Validation of an analytical method for the quantitative determination of selenium in bacterial biomass by ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry

Microflora structure and functional capacity in Tibetan kefir grains and selenium-enriched Tibetan kefir grains: A metagenomic analysis

Tibetan kefir grains (TKGs) are a complex protein-lipid-polysaccharide matrix composed of various microorganisms. Microorganisms have the benefit of being effective, secure, and controllable when used for selenium enrichment. In this study, selenium-enriched Tibetan kefir grains (Se-TKGs) were made, and the microbiology composition was analyzed through a metagenomic analysis, to explore the influence of selenium enrichment. The microbial composition of TKGs and Se-TKGs, as well as the probiotic species, quorum sensing system (QS) and functional genes were compared and evaluated. Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens was the most abundant microbial species in both communities. Compared with TKGs, Se-TKGs had a much higher relative abundance of acetic acid bacteria. Lactobacillus helveticus was the most common probiotic species both in TKGs and Se-TKGs. Probiotics with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties were more abundant in Se-TKGs. QS analysis revealed that Se-TKGs contained more QS system-associated genes than TKGs. Moreover, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis revealed that the pathway for human disease ko01501 had the greatest relative abundance in both TKGs and Se-TKGs. Compared with TKGs, Se-TKGs demonstrated a greater relative abundance of different drug resistance-related metabolic pathways. Additionally, linear discriminant analysis effect size was used to examine the biomarkers responsible for the difference between the two groups. In this study, we focused on the microbiological structure of TKGs and Se-TKGs, with the aim of establishing a foundation for a more thorough investigation of Se-TKGs and providing a basis for exploring potential future use.

Selenium enriched bifidobacteria and lactobacilli as potential dietary supplements

In this study, we tested the ability of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria strains to accumulate and biotransform sodium selenite into various selenium species, including selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs). Selenium tolerance and cytotoxicity of selenized strains towards human adenocarcinoma Caco-2 and HT29 cells were determined for all tested strains. Furthermore, the influence of selenium enrichment on the antioxidant activity of selenized strains and hydrophobicity of the bacterial cell surfaces were evaluated. Both hydrophobicity and antioxidant activity increased significantly in the selenized L. paracasei strain and decreased significantly in the selenized L. helveticus strain. The concentrations of 5 and 10 mg/L Na2SeO3 in the growth media were safer for Caco-2 and HT29 cell growth than higher concentrations. At higher concentrations (30, 50, and 100 mg/L), the cell viability was reduced. All the tested strains showed differences in antioxidant potential and hydrophobicity after selenium enrichment. In addition to selenocystine ​​and selenomethionine, the tested bacterial strains produced significant amounts of SeNPs. Our results show that the tested bacterial strains can accumulate and biotransform inorganic selenium, which allows them to become a potential source of selenium.

Ultrasensitive determination of selenium in water and food samples by ICP-MS: UiO-66-NH2 for preconcentration and direct slurry hydride generation

BACKGROUND

Selenium is an indispensable microelement for humans and food is the main source of selenium intake. As one of the best techniques for the determination of selenium, inductive coupling plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) features some unique advantages, such as wide linear range and high sensitivity. Nevertheless, it still remains a challenge to achieve the accurate and high sensitivity determination of ultra-trace selenium in food samples by ICP-MS owning to the high first ionization energy of selenium and interferences from sample matrices as well as isobaric interferences.

RESULTS

In this work, UiO-66-NH2 (metal organic framework, MOF) was fast synthesized by microwave method and employed for the preconcentration of ultra-trace selenium with an adsorption efficiency of nearly 100%. The selenium-adsorbed MOF was collected by filtration, and then simply converted to slurry for in situ hydride generation (HG) for sensitive detection of selenium by ICP-MS. Various factors affecting the adsorption of selenium by the MOF (including pH, adsorption time, and amount of MOF) together with main parameters of hydride generation (including concentrations of HCl and NaBH4) were carefully evaluated. Experimental results show that effective matrix separation can greatly reduce interference, with an excellent detection limit of 1 ng/L. The practicability and accuracy of this method were successfully confirmed by the determination of trace selenium in several food samples.

SIGNIFICANCE

UiO-66-NH2 (MOF) was used as an effective adsorbent for the preconcentration of selenium prior to direct slurry sampling HG-ICP-MS determination. Direct slurry sampling avoided additional elution procedures and was conducive to eliminating matrix and isobaric interferences. High sensitivity and anti-interference determination were achieved for determination of ultra-trace Se in complex food samples.

Encapsulation of Selenium Nanoparticles and Metformin in Macrophage-Derived Cell Membranes for the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injury is an impact-induced disabling condition. A series of pathological changes after spinal cord injury (SCI) are usually associated with oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis. These pathological changes eventually lead to paralysis. The short half-life and low bioavailability of many drugs also limit the use of many drugs in SCI. In this study, we designed nanovesicles derived from macrophages encapsulating selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) and metformin (SeNPs-Met-MVs) to be used in the treatment of SCI. These nanovesicles can cross the blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) and deliver SeNPs and Met to the site of injury to exert anti-inflammatory and reactive oxygen species scavenging effects. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed that the SeNPs-Met-MVs particle size was approximately 125 ± 5 nm. Drug release assays showed that Met exhibited sustained release after encapsulation by the macrophage cell membrane. The cumulative release was approximately 80% over 36 h. In vitro cellular experiments and in vivo animal experiments demonstrated that SeNPs-Met-MVs decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities, and reduced the expression of inflammatory (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) and apoptotic (cleaved caspase-3) cytokines in spinal cord tissue after SCI. In addition, motor function in mice was significantly improved after SeNPs-Met-MVs treatment. Therefore, SeNPs-Met-MVs have a promising future in the treatment of SCI.

Simple analytical method for total biogenic amines content determination in wine using a smartphone

A simple, fast, and green smartphone-based procedure for total biogenic amines content determination in wine was developed and validated. Sample preparation and analysis were simplified to make the method suitable for routine analyses even in resource-scarce settings. The commercially available S0378 dye and smartphone-based detection were used for this purpose. The developed method has satisfactory figures of merit for putrescine equivalent determination with R² of 0.9981. The method's greenness was also assessed using the Analytical Greenness Calculator. Samples of Polish wine were analysed to demonstrate the applicability of the developed method. Finally, results obtained with the developed procedure were compared with those previously obtained with GC-MS in order to evaluate the equivalence of the methods.

Biologically Active Supplements Affecting Producer Microorganisms in Food Biotechnology: A Review

Microorganisms, fermentation processes, and the resultant metabolic products are a key driving force in biotechnology and, in particular, in food biotechnology. The quantity and/or quality of final manufactured food products are directly related to the efficiency of the metabolic processes of producer microorganisms. Food BioTech companies are naturally interested in increasing the productivity of their biotechnological production lines. This could be achieved via either indirect or direct influence on the fundamental mechanisms governing biological processes occurring in microbial cells. This review considers an approach to improve the efficiency of producer microorganisms through the use of several types of substances or complexes affecting the metabolic processes of microbial producers that are of interest for food biotechnology, particularly fermented milk products. A classification of these supplements will be given, depending on their chemical nature (poly- and oligosaccharides; poly- and oligopeptides, individual amino acids; miscellaneous substances, including vitamins and other organic compounds, minerals, and multicomponent supplements), and the approved results of their application will be comprehensively surveyed.

A spectrophotometric method for simultaneous determination of trace ions of copper, cobalt, and nickel in the zinc sulfate solution by ultraviolet-visible spectrometry

In the zinc sulfate solution, the concentration ratio of zinc to metal ion impurities can be up to 10⁵, which causes impurity ion signals to be severely masked by the zinc signal. In particular, nickel exhibits a strong nonlinearity. Conventional spectroscopic methods are commonly used to detect multi-component analytes with similar concentrations and require the detection component to be linear to satisfy Beer-Lambert law. In order to solve high concentration ratio and nonlinear problems, a spectrophotometric method combining the extended Kalman filter and derivative methods is proposed to simultaneously determine copper, cobalt and nickel in the zinc sulfate solution by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The derivative method developed by using continuous wavelet transform with a Haar wavelet function was applied to detect copper and cobalt in regions with wavelengths greater than 500nm, in which the absorbance of zinc and nickel changed to a fixed value, where linear regression graphs for copper and cobalt were established at zero-crossing wavelengths. Extended Kalman filter spectrophotometry is a filtering algorithm for nonlinear systems, so it was proposed to iteratively detect nickel concentration. The detection range was found to be 0.5-5mg/L for copper, 0.3-3mg/L for cobalt, and 0.6-6mg/L. The predicted root mean square error was 0.097 for copper, 0.049 for cobalt, and 0.206 for nickel. The average relative deviations of copper, cobalt, and nickel in 10 sets of mixed solutions were 3.19%, 2.23%, and 4.56%, respectively. The spectrophotometric method studied is suitable for real-time detection and control of trace amounts of copper, cobalt, and nickel in purification process of zinc hydrometallurgy, and can be applied to more fields.