Background: The study of fungal contamination in food and mycotoxicoses is a priority today, both internationally and nationally. The purpose of this study is to have a general view over the quality of the most common spices that are sold in Romanian markets, by assessing the degree of fungal, bacterial and mycotoxin contamination in pepper and chili powders. Methods: We tested four types of spices: white pepper, black pepper, sweet and hot chili powders from 12 different distributing companies, summing a total of 35 sample types. The fungal and bacterial load was assessed by Standard Plate Count, while the mycotoxin content by High-performance liquid chromatography. Environmental conditions (humidity, pH) and the selling price for each product were also followed. Results: Fungi were observed in 72.7% of black pepper samples, 33.3% in white pepper, 30% in sweet chili and 25% in hot chili products. The most common isolated fungus was Aspergillus spp., while Rhizopus, Mucor, Fusarium, Penicillium, Absidia species were found, in smaller percentage. Four producers (44.4%) presented fungal contamination of over 10^3 CFU/g and two producers (22.2%) presented no fungal contamination in their products. Bacterial contamination was found in 85.7% of the tested products, consisting mostly in Bacillus spp. Aflatoxin B1 was present in all the tested products, mostly in black pepper (mean value 126.3 ng/g); Ochratoxin A was present in sweet chili (mean value 328 ng/g) and Zearalenone in hot chili (mean value 604 ng/g) and sweet chili (mean value 382 ng/g). Conclusion: All spices presented either fungal contamination, mycotoxin contamination, or both. The high humidity and the high pH of spices represent favorable conditions for fungal growth. The selling price was partly related to the physic-chemical conditions and microbiological quality of the spices.

Local inflammation is a well-known symptom of envenomation by snakes of the family Viperidae, attributed primarily to the phospholipase A₂s, metalloproteinases and L-amino acid oxidases contained in their venom. The inflammatory effect of snake venoms has been associated with a marked increase of the cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and TNF-α. To determine the impact of Vipera ammodytes ammodytes snake venom on the expression of inflammation-related genes, we incubated human U937 monocyte cells with dilutions of snake venom. Gene expression was quantified for 28 different genes using a TaqMan^® Array Human Cytokine Network 96-well Plate in a RT-qPCR system. Our results have demonstrated that 1.0 μg/mL Vipera ammodytes ammodytes venom solution induces a notable change in the expression of several cytokine network genes. Among the upregulated genes, there were several that encode interleukins, interferons, and tumor necrosis factors. We further report the downregulation of three interleukin-related genes. Our findings come as supportive information for the known complex effect of snake venoms on the human cytokine network. It also provides relevant new information regarding the expression of genes that have not been previously associated with the effect of snake venoms.

Polioxometalaţii sunt compuşi anorganici importanţi care prezintă o gamă largă de proprietăţi farmacologice incluzând efecte antivirale, antibacteriene, antiparazitare sau antitumorale, chiar dacă mecanismul molecular de acţiune nu este pe deplin înţeles. Scop: În această lucrare am evaluat acţiunea antibacteriană a unor compuşi polioxowolframici saturaţi (POW), datorită faptului că dezvoltarea rezistenţei bacteriilor faţă de antibiotice reprezintă în prezent o problemă majoră de sănătate. Material şi metodă: Acţiunea antibacteriană a fost studiată prin metoda difuziei în agar ca posibilă metodă de screening şi prin metoda microdiluţiilor. Prin microdiluţii au fost calculate concentrația minimă inhibitorie şi concentrația minimă bactericidă pentru fiecare compus. Totodată am comparat fiabilitatea celor două metode de testare faţă de compuşii POW. Rezultate: Cea mai bună acţiune antibacteriană a prezentat-o H4[SiW12O40]*nH2O, iar cea mai slabă Na3[PW12O40]*nH2O, dar în schimb cu o acţiune foarte bună pe Staphylococcus spp., în special pe MRSA. POW îşi exercită acţiunea antibacteriană la concentraţii relativ mari, iar acţiunea lor este dependentă de specia bacteriană, având activitate foarte bună pe Staphylococcus spp. Cea mai fiabilă metodă pentru evaluarea acţiunii antibacteriene a POW este cea a microdiluţiilor. POW îşi pot găsi aplicaţie practică în decontaminarea spitalelor sau ca agenţi antibacterieni in vivo