Biogenic amines (BAs) can be found in a wide range of meat and meat products, where they are important as an index for product stability and quality, but also for their impact on public health. This review analyzes the scientific evidence gathered so far on the presence and role of biogenic amines in meat and meat products, also considering the effect of technological conditions on BAs accumulation or decrease. The data provided can be useful for developing solutions to control BAs formation during the shelf-life, for example by novel starters for dry cured products, as well as by packaging technologies and materials for fresh meats. Further research, whose trends are reviewed in this paper, will fill the knowledge gaps, and allow us to protect such perishable products along the distribution chain and in the home environment.

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen that is ubiquitous and largely distributed in food manufacturing environments. It is responsible for listeriosis, a disease that can lead to significant morbidity and fatality in immunocompromised patients, pregnant women, and newborns. Few reports have been published about proteome adaptation when L. monocytogenes is cultivated in stress conditions. In this study, we applied one-dimensional electrophoresis and 2D-PAGE combined with tandem mass spectrometry to evaluate proteome profiling in the following conditions: mild acid, low temperature, and high NaCl concentration. The total proteome was analyzed, also considering the case of normal growth-supporting conditions. A total of 1,160 proteins were identified and those related to pathogenesis and stress response pathways were analyzed. The proteins involved in the expression of virulent pathways when L. monocytogenes ST7 strain was grown under different stress conditions were described. Certain proteins, particularly those involved in the pathogenesis pathway, such as Listeriolysin regulatory protein and Internalin A, were only found when the strain was grown under specific stress conditions. Studying how L. monocytogenes adapts to stress can help to control its growth in food, reducing the risk for consumers.

Purpose: Brucella canis is pathogenic for dogs and humans. Serological diagnosis is a cost‐effective approach for disease surveillance, but a major drawback of current serological tests is the cross‐reactivity with other bacteria that results in false positive reactions. Development of indirect tests with improved sensitivity and specificity that use selected B. canis proteins instead of the whole antigen remain a priority.Experimental Design: A western blotting assay was developed to define the serum antibody patterns associated to infection using a panel of positive and negative dog sera. B. canis positive sera recognized immunogenic bands ranging from 7 to 30 kDa that were then submitted to ESI–LC‐MS/MS and analyzed by bioinformatics tools.Results: A total of 398 B. canis proteins were identified. Bioinformatics tools identified 16 non cytoplasmic immunogenic proteins predicted as non‐homologous with the most important Brucella cross‐reactive bacteria and nine B. canis proteins non‐homologous to B. ovis; among the latter, one resulted non‐homologous to B. melitensis. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD042682.Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: The western blotting test developed was able to distinguish between infected and non‐infected animals and may serve as a confirmatory test for the serological diagnosis of B. canis. The mass spectrometry and in silico results lead to the identification of specific candidate antigens that pave the way for the development of more accurate indirect diagnostic tests.

An independent association between hypercholesterolemia and high insulin levels has not consistently emerged from large-scale epidemiologic observations. We selected 39 patients with elevated low-density (LDL) cholesterol levels but normal body weight, blood pressure, and glucose tolerance, and compared them to 36 normocholesterolemic, healthy control subjects accurately matched to the patients for age, gender, body mass index, and mean arterial blood pressure. Fasting serum total cholesterol concentrations and levels of LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and apoprotein B were all higher in the patients with hypercholesterolemia than in controls (P < 0.025 or less), whereas high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and apoprotein A levels were significantly lower (P < 0.05 or less). Plasma insulin concentrations were elevated in hypercholesterolemic patients vs. controls both in the fasting state (86 +/- 6 vs. 59 +/- 8 pmol/L) and 2 h after a 75-g oral glucose load (412 +/- 16 vs. 276 +/- 18 pmol/L, P < 0.02 for both). Two-hour plasma glucose concentrations were also significantly raised in the patients (7.8 +/- 0.2 mmol/L) compared to controls (6.4 +/- 0.1 mmol/L, P < 0.025). In a multiple regression model including serum triglyceride concentrations, LDL cholesterol was still significantly related to both fasting and 2-h plasma insulin concentrations, contributing approximately 20% to the overall variability of these measures. Thus, in this group of patients with type IIa familial combined hyperlipoproteinemia hypercholesterolemia was associated with hyperinsulinemia even when controlling for other confounders (age, gender, body mass, glucose tolerance, and blood pressure).