n-3 Dietary supplementation and lipid metabolism: Differences between vegetable- and fish-derived oils

Abstract The effect of flaxseed oil rich in linolenic acid (ALA), and a mixed oil (flaxseed oil and fish oil) rich in eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), on the lipid clearance and peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs) in liver and adipose tissue of rats fed for 30 days with the two oils was evaluated. The results showed that after treatment with the mixed oil the hematic triacylglycerol content was significantly decreased compared to control animals. Regarding the tissue distribution of the major omega-3 fatty acids, both oils were able to increase ALA, EPA, docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) in liver and adipose tissue; and DHA solely in the adipose tissue. Finally the treatment with either flaxseed or mixed oil increased hepatic PPAR-γ expression but only the mixed oil enhanced the hepatic expression of PPAR-α. No effect on adipose tissue PPAR-γ expression was observed with both oils' treatment

Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Neurodegenerative Diseases: New Evidence in Clinical Trials

Un approccio nutrizionale potrebbe essere una strategia promettente per prevenire o rallentare la progressione di malattie neurodegenerative come il morbo di Parkinson e il morbo di Alzheimer, poiché finora non esiste l'eectiveterapia per queste malattie. Gli effetti benefici degli acidi grassi omega-3 sono ora ben consolidati da una pletora di studi attraverso il loro coinvolgimento in molteplici funzioni biochimiche, tra cui la sintesi di mediatori antinfiammatori, fluidità della membrana cellulare, segnalazione intracellulare ed espressione genica. Questa revisione sistematica prenderà in considerazione studi epidemiologici e studi clinici che hanno valutato l'impatto dell'integrazione o dell'assunzione dietetica di acidi grassi polinsaturi omega-3 su malattie neurodegenerative come il morbo di Parkinson e l'Alzheimer. In effetti, il trattamento con acidi grassi omega-3, essendo sicuro e ben tollerato, rappresenta uno strumento prezioso e biologicamente plausibile nella gestione delle malattie neurodegenerative nelle loro fasi iniziali.A nutritional approach could be a promising strategy to prevent or slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, since there is no eectivetherapy for these diseases so far. The beneficial effects of omega-3 fatty acids are now well established by a plethora of studies through their involvement in multiple biochemical functions, including synthesis of anti-inflammatory mediators, cell membrane fluidity, intracellular signaling, and gene expression. This systematic review will consider epidemiological studies and clinical trials that assessed the impact of supplementation or dietary intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. Indeed, treatment with omega-3 fatty acids, being safe and well tolerated, represents a valuable and biologically plausible tool in the management of neurodegenerative diseases in their early stages

Supplementation of omega 3 fatty acids improves oxidative stress in activated BV2 microglial cell line

Abstract Many reports have shown promising beneficial effects of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (L-PUFAs) of the omega 3 series in several brain diseases. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that omega 3 fatty acids supplement reduced pro-inflammatory functions in vitro and in vivo. We demonstrated that a supplement rich in PUFAs (SRP) increased cell viability in a dose-dependent manner suggesting its protective role against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cell death in BV2 microglial cell line. In the same cultures, the supplement rich in PUFAs reduced the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) production. A most prominent target for ROS management is the family of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs). The co-treatment with SRP and LPS increased significantly the nuclear immunoreactivity of PPAR-γwhen compared the LPS treatment alone. Moreover, the chronic administration of the SRP in rats, increased the immunoreactivity of the PPAR-γ1 protein confirming its potential neuroprotective effect

Chemical Characterization and Beneficial Effects of Walnut Oil on a Drosophila melanogaster Model of Parkinson’s Disease

A nutritional approach could be a promising strategy to prevent or decrease the progression of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). The neuroprotective role of walnut oil (WO) was investigated in Drosophila melanogaster treated with rotenone (Rot), as a PD model, WO, or their combination, and compared to controls. WO reduced mortality and improved locomotor activity impairment after 3 and 7 days, induced by Rot. LC-MS analyses of fatty acid levels in Drosophila heads showed a significant increase in linolenic (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA) both in flies fed with the WO-enriched diet and in those treated with the association of WO with Rot. Flies supplemented with the WO diet showed an increase in brain dopamine (DA) level, while Rot treatment significantly depleted dopamine content; conversely, the association of Rot with WO did not modify DA content compared to controls. The greater intake of ALA and LA in the enriched diet enhanced their levels in Drosophila brain, suggesting a neuroprotective role of polyunsaturated fatty acids against Rot-induced neurotoxicity. The involvement of the dopaminergic system in the improvement of behavioral and biochemical parameters in Drosophila fed with WO is also suggested

Morphological and Receptorial Changes in the Epididymal Adipose Tissue of Rats Subjected to a Stressful Stimulus.

Obesity is nowadays related to other pathological conditions such as inflammation, insulin resistance, and diabetes, but little is known about the relationship between psychological stress and adipocytes. We decided to study the expression of the translocator protein (TSPO) 18-kDa, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-\u3b3 (PPAR-\u3b3), mitochondrial uncoupling protein-1 (UCP-1), and adipocyte morphology in the adipose tissue of rats subjected to stress conditions. In our model of stress, rats fasted for 24 h were placed in a restraint cage and then immersed vertically to the level of the xiphoid process in a water bath at 23 \ub0C for 7 h. After that period, we removed the epididymal adipose tissues for the subsequent analysis. The optical and electron microscopy revealed that adipocytes of control rats formed a continuous epithelial-like cell layer; on the contrary in the adipocytes of stressed rats some cells have merged together and the number of vessels formed seems to increase. Stressed adipocytes presented unilocular cells with numerous mitochondria with a morphology ranging between that of brown adipose tissue (BAT) and white adipose tissue (WAT). Interestingly, when we investigated the subcellular distribution of UCP-1 by immunogold electron microscopy, the adipose tissue of stressed rats was positive for UCP-1. From the immunoblot analysis with anti-PPAR-\u3b3 antibody, we observed an increased expression of PPAR-\u3b3 in the adipocytes of stressed group compared with control group (P < 0.05). Stress induced the expression of TSPO 18-kDa receptor (B(max) = 106.45 \ub1 5.87 fmol/mg proteins), which is undetectable by saturation-binding assay with [(3)H]PK 11195 in the control group

Protective Effects of Borago officinalis (Borago) on Cold Restraint Stress-Induced Gastric Ulcers in Rats: A Pilot Study

Stress is a typical body's natural defense to a generic physical or psychic change. A specific linking mechanism between ulcer onset and psycho-physical stress prolonged exposure has been reported. We decided to investigate the possible effects of Borago officinalis L. (Borago) in preventing physical (stress)-induced gastric ulcers in a rat model. Eighty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 16 groups, pretreated with a control solution, omeprazole (20 mg/kg), Borago methanolic extract (25, 50, 100, 250, and 500 mg/kg), Borago organic extract (50, 100, 250, and 500 mg/kg), Borago aqueous extract (5, 10, 20, 30, and 40 mg/kg), and D(-)-2-Amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (AP5) (25 mg/kg) and kept in stressful conditions such as water immersion and restraint-induced stress ulcers. The animals were sacrificed and their stomach scored for the severity and the number of gastric ulcers. Methanolic extract (500 mg/kg) significantly reduced both ulcer parameters (***p &lt; 0.001 and **p &lt; 0.01, respectively). Aqueous and organic extract significantly decreased severity score at 5 and 10 mg/kg (**p &lt; 0.01 and ***p &lt; 0.001, respectively), and at 250 and 500 mg/kg (***p &lt; 0.001), respectively, while gastric ulcers' resulted number significantly reduced only at 10 mg/kg (*p &lt; 0.05) and at 500 mg/kg (**p &lt; 0.01), respectively. On the other hand, aqueous extract significantly increased the mucosal gastric content of cAMP (*p &lt; 0.05) and NR2A and NR2B subunits (*p &lt; 0.05 and **p &lt; 0.01, respectively) at 5 mg/kg. Organic extract showed also a significant cytotoxic effect at 500 and 1,000 mg/kg with a 3T3 cell viability reduction of 43.6% (**p &lt; 0.01) and 92.1% (***p &lt; 0.001), respectively. Borago aqueous extract at 10 mg/kg could be considered as a potential protective agent against stress-induced ulcers, and it is reasonable to possibly ascribe such protective activity to a modulation of the NR2A and NR2B subunit expression

Antiproliferative effects of Ceratonia siliqua L. on mouse hepatocellular carcinoma cell line

Extracts from pods and leaves of carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) were tested for their ability to inhibit cell proliferation of mouse hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (T1). The two extracts showed a marked alteration of T1 cell proliferation in a dose-related fashion reaching the maximal effect at 1 mg/ml. Moreover, we demonstrated that leaf and pod extracts were able to induce apoptosis in T1 cell lines after 24-h treatment mediating a direct activation of the caspase 3 pathway. HPLC analysis revealed the presence of gallic acid, epigallocatechin-3-gallate and (-) epi catechin - 3 -gallate in pod and leaf extracts, compounds well known to exert antiproliferative effects. Their concentration reached 6.28 mg/g in carob leaves and 1.36 mg/g in carob pods extract. The discovery that carob pod and leaf extracts contained antiproliferative agents could be of practical importance in the development of functional foods and/or chemopreventive drugs

Expression levels of the focal adhesion-associated proteins paxillin and p130CAS in canine and feline mammary tumors

International audiencePaxillin and p130$^{{\rm CAS}}$ are two adaptor proteins localized at the focal adhesions which play an important role in cell signaling, cell motility and oncogenic transformation. In this study we evaluated the levels of paxillin and p130$^{{\rm CAS}}$ in feline and canine mammary tumor tissues at different stages of malignancy. The results obtained by Western blotting analysis showed no significant differences in the amounts of paxillin and p130$^{{\rm CAS}}$ between normal and non-invasive tumor tissues. By contrast, mammary tumor tissues with the invasive phenotype showed lower levels of paxillin $P < 0.01$ and higher levels of p130$^{{\rm CAS}}$ $P < 0.001$ than normal tissues. The decrease $P < 0.001$ of the amount of paxillin and the increase $P < 0.001$ of p130$^{{\rm CAS}}$ levels were correlated with the progression stage of malignancy. Since paxillin and p130$^{{\rm CAS}}$ are involved in regulating cell migration, our results suggest that low levels of paxillin together with high levels of p130$^{{\rm CAS}}$ expression may cause certain breast cancers to be more motile and possibly more aggressive. Thus, both paxillin and p130$^{{\rm CAS}}$ may represent useful prognosticators of feline and canine breast cancer malignancy

BV-2 Microglial Cells Respond to Rotenone Toxic Insult by Modifying Pregnenolone, 5alpha-Dihydroprogesterone and Pregnanolone Level

Neuroinflammation, whose distinctive sign is the activation of microglia, is supposed to play a key role in the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. The aim of this investigation was to determine levels of neurosteroids produced by resting and injured BV-2 microglial cells. BV-2 cells were exposed to increasing concentrations of rotenone to progressively reduce their viability by increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. BV-2 cell viability was significantly reduced 24, 48 and 72 h after rotenone (50–1000 nM) exposure. Concomitantly, rotenone (50–100 nM) determined a dose-independent augmentation of ROS production. Then, BV-2 cells were exposed to a single, threshold dose of rotenone (75 nM) to evaluate the overtime release of neurosteroids. In particular, pregnenolone, pregnenolone sulfate, progesterone, 5alpha-dihydroprogesterone (5-DHP), allopregnanolone, and pregnanolone, were quantified in the culture medium by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis. BV-2 cells synthesized all the investigated neurosteroids and, after exposure to rotenone, 5DHP and pregnanolone production was remarkably increased. In conclusion, we found that BV-2 cells not only synthesize several neurosteroids, but further increase this production following oxidative damage. Pregnanolone and 5alpha-DHP may play a role in modifying the progression of neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases