Development of Novel Pasta Products with Evidence Based Impacts on Health—A Review

Pasta made from durum wheat is a widely consumed worldwide and is a healthy and convenient food. In the last two decades, there has been much research effort into improving the nutritional value of pasta by inclusion of nonconventional ingredients due to the demand by health-conscious consumers for functional foods. These ingredients can affect the technological properties of the pasta, but their health impacts are not always measured rather inferred. This review provides an overview of pasta made from durum wheat where the semolina is substituted in part with a range of ingredients (barley fractions, dietary fibre sources, fish ingredients, herbs, inulin, resistant starches, legumes, vegetables and protein extracts). Impacts on pasta technological properties and in vitro measures of phytonutrient enhancement or changes to starch digestion are included. Emphasis is on the literature that provides clinical or animal trial data on the health benefits of the functional pasta.

Echoes of Medieval and Pre-Modern Animal Trials in the Interlude Declamatio sub forma iudicii (1735)

Declamatio sub forma judicii can be found in the Graudenz Codex (1731–1740). It is an interlude that jokingly reports an animal trial. The interlude is a humorous treatment of the historical trials on animals that continued from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century. Onthe one hand, such eighteenth-century discussions of animal trials continued the medieval tradition. This would confirm the diagnosis about the existence of the “long Middle Ages”, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, where the cultural trends could be somehow belated in comparison to those in the West. On the other hand, perhaps writing about animal trials in the eighteenth century was already a form of medievalism. High culture propagated anthropocentrism in its thinking about animals, while folk culture entailed anthropomorphism. In animal trials animals are treated as subjects to the same regulations as humans, which means that they were seen as very much similar to humans. The eighteenth-century interlude recreates this tradition, but it is a source of satirical laughter.

Feasibility and safety of a new endoscopic synthetic sealant nebulizing device over gastric endoscopic submucosal dissections

Background Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection (ESD) is the treatment of choice of superficial neoplastic gastrointestinal lesions. Delayed bleedings and perforations are still current clinical concerns. Glubran 2 is a synthetic cyanoacrylate-derived glue nowadays already widely used as an effective tissue adhesive. ENDONEB is a novel device thought for enabling the sealant nebulization over a specific targeted surface during laparotomy, laparoscopy, and thoracotomy. The aim of this single-center preclinical animal trial is to evaluate the feasibility and safety of the same nebulization technique during ESD in the perspective that further clinical studies would demonstrate the efficacy of Glubran 2 in preventing post-ESD adverse events. Methods Four live Landrace pigs were enrolled. Two approximately 30-mm-wide gastric ESDs were performed in each pig (experimental ESD and control ESD). About 0.5 mL of Glubran 2 was nebulized on the experimental ESDs. Subjective perception of the feasibility of the Glubran 2 nebulization was reported. Pigs were clinically monitored at follow-up and upper GI endoscopy was performed at 24 and 48 hours, when animals were euthanized to perform a macroscopic and histological analysis of the specimens. Results No peri-procedural adverse events were reported. Glubran 2 nebulization over experimental ESDs showed to be technically easy and time-effective. Clinical and endoscopic animal monitoring was negative at follow-up. At 24 hours, the Glubran 2 film was clearly visible on the eschar of the ESDs and signs of initial hydrolysis were discernable at 48 hours. No signs of peritoneal reaction were observed at the macroscopic examination. Equal transmural inflammation was described at the histological examination of both types of ESDs. Conclusions Safety and feasibility profiles of Glubran 2 nebulizing ENDONEB device over ESD surfaces were excellent. Further evidences and human trials are needed to investigate its effectiveness in ESDs’ eschars sealing and, thus, in delayed micro-perforations and bleedings prevention and treatment.

Automated tooth segmentation as an innovative tool to assess 3D-tooth movement and root resorption in rodents

Background Orthodontic root resorptions are frequently investigated in small animals, and micro-computed tomography (μCT) enables volumetric comparison. Despite, due to overlapping histograms from dentine and bone, accurate quantification of root resorption is challenging. The present study aims at (i) validating a novel automated approach for tooth segmentation (ATS), (ii) to indicate that matching of contralateral teeth is eligible to assess orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) and root resorption (RR), (iii) and to apply the novel approach in an animal trial performing orthodontic tooth movement. Methods The oral apparatus of three female mice were scanned with a μCT. The first molars of each jaw and animal were segmented using ATS (test) and manually (control), and contralateral volumes were compared. Agreement in root volumes and time efficiency were assessed for method validation. In another n = 14 animals, the left first upper molar was protracted for 11 days at 0.5 N, whereas the contralateral molar served as control. Following ATS, OTM and RR were estimated. Results ATS was significantly more time efficient compared to the manual approach (81% faster, P < 0.01), accurate (volume differences: − 0.01 ± 0.04 mm3), and contralateral roots had comparable volumes. Protracted molars had significantly lower root volumes (P = 0.03), whereas the amount of OTM failed to reveal linear association with RR (P > 0.05). Conclusions Within the limits of the study, it was demonstrated that the combination of ATS and registration of contralateral jaws enables measurements of OTS and associated RR in μCT scans.

Temporomandibular Joint Osteoarthritis: Regenerative Treatment by a Stem Cell Containing Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product (ATMP)—An In Vivo Animal Trial

Temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJ-OA) is a chronic degenerative disease that is often characterized by progressive impairment of the temporomandibular functional unit. The aim of this randomized controlled animal trial was a comparative analysis regarding the chondroregenerative potency of intra-articular stem/stromal cell therapy. Four weeks after combined mechanical and biochemical osteoarthritis induction in 28 rabbits, therapy was initiated by a single intra-articular injection, randomized into the following groups: Group 1: AB Serum (ABS); Group 2: Hyaluronic acid (HA); Group 3: Mesenchymal stromal cells (STx.); Group 4: Mesenchymal stromal cells in hyaluronic acid (HA + STx.). After another 4 weeks, the animals were euthanized, followed by histological examination of the removed joints. The histological analysis showed a significant increase in cartilage thickness in the stromal cell treated groups (HA + STx. vs. ABS, p = 0.028; HA + ST.x vs. HA, p = 0.042; STx. vs. ABS, p = 0.036). Scanning electron microscopy detected a similar heterogeneity of mineralization and tissue porosity in the subchondral zone in all groups. The single intra-articular injection of a stem cell containing, GMP-compliant advanced therapy medicinal product for the treatment of iatrogen induced osteoarthritis of the temporomandibular joint shows a chondroregenerative effect.

Experimental Infection and Genetic Characterization of Two Different Capripox Virus Isolates in Small Ruminants

Capripox viruses, with their members “lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV)”, “goatpox virus (GTPV)” and “sheeppox virus (SPPV)”, are described as the most serious pox diseases of production animals. A GTPV isolate and a SPPV isolate were sequenced in a combined approach using nanopore MinION sequencing to obtain long reads and Illumina high throughput sequencing for short precise reads to gain full-length high-quality genome sequences. Concomitantly, sheep and goats were inoculated with SPPV and GTPV strains, respectively. During the animal trial, varying infection routes were compared: a combined intravenous and subcutaneous infection, an only intranasal infection, and the contact infection between naïve and inoculated animals. Sheep inoculated with SPPV showed no clinical signs, only a very small number of genome-positive samples and a low-level antibody reaction. In contrast, all GTPV inoculated or in-contact goats developed severe clinical signs with high viral genome loads observed in all tested matrices. Furthermore, seroconversion was detected in nearly all goats and no differences concerning the severity of the disease depending on the inoculation route were observed. Conclusively, the employed SPPV strain has the properties of an attenuated vaccine strain, consistent with the genetic data, whereas the GTPV strain represents a highly virulent field strain.