Publications by authors named "Bojana Bogovic Matijasic"

Introduction: Fermented whey-based products show significant potential as functional foods, owing to their rich nutritional profile and the generation of bioactive compounds during fermentation. This systematic narrative review evaluates the health effects of fermented-whey consumption based on evidence from human studies in adults.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted using electronic databases including, PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Library for studies published between 1.

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Background: Asymptomatic carriage of Clostridioides difficile is highly prevalent in early infancy, affecting approximately 40% of infants. This phenomenon offers a unique opportunity to study its impact on the gut microbiota without the confounding effects of disease. In this study, we analysed C.

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The adequate survival of probiotics in the harsh environment of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract plays a crucial role in the expression of their functional properties. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the survival of commercial probiotics during digestion using a standardised INFOGEST 2.0 model extended with three food matrices simulating three scenarios for the consumption of probiotics: on an empty stomach, with juice, or with food (porridge).

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Background: The human gut hosts a diverse microbial community, essential for maintaining overall health. However, antibiotics, commonly prescribed for infections, can disrupt this delicate balance, leading to antibiotic-associated diarrhea, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, and even neurological disorders. Recognizing this, probiotics have emerged as a promising strategy to counteract these adverse effects.

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Article Synopsis
  • Scientists created a special cell model called the MAGIC model to understand how bacteria live in the human mammary gland, which is important for health.
  • They used a type of cell called MCF10A that can grow similar to cells found in the mammary gland and tested how well bacteria from human milk can stick to this model.
  • The MAGIC model showed important details about how bacteria attach and react to different milk samples, which can help researchers learn more about bacterial interactions in the mammary gland.
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Probiotics are live microorganisms that can have beneficial effects on humans. Encapsulation offers them a better chance of survival. Therefore, nozzle-free electrospinning was introduced for their embedding in nanofibrous material.

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  • Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and bifidobacteria can harbor antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs), but research on how these bacteria resist antibiotics is limited.
  • This study aimed to uncover the genetic mechanisms behind resistance in 103 LAB and bifidobacteria through whole-genome sequencing, finding 36 acquired ARGs in 18 strains and evidence of intrinsic ARGs.
  • The results indicate a potential for horizontal gene transfer of these ARGs and highlight mutations as a common resistance mechanism, while the correlation between genotypes and minimum inhibitory concentrations was strong, especially for certain antibiotics.
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  • Human lactoferrin (hLF) is a key protein in human milk that supports neonatal growth and immune function, and this study aims to validate a reliable detection method for it.
  • The researchers utilized cation-exchange HPLC on CIM® monolithic columns to effectively isolate and measure hLF in human milk samples collected at various stages of lactation.
  • Results showed that hLF levels ranged from 2.03 to 5.79 mg/mL, with lower concentrations observed as lactation progressed, indicating that this HPLC method is both accurate and robust for quantifying hLF in human milk.
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In this perspective analysis, we strive to answer the following question: how can we advance integrative biology research in the 21st century with lessons from animal science? At the University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Animal Science, we share here our three lessons learned in the two decades from 2002 to 2022 that we believe could inform integrative biology, systems science, and animal science scholarship in other countries and geographies. Cultivating multiomics knowledge through a conceptual lens of integrative biology is crucial for life sciences research that can stand the test of diverse biological, clinical, and ecological contexts. Moreover, in an era of the current COVID-19 pandemic, animal nutrition and animal science, and the study of their interactions with human health (and vice versa) through integrative biology approaches hold enormous prospects and significance for systems medicine and ecosystem health.

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Article Synopsis
  • Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and bifidobacteria may harbor antimicrobial resistance (AMR), but the risk from strains used in food production is not well understood.
  • A study analyzing 474 strains found that intestinal isolates had higher rates of AMR compared to commercial strains, with 13.8% of commercial strains showing acquired resistance, mainly to tetracycline.
  • The research indicates that while intentional introduction of these bacteria into food doesn’t pose a major threat, caution is still needed with specific probiotic strains that may have a higher risk of transferring AMR in the gut.
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Enterococci represent a significant part of the non-starter LAB microbiota of artisanal cheeses produced mainly from raw milk. Common approaches to safety evaluation of enterococci isolates include assessment of antimicrobial resistance and virulence potential. Hence, a collection of 47 (n = 22, Serbia; n = 25, Slovenia) dairy enterococcal isolates, of which (n = 28), (n = 11), (n = 5), (n = 2), and (n = 1), was analyzed.

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Adverse environmental conditions are severely limiting the use of microorganisms in food systems, such as probiotic delivery, where low pH causes a rapid decrease in the survival of ingested bacteria, and mixed-culture fermentation, where stepwise changes and/or metabolites of individual microbial groups can hinder overall growth and production. In our study, model probiotic lactic acid bacteria ( ATCC 8014, GG) and yeasts native to dairy mixed cultures ( ZIM 1868) were entrapped in an optimized (cell, alginate and hardening solution concentration, electrostatic working parameters) Ca-alginate system. Encapsulated cultures were examined for short-term survival in the absence of nutrients (lactic acid bacteria) and long-term performance in acidified conditions (yeasts).

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The insufficient quality of products containing beneficial live bacteria in terms of content and viability of labelled microorganisms is an often-reported problem. The aim of this work was to evaluate the quality of dietary supplements containing viable bacteria available in Slovenian pharmacies using plate counting, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and species- or subspecies-specific PCR with DNA isolated from consortia of viable bacteria, from individual isolates, or directly from the products. Twelve percent of the products (3 of 26) contained insufficient numbers of viable bacteria.

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The aim of the present study was to characterize human milk microbiota (HMM) with 16S rRNA gene amplicon next-generation sequencing and cultivation/matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-time of flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) identification approaches. We analyzed 31 human milk samples from healthy Slovenian mothers. To check the accuracy of MALDI-TOF MS identification, several colonies representing most abundant genera and those, which could not be reliably identified by MALDI-TOF, were subjected to Sanger sequencing of their 16S rRNA gene.

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Lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria deliberately introduced into the food chain may act as a reservoir of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs), which is considered a safety concern. In the present study, resistance to antimicrobials of commercial probiotic strains, probiotic candidate strains, and starter cultures (n = 20) was characterised based on integration of phenotypic and in silico data. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 16 antimicrobials were determined for lactobacilli and bifidobacteria that were isolated from pharmaceutical products or obtained from the manufacturers or culture collections.

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The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of tetracycline resistance in lactobacilli isolated from traditional Serbian white brined raw milk cheeses (Homolje, Sjenica, Zlatar). Isolation of presumptive lactobacilli was initially performed using MRS-S agar without tetracycline, or supplemented with 16 and 64 µg/mL of tetracycline. Rep-PCR (GTG) genotyping showed a high diversity of the isolates obtained, as examination of 233 isolates resulted in 156 different Rep-PCR fingerprints.

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Sound and timely microbial gut colonization completes newborn's healthy metabolic programming and manifests in infant appropriate growth and weight development. Feces, collected at 3, 30, and 90 days after birth from 60 breastfed Slovenian newborns, was submitted to microbial DNA extraction and qPCR quantification of selected gut associated taxa. Multivariate regression analysis was applied to evaluate microbial dynamics with respect to infant demographic, environmental, clinical characteristics and first year growth data.

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Malabsorption of dietary sugars is a common cause of gastrointestinal discomfort, affecting up to one in three people with debilitating symptoms, such as abdominal pain, osmotic diarrhoea, bloating and flatulence. Besides dietary interventions, it has been suggested that ingestion of lactobacilli may alleviate these symptoms. The objectives of this study were to generate strains with improved potential to ameliorate sugar malabsorption related gastrointestinal disorders.

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We conducted a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled multicentric study to investigate the influence of a synbiotic fermented milk on the fecal microbiota composition of 30 adults with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The synbiotic product contained Lactobacillus acidophilus La-5, Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis BB-12, Streptococcus thermophilus, and dietary fiber (90% inulin, 10% oligofructose), and a heat-treated fermented milk without probiotic bacteria or dietary fiber served as placebo.

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Background/aims: Vitamin D deficiency is a common underdiagnosed condition. The aim of this was to analyze the status of vitamin D and its determinants in healthy Slovenian pregnant women.

Methods: A total of 132 volunteer pregnant women completed a questionnaire including baseline demographics, food frequency, physical activities; anthropometrical measurements, body mass index and levels of 25-(OH)D in serum were performed during the third trimester, and dietary intakes were assessed during the 27-28th week of gestation.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the microbial communities present in the breast milk of 45 healthy Slovenian mothers, highlighting their importance for both maternal health and infant gut development.
  • Bacterial DNA was analyzed using techniques like PCR and DGGE, revealing dominant species such as Staphylococcus and Gemella, and significant diversity in bacterial quantities among the samples.
  • The research also notes the prevalence of bacteriocin genes and provides insights into the composition of colostrum microbial communities, which can influence the health of both mothers and babies.
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This study was conducted to evaluate the behavior of Staphylococcus aureus during processing, ripening, and storage of traditional Greek Graviera cheese in accordance with European Union Regulation 1441/2007 for coagulase-positive staphylococci in thermized milk cheeses. Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris M104, a wild, novel nisin A-producing (NisA+) strain, also was evaluated as an antistaphylococcal adjunct.

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