Thermal processing applied to biological products: thermal resistance evaluation of microorganisms and proteins as biological indicators of processes

• Grant number: 11/01431-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: April 01, 2011
• End date: March 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Marina Ishii
• Grantee: Marina Ishii
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas (FCF). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Luiz Carlos Martins das Neves

Abstract

The incidence of hospital infections is a worldwide public health problem, due to the high rates of mortality, morbidity, extension and treatment costs. Hospital infections can be related to lack of sterility of parenteral solutions which are used for patient hydration and for drugs vehicle, as well as the failure of cleaning and disinfection procedures. Furthermore, food contamination is responsible for hospitalization, too. This situation indicates how difficult is to establish efficient procedures to keep microbial proiferation controled. Thermal treatment is an alternative used to inactivate microorganisms and proteins, being its efficacy measured by determination of kinetics parameters of destruction at specific conditions. The Green Fluorescent Protein, GFP, is extensively used as an efficient process biomaker, determined by its fluorescence intensity. This work aims to evaluate the thermal resistance of microorganisms and GFP, inoculated into parenteral formulations and disinfection solutions, and submitted to temperature treatment variation. Thus, this work intends to indicate reiable bioindicators to evaluate the efficacy of the thermal processes, and the cleaning and sanitization procedures, contributing for products quality, its safe use and the reduction of infections and contamination often related. (AU)