Igori Balta

Mr. Igori Balta

Faculty of Bioengineering of Animal Resources, University of Life Sciences "King Mihai I" from Timisoara, Timişoara, Timiş, Romania
+1
orcid
Lecturer

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

10Years (2017-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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10 December 2021 in Frontiers in Microbiology
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
ZBZoe Black
Zoe Black
Igori BaltaIgori Balta
Igori Balta
LBLisa Black
Lisa Black
PNPatrick J. Naughton
Patrick J. Naughton
JDJames S. G. Dooley
James S. G. Dooley
Nicolae CorcionivoschiNicolae Corcionivoschi
Nicolae Corcionivoschi
The aim of this review was to provide an update on the complex relationship between manure application, altered pathogen levels and antibiotic resistance. This is necessary to protect health and improve the sustainability of this major farming practice in agricultural systems based on high levels of manure production. It is important to consider soil health in relation to environment and land management practices in the context of the soil microflora and the introduction of pathogens on the health of the soil microbiome. Viable pathogens in manure spread on agricultural land may be distributed by leaching, surface run-off, water source contamination and contaminated crop removal. Thus it is important to understand how multiple pathogens can persist in manures and on soil at farm-scale and how crops produced under these conditions could be a potential transfer route for zoonotic pathogens. The management of pathogen load within livestock manure is a potential mechanism for the reduction and prevention of outbreaks infection with Escherichia coli, Listeria Salmonella, and Campylobacter. The ability of Campylobacter, E. coli, Listeria and Salmonella to combat environmental stress coupled with their survival on food crops and vegetables post-harvest emphasizes the need for further study of these pathogens along with the emerging pathogen Providencia given its link to disease in the immunocompromised and its’ high levels of antibiotic resistance. The management of pathogen load within livestock manure has been widely recognized as a potential mechanism for the reduction and prevention of outbreaks infection but any studies undertaken should be considered as region specific due to the variable nature of the factors influencing pathogen content and survival in manures and soil. Mediocre soils that require nutrients could be one template for research on manure inputs and their influence on soil health and on pathogen survival on grassland and in food crops.

14 October 2021 in Biomedicines
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Igori BaltaIgori Balta
Igori Balta
LSLavinia Stef
Lavinia Stef
IPIoan Pet
Ioan Pet
Tiberiu IancuTiberiu Iancu
Tiberiu Iancu
DSDucu-Sandu Stef
Ducu-Sandu Stef
Nicolae CorcionivoschiNicolae Corcionivoschi
Nicolae Corcionivoschi
The destructive impact of cardiovascular diseases on health, including heart failure, peripheral artery disease, atherosclerosis, stroke, and other cardiac pathological conditions, positions these health conditions as leading causes of increased global mortality rates, thereby impacting the human quality of life. The considerable changes in modern lifestyles, including the increase in food intake and the change in eating habits, will unavoidably lead to an unbalanced consumption of essential fatty acids, with a direct effect on cardiovascular health problems. In the last decade, essential fatty acids have become the main focus of scientific research in medical fields aiming to establish their impact for preventing cardiovascular diseases and the associated risk factors. Specifically, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), such as omega 3 fatty acids, and monounsaturated fatty acids from various sources are mentioned in the literature as having a cardio-protective role, due to various biological mechanisms that are still to be clarified. This review aims to describe the major biological mechanisms of how diets rich in essential fatty acids, or simply essential fatty acid administration, could have anti-inflammatory, vasodilatory, anti-arrhythmic, antithrombotic, antioxidant, and anti-atherogenic effects. This review describes findings originating from clinical studies in which dietary sources of FAs were tested for their role in mitigating the impact of heart disorders in human health.

17 February 2023 in Antibiotics
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
IBIulia Adelina Bunduruș
Iulia Adelina Bunduruș
Igori BaltaIgori Balta
Igori Balta
LSLavinia Stef
Lavinia Stef
MAMirela Ahmadi
Mirela Ahmadi
IPIoan Pet
Ioan Pet
Nicolae CorcionivoschiNicolae Corcionivoschi
Nicolae Corcionivoschi
Campylobacter remains the most prevalent foodborne pathogen bacterium responsible for causing gastroenteritis worldwide. Specifically, this pathogen colonises a ubiquitous range of environments, from poultry, companion pets and livestock animals to humans. The bacterium is uniquely adaptable to various niches, leading to complicated gastroenteritis and, in some cases, difficult to treat due to elevated resistance to certain antibiotics. This increased resistance is currently detected via genomic, clinical or epidemiological studies, with the results highlighting worrying multi-drug resistant (MDR) profiles in many food and clinical isolates. The Campylobacter genome encodes a rich inventory of virulence factors offering the bacterium the ability to influence host immune defences, survive antimicrobials, form biofilms and ultimately boost its infection-inducing potential. The virulence traits responsible for inducing clinical signs are not sufficiently defined because several populations have ample virulence genes with physiological functions that reflect their pathogenicity differences as well as a complement of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) systems. Therefore, exhaustive knowledge of the virulence factors associated with Campylobacter is crucial for collecting molecular insights into the infectivity processes, which could pave the way for new therapeutical targets to combat and control the infection and mitigate the spread of MDR bacteria. This review provides an overview of the spread and prevalence of genetic determinants associated with virulence and antibiotic resistance from studies performed on livestock animals. In addition, we have investigated the relevant coincidental associations between the prevalence of the genes responsible for pathogenic virulence, horizontal gene transfer (HGT) and transmissibility of highly pathogenic Campylobacter strains.

18 August 2022 in Agriculture
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Eugenia ButucelEugenia Butucel
Eugenia Butucel
Igori BaltaIgori Balta
Igori Balta
DMDavid McCleery
David McCleery
FMFlorica Morariu
Florica Morariu
IPIoan Pet
Ioan Pet
Nicolae CorcionivoschiNicolae Corcionivoschi
Nicolae Corcionivoschi
Farm biosecurity management includes a set of practical measures used to prevent and limit the spread of infections to humans and animals. Infections, predominantly caused by zoonotic agents, often occur due to a lack of safety standards monitoring on farms, but also because of the use of inappropriate antimicrobial products leading to bacterial resistance, tolerance to biocides and the emergence antimicrobial-resistant germs. To date, research was mainly focused on studying the antimicrobial resistance in bacterial biofilms and the mechanisms involved in their occurrence. At molecular level, the limited diffusion of biocides in the biofilm matrix, enzyme-mediated resistance, genetic adaptation, efflux pumps, and levels of metabolic activity inside the biofilm are some of the investigated biological mechanisms which can promote antimicrobial resistance in biofilms were also investigated. Interventions, based on the identification of novel antimicrobial compounds, that would exclude the occurrence of bacterial tolerance, including essential oils (oregano, cloves), organic acids (tannic & oleic acid) and natural plant compounds (e.g. alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins and coumarins) were also extensively studied and reviewed given their effectiveness against pathogen-produced biofilms. The aim of this review was emphasize the importance of biosecurity and farm management practices and to assess their impact on bacterial biofilm formation. Furthermore, we present the recent intervention strategies aimed at reducing and combating the formation of bacterial biofilms in livestock farms.

4 February 2022 in Biomedicines
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Eugenia ButucelEugenia Butucel
Eugenia Butucel
Igori BaltaIgori Balta
Igori Balta
MAMirela Ahmadi
Mirela Ahmadi
DGDumitrescu Gabi
Dumitrescu Gabi
FMFlorica Morariu
Florica Morariu
Nicolae CorcionivoschiNicolae Corcionivoschi
Nicolae Corcionivoschi
Biocides are currently considered the first line of defense against foodborne pathogens in hospitals or food processing facilities due to the versatility and efficiency of their chemical active ingredients. Understanding the biological mechanisms responsible for their increased efficiency, especially when used against foodborne pathogens on contaminated surfaces and materials, represents an essential first step in the implementation of efficient strategies for disinfection as choosing an unsuitable product can lead to antibiocide resistance or antibiotic–biocide cross-resistance. This review describes these biological mechanisms for the most common foodborne pathogens and focuses mainly on the antipathogen effect, highlighting the latest developments based on in vitro and in vivo studies. We focus on biocides with inhibitory effects against foodborne bacteria (e.g., Escherichia spp., Klebsiella spp., Staphylococcus spp., Listeria spp., Campylobacter spp.), aiming to understand their biological mechanisms of action by looking at the most recent scientific evidence in the field.

9 August 2019 in BMC Chemistry
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Igori BaltaIgori Balta
Igori Balta
BSBogdan Sevastre
Bogdan Sevastre
VMVioara Mireşan
Vioara Mireşan
MTMarian Taulescu
Marian Taulescu
CRCamelia Raducu
Camelia Raducu
ACAurelia Coroian
Aurelia Coroian
Tartrazine (Yellow 5 or E102) is a synthetic food dye able to modify perception and behavior, causing agitation, confusion, rhinitis and can produce hyperactivity syndrome in children when is combined with benzoates. Additionally, it can trigger oxidative stress which consequently generates metabolic disorders. Therefore, the study was designed to evaluate the harmful effects of the food additive tartrazine and to observe beneficial properties of blackthorn fruits (Prunus spinosa) on the blood and organs of albino Wistar rats. This study was carried out on 20 mature Wistar rats, randomly divided into four groups of five animals. Over the course of the experiment, the control group received only food and drinking water, group I received 75 mg of tartrazine dissolved in (250 ml) water group II was given 75 mg of tartrazine and 200 mg of dried blackthorn fruit powder 200 mg dissolved simultaneously in (250 ml) of tartrazine-water mixture (aiming to reduce the tartrazine toxicity) and group III received a higher dose of tartrazine (100 mg) in (250 ml) of water. At the end of the experiment, values regarding kidney and liver weight were significantly increased, while the weight of the spleen was slightly decreased compared with the weight of the control group. Biochemical and hematological assays, of the blood samples show that the addition of tartrazine in the diet of rats caused significant changes in all biochemical and hematological parameters of the blood. In the group II, which received (P. spinosa) powder combined with tartrazine, the biochemical and hematological parameters had average values similar to the control group. Histopathological assay showed that the application of tartrazine in the group I, II and III produced lesions of the kidneys, spleen and the liver for all rodents. Tartrazine was able to generate histopathological changes, which caused significantly tissue lesions of the liver and significant changes in blood parameters. Blackthorn powder showed a promising protective role for the blood parameters but demonstrated no significant benefits for the organs.