Alginate beads are one of the most common vehicles for encapsulation. When designing bioartificial organs, they are used as matrix for cell culture. Cell survival and activity depend essentially on the bead physical and mechanical properties. Our objective is to study the feasibility of evaluating mechanical properties of millimetric beads using an ultrasound technique. We show that Lamé’s firs...

UNLABELLED Previous in vitro results indicated that alginate beads might be a useful vehicle for food iron fortification. A human study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that alginate enhances iron absorption. A randomised, single blinded, cross-over trial was carried out in which iron absorption was measured from serum iron appearance after a test meal. Overnight-fasted volunteers (n = 15)...

The ability of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to form biofilms and cause chronic infections in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients is well documented. Numerous studies have revealed that P. aeruginosa biofilms are highly refractory to antibiotics. However, dramatically fewer studies have addressed P. aeruginosa biofilm resistance to the host’s immune system. In planktonic, unattached (nonbiofilm) P. ...

The exopolysaccharide alginate is an important component of biofilms produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a major pathogen that contributes to the demise of cystic fibrosis patients. Alginate exits the cell via the outer membrane porin AlgE. X-ray structures of several AlgE crystal forms are reported here. Whilst all share a common β-barrel constitution, they differ in the degree to which loops ...

In this investigation dyeing of alginate fiber was carried out after cationic treatment of 11 EPTAC (2, 3-Epoxypropyl Trimethyl Ammonium Chloride). Optimum dyeing process and 12 parameter show good dyeing performance when alginate fiber dyed with rhubarb dye. In addition 13 to cationic treatment is taken into account for alginate fiber to improve fastness, color strength, 14 breaking strength. ...

Improved methods have recently been developed for assessing islet viability and quantity in human islet preparations for transplantation, and these measurements have proven useful for predicting transplantation outcome. The objectives of this study were to adapt these methods for use with microencapsulated islets, to verify that they provide meaningful quantitative measurements, and to test the...

Different strategies are being investigated for treatment of spinal cord injuries, one of the most promising being application of neurotrophic factors, which have been shown to prevent neuronal death and stimulate regeneration of injured axons. Ex vivo gene therapy has emerged as the leading delivery method at the site of the injury, and we have shown previously that encapsulating genetically e...

microencapsulation has become a common technique in the production of controlled release dosage forms. many results have been reported, concerning the use of alginate beads as controlled release drug formulations. alginate has a unique gel-forming property in the presence of multivalent cations, in an aqueous medium. ibuprofen is an excellent analgesic and antipyretic, non-steroidal anti-inflam...

in this study, lactic acid production by repeated batch fermentation using cell entrapped methods was compared. barium alginate beads, agar gel and polyurethane foam cubes were employed as carriers to immobilize lactobacillus casei subsp. casei for the purpose of l (+)-lactic acid production. increasing concentrations of lactic acid during fermentation were better tolerated by barium alginate e...