muramidase and Intestinal-Diseases

Topics: Administration, Oral; Animals; Bacterial Infections; Bacterial Vaccines; Gastric Acid; Humans; Immunity, Cellular; Immunity, Innate; Immunization, Passive; Immunoglobulin A; Interferons; Intestinal Diseases; Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic; Intestinal Mucosa; Intestines; Lactoferrin; Muramidase; Vaccination; Vaccines; Vaccines, Attenuated

Enzymological alterations in functional disturbances and in diseases of the intestine are reviewed. Examples are given for diagnostic significance (e.g. in Hirschsprung's and Crohn's diseases), for pathogenetic considerations (e.g. in hypolactasia and in celiac disease), and for secondary involvement of the liver (e.g. in intestinal tumors and after bypass surgery) and are discussed in more detail.

Topics: Acetylcholinesterase; Adult; Alcoholism; Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Black People; Celiac Disease; Child; Child, Preschool; Colonic Neoplasms; Diarrhea; Enteritis; Enteropeptidase; Humans; Infant; Intestinal Diseases; Isoenzymes; Jejunum; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; Lactose; Malabsorption Syndromes; Megacolon; Microbial Collagenase; Microvilli; Muramidase; Rats; Rectum; White People

The effects of treatment/prophylaxis of newborn calf colibacillosis with tryptic casein hydrolysate (TCH), recently shown to be a novel type of antimicrobial acting through stimulation of the microbial autolytic system, versus an authorized veterinary drug, Fermosorb, were evaluated. Both products showed similar high therapeutic and prophylactic efficacies, but hematological indices and daily weight gain of cured/protected animals were better with TCH. The differences in hemoglobin and hematocrit levels, total protein, gamma-globulin and sulfhydryl group quantities, bactericidal and lysozyme activities as well as daily weight gain at the end of treatment/prophylaxis were statistically significant (P<0.05-0.000005). Statistically significant differences (P<0.05-0.0005) in favor of TCH were also observed when bactericidal activity, total protein quantity of serum as well as daily weight gain of the animals were compared on the 90th day after birth. We conclude that TCH acts not only as an antimicrobial, but also as an immunostimulant (and growth promoter). The immunostimulatory activity of TCH most probably derives from a synergistic action of bioactive peptides encrypted in the preparation itself and the cell wall fragments resulting from microbial autolysis induction.

Topics: Adjuvants, Immunologic; Animals; Animals, Newborn; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Blood Protein Electrophoresis; Calcium; Caseins; Cattle; Cattle Diseases; Erythrocyte Count; Escherichia coli Infections; Hematocrit; Hemoglobins; Intestinal Diseases; Leukocyte Count; Muramidase; Phosphorus; Subtilisins

Diarrhea remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality globally, with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) constituting a major causative pathogen. The development of alternative treatments for diarrhea that do not involve chemotherapeutic drugs or result in antibiotic resistance is critical. Considering that lysozyme is a naturally occurring antimicrobial peptide, in a previous study we developed a transgenic pig line that expresses recombinant human lysozyme (hLZ) in its milk. In the present study, we examined the protective effects of the consumption of this milk against ETEC infection in neonatal piglets. We found that consuming hLZ milk facilitated faster recovery from infection and decreased mortality and morbidity following an ETEC oral inoculation or infection acquired by contact-exposure. The protective effect of hLZ was associated with the enrichment of intestinal bacteria that improve gut health, such as Lactobacillus, and the enhancement of the mucosal IgA response to the ETEC-induced diarrhea. Our study revealed potential protective mechanisms underlying the antimicrobial activity of human lysozyme, validating the use of lysozyme as an effective preventive measure for diarrhea.

Topics: Animals; Animals, Genetically Modified; Animals, Newborn; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Diarrhea; Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli Infections; Female; Intestinal Diseases; Milk; Muramidase; Swine; Swine Diseases

Malnutrition remains a leading contributor to the morbidity and mortality of children under the age of 5 years and can weaken the immune system and increase the severity of concurrent infections. Livestock milk with the protective properties of human milk is a potential therapeutic to modulate intestinal microbiota and improve outcomes. The aim of this study was to develop an infection model of childhood malnutrition in the pig to investigate the clinical, intestinal and microbiota changes associated with malnutrition and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) infection and to test the ability of goat milk and milk from genetically engineered goats expressing the antimicrobial human lysozyme (hLZ) milk to mitigate these effects. Pigs were weaned onto a protein-energy-restricted diet and after 3 weeks were supplemented daily with goat, hLZ or no milk for a further 2 weeks and then challenged with ETEC. The restricted diet enriched faecal microbiota in Proteobacteria as seen in stunted children. Before infection, hLZ milk supplementation improved barrier function and villous height to a greater extent than goat milk. Both goat and hLZ milk enriched for taxa (Ruminococcaceae) associated with weight gain. Post-ETEC infection, pigs supplemented with hLZ milk weighed more, had improved Z-scores, longer villi and showed more stable bacterial populations during ETEC challenge than both the goat and no milk groups. This model of childhood disease was developed to test the confounding effects of malnutrition and infection and demonstrated the potential use of hLZ goat milk to mitigate the impacts of malnutrition and infection.

Topics: Animal Feed; Animals; Animals, Genetically Modified; Body Weight; Diet; Dietary Supplements; Disease Models, Animal; Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli Infections; Feces; Female; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Genotype; Goats; Intestinal Diseases; Intestines; Male; Malnutrition; Milk; Muramidase; Organ Size; Permeability; Swine; Weaning

Topics: Animal Feed; Animals; Animals, Genetically Modified; Animals, Newborn; Bacteroidetes; Diet; Disease Models, Animal; Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli Infections; Feces; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Goats; Intestinal Diseases; Intestines; Milk; Muramidase; Swine; Swine Diseases

The gastrointestinal tract poses a variety of morphological and physiological barriers to the expression of target genes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the stability of cationic polymer/pDNA nanoparticles toward salts and enzymes of the intestinal fluid. Within this study, a chitosan-enzyme inhibitor conjugate has been generated and characterized. Based on this conjugate, nanoparticles with pDNA were generated to enhance transfection rate in oral gene delivery. The enzyme inhibitor aurintricarboxylic acid (ATA) was covalently bound to chitosan to improve the enzymatic stability of nanoparticles formed with this polymer and pDNA. Chitosan-ATA/pDNA nanoparticles showed a size of 98.5 +/- 26 nm and a zeta potential of -13.26 +/- 0.24 mV (n = 3-4). Stability studies with salt solution, lysozyme, DNase, and freshly collected porcine intestinal fluid showed that chitosan-ATA/pDNA nanoparticles are significantly (p < 0.05) more stable than unmodified chitosan/pDNA nanoparticles. Apart from improved stability, chitosan-ATA/pDNA nanoparticles showed a 2.6-fold higher transfection rate than chitosan/pDNA nanoparticles in the Caco-2 cell line, thus creating a promising carrier for orally administered therapeutic genes.

Topics: Administration, Oral; Aurintricarboxylic Acid; Caco-2 Cells; Chitosan; Deoxyribonuclease I; DNA; Drug Delivery Systems; Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; Gene Expression; Genetic Therapy; Green Fluorescent Proteins; Humans; Intestinal Absorption; Intestinal Diseases; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Molecular Structure; Muramidase; Nanostructures; Particle Size; Plasmids; Transfection

Paneth cells, highly secretory epithelial cells found at the bases of small intestinal crypts, release a variety of microbicidal molecules, including alpha-defensins and lysozyme. The secretion of antimicrobials by Paneth cells is thought to be important in mucosal host defense against invasion by enteric pathogens. We explored whether enteric pathogens can interfere with this arm of defense. We found that oral inoculation of mice with wild-type Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium decreases the expression of alpha-defensins (called cryptdins in mice) and lysozyme. Oral inoculation with Salmonella serovar Typhimurium strains that are heat killed, lack the PhoP regulon, and lack the SPI1 type III secretion system or with Listeria monocytogenes does not have this effect. Salmonella may gain a specific survival advantage in the intestinal lumen by decreasing the expression of microbicidal peptides in Paneth cells through direct interactions between Salmonella and the small intestinal epithelium.

Topics: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Female; Intestinal Diseases; Intestine, Small; Mice; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; Muramidase; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; Paneth Cells; Protein Precursors; RNA, Messenger; Salmonella Infections, Animal; Salmonella typhimurium

Topics: Acute Disease; Adult; Aged; Blood Donors; Clinical Enzyme Tests; Humans; Immune System Diseases; Intestinal Diseases; Leukemia; Lung Diseases; Muramidase; Sarcoidosis

Prominent and global abnormalities in chemotactic, oxidative, and microbicidal activity have been identified in neutrophils from patients with severe sepsis. To evaluate the possible contribution of degranulation as the basis for the observed abnormalities, 12 patients with intrabdominal infection were serially studied and neutrophil chemotaxis, enzyme content, and receptors for FMLP were evaluated. There was a significant correlation between chemotactic response to both activated serum and FMLP with the granular enzymes beta-glucuronidase and lysozyme. For FMLP-directed migration, r = 0.73, P less than 0.001 for lysozyme, and r = 0.59, P less than 0.001 for beta-glucuronidase. There was a similarly significant correlation between loss of lysozyme and an increase in FMLP receptors, previously shown to be a marker for degranulation. These data support the concept that in vivo degranulation, possibly due to effects of circulating chemoattractants on adherent neutrophils, is responsible for the enzymatic and chemotactic loss seen in cells from septic patients. This hypothesis also provides a mechanism to explain the respiratory distress syndrome if degranulation were to occur in the pulmonary capillary bed.

Topics: Bacterial Infections; Biliary Tract Diseases; Chemotaxis, Leukocyte; Colonic Diseases; Cytoplasmic Granules; Duodenal Diseases; Glucuronidase; Humans; Intestinal Diseases; Muramidase; N-Formylmethionine Leucyl-Phenylalanine; Neutrophils; Receptors, Cell Surface; Receptors, Formyl Peptide

Topics: Biological Products; Feces; Humans; Immunoglobulins; Intestinal Diseases; Intestines; Leukemia, Lymphoid; Muramidase

Topics: Bacterial Infections; Bacteriocins; Escherichia coli; Humans; Immunoglobulin A; Immunoglobulin G; Immunoglobulin M; Intestinal Diseases; Lactobacillus; Muramidase

Serum lysozyme (muramidase) concentrations were determined in 55 patients with inflammatory bowel disease, 6 with miscellaneous bowel disease, 40 with pulmonary tuberculosis, and in 20 normal subjects. The mean (+/- SE) lysozyme concentration for each group was as follows: controls 6,95 +/- 0,36 microgram/ml; ulcerative colitis 9,61 +/- 1,02 microgram/ml; inactive Crohn's disease 7,61 +/- 0,53 microgram/ml; active Crohn's disease 20,77 +/- 2,17 microgram/ml; sputum-negative tuberculosis 13,05 +/- 1,06 microgram/ml; and sputum-positive tuberculosis 20,35 +/- 2,08 microgram/ml. The mean enzyme levels were significantly higher in patients with Crohn's disease than in those with ulcerative colitis (P less than 0,05) or in normal controls (P less than 0,01). Our findings suggest that serum lysozyme levels may be useful in differentiating active Crohn's disease from ulcerative colitis, but the results overlap somewhat. However, the enzyme level may be a useful index of disease activity in following up patients with Crohn's disease. As tuberculosis is endemic in this country it must first be excluded, because patients with pulmonary tuberculosis have similarly high levels of serum lysozyme.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Colitis, Ulcerative; Crohn Disease; Female; Humans; Intestinal Diseases; Male; Middle Aged; Muramidase; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Chronic Disease; Humans; Immunoglobulin A; Immunoglobulin G; Intestinal Diseases; Middle Aged; Muramidase

Topics: Acid-Base Equilibrium; Cellulose; Constipation; Female; Genital Diseases, Female; Humans; Intestinal Diseases; Intestinal Secretions; Intestines; Muramidase

Topics: Feces; Humans; Infant; Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Intestinal Diseases; Muramidase; Nutritional Status