Rapid and simultaneous determination of histidine metabolism intermediates in human and mouse microbiota and biomatrices

European Food Safety Authority; FEDER-Infraestructure Consejeria de Economia, Conocimiento, Empresas y Universidad, Grant/Award Number: IE_2019-198Histidine metabolism is a key pathway physiologically involved in satiety, recognition memory, skin, and neural protection and allergic diseases. Microbiologicallyproduced imidazole propionate induces type II diabetes and interferes with glucose lowering drugs. Despite their determinant health implications, no single method simultaneously assesses histidine metabolites in urine, feces, and microbiota. The aim of this study was to develop a simple, rapid, and sensitive method for the determination of histidine and its major bioactive metabolites histamine, N-acetylhistamine, imidazole-4-acetate, cis-urocanate, trans-urocanate, glutamate and imidazole propionate, using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. An innovative simple extraction method from small aliquots of human and mice urine, feces and microbial cell extracts was coupled to separation in a 6.5 min chromatographic run. The successful performance allowed accurate and precise quantification of all metabolites in mouse feces, suggesting broad exchange of histidine metabolites between the gut and mice. Higher urine histamine, histamine to histidine ratio, and imidazole-4-acetate pointed to an underlying inflammatory or allergic process in mice compared to human subjects. N-acetylhistamine and imidazole propionate were detected in human and mouse feces, confirming its origin from gut microbial metabolism. Our novel and robust analytical method captured histidine metabolism in a single assay that will facilitate broad and deep histidine metabolic phenotyping assessing the impact of microbiota on host health in large-scale human observational and interventional studies.European Food Safety AuthorityFEDER-Infraestructure Consejeria de Economia, Conocimiento, Empresas y Universidad IE_2019-19

Pottery grave goods from funerary contexts at the argaric site of Peñalosa (Jaén). A methodological approach

The need for interdisciplinary studies is the basis of ambitious research (ARCHEM Project) that is carried out in the argaric settlement of Peñalosa (Baños de la Encina, Jaén), combining organic residues analysis and techno-typological studies of pottery found in funerary contexts. Manufacture and use of pottery could inform us about customs and traditions that remain hidden in time and in the archaeological record. Knowing the implications and decisions of potters as well as the functionality of those vessels deposited inside the graves can approach the idiosyncrasy of a society in the Bronze Age in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. The methodology used to identify patterns of functionality is highlighted by the combination of cutting-edge analysis techniques in both fields such as the application of different chromatographic techniques (GC-MS, UPLC-HRMS and GC-CIRMS) that allow to identify the organic compounds in the ceramics and the application of analytical techniques from Earth Sciences (Stereomicroscopic, X-Ray Diffraction and Petrography), which allow us to characterize ceramic pastes and knowing the catchment of raw materials. This study highlights the Peñalosa site as a melting pot of new research and it brings us closer with the use of a complex methodology combined to the societies 4000 years ago.Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness HAR2015-66009-PJunta de Andalucía HUM 274 FQM 338Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and CompetitivinessUniversity of Granad

Germination Improves the Polyphenolic Profile and Functional Value of Mung Bean (Vigna radiata L.)

This research was funded by the University of Granada through project PSE/17/002 of Plan Propio, as well as the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the European Union through projects RTC-2017-6540-1, and RTI-2018-100934-B-I00 and the FEDER program, respectively. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.The use of legumes as functional foods has gained increasing attention for the prevention and treatment of the so called non-communicable diseases that are highly prevalent worldwide. In this regard, biotechnological approaches for the enhancement of legumes’ nutritional and functional value have been extensively employed. In the present study, the process of germination increased several parameters of mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) functionality, including extract yield, total phenolic content and in vitro antioxidant capacity. In addition, 3-day-germinated mung bean proved to be an interesting source of dietary essential minerals and exhibited a greater variety of polyphenolic compounds compared to raw mung bean. These properties resulted in enhanced cytoprotective features of the 3-day mung bean extracts against radical oxygen species in human colorectal (HT29) and monocyte (U937) cell lines. Moreover, the antiproliferative effects were tested in different colon cancer cell lines, T84 and drug-resistant HCT-18, as well as in a non-tumor colon CCD-18 line. Altogether, our results demonstrate that the germination process improves the mung bean’s nutritional value and its potential as a functional food.University of Granada through Plan Propio PSE/17/002Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and UniversitiesEuropean Union (EU) RTC-2017-6540-1 RTI-2018-100934-B-I0

Determinación de tensioactivos aniónicos en matrices ambientales. Comportamiento del jabón en una parcela agrícola

Tesis Univ. Granada. Departamento de Química Analítica. Leída el 19 de febrero de 201