We performed a randomized double-blind controlled trial to compare the efficacy and safety of multistrain probiotic and acyclovir in women patients with recurrent genital herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infections. Eighty-one patients enrolled in the study were being treated with multistrain Lactobacillus brevis one vaginal capsule every 12 h and oral acyclovir 400 mg twice daily for 6 months. Of 53 patients who completed both treatment courses, no important differences were identified between acyclovir and probiotic for the primary and secondary efficacy endpoint, resolution of episode (hazard ratio, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.3429 to 1.0663; P = 0.08), lesion healing time (hazard ratio, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.3034 to 1.0717, P = 0.08), viral shedding (hazard ratio, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.3027 to 0.9750, P = 0.04), and percentage of pain (hazard ratio, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.2708 to 0.8545, P = 0.01). The median time to first and second recurrence after treatment were 43 and 121 days in patients receiving acyclovir and 33 and 118 days in patients receiving probiotic (HR 2.61; 95% CI, 1.4427 to 4.7546, P = 0.001, and HR 0.62; 95% CI, 0.3500 to 1.1133, P = 0.1, respectively). No clinically important effects happened during the probiotic treatment but some of adverse events reported in patients taking acyclovir. Easy availability, low cost, and no side effect of L. brevis are valuable properties of probiotic therapy compared with acyclovir. Therefore, we concluded that multistrain L. brevis could play an important role in suppression of recurrent genital herpes simplex virus infection.

The rheology behavior of biological fluids particularly when the viscosity is high and rheology is complex, is an important issue to understand, particularly for studies in mass-transfer and for solving technical problems with mixing in stirred bioreactors. In this paper, the use of a Swingstir(®) impeller during the fermentation of Aspergillus oryzae resulted in decreases from the parameters of a power-law model, in viscosity and in the thixotropic behavior of a cultivation broth. The results showed that both the K L a and the alpha amylase activity were improved when using the Swingstir(®) in comparison with Fullzone(®) impeller (FZ) at the same level of energy consumption. Increasing the pellet porosity during mixing via the Swingstir(®) resulted in increases in oxygen mass transfer and the average shear stress.

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Background: The intensification of fermentation in stirred bioreactors is an attractive approach for commercial interests and industries that work with biochemical products. Alpha amylase is an enzymatic bio-products that is produced largely from Aspergillus oryzae. Using adaptable agitator can be an efficient way for stirred fermentation. Objective: This study, concentrated on enhancing the mixing process in order to intensify Aspergillus oryzae fermentation. A straight type of Maxblend® impeller was used as an agitator to investigate the incubation parameters compared with the use of a 6-blade double Rushton turbine. Method: Stirred fermentation was done in batch condition. Effect of flow pattern of mixing on fermentation parameters was investigated after each sampling. Results: The results showed that the Maxblend® significantly intensified both enzyme activity and growth rate at low and moderate rates of power consumption (P). The main reason for the decreases in the growth rate and the enzyme activity during agitation by the Rushton turbine at low and high Pv was the lack of oxygen and mycelial damage, respectively. Additionally, use of the Maxblend® significantly intensified the KLa at low and moderate rates of power consumption. Conclusion: Axial and uniform mixing by Maxblend® impeller was resulted in improving the fermentation characteristics and enzyme activity.

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