Antibiotic resistance of microorganisms is one of the major problems faced in the field of wound care and management resulting in complications like infection and delayed wound healing. Currently a lot of research is focused on developing newer antimicrobials to treat wounds infected with antibiotic resistant microorganisms. Silver has been used as an antimicrobial agent for a long time in the form of metallic silver and silver sulfadiazine ointments. Recently silver nanoparticles have come up as a potent antimicrobial agent and are finding diverse medical applications ranging from silver based dressings to silver coated medical devices. Chitin is a natural biopolymer with properties like biocompatibility and biodegradability. It is widely used as a scaffold for tissue engineering applications. In this work, we developed and characterized novel chitin/nanosilver composite scaffolds for wound healing applications. The antibacterial, blood clotting and cytotoxicity of the prepared composite scaffolds were also studied. These chitin/nanosilver composite scaffolds were found to be bactericidal against S. aureus and E. coli and good blood clotting ability. These results suggested that these chitin/nanosilver composite scaffolds could be used for wound healing applications.

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Lactobacillus helveticus MTCC 5463 was isolated from a vaginal swab from a healthy adult female. The strain exhibited potential probiotic properties, with their beneficial role in the gastrointestinal tract and their ability to reduce cholesterol and stimulate immunity. We sequenced the whole genome and compared it with the published genome sequence of Lactobacillus helveticus DPC4571.Lactobacillus helveticus is present in fermented foods and is also used as a probiotic (4,10,12). Researchers have evaluated the effect of L. helveticus against diseases such as cancer and intestinal inflammation. Milk fermented with L. helveticus R389 delayed breast tumor growth by decreasing interleukin-6 (IL-6) and increasing IL-10 in serum, mammary glands, and tumor-infiltrating immune cells (5). Lactobacillus helveticus strains are normally isolated from milk products and intestinal microflora (6,14). The L. helveticus MTCC 5463 strain was originally isolated from the vaginal tract of a healthy adult female in India at Anand Agricultural University (9). The L. helveticus MTCC 5463 strain, earlier known as Lactobacillus acidophilus V3 (based on biochemical characteristics) was able to grow in the presence of 0.3% sodium taurocholate, deconjugate bile acids, and reduce cholesterol in vitro (1). The strain exhibited significant antimicrobial activity against Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, and Escherichia coli (7). The strain produced extracellular polysaccharide and was able to adhere to cells of the human carcinoma cell line HT29. A hypocholesterolemic effect of L. helveticus MTCC 5463 was reported in human subjects with different cholesterol levels (2). The strain has also shown positive immunomodulating effects in a chick model (13).The whole-genome sequencing of L. helveticus MTCC 5463 was performed using GS-FLX Titanium reagents (11). The data generated from the genomic library contained 119,569 reads, and assembly generated a 1,911,350-bp single chromosome. The genome annotation and comparative analysis of the genome were done with the published genome of strain DPC4571 (3). The genomic sequence of L. helveticus MTCC 5463 was somewhat smaller than those of L. helveticus DPC4571 (2.08 Mb) and L. helveticus H10 (2.14 Mb). In total, 2,046 coding sequence (CDS) regions and 71 RNA genes were reported. Of the 71 RNA genes, 59 coded for tRNA, 8 for rRNA, and 4 for 5S RNA. The CDS regions were slightly fewer than in L. helveticus H10 (2,049) and L. helveticus DPC4571 (2,238). Metabolic reconstruction subsystems were assembled to create a metabolic reaction network for L. helveticus MTCC 5463 and L. helveticus DPC4571.The subsystem analysis revealed a common subsystem structure between L. helveticus MTCC 5463 and L. helveticus DPC4571 for seven subsystems, viz., photosynthesis, iron acquisition and metabolism, motility and chemotaxis, secondary metabolism, stress response, nitrogen metabolism, and dormancy and sporulation. The considerable variation observed in the ...

The use of probiotics is a new way to control and treat infections in this modern era. Application of beneficial bacteria to protect against detrimental bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract and thus reap a positive health benefit is the basis of probiotic therapy. Probiotics have a long global history of traditional use. They are normally consumed through fermented foods and are currently sold mostly as ingredients in foods or nutritional supplements. They are also supplied as pharma products. Recent research has highlighted the probiotic potential in the treatment or prevention of disease conditions, maintenance of health, improving immunity and in the reduction in the risk of future diseases. But their position in the pharmaceutical industry is still not very clear. Clinical practitioners use probiotic pharma products mostly as supplements. Their status as drugs is still unclear. This review is aimed to analyze probiotics as pharmaceuticals, their current status as dietary supplements and drugs, existing probiotic preparations and future research needs.

Lactobacillus rhamnosus MTCC 5462 was isolated from infant gastrointestinal flora. The strain exhibited an ability to reduce cholesterol and stimulate immunity. The strain has exhibited positive results in alleviating gastrointestinal discomfort and good potential as a probiotic. We sequenced the whole genome of the strain and compared it to the published genome sequence of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (ATCC 53103). Lactobacillus rhamnosus is a bacterium that was originally considered to be a subspecies of Lactobacillus casei, but later genetic research found it to be a species of its own. The L. rhamnosus MTCC 5462 (earlier Lactobacillus acidophilus) LBKI4 strain was originally a gastrointestinal isolate from an infant fecal sample collected at Anand Agricultural University in India (3). The L. rhamnosus MTCC 5462 strain was able to tolerate bile, phenol, and salt concentrations up to 2.4%, 0.4%, and 4%, respectively. Inhibition of growth of pathogenic microorganisms during production and storage of cultured milk (4) and antibacterial activity against milk spoilage bacteria (5) are suggestive of its potential application in the dairy industry. The strain was reported to have bile tolerance and bile deconjugation and cholesterol-reducing properties (1). The positive implantation of a strain with potential to decrease coliform count in human subjects further validates the probiotic potential of the strain (6, 9, 10).The genome sequence of L. rhamnosus GG (ATCC 53103) has been decoded (2, 8). As a probiotic, L. rhamnosus ATCC 53103 is claimed to colonize the digestive tract and balance intestinal microflora; however, L. rhamnosus is more likely a transient inhabitant, not autochthonous (11).The whole-genome sequencing of strain L. rhamnosus MTCC 5462 was performed using Roche GS 454 technology (7). The reads obtained with 3.67-fold genomic coverage were assembled using GS Reference Mapper software V.2.3 using the L. rhamnosus Lc 705 genome as a reference to generate a 2,031,259-bp-long single chromosome. The genome annotation was carried out, and comparative analysis of the genome was done with the published complete genome of strain ATCC 53103 (8).The genomic sequence of L. rhamnosus MTCC 5462 (2.03 Mb) was smaller than those of L. rhamnosus ATCC 53103 (3.01 Mb) and L. rhamnosus Lc 705 (2.96 Mb).In strain L. rhamnosus MTCC 5462, 4,000 coding sequence (CDS) regions were identified, which is larger than those of L. rhamnosus ATCC 53103 (2,913 CDSs) and L. rhamnosus Lc 705 (2,878 CDSs). A total of 49 RNA coding regions were identified, a number which is lower than those of L. rhamnosus ATCC 53103 (72) and L. rhamnosus Lc 705 (76).Respectively, 278 and 308 subsystems were reported in a metabolic reconstruction study for L. rhamnosus MTCC 5462 and L. rhamnosus ATCC 53103. The subsystem analysis revealed the common absence of subsystem structures for photosynthesis, iron acquisition and metabolism, motility and chemotaxis, and secondary metabolism in both organisms. However, comparative analysis in other subcategories wa...

ScopeProbiotic interventions are known to have been shown to influence the composition of the intestinal microbiota in geriatrics. The growing concern is the apparent variation in response to identical strain dosage among human volunteers. One factor that governs this variation is the host gut microbiome. In this study, we attempted to define a core gut metagenome, which could act as a predisposition signature marker of inherent bacterial community that can help predict the success of a probiotic intervention.Methods and resultsTo characterize the geriatric gut microbiome, we designed primers targeting the 16S rRNA hypervariable region V2–V3 followed by semiconductor sequencing using Ion Torrent PGM. Among respondents and non-respondents, the chief genera of phylum Firmicutes that showed significant differences are Lactobacillus, Clostridium, Eubacterium, and Blautia (q < 0.002), while in the genera of phylum Proteobacteria included Shigella, Escherichia, Burkholderia and Camphylobacter (q < 0.002).ConclusionWe have identified potential microbial biomarkers and taxonomic patterns that correlate with a positive response to probiotic intervention in geriatric volunteers. Future work with larger cohorts of geriatrics with diverse dietary influences could reveal the potential of the signature patterns of microbiota for personalized nutrition.