Patrizia Brigidi | Università di Bologna (original) (raw)
Papers by Patrizia Brigidi
International journal of pharmaceutics, Jan 2, 2015
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the gel-forming polysaccharide psyllium in the prepa... more The aim of the present study was to evaluate the gel-forming polysaccharide psyllium in the preparation of mucoadhesive patches for the controlled release of chlorhexidine (CHX) to treat pathologies in the oral cavity, using the casting-solvent evaporation technique. A number of different film-forming semi-synthetic polymers, such as sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (SCMC) and hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose (HPMC) were evaluated for comparison. The patch formulations were characterized in terms of drug content, morphology surface, swelling and mucoadhesive properties, microbiology inhibition assay and in vitro release tests. Three ex-vivo testswere carried out using porcine mucosa: an alternative dissolution test using artificial saliva that allows contemporary measurement of dissolution and mucoadhesion, a permeation test through the mucosa and the measurement of mucoadhesion using a Nouy tensile tester, as the maximum force required for the separation of the patch from the mucosa sur...
Scientific reports, 2015
The gut microbiota is essential for human health and plays an important role in the pathogenesis ... more The gut microbiota is essential for human health and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of several diseases. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), such as acetate, butyrate and propionate, are end-products of microbial fermentation of macronutrients that distribute systemically via the blood. The aim of this study was to investigate the transcriptional response of immature and LPS-matured human monocyte-derived DC to SCFA. Our data revealed distinct effects exerted by each individual SCFA on gene expression in human monocyte-derived DC, especially in the mature ones. Acetate only exerted negligible effects, while both butyrate and propionate strongly modulated gene expression in both immature and mature human monocyte-derived DC. An Ingenuity pathway analysis based on the differentially expressed genes suggested that propionate and butyrate modulate leukocyte trafficking, as SCFA strongly reduced the release of several pro-inflammatory chemokines including CCL3, CCL4, CCL5, CXCL9...
Gut, Jan 28, 2015
Habitual diet plays a major role in shaping the composition of the gut microbiota, and also deter... more Habitual diet plays a major role in shaping the composition of the gut microbiota, and also determines the repertoire of microbial metabolites that can influence the host. The typical Western diet corresponds to that of an omnivore; however, the Mediterranean diet (MD), common in the Western Mediterranean culture, is to date a nutritionally recommended dietary pattern that includes high-level consumption of cereals, fruit, vegetables and legumes. To investigate the potential benefits of the MD in this cross-sectional survey, we assessed the gut microbiota and metabolome in a cohort of Italian individuals in relation to their habitual diets. We retrieved daily dietary information and assessed gut microbiota and metabolome in 153 individuals habitually following omnivore, vegetarian or vegan diets. The majority of vegan and vegetarian subjects and 30% of omnivore subjects had a high adherence to the MD. We were able to stratify individuals according to both diet type and adherence to ...
Annales de l'Institut Pasteur / Microbiologie, 1983
Methods in Molecular Biology, 2012
In healthy women, the vaginal ecosystem is dominated by Lactobacillus spp., but a diverse array o... more In healthy women, the vaginal ecosystem is dominated by Lactobacillus spp., but a diverse array of other bacteria can be present in lower amounts. The activity of lactobacilli is essential to protect women from genital infections and to maintain the natural healthy balance of the vaginal microbiota. Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a complex, polymicrobial disorder characterized by an overgrowth of strict or facultative anaerobic bacteria and a reduction of lactobacilli. Culture-independent techniques based on the analysis of rRNA gene sequences provide powerful tools to reveal the phylogenetic diversity of the vaginal microorganisms in healthy women and patients affected by BV. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis conducted with universal primers for eubacteria allows detecting the most abundant bacterial species of an ecosystem. Sequencing of the DNA fragments and comparison with sequences present in publicly available databases allow identifying the corresponding bacterial species. Quantitative PCR is a powerful technique for the quantitative analysis of a selected genus or species.
Research in Microbiology, 1991
The cryptic plasmid pBC1 (1.6 kb) isolated from Bacillus coagulans Zu1961 was genetically marked ... more The cryptic plasmid pBC1 (1.6 kb) isolated from Bacillus coagulans Zu1961 was genetically marked with the genes for chloramphenicol and ampicillin resistance (CmR and ApR) from the Escherichia coli plasmid pJH101. The recombinant vector obtained (pCP49, 7.0 kb) replicated and expressed CmR in B. subtilis and CmR and ApR in E. coli. Different shuttle vectors for Gram+ bacteria were also constructed by inserting pBC1 into the Staphylococcus aureus plasmid pC194. The smallest of these, pLM6 (2.8 kb), containing essentially pBC1 and the chloramphenicol acetyl transferase gene from pC194, replicated in B. subtilis at a copy number of 60. By electroporation, these plasmids were introduced and stably maintained in B. subtilis, B. amyloliquefaciens, S. aureus, S. carnosus and Lactobacillus reuteri.
Research in Microbiology, 1996
The nucleotide sequence of the 1847-bp Bifidobacterium longum B2577 cryptic plasmid pMB1 was dete... more The nucleotide sequence of the 1847-bp Bifidobacterium longum B2577 cryptic plasmid pMB1 was determined. The plasmid had a G+C content of 62.0%, and contained two open reading frames, orf1 and orf2, likely arranged in an operon. The proteins encoded by orf1 and orf2 show the highest degree of similarity with similarly arranged peptide sequences translated from Corynebacterium glutamicum pXZ10142 and Mycobacterium fortuitum pAL5000 plasmids. Recombinant plasmids containing the pMB1 replicon were able to replicate in Bifidobacterium animalis MB209. The successful transformation of this strain with pMB1-based plasmids facilitated characterization of this replicon, results of which showed that both orf1 and orf2 are necessary for plasmid replication. A family of new Escherichia coli-B. animalis shuttle plasmids, based on the pMB1 replicon and expressing a cat and an ery gene, was constructed.
Pharmacological Research, 2013
Journal of Applied Microbiology, 2007
Journal of Applied Microbiology, 2002
International journal of food microbiology, Jan 15, 2010
In this review we focus on the revision of the prebiotic concept in the context of the new metage... more In this review we focus on the revision of the prebiotic concept in the context of the new metagenomic era. Functional metagenomic data provided by the Human Microbiome Project are revolutionizing the view of the symbiotic relationship between the intestinal microbiota and the human host. A deeper knowledge of the mechanisms that govern the dynamic interplay between diet, intestinal microbiota and host nutrition opens the way to better information on the prebiotic structure-function relationships, tailoring prebiotic formula into specific health attributes. On the other hand, functional genomic studies of the sourdough microbial communities allow to scan the environmental variability to identify novel metabolic traits for the biosynthesis of new potential prebiotic molecules. The integration of the functional analyses provided by the massive sequencing of bacterial genomes and metagenomes will allow the rational production of a desired prebiotic molecule with specific functional pro...
FEMS Microbiology Letters, 1990
European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 2000
Digestive and Liver Disease, 2008
Current Microbiology, 1989
Screening for the plasmid content of 94 strains belonging to ten species of thermophilic bacilli ... more Screening for the plasmid content of 94 strains belonging to ten species of thermophilic bacilli mainly referred toBacillus stearothermophilus was carried out. Twenty-seven of the strains tested were found to harbor one or more plasmids ranging in size from 1.7 to>50 kb. The physical map of the smallest plasmid, pBC1, is reported. Southern hybridization experiments showed that pBC1 hybridized strongly
Biotechnology Techniques, 1991
Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 1997
The optimal culture conditions for Bacillus stearothermophilus NUB3621 (BGSC 9A5) in chemostat we... more The optimal culture conditions for Bacillus stearothermophilus NUB3621 (BGSC 9A5) in chemostat were studied. The results obtained showed that the optimal culture conditions in terms of biomass concentration and maximum growth rate were 65 degrees C, pH 6.8 to 7.2. Dissolved oxygen became growth limiting at pO(2) levels below 10%. Furthermore, this strain was transformed with three new hybrid vectors (pPAM2, pPCH2, or pPLY2) constructed by cloning in pRP9, a plasmid based on the thermophilic replicon, pBC1, and three heterologous genes: the alpha-amylase gene from Bacillus licheniformis, the cholesterol oxidase gene from Streptomyces sp., and the lipase gene from Pseudomonas fluorescens. The influence of several fermentative conditions on segregational and structural stability of the recombinant B. stearothermophilus NUB3621 transformants was studied.The parameters of plasmid loss, that is, rate of plasmid loss (R) and specific growth rate difference (deltamu), were calculated. B. stearothermophilus NUB3621 carrying pRP9 showed great segregational stability in all the assayed conditions, exceeding more than 300 generations without significant plasmid loss, whereas NUB3621 carrying pPAM2, pPCH2, or pPLY2 exhibited relatively low plasmid stability. The segregational instability of the recombinant constructs increased by increasing the fermentation temperature, decreased by increasing the dilution rate, and was not affected by the level of dissolved oxygen. On the other hand, plasmid maintenance decreased in minimal medium if compared with the results obtained in complex medium. Restriction analyses carried out on cultures of NUB3621 carrying pRP9, pPAM2, pPCH2, or pPLY2, grown for 200 generations on nonselective media, revealed that all the clones tested contained the parental plasmids. These results indicate that the heterologous inserts did not affect the structural stability of the recombinant plasmids. (c) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 53: 507-514, 1997.
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](Archiv der Pharmazie, 2002
Ageing Research Reviews, 2011
International journal of pharmaceutics, Jan 2, 2015
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the gel-forming polysaccharide psyllium in the prepa... more The aim of the present study was to evaluate the gel-forming polysaccharide psyllium in the preparation of mucoadhesive patches for the controlled release of chlorhexidine (CHX) to treat pathologies in the oral cavity, using the casting-solvent evaporation technique. A number of different film-forming semi-synthetic polymers, such as sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (SCMC) and hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose (HPMC) were evaluated for comparison. The patch formulations were characterized in terms of drug content, morphology surface, swelling and mucoadhesive properties, microbiology inhibition assay and in vitro release tests. Three ex-vivo testswere carried out using porcine mucosa: an alternative dissolution test using artificial saliva that allows contemporary measurement of dissolution and mucoadhesion, a permeation test through the mucosa and the measurement of mucoadhesion using a Nouy tensile tester, as the maximum force required for the separation of the patch from the mucosa sur...
Scientific reports, 2015
The gut microbiota is essential for human health and plays an important role in the pathogenesis ... more The gut microbiota is essential for human health and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of several diseases. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), such as acetate, butyrate and propionate, are end-products of microbial fermentation of macronutrients that distribute systemically via the blood. The aim of this study was to investigate the transcriptional response of immature and LPS-matured human monocyte-derived DC to SCFA. Our data revealed distinct effects exerted by each individual SCFA on gene expression in human monocyte-derived DC, especially in the mature ones. Acetate only exerted negligible effects, while both butyrate and propionate strongly modulated gene expression in both immature and mature human monocyte-derived DC. An Ingenuity pathway analysis based on the differentially expressed genes suggested that propionate and butyrate modulate leukocyte trafficking, as SCFA strongly reduced the release of several pro-inflammatory chemokines including CCL3, CCL4, CCL5, CXCL9...
Gut, Jan 28, 2015
Habitual diet plays a major role in shaping the composition of the gut microbiota, and also deter... more Habitual diet plays a major role in shaping the composition of the gut microbiota, and also determines the repertoire of microbial metabolites that can influence the host. The typical Western diet corresponds to that of an omnivore; however, the Mediterranean diet (MD), common in the Western Mediterranean culture, is to date a nutritionally recommended dietary pattern that includes high-level consumption of cereals, fruit, vegetables and legumes. To investigate the potential benefits of the MD in this cross-sectional survey, we assessed the gut microbiota and metabolome in a cohort of Italian individuals in relation to their habitual diets. We retrieved daily dietary information and assessed gut microbiota and metabolome in 153 individuals habitually following omnivore, vegetarian or vegan diets. The majority of vegan and vegetarian subjects and 30% of omnivore subjects had a high adherence to the MD. We were able to stratify individuals according to both diet type and adherence to ...
Annales de l'Institut Pasteur / Microbiologie, 1983
Methods in Molecular Biology, 2012
In healthy women, the vaginal ecosystem is dominated by Lactobacillus spp., but a diverse array o... more In healthy women, the vaginal ecosystem is dominated by Lactobacillus spp., but a diverse array of other bacteria can be present in lower amounts. The activity of lactobacilli is essential to protect women from genital infections and to maintain the natural healthy balance of the vaginal microbiota. Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a complex, polymicrobial disorder characterized by an overgrowth of strict or facultative anaerobic bacteria and a reduction of lactobacilli. Culture-independent techniques based on the analysis of rRNA gene sequences provide powerful tools to reveal the phylogenetic diversity of the vaginal microorganisms in healthy women and patients affected by BV. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis conducted with universal primers for eubacteria allows detecting the most abundant bacterial species of an ecosystem. Sequencing of the DNA fragments and comparison with sequences present in publicly available databases allow identifying the corresponding bacterial species. Quantitative PCR is a powerful technique for the quantitative analysis of a selected genus or species.
Research in Microbiology, 1991
The cryptic plasmid pBC1 (1.6 kb) isolated from Bacillus coagulans Zu1961 was genetically marked ... more The cryptic plasmid pBC1 (1.6 kb) isolated from Bacillus coagulans Zu1961 was genetically marked with the genes for chloramphenicol and ampicillin resistance (CmR and ApR) from the Escherichia coli plasmid pJH101. The recombinant vector obtained (pCP49, 7.0 kb) replicated and expressed CmR in B. subtilis and CmR and ApR in E. coli. Different shuttle vectors for Gram+ bacteria were also constructed by inserting pBC1 into the Staphylococcus aureus plasmid pC194. The smallest of these, pLM6 (2.8 kb), containing essentially pBC1 and the chloramphenicol acetyl transferase gene from pC194, replicated in B. subtilis at a copy number of 60. By electroporation, these plasmids were introduced and stably maintained in B. subtilis, B. amyloliquefaciens, S. aureus, S. carnosus and Lactobacillus reuteri.
Research in Microbiology, 1996
The nucleotide sequence of the 1847-bp Bifidobacterium longum B2577 cryptic plasmid pMB1 was dete... more The nucleotide sequence of the 1847-bp Bifidobacterium longum B2577 cryptic plasmid pMB1 was determined. The plasmid had a G+C content of 62.0%, and contained two open reading frames, orf1 and orf2, likely arranged in an operon. The proteins encoded by orf1 and orf2 show the highest degree of similarity with similarly arranged peptide sequences translated from Corynebacterium glutamicum pXZ10142 and Mycobacterium fortuitum pAL5000 plasmids. Recombinant plasmids containing the pMB1 replicon were able to replicate in Bifidobacterium animalis MB209. The successful transformation of this strain with pMB1-based plasmids facilitated characterization of this replicon, results of which showed that both orf1 and orf2 are necessary for plasmid replication. A family of new Escherichia coli-B. animalis shuttle plasmids, based on the pMB1 replicon and expressing a cat and an ery gene, was constructed.
Pharmacological Research, 2013
Journal of Applied Microbiology, 2007
Journal of Applied Microbiology, 2002
International journal of food microbiology, Jan 15, 2010
In this review we focus on the revision of the prebiotic concept in the context of the new metage... more In this review we focus on the revision of the prebiotic concept in the context of the new metagenomic era. Functional metagenomic data provided by the Human Microbiome Project are revolutionizing the view of the symbiotic relationship between the intestinal microbiota and the human host. A deeper knowledge of the mechanisms that govern the dynamic interplay between diet, intestinal microbiota and host nutrition opens the way to better information on the prebiotic structure-function relationships, tailoring prebiotic formula into specific health attributes. On the other hand, functional genomic studies of the sourdough microbial communities allow to scan the environmental variability to identify novel metabolic traits for the biosynthesis of new potential prebiotic molecules. The integration of the functional analyses provided by the massive sequencing of bacterial genomes and metagenomes will allow the rational production of a desired prebiotic molecule with specific functional pro...
FEMS Microbiology Letters, 1990
European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 2000
Digestive and Liver Disease, 2008
Current Microbiology, 1989
Screening for the plasmid content of 94 strains belonging to ten species of thermophilic bacilli ... more Screening for the plasmid content of 94 strains belonging to ten species of thermophilic bacilli mainly referred toBacillus stearothermophilus was carried out. Twenty-seven of the strains tested were found to harbor one or more plasmids ranging in size from 1.7 to>50 kb. The physical map of the smallest plasmid, pBC1, is reported. Southern hybridization experiments showed that pBC1 hybridized strongly
Biotechnology Techniques, 1991
Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 1997
The optimal culture conditions for Bacillus stearothermophilus NUB3621 (BGSC 9A5) in chemostat we... more The optimal culture conditions for Bacillus stearothermophilus NUB3621 (BGSC 9A5) in chemostat were studied. The results obtained showed that the optimal culture conditions in terms of biomass concentration and maximum growth rate were 65 degrees C, pH 6.8 to 7.2. Dissolved oxygen became growth limiting at pO(2) levels below 10%. Furthermore, this strain was transformed with three new hybrid vectors (pPAM2, pPCH2, or pPLY2) constructed by cloning in pRP9, a plasmid based on the thermophilic replicon, pBC1, and three heterologous genes: the alpha-amylase gene from Bacillus licheniformis, the cholesterol oxidase gene from Streptomyces sp., and the lipase gene from Pseudomonas fluorescens. The influence of several fermentative conditions on segregational and structural stability of the recombinant B. stearothermophilus NUB3621 transformants was studied.The parameters of plasmid loss, that is, rate of plasmid loss (R) and specific growth rate difference (deltamu), were calculated. B. stearothermophilus NUB3621 carrying pRP9 showed great segregational stability in all the assayed conditions, exceeding more than 300 generations without significant plasmid loss, whereas NUB3621 carrying pPAM2, pPCH2, or pPLY2 exhibited relatively low plasmid stability. The segregational instability of the recombinant constructs increased by increasing the fermentation temperature, decreased by increasing the dilution rate, and was not affected by the level of dissolved oxygen. On the other hand, plasmid maintenance decreased in minimal medium if compared with the results obtained in complex medium. Restriction analyses carried out on cultures of NUB3621 carrying pRP9, pPAM2, pPCH2, or pPLY2, grown for 200 generations on nonselective media, revealed that all the clones tested contained the parental plasmids. These results indicate that the heterologous inserts did not affect the structural stability of the recombinant plasmids. (c) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 53: 507-514, 1997.
Archiv der Pharmazie, 2002
Ageing Research Reviews, 2011