pectins and Sepsis

Clinical and laboratory evaluation of pectins application efficacy demonstrated that the patients treated with pectines has lower frequency of bacteriemia, intoxication, infectious complications and lethality. Pectins use per os resulted by acceleration of burns wounds healing and by lower microbial dissemination. Frequency of coagulase-positive staphylococci, streptococci and enterococci isolation was also lower in the treated group of patients when compared to the control group. Feces microbial profile also demonstrated positive trend--normal microflora (bifidobacteria and lactobacilli) enhanced, opportunistic bacteria diminished. Pectins application provided normalization of leucocytes, lymphocytes, B-lymphocytes, immunoglobulins A and G. The results of investigation demonstrated pectins efficacy at the complex treatment regimes of the patients with burns.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Antibody Formation; Burns; Female; Humans; Immunity, Cellular; Male; Middle Aged; Pectins; Sepsis; Wound Healing

One of the primary causes of morbidity and mortality in those with short bowel syndrome (SBS) is sepsis, caused by bacterial translocation (BT). Since synbiotics can cease gut-related bacterial overgrowth, they may serve as a supportive dietary supplement-based strategy after gastrointestinal surgery. This study was conducted to determine the effects of Lactobacillus acidophilus and pectin on BT and gut adaptation after extensive small bowel resection in the rat. Forty rats were distributed in four groups. Group A suffered laparotomy, group B suffered gut transection and reanastomosis, SBS rats (group C) suffered 75% small gut resection, and finally, Group D suffered gut resection and treated with a synbiotic cocktail from day 7 before the surgery to day 14 after it. Intestinal structural changes and BT to mesenteric lymph nodes, liver, portal blood, and peripheral blood were detected on day 15 post-surgery. Treatment with a synbiotic cocktail led to a considerable reduction in bacterial translocation to liver and portal vein (degree II) compared with SBS untreated rats. Also, synbiotic administration significantly increased jejunum and ileum villus height and crypt depth, ileum villus width, and percentage of goblet cells in jejunum and ileum compared with SBS rats. In the rat model of short bowel syndrome, L. acidophilus, and pectin, as a potential synbiotic compound, could decrease the BT from the gut and improve the bowel adaptation.

Topics: Animals; Lactobacillus acidophilus; Pectins; Postoperative Complications; Rats; Sepsis; Short Bowel Syndrome

The present study evaluated the anti-inflammatory activity of a polysaccharide from maté, using a clinically relevant model of sepsis induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). A polysaccharide from maté (SPI) was obtained from aqueous extraction followed by fractionation, being identified as a rhamnogalacturonan with a main chain of →4)-6-OMe-α-D-GalpA-(1→ groups, interrupted by α-L-Rhap units, substituted by a type I arabinogalactan. SPI was tested against induced-polymicrobial sepsis, at doses of 3, 7 and 10 mg/kg. Via oral administration, SPI prevented the late mortality of infected mice by a rate of 60% at 10 mg/kg, in comparison with untreated mice Dexamethasone, used as positive control, was slightly less effective, with an overall survival rate of 16.7% of mice at the end of the observation period. SPI also affected neutrophil influx, avoiding its accumulation in lungs, and significantly decreased tissue expression of iNOS and COX-2. In this context, maté is a potential nutraceutical, and its polysaccharide a promising adjuvant for sepsis treatment, being consumed as tea-like beverages with no related adverse effects.

Topics: Animals; Cell Movement; Cyclooxygenase 2; Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; Ilex paraguariensis; Ligation; Male; Methylation; Mice; Neutrophils; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; Pectins; Punctures; Sepsis; Water