University of Leicester scientists have discovered a natural fruit-based extract that dramatically improves the growth and probiotic qualities of friendly' bacteria such as the lactic acid bacteria, which are found in most widely-advertised health supplement drinks.
The fruit extract is the invention of Dr Primrose Freestone, of the University's Department of Infection, Immunity & Inflammation, and Dr Richard Haigh of the Department of Genetics. The product, LabEnhancer, is currently being marketed in collaboration with Dr Andy Lee, of Plant Bioscience Limited (www.pbltechnology). LabEnhancer elicited a great deal of interest when it was recently showcased by PBL at the International Probio2007 conference in Nantes. As a result, over a dozen companies are now keen to exploit its potential in probiotic diagnostics, bulk culture processes and as a prebiotic supplement. LabEnhancer is therefore expected to have major applications in the world of probiotic and prebiotic technologies, and company evaluations are already underway.
Dr Freestone commented: We are delighted with the overwhelmingly positive response to Lab Enhancer amongst the probiotic and associated industries. I'm continuing to work closely with PBL in promoting the technology and have been excited in the high level of interest that we have generated in such a short space of time. Although lactic acid bacteria play a major role in the production of many products, including probiotic yoghurts, they can be quite difficult to grow and can particularly suffer damage during their processing for use as probiotics. One of the main values of LabEnhancer is that it helps lactic acid bacteria to recover from these stresses therefore making them much more effective as a probiotic'.
leicester.ac/
Epilepsy affects 3% of the Australian population and better treatments are urgently needed as many existing therapies have serious side-effects for patients. In 30% of cases, the current drug options available provide limited seizure relief.
There are more than 200 types of epilepsy, which can either be inherited or result from a range of causes including, head trauma, vascular disease or brain tumours.
The Howard Florey Institute is Australia's largest brain research centre. We continue to grow as we embark on a bold journey that will see us join forces with the Brain Research Institute, National Stroke Research Institute to form the Florey Neuroscience Institutes. Our united effort will result in a critical mass of skilled researchers from different disciplines focused exclusively on the brain. This will accelerate discoveries to benefit those affected directly and indirectly by brain disorders. The Florey's research areas cover a variety of brain and mind disorders including Parkinson's disease, stroke, motor neuron disease, addiction, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and dementia.
florey.au