Volume 56, Issue No. 4

    https://doi.org/10.17113/ftb.56.04.18.5805

The Role of Vitamin D in Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Assessing Therapeutic and Preventive Potential of Supplementation and Food Fortification

Dunja Leskovar^1#, Tomislav Meštrović²*^#, Anja Barešić³, Ivana Kraljević⁴, Marina Panek¹, Hana Čipčić
Paljetak¹, Mihaela Perić¹, Mario Matijašić¹, Dunja Rogić⁴, Ana Barišić⁴, Dina Ljubas Kelečić⁴, Darija Vranešić Bender⁴, Željko Krznarić⁴ and Donatella Verbanac^1,5

¹University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Šalata 3, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
²Polyclinic “Dr. Zora Profozic”, Bosutska 19, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
³MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Du Cane Rd, London W12 0NN, United Kingdom
⁴University Hospital Centre, Kišpaticeva 12, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
⁵University of Zagreb, Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, A. Kovacica 1, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia

Article history:
Received: 16 April 2018
Accepted: 19 November 2018

Key words:
inflammatory bowel diseases, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, vitamin D, gut microbiota, dysbiosis

Summary:
Inflammatory bowel diseases are a group of chronic inflammatory conditions that affect gastrointestinal tract due to inapt and continuous immune activation in response to a myriad of predisposing factors (most notably genetics, environmental impact and gut microbiota composition). It has been shown that vitamin D status can also play a role in the disease pathogenesis, as its deficiency is commonly observed in two major forms of inflammatory bowel diseases – Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Mounting evidence supports the concept of intricate relationship between gut dysbiosis and vitamin D metabolism, while suboptimal levels of this vitamin have been linked to increased clinical disease relapse rates, inadequate response to drugs, as well as decreased quality of life in patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Consequently, the pertinent question is whether increased vitamin D supplementation and (on a population level) food fortification may bring significant benefit to the affected individuals. In this short review we discuss the synthesis, functions, status and food sources of vitamin D, appraise biotechnological facets of vitamin D status analysis and food fortification, and concentrate on novel developments in the field that describe its influence on intestinal microbiota and inflammatory bowel disease.

*Corresponding author:    +38516112501
                                             +38516115651
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^#These authors contributed equally to this work

    https://doi.org/10.17113/ftb.56.04.18.5707

Isolation and Characterisation of L. plantarum O1 Producer of Plantaricin as Potential Starter Culture for the Biopreservation of Aquatic Food Products

Iva Čanak¹, Ksenija Markov¹, Ena Melvan¹, Antonio Starčević¹, Mattea Živković¹, Manuela Zadravec², Jelka Pleadin², Željko Jakopović¹, Deni Kostelac¹ and Jadranka Frece¹*

¹Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb, Pierottijeva 6, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
²Croatian Veterinary Institute, Savska 143, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Article history:
Received: 6 February 2018
Accepted: 11 October 2018

Key words:
lactic acid bacteria, plantaricin, L. plantarum

Summary:
Lactobacillus plantarum O1 was isolated from the gut of sea bream (Sparus aurata) and identified with the API biochemical test and MALDI-TOF MS. This strain was further characterised according to the selection criteria for lactic acid bacteria as starter cultures for aquatic food production. L. plantarum O1 showed good antimicrobial activity against pathogenic test microorganisms. Further investigation confirmed it as the producer of the bacteriocin plantaricin. This strain also showed good growth at a wide range of temperatures (from 4 to 45 °C) and a wide range of pH (2–12), even in the presence of 3.5 % NaCl. Its viability was also good after lyophilisation and in simulated gastric and small intestinal juice. The strain is a promising probiotic, and our further research will focus on its application in the biopreservation of fresh fish and shellfish.

*Corresponding author:    +38514605284
                                             +38514836424
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    https://doi.org/10.17113/ftb.56.04.18.5673

Synergy of Microtechnology and Biotechnology: Microreactors as an Effective Tool for Biotransformation Processes^§

Anita Šalić and Bruno Zelić*

University of Zagreb, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Marulićev trg 19, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Article history:
Received: 19 January 2018
Accepted: 4 September 2018

Key words:
microreactor, biotechnology, enzyme, immobilization, biocatalysis

Summary:
Despite the fact that microreactors have been present for more than 40 years now and that their potential has been extensively exploited in chemical synthesis, analytics and screening, to date very few biocatalytic processes have been explored in microreactors. It is claimed that enzymatic microreactor technology is exactly in the same place where chemical microreactors were 15 years ago. However, general opinion is that the efforts devoted to the research of micro-enzymatic reactors will inaugurate a new breakthrough in bio-based processing. The aim of this review is to explore the synergy between microtechnology, mainly microreactors, and biotechnology, and to assess its potential, opportunities, challenges and future application in biotechnology.

*Corresponding author:    +38514597104, +38514597281
                                             +38514597133
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^§The paper was presented at European Biotechnology Congress, 25-27 May 2017, Dubrovnik, Croatia