Lactiplantibacillus plantarum associated to fermented foods: in vitro evidences for its beneficial role in ameliorating intestinal inflammation

Fermented food microbes have recently recovered scientific interest for their health-promoting potential. Among them, Lactiplantibacillus (Lpb.) plantarum strains, with a long history as starter cultures in the production of a wide variety of fermented foods, showed the potential to affect host health in several in vitro and in vivo studies. Our study was aimed to investigate selected Lpb. plantarum strains, isolated from fermented foods, to face oxidative stress and related inflammatory damage at intestinal level, in order to be considered a promising strategy in intestinal inflammatory diseases. For this purpose, we examined food- and human- associated Lpb. plantarum strains for their in vitro capacity to tolerate oxidative stress as well as for their antioxidant potential by three different chemical assays (DPPH, ABTS and FRAP). In addition, the specific ability of each strain to modulate reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in response to either oxidative or inflammatory stress and to reduce IL-17A, IL-17F and IL-23 release in an inflamed intestinal cell model was investigated. Overall, the results show that Lpb. plantarum endure high levels of induced oxidative stress through partially neutralizing ROS, whereas they elicit their production when co‑cultured with normal mucosa intestinal cells (NCM460). Moreover, pre‑treatment with food‑borne Lpb. plantarum significantly reduces pro ‑inflammatory cytokines IL‑17F and IL‑23 levels in inflamed NCM460 cells. Both IL-23 and IL-17 are pro-inflammatory cytokines with an active role in the pathophysiology of chronic inflammatory disorders, thus targeting the IL23/IL17 axis could be a considerable way to treat intestinal inflammatory diseases. Our results suggest that food‑vehicled Lpb. plantarum strains might reduce inflammatory response in intestinal cells by directly modulating local ROS production and by triggering the IL‑23/IL‑17 axis with future perspectives on health benefits derived by the consumption of functional foods enriched with selected strains

Anandamide uptake by synaptosomes from human, mouse and rat brain: inhibition by glutamine and glutamate

Anandamide (N-arachidonoylethanolamine, AEA) belongs to an emerging class of endogenous lipids, called "endocannabinoids". A specific AEA membrane transporter (AMT) allows the import of this lipid and its degradation by the intracellular enzyme AEA hydrolase. Here, we show that synaptosomes from human, mouse and rat brain might be an ideal ex vivo system for the study of: i) the accumulation of AEA in brain, and ii) the pharmacological properties of AMT inhibitors. Using this ex vivo system, we demonstrate for the first time that glutamine and glutamate act as non-competitive inhibitors of AEA uptake by human, mouse and rat brain AMT

Abnormal temporal coupling of tactile perception and motor action in Parkinson's disease

Evidence shows altered somatosensory temporal discrimination threshold (STDT) in Parkinson's disease in comparison to normal subjects. In healthy subjects, movement execution modulates STDT values through mechanisms of sensory gating. We investigated whether STDT modulation during movement execution in patients with Parkinson's disease differs from that in healthy subjects. In 24 patients with Parkinson's disease and 20 healthy subjects, we tested STDT at baseline and during index finger abductions (at movement onset "0", 100, and 200 ms thereafter). We also recorded kinematic features of index finger abductions. Fifteen out of the 24 patients were also tested ON medication. In healthy subjects, STDT increased significantly at 0, 100, and 200 ms after movement onset, whereas in patients with Parkinson's disease in OFF therapy, it increased significantly at 0 and 100 ms but returned to baseline values at 200 ms. When patients were tested ON therapy, STDT during index finger abductions increased significantly, with a time course similar to that of healthy subjects. Differently from healthy subjects, in patients with Parkinson's disease, the mean velocity of the finger abductions decreased according to the time lapse between movement onset and the delivery of the paired electrical stimuli for testing somatosensory temporal discrimination. In conclusion, patients with Parkinson's disease show abnormalities in the temporal coupling between tactile information and motor outflow. Our study provides first evidence that altered temporal processing of sensory information play a role in the pathophysiology of motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease

The Endocannabinoid System in the Mediterranean Mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis: Possible Mediators of the Immune Activity?

Anandamide (AEA) is one of the best characterized members of the endocannabinoid family and its involvement in many pathophysiological processes has been well documented in vertebrates and invertebrates. Here, we report the biochemical and functional characterization of key elements of the endocannabinoid system in hemocytes isolated from the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. We also show the effects of exogenous AEA, as well as of capsaicin, on the cell ability to migrate and to activate the respiratory burst, upon in vitro stimulation of phagocytosis. Interestingly, our findings show that both AEA and capsaicin suppress the hemocyte response and that the use of selective antagonists of CB2 and TRPV1 receptors revert their inhibitory effects. Overall, present data support previous evidence on the presence of endocannabinoid signaling in mollusks and advance our knowledge about the evolutionary origins of this endogenous system and its role in the innate response of mollusks

Utilización de R para análisis bibliométrico

Los indicadores bibliométricos son instrumentos que permiten medir la producción científica, es decir, averiguar el impacto causado por un trabajo científico a partir del análisis de la literatura científica y tecnológica publicada. Este trabajo presenta el uso de distintas librerías de R en el análisis de la producción de conocimiento basado en publicaciones científicas de Argentina y el resto de mundo, utilizando como palabra clave de búsqueda “pesticidas”. Las publicaciones científicas analizadas se obtuvieron mediante la API de Scopus. Los resultados permiten considerar diferentes indicadores de la producción de conocimiento conforme al Modo 1 tales como: cantidad de publicaciones que incluyen el término “pesticidas”, clasificación de publicaciones por autor, tipo de publicación, qué palabras aparecen con más frecuencia relacionadas con el término de búsqueda.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

Utilización de R para análisis bibliométrico

Los indicadores bibliométricos son instrumentos que permiten medir la producción científica, es decir, averiguar el impacto causado por un trabajo científico a partir del análisis de la literatura científica y tecnológica publicada. Este trabajo presenta el uso de distintas librerías de R en el análisis de la producción de conocimiento basado en publicaciones científicas de Argentina y el resto de mundo, utilizando como palabra clave de búsqueda “pesticidas”. Las publicaciones científicas analizadas se obtuvieron mediante la API de Scopus. Los resultados permiten considerar diferentes indicadores de la producción de conocimiento conforme al Modo 1 tales como: cantidad de publicaciones que incluyen el término “pesticidas”, clasificación de publicaciones por autor, tipo de publicación, qué palabras aparecen con más frecuencia relacionadas con el término de búsqueda.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ