the production of alkaline protease from A. niger using a combinational medium (paper waste pretreated by cellulose-degrading bacteria), offering a cost-effective approach for industrial applications.

Surface area: a better predictor of disease severity than the height and volume of the barium column in patients with primary achalasia.

OBJECTIVE: Subjective assessment of primary achalasia is not accurate. We aimed to study the utility of surface area of barium retention in the objective assessment of these patients. METHODS: Subjective and objective esophageal functions of 99 patients with primary achalasia were evaluated initially and 43 of them were reevaluated 1 month after balloon dilation. RESULTS: Before dilation: Ninety-nine patients were enrolled. Forty-one of them were male. The mean age was 37.5+/-15.3 years. The mean score, resting lower esophageal sphincter pressure, height, surface and volume of barium retention at 5 min were 8.03+/-3.1, 59.1+/-20 mmHg, 9.9+/-4.9 cm, and 23.6+/-13.9 cm and 53.2+/-47.7 cm, respectively. Surface area at 5 min had best correlation and predictive value for resting lower esophageal sphincter pressure. After dilation: Forty-three of 99 patients were reevaluated after balloon dilation. The mean age was 36.8+/-13.6 years. Seventeen of them were male. Mean score, resting lower esophageal sphincter pressure, height, surface area and volume of barium retention at 5 min dropped significantly after dilation. Surface area at 5 min had best correlation and predictive value for lower esophageal sphincter pressure. CONCLUSIONS: Surface area of barium retention at 5 min is an accurate objective tool to assess patients with primary achalasia. It is cheap and easy to perform; therefore, it could be used more frequently in postdilation follow-up.

Noninvasive markers of liver fibrosis and inflammation in chronic hepatitis B-virus related liver disease.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Noninvasive markers for predicting significant fibrosis and inflammation have not yet been validated in an unselected group of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers. The aim of this study was to create noninvasive models to predict significant fibrosis and inflammation in chronic HBV carriers. METHODS: A total of 276 (229 HBeAg negative, 47 HBeAg positive) unselected consecutive treatment naïve patients chronically infected with HBV who attended our center over a 36-month period underwent liver biopsy. HBeAg negative patients were randomly divided into two cohorts: training group (N = 130) and validation group (N = 99). HBeAg positive patients were analyzed as a whole without separation. Thirteen parameters were analyzed separately in HBeAg negative and HBeAg positive patients to predict significant fibrosis (Ishak stage >or=3) and inflammation (Ishak grade >or=7). RESULTS: In HBeAg negative patients significant liver fibrosis was best predicted using the variables HBV DNA levels, alkaline phosphatase, albumin, and platelet counts with an area under ROC curve (AUC) of 0.91 for the training group and 0.85 for the validation group. Using the low cutoff probability of 4.72, significant fibrosis could be excluded with negative predictive value of 99% in the entire cohort, and liver biopsy would have been avoided in 52% of patients. The best model for predicting significant inflammation included the variables age, HBV DNA levels, AST, and albumin with an AUC of 0.93 in the training and 0.82 in the validation group. In HBeAg positive patients no factor could predict accurately stages of liver fibrosis, but the best factor for predicting significant inflammation was AST with an AUC of 0.87. CONCLUSIONS: Significant hepatic fibrosis and necroinflammation can reliably be predicted using routinely checked tests and HBV DNA levels.

Serum hyaluronate as a non-invasive marker of hepatic fibrosis and inflammation in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B.

BACKGROUND: HBV infection is a serious global heath problem. It is crucial to monitor this disease more closely with a non-invasive marker in clinical trials. We aimed to evaluate the predictive value of serum hyaluronate for the presence of extensive liver fibrosis and inflammation. METHODS: 28 healthy volunteers and 65 patients with HBeAg negative chronic hepatitis B were enrolled. Liver biopsies scored according to Ishak system. Association of serum hyaloronate with liver fibrosis and inflammation were assessed, and cut off points for serum hyaluronate levels were identified by receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves and their values for prediction of fibrosis and inflammation were assessed. RESULTS: In patients with CHB serum hyaluronate had the most significant correlation and predictive values for the liver fibrosis and inflammation comparing to the other variables. At the cut off point of 126.4 ngm/ml it could discriminate extensive fibrosis from milder ones with sensitivity of 90.9% and specificity of 98.1%. With the same value it could discriminate extensive inflammation from their milder counterparts with sensitivity of 63.6% and specificity of 92.6%. CONCLUSION: Serum hyaluronate was the best predictor of extensive liver fibrosis and inflammation and it could discriminate subgroups of patients with chronic hepatitis B. It could be used as a non-invasive test to monitor these patients more closely with developing anti viral agents in clinical trials.

Correlation between clinical severity score and the lower esophageal sphincter relaxation pressure in idiopathic achalasia.

OBJECTIVES: Achalasia is an esophageal motor disorder characterized by aperistalsis and incomplete relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). The meaningful correlation between LES relaxation pressure and the severity of clinical symptoms is uncertain. The aim of this study was to elucidate the correlation between the clinical scoring and the LES relaxation pressure. METHODS: Over a 4-yr period from 1997 to 2001, all newly diagnosed patients with idiopathic achalasia were consecutively enrolled in a study. Diagnosis was established based on clinical, radiographic, endoscopic, and manometric criteria. The severity of five cardinal symptoms was scored on a scale of 0-3, and each patient received a total symptom score of 1-15. Manometry was subsequently performed, and the mean of five complete pull-through measurements was recorded as the resting LES relaxation pressure. RESULTS: A total of 115 patients (67 male and 48 female) with a mean age of 37.7 yr (range 12-90 yr) were included in the study. The mean total symptom score was 9.32 (range 3.00-14.00) and mean LES relaxation pressure before therapy was 56.29 mm Hg (range 8.00-107.80 mm Hg). Linear regression analysis showed a significant association between the total symptom score and LES relaxation pressure (p < 0.002, r = 0.290). Among the main symptoms, active and passive regurgitation showed significant correlation with LES relaxation pressure when compared to other individual symptoms using Pearson's correlation coefficient (p < 0.001 and 0.002, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that a clinical symptom score can be an appropriate predictor of the LES relaxation pressure in patients with idiopathic achalasia before therapy. Further studies are needed to evaluate similar correlations after therapeutic intervention.