Solid triclosan/cyclodextrin inclusion complexes (TR/CD-IC) were obtained and then incorporated in poly(lactic acid) (PLA) nanofibers via electrospinning. α-CD, β-CD, and γ-CD were tested for the formation of TR/CD-IC by a coprecipitation method; however, the findings indicated that α-CD could not form an inclusion complex with TR, whereas β-CD and γ-CD successfully formed TR/CD-IC crystals, and the molar ratio of TR to CD was found to be 1:1. The structural and thermal characteristics of TR/CD-IC were investigated by (1)H NMR, FTIR, XRD, DSC, and TGA studies. Then, the encapsulation of TR/β-CD-IC and TR/γ-CD-IC in PLA nanofibers was achieved. Electrospun PLA and PLA/TR nanofibers obtained for comparison were uniform, whereas the aggregates of TR/CD-IC crystals were present and distributed within the PLA fiber matrix as confirmed by SEM and XRD analyses. The antibacterial activity of these nanofibrous webs was investigated. The results indicated that PLA nanofibers incorporating TR/CD-IC showed better antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacteria compared to PLA nanofibers containing only TR without CD-IC. Electrospun nanofibrous webs incorporating TR/CD-IC may be applicable in active food packaging due to their very high surface area and nanoporous structure as well as efficient antibacterial property.

BackgroundDietary fibers contribute to health and physiology primarily via the fermentative actions of the host’s gut microbiome. Physicochemical properties such as solubility, fermentability, viscosity, and gel-forming ability differ among fiber types and are known to affect metabolism. However, few studies have focused on how they influence the gut microbiome and how these interactions influence host health. The aim of this study is to investigate how the gut microbiome of growing pigs responds to diets containing gel-forming alginate and fermentable resistant starch and to predict important interactions and functional changes within the microbiota.ResultsNine growing pigs (3-month-old), divided into three groups, were fed with either a control, alginate-, or resistant starch-containing diet (CON, ALG, or RS), and fecal samples were collected over a 12-week period. SSU (small subunit) rDNA amplicon sequencing data was annotated to assess the gut microbiome, whereas comprehensive microarray polymer profiling (CoMPP) of digested material was employed to evaluate feed degradation. Gut microbiome structure variation was greatest in pigs fed with resistant starch, where notable changes included the decrease in alpha diversity and increase in relative abundance of Lachnospiraceae- and Ruminococcus-affiliated phylotypes. Imputed function was predicted to vary significantly in pigs fed with resistant starch and to a much lesser extent with alginate; however, the key pathways involving degradation of starch and other plant polysaccharides were predicted to be unaffected. The change in relative abundance levels of basal dietary components (plant cell wall polysaccharides and proteins) over time was also consistent irrespective of diet; however, correlations between the dietary components and phylotypes varied considerably in the different diets.ConclusionsResistant starch-containing diet exhibited the strongest structural variation compared to the alginate-containing diet. This variation gave rise to a microbiome that contains phylotypes affiliated with metabolically reputable taxonomic lineages. Despite the significant microbiome structural shifts that occurred from resistant starch-containing diet, functional redundancy is seemingly apparent with respect to the microbiome’s capacity to degrade starch and other dietary polysaccharides, one of the key stages in digestion.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40168-015-0078-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Production of bacteriocins is a potential probiotic feature of many lactic acid bacteria (LAB) as it can help prevent the growth of pathogens in gut environments. However, knowledge on bacteriocin producers in situ and their function in the gut of healthy animals is still limited. In this study, we investigated five bacteriocin-producing strains of LAB and their isogenic non-producing mutants for probiotic values. The LAB bacteriocins, sakacin A (SakA), pediocin PA-1 (PedPA-1), enterocins P, Q and L50 (enterocins), plantaricins EF and JK (plantaricins) and garvicin ML (GarML), are all class II bacteriocins, but they differ greatly from each other in terms of inhibition spectrum and physicochemical properties. The strains were supplemented to mice through drinking water and changes on the gut microbiota composition were interpreted using 16S rRNA gene analysis. In general, we observed that overall structure of the gut microbiota remained largely unaffected by the treatments. However, at lower taxonomic levels, some transient but advantageous changes were observed. Some potentially problematic bacteria were inhibited (e.g., Staphylococcus by enterocins, Enterococcaceae by GarML, and Clostridium by plantaricins) and the proportion of LAB was increased in the presence of SakA-, plantaricins- and GarML-producing bacteria. Moreover, the treatment with GarML-producing bacteria co-occurred with decreased triglyceride levels in the host mice. Taken together, our results indicate that several of these bacteriocin producers have potential probiotic properties at diverse levels as they promote favorable changes in the host without major disturbance in gut microbiota, which is important for normal gut functioning.

The gut microbiota is considered an organ that co-develops with the host throughout its life. The composition and metabolic activities of the gut microbiota are subject to a complex interplay between the host genetics and environmental factors, such as lifestyle, diet, stress and antimicrobials. It is evident that certain prebiotics, and antimicrobials produced by lactic acid bacteria (LAB), can shape the composition of the gut microbiota and its metabolic activities to promote host health and/or prevent diseases. In this review, we aim to give an overview of the impact of prebiotic fibres, and bacteriocins from LAB, on the gut microbiota and its activities, which affect the physiology and health of the host. These represent two different mechanisms in modulating the gut microbiota, the first involving exploitative competition by which the growth of beneficial bacteria is promoted and the latter involving interference competition by which the growth of pathogens and other unwanted bacteria is prevented. For interference competition in the gut, bacteriocins offer special advantages over traditional antibiotics, in that they can be designed to act towards specific unwanted bacteria and other pathogens, without any remarkable collateral effects on beneficial microbes sharing the same niche.

The electrospinning of nanofibers (NF) from cyclodextrin inclusion complexes (CD-IC) with an antibacterial agent (triclosan) was achieved without using any carrier polymeric matrix. Polymer-free triclosan/CD-IC NF were electrospun from highly concentrated (160% CD, w/w) aqueous triclosan/CD-IC suspension by using two types of chemically modified CD; hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) and hydroxypropyl-gamma-cyclodextrin (HPγCD). The morphological characterization of the electrospun triclosan/CD-IC NF by SEM elucidated that the triclosan/HPβCD-IC NF and triclosan/HPγCD-IC NF were bead-free having average fiber diameter of 520 ± 250 nm and 1,100 ± 660 nm, respectively. The presence of triclosan and the formation of triclosan/CD-IC within the fiber structure were confirmed by (1)H-NMR, FTIR, XRD, DSC, and TGA studies. The initial 1:1 molar ratio of the triclosan:CD was kept for triclosan/HPβCD-IC NF after the electrospinning and whereas 0.7:1 molar ratio was observed for triclosan/HPγCD-IC NF and some uncomplexed triclosan was detected suggesting that the complexation efficiency of triclosan with HPγCD was lower than that of HPβCD. The antibacterial properties of triclosan/CD-IC NF were tested against Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria. It was observed that triclosan/HPβCD-IC NF and triclosan/HPγCD-IC NF showed better antibacterial activity against both bacteria compared to uncomplexed pure triclosan.

a b s t r a c tOne-step synthesis of size-tunable silver nanoparticles (Ag-NP) incorporated into electrospun nanofibers was achieved. Initially, in situ reduction of silver salt (AgNO 3 ) to Ag-NP was carried out in aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Here, PVA was used as reducing agent and stabilizing polymer as well as electrospinning polymeric matrix for the fabrication of PVA/Ag-NP nanofibers. Afterwards, hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP␤CD) was used as an additional reducing and stabilizing agent in order to control size and uniform dispersion of Ag-NP. The size of Ag-NP was ∼8 nm and some Ag-NP aggregates were observed for PVA/Ag-NP nanofibers, conversely, the size of Ag-NP decreased from ∼8 nm down to ∼2 nm within the fiber matrix without aggregation were attained for PVA/HP␤CD nanofibers. The PVA/Ag-NP and PVA/HP␤CD/Ag-NP nanofibers exhibited surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) effect. Moreover, antibacterial properties of PVA/Ag-NP and PVA/HP␤CD/Ag-NP nanofibrous mats were tested against Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria.

Rapeseed meal (RSM) is an alternative feed ingredient to soybean meal (SBM) in pig diets. However, knowledge on the effect of RSM on gut health, especially in relation to changes in gut microbiota is still limited. In our study, Norwegian Landrace weaner pigs were fed with either a control diet (CON) based on wheat, barley and SBM, or a high-fiber experimental diet where SBM was replaced by RSM (RSF). We found no large differences in the gut microbiota of pigs fed the two diets, suggesting that RSF does not disturb the gut microbiota and the normal gut function. The relative abundance of SCFA-producing phylotypes and colon-health related phylotypes increased in the large intestine of RSF-fed pigs. Among them, Lachnospira and Coprococcus were negatively associated with the presence of neutrophils in the colon wall. The higher abundance of these bacteria in colon of RSF pigs may suggest an anti-inflammatory stimulus effect of the RSF diet. The gut microbiota of RSF-fed pigs was relatively unaltered following episodes of diarrhea suggesting that the RSF diet may promote robustness in weaner pigs and reduce the risk of dysbiosis.

Background Dietary yeast inclusions in a pig diet may drive changes both in gut bacterial composition and bacterial functional profile. This study investigated the effect of Cyberlindnera jadinii as a protein to replace 40% of the conventional proteins in a diet for weanling pigs on the microbiota in the small and large intestine, colonic short-chain fatty acid concentration, and colonic histopathology parameters. Seventy-two pigs weaned at 28 days of age were randomly assigned to either a control or a C. jadinii -based diet and followed for 2 weeks. Results Compared with the controls, higher numbers of cultivable lactic acid-producing bacteria in the small and large intestine were registered in the yeast group. Alpha and beta bacterial diversity were different between the diet groups with lower alpha-diversity and distinct bacterial composition in the large intestine in the yeast group compared with those of the controls. The large intestine microbiota in the yeast group had higher numbers of Prevotella , Mitsuokella and Selenomonas compared with those of the controls. The concentrations of colonic acetate and butyrate were higher in the controls compared with that of the yeast group. The colonic crypt depth was deeper in the control group. The gut histopathology of colonic tissues revealed no differences between the diets. The colonic crypt depth tended to be deeper with higher relative abundance of an unclassified Spirochetes, higher colonic butyrate concentration, and higher bacterial richness. The concentration of colonic butyrate was positively associated with the relative abundance of the Faecalibacterium prausnitzii , Dialister , and an unclassified amplicon of the Spirochaetaceae family in the colon. Conclusions The replacement of the conventional proteins by proteins from Cyberlindnera jadinii in a weanling pig diet reshaped the large intestine microbiota structure. The novel yeast diet appeared to be selective for Lactobacillus spp., which may represent an added value resulting from using the sustainably produced yeast protein ingredient as an alternative to conventional protein ingredients in animal diets. The large intestine bacterial composition and their metabolites may be involved in an adaptive alteration of the colonic crypts without pathological consequences.