Berries and oxidative stress markers: an overview of human intervention studies

Berries are an excellent source of bioactive compounds such as vitamins, minerals but above all polyphenols with anthocyanins as the most representative compounds. Several in vitro and in vivo studies documented the beneficial effects of berries and their bioactives in the modulation of numerous cell functions related to oxidative stress and/or antioxidant protection. The following review summarizes published results about the role of berries (either fresh, juice, freeze-dried or dehydrated) on total plasma and serum antioxidant status and on the modulation of biomarkers of oxidative stress in acute and chronic human intervention trials. The biomarkers considered include DNA, protein and lipid oxidation, and endogenous antioxidant enzymes. Though limited, there is indication that the consumption of berries may reduce oxidative stress by modulating protein and lipid oxidation, and by improving total antioxidant status. In particular, these effects are more evident following chronic dietary interventions with respect to postprandial studies. Benefits are observed in healthy subjects as well as in those with cardiovascular risk factors or other diseases. On the contrary, data regarding the effect of berries on DNA damage and endogenous antioxidant enzyme activities are still scarce and inconclusive. In conclusion, much remains to be elucidated before a comprehensive understanding of the effects of berries on the modulation of oxidative stress markers is achieved. Robust clinical evidence supporting the role of berries in counteracting oxidative stress in humans is encouraged

Effect of acute cigarette smoking on blood pressure and peripheral endothelial function in young healthy male smokers: preliminary data

Smoking is one of the major risk factors for atherosclerosis associated with premature coronary and artery diseases. Endothelial dysfunction is an early event in atherosclerosis, and seems mainly related to the decreased production or availability of nitric oxide in smokers. The objective of the study is to investigate the effect of a single cigarette on blood pressure and peripheral arterial function in young moderate smokers (approximately 15 cigarettes/day)

Modulation of Adhesion Process, E-Selectin and VEGF Production by Anthocyanins and Their Metabolites in an In-Vitro Model of Atherosclerosis

The present study aims to evaluate the ability of peonidin and petunidin-3-glucoside (Peo-3-glc and Pet-3-glc) and their metabolites (vanillic acid; VA and methyl-gallic acid; MetGA), to prevent monocyte (THP-1) adhesion to endothelial cells (HUVECs), and to reduce the production of vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1, E-selectin and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in a stimulated pro-inflammatory environment, a pivotal step of atherogenesis. Tumor necrosis factor-\u3b1 (TNF-\u3b1; 100 ng mL 121) was used to stimulate the adhesion of labelled monocytes (THP-1) to endothelial cells (HUVECs). Successively, different concentrations of Peo-3-glc and Pet-3-glc (0.02 \ub5M, 0.2 \ub5M, 2 \ub5M and 20 \ub5M), VA and MetGA (0.05 \ub5M, 0.5 \ub5M, 5 \ub5M and 50 \ub5M) were tested. After 24 h, VCAM-1, E-selectin and VEGF were quantified by ELISA, while the adhesion process was measured spectrophotometrically. Peo-3-glc and Pet-3-glc (from 0.02 \ub5M to 20 \ub5M) significantly (p < 0.0001) decreased THP-1 adhesion to HUVECs at all concentrations ( 1237%, 1224%, 1230% and 1247% for Peo-3-glc; 1237%, 1233%, 1233% and 1245% for Pet-3-glc). VA, but not MetGA, reduced the adhesion process at 50 \ub5M ( 1221%; p < 0.001). At the same concentrations, a significant (p < 0.0001) reduction of E-selectin, but not VCAM-1, was documented. In addition, anthocyanins and their metabolites significantly decreased (p < 0.001) VEGF production. The present findings suggest that while Peo-3-glc and Pet-3-glc (but not their metabolites) reduced monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells through suppression of E-selectin production, VEGF production was reduced by both anthocyanins and their metabolites, suggesting a role in the regulation of angiogenesis

Automatic stereoscopic video object-based watermarking using qualified significant wavelet trees

In this paper a fully automatic scheme for embedding visually recognizable watermark patterns to video objects is proposed. The architecture consists of 3 main modules. During the first module unsupervised video object extraction is performed, by analyzing stereoscopic pairs of frames. In the second module each video object is decomposed into three levels with ten subbands, using the Shape Adaptive Discrete Wavelet Transform (SA-DWT) and three pairs of subbands are formed (HL3 , HL2), (LH3, LH2) and (HH3, HH2). Next Qualified Significant Wavelet Trees (QSWTs) are estimated for the specific pair of subbands with the highest energy content. QSWTs are derived from the Embedded Zerotree Wavelet (EZW) algorithm and they are high-energy paths of wavelet coefficients. Finally during the third module, visually recognizable watermark patterns are redundantly embedded to the coefficients of the highest energy QSWTs and the inverse SA-DWT is applied to provide the watermarked video object. Performance of the proposed video object watermarking system is tested under various signal distortions such as JPEG lossy compression, sharpening, blurring and adding different types of noise. Furthermore the case of transmission losses for the watermarked video objects is also investigated. Experimental results on real life video objects indicate the efficiency and robustness of the proposed schemeFacultad de Informátic

A serving of blueberry (V. corymbosum) acutely improves peripheral arterial dysfunction in young smokers and non-smokers : two randomized, controlled, crossover pilot studies

Several studies have documented the important role of polyphenol-rich foods in the modulation of vascular remodelling and function. This study aimed to evaluate the capacity of a single portion of blueberry (V. corymbosum) to acutely improve peripheral arterial dysfunction in a group of young volunteers. Twenty-four healthy males (12 non-smokers and 12 smokers) were recruited for two different randomized, controlled, crossover pilot acute studies. In the first study, non-smokers were exposed to a control treatment (C; 300 mL of water with sugar) and a blueberry treatment (BB; 300 g of blueberry). In the second study, smokers underwent 3 different protocols: (1) - smoking treatment (S); (2) - control treatment (CS; 300 mL of water with sugar + smoking); (3) - blueberry treatment (BS; 300 g of blueberry + smoking). Each treatment (1 day long) was separated by a one week washout period. Blood pressure, peripheral arterial function (reactive hyperemia index, RHI, a marker of endothelial function) and arterial stiffness (digital augmentation index, dAix and dAix normalized by considering a heart rate of 75 bpm, dAix@75) were measured before and after each treatment. In the first study, the consumption of blueberry and control treatment acutely increased peripheral arterial function in the group of non-smokers. The improvement in RHI was higher and significantly different after blueberry treatment compared to the control treatment (54.8 \ub1 8.4% BB vs. 28.2 \ub1 8.3% C; p = 0.01). No effects were observed for markers of arterial stiffness, blood pressure and heart rate. Acute cigarette smoke significantly increased blood pressure and heart rate, while no significant effect was registered in peripheral arterial function and stiffness. The intake of blueberry and control treatment before a cigarette did not counteract the increase in blood pressure and heart rate, while it significantly improved peripheral arterial function. In particular, a significant increase was observed following BS (35.2 \ub1 7.5% RHI; p = 0.02) and CS treatments (34.6 \ub1 11.9% RHI; p = 0.02) when compared to only smoking treatment. No difference between BS and CS was detected. In conclusion, the intake of blueberry and control treatments acutely improved peripheral arterial dysfunction both in smoker and in non-smoker subjects. Further studies should be performed to confirm the results obtained and reveal the potential mechanisms of blueberry in the improvement of endothelial function

Effect of a wild blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) drink intervention on markers of oxidative stress, inflammation and endothelial function in humans with cardiovascular risk factors

Purpose Wild blueberries (WB) (Vaccinium angustifolium) are rich sources of polyphenols, such as flavonols, phenolic acids and anthocyanins (ACNs), reported to decrease the risk of cardiovascular and degenerative diseases. This study investigated the effect of regular consumption of a WB or a placebo (PL) drink on markers of oxidative stress, inflammation and endothelial function in subjects with risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Methods Eighteen male volunteers (ages 47.8 ? 9.7 years; body mass index 24.8 ? 2.6 kg/m2) received according to a cross-over design, a WB (25 g freeze-dried powder, providing 375 mg of ACNs) or a PL drink for 6 weeks, spaced by a 6-week wash-out. Endogenous and oxidatively induced DNA damage in blood mononuclear cells, serum interleukin levels, reactive hyperemia index, nitric oxide, soluble vascular adhesion molecule concentration and other variables were analyzed. In conclusion, the consumption of the WB drink for 6 weeks significantly reduced the levels of oxidized DNA bases and increased the resistance to oxidatively induced DNA damage. Future studies should address in greater detail the role of WB in endothelial functio

"Nutrizione e Rischio Cardiovascolare"

Wild blueberries are rich sources of polyphenols such as anthocyanins capable of counteracting oxidative stress, influencing vasomotor tone and modulating gene expression associated with disease processes such as cardiovascular disease

Effect of Time and storage temperature on anthocyanin decay and antioxidant activity in wild blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) powder

This study evaluated the effects of storage on total and single anthocyanin (ACN) content, and total antioxidant activity (TAA) of freeze-dried wild blueberry (WB) powder maintained at 25, 42, 60, and 80 degrees C for 49 days. Storage reduced single and total ACN content at all of the temperatures; it was slower at 25 degrees C (-3% after 2 weeks), whereas it was faster at 60 degrees C (-60%) and at 80 degrees C (-85%) after 3 days. The values of half-life time (t(1/2)) were found to be 139, 39, and 12 days at 25, 42, and 60 C, respectively, utilizing the Arrhenius equation. No significant effects were detected on TAA by temperature increase. In conclusion, this study provides important information on the stability of WB powder at 25 degrees C; this is interesting scientific research for the food industry

Six-Week Consumption of a Wild Blueberry Powder Drink Increases Bifidobacteria in the Human Gut

Wild blueberries are a rich source of polyphenols and other compounds that are highly metabolized by the intestinal microbiota and may, at the same time, affect the intestinal environment itself. A repeated-measure, crossover dietary intervention on human volunteers was designed to study the effect of six week consumption of a wild blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) drink, versus a placebo drink, in modulating the intestinal microbiota. Relative to total eubacteria, Bifidobacterium spp. significantly increased following blueberry treatment (P 65 0.05), while Lactobacillus acidophilus increased after both treatments (P 65 0.05). No significant differences were observed for Bacteroides spp., Prevotella spp., Enterococcus spp., and Clostridium coccoides. Bifidobacteria, which have been largely proposed to be of benefit for the host, appeared to be selectively favored suggesting an important role for the polyphenols and fiber present in wild blueberries. Results obtained suggest that regular consumption of a wild blueberry drink can positively modulate the composition of the intestinal microbiota