Role of the enterocyte in fructose-induced hypertriglyceridaemia

Dietary fructose has been linked to an increased post-prandial triglyceride (TG) level; which is an established independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Although much research has focused on the effects of fructose consumption on liver-derived very-low density lipoprotein (VLDL); emerging evidence also suggests that fructose may raise post-prandial TG levels by affecting the metabolism of enterocytes of the small intestine. Enterocytes have become well recognised for their ability to transiently store lipids following a meal and to thus control post-prandial TG levels according to the rate of chylomicron (CM) lipoprotein synthesis and secretion. The influence of fructose consumption on several aspects of enterocyte lipid metabolism are discussed; including de novo lipogenesis; apolipoprotein B48 and CM-TG production; based on the findings of animal and human isotopic tracer studies. Methodological issues affecting the interpretation of fructose studies conducted to date are highlighted; including the accurate separation of CM and VLDL. Although the available evidence to date is limited; disruption of enterocyte lipid metabolism may make a meaningful contribution to the hypertriglyceridaemia often associated with fructose consumption

Manganese exposure in juvenile C57BL/6 mice increases glial inflammatory responses in the substantia nigra following infection with H1N1 influenza virus.

Infection with Influenza A virus can lead to the development of encephalitis and subsequent neurological deficits ranging from headaches to neurodegeneration. Post-encephalitic parkinsonism has been reported in surviving patients of H1N1 infections, but not all cases of encephalitic H1N1 infection present with these neurological symptoms, suggesting that interactions with an environmental neurotoxin could promote more severe neurological damage. The heavy metal, manganese (Mn), is a potential interacting factor with H1N1 because excessive exposure early in life can induce long-lasting effects on neurological function through inflammatory activation of glial cells. In the current study, we used a two-hit model of neurotoxin-pathogen exposure to examine whether exposure to Mn during juvenile development would induce a more severe neuropathological response following infection with H1N1 in adulthood. To test this hypothesis, C57BL/6 mice were exposed to MnCl2 in drinking water (50 mg/kg/day) for 30 days from days 21-51 postnatal, then infected intranasally with H1N1 three weeks later. Analyses of dopaminergic neurons, microglia and astrocytes in basal ganglia indicated that although there was no significant loss of dopaminergic neurons within the substantia nigra pars compacta, there was more pronounced activation of microglia and astrocytes in animals sequentially exposed to Mn and H1N1, as well as altered patterns of histone acetylation. Whole transcriptome Next Generation Sequencing (RNASeq) analysis was performed on the substantia nigra and revealed unique patterns of gene expression in the dual-exposed group, including genes involved in antioxidant activation, mitophagy and neurodegeneration. Taken together, these results suggest that exposure to elevated levels of Mn during juvenile development could sensitize glial cells to more severe neuro-immune responses to influenza infection later in life through persistent epigenetic changes

Lead Inhibition of DNA-Binding Mechanism of Cys 2 His 2 Zinc Finger Proteins

ABSTRACT The association of lead with chromatin in cells suggests that deleterious metal effects may in part be mediated through alterations in gene function. To elucidate if and how lead may alter DNA binding of cysteine-rich zinc finger proteins, lead ions were analyzed for their ability to alter the DNA binding mechanism of the Cys 2 His 2 zinc finger protein transcription factor IIIA (TFIIIA). As assayed by DNase I protection, the interaction of TFIIIA with the 50-bp internal control region of the 5S ribosomal gene was partially inhibited by 5 M lead ions and completely inhibited by 10 to 20 M lead ions. Preincubation of free TFIIIA with lead resulted in DNA-binding inhibition, whereas preincubation of a TFIIIA/5S RNA complex with lead did not result in DNA-binding inhibition. Because 5S RNA binds TFIIIA zinc fingers, this result is consistent with an inhibition mechanism via lead binding to zinc fingers. The complete loss of DNase I protection on the 5S gene indicates the mechanism of inhibition minimally involves the N-terminal fingers of TFIIIA. Inhibition was not readily reversible and occurred in the presence of an excess of ␤-mercaptoethanol. Inhibition kinetics were fast, progressing to completion in ϳ5 min. Millimolar concentrations of sulfhydryl-specific arsenic ions were not inhibitory for TFIIIA binding. Micromolar concentrations of lead inhibited DNA binding by Sp1, another Cys 2 His 2 finger protein, but not by the nonfinger protein AP2. Inhibition of Cys 2 His 2 zinc finger transcription factors by lead ions at concentrations near those known to have deleterious physiological effects points to new molecular mechanisms for lead toxicity in promoting disease

Model-based investigation into atmospheric freeze drying assisted by power ultrasound

Atmospheric freeze drying consists of a convective drying process using air at a temperature below the freezing point of the processed product, and with a very low relative humidity content. This paper focuses on the use of a simple one-dimensional model considering moving boundary vapor diffusion to describe the ultrasonic assisted atmospheric freeze-drying of foodstuffs. The case study is the drying of apple cubes (8.8 mm) at different air velocities (1, 2, 4 and 6 m/s), temperatures ( 5, 10 and 15 C), without and with (25, 50 and 75 W) power ultrasound application. By fitting the proposed diffusion model to the experimental drying kinetics, the effective diffusivity of water vapor in the dried product was estimated. The model was successfully validated by drying apple samples of different size and geometry (cubes and cylinders). Finally, a 23 factorial design of experiments revealed that the most relevant operating parameter affecting the drying time was the applied ultrasound power level.The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) and of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the project DPI2012-37466-CO3-03, the FPI fellowship (BES-2010-033460) and the EEBB-I-14-08572 fellowship granted to J.V. Santacatalina for a short stay at Politecnico di Torino.Santacatalina Bonet, JV.; Fissore, D.; Cárcel Carrión, JA.; Mulet Pons, A.; García Pérez, JV. (2015). Model-based investigation into atmospheric freeze drying assisted by power ultrasound. Journal of Food Engineering. 151:7-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2014.11.013S71515

Processing and Quality Guidelines for Organic Food Processing/Verarbeitungs- und Qualitätsleitfaden für biologische Lebensmittel/Linee guida per la lavorazione e la qualità visto che trasformazione di alimenti biologici

These guidelines on quality and processing of organic foods have been prepared as part of the Core Organic Plus funded project “SusOrganic - Development of quality standards and optimised processing methods for organic produce”

Twenty year fitness trends in young adults and incidence of prediabetes and diabetes: the CARDIA study

The prospective association between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) measured in young adulthood and middle age on development of prediabetes, defined as impaired fasting glucose and/or impaired glucose tolerance, or diabetes by middle age remains unknown. We hypothesised that higher fitness levels would be associated with reduced risk for developing incident prediabetes/diabetes by middle age

Low-Temperature drying of salted cod (Gadus morhua) assisted by high power ultrasound: Kinetics and physical properties

[EN] Low-temperature convective drying could be considered an affordable alternative to conventional freeze-drying for foodstuffs. The process intensification should be based on non-thermal technologies, such as power ultrasound. Thereby, the aim of this work was to evaluate the air-borne application of power ultrasound on the low-temperature drying of salted cod. For that purpose, drying experiments were carried out at −10, 0, 10 and 20 °C on salted cod slices at 2 m/s with (AIR + US, 20.5 kW/m3) and without ultrasonic application (AIR). In the dried-salted cod, its rehydration capacity was analyzed, as were the microstructural, textural and color changes. At every temperature tested, ultrasound application increased the drying rate; thus, an average increase of 74%was observed in the effective diffusivity. AIR+US dried samples were softer and exhibited a higher rehydration capacity than AIR ones, which was linked to the microstructural changes produced by ultrasound. In addition, color changes were induced by ultrasound application. Industrial relevance: Nowadays, low-temperature convective drying represents a promising alternative for the production of high-quality dried products. However, this technology is mostly limited by the low drying rate, which retards the dehydration process and directly increases the processing costs. Power ultrasound, a nonthermal technology, represents an interesting alternative means of improving low-temperature convective drying due to the fact that acoustic (mechanical)waves may affectwater removal during dryingwith a low heating capacity. Thereby, the ultrasonically enhanced low-temperature convective drying could constitute an affordable alternative to lyophilization (or freeze-drying), which is mainly restricted to high-quality food commodities.The authors acknowledge the financial support both from the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (Ref. DPI2012-37466-C03-03) and Carmen Cambra S.L. for their technical support with the selection of the raw material. Cesar Ozuna was the recipient of a fellowship from the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for his research stay in Aalesund University College.Ozuna López, C.; Cárcel Carrión, JA.; Walde, PM.; García Pérez, JV. (2014). Low-Temperature drying of salted cod (Gadus morhua) assisted by high power ultrasound: Kinetics and physical properties. Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies. 23:146-155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifset.2014.03.008S1461552