NEW TRENDS IN THE BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS OF MILK: A REVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONAL ACTIVITIES AND PROCESSING EFFECTS

Milk has a complex highly variable nutritional com-position based on the different species and animal breeds, together with the strategy and management of the animal feed. It is the first food consumed by chil-dren, exclusively for the initial months because it contains all the nutrients necessary for body growth and the development of cognitive functions. Consid-ering the Mediterranean diet, cow and goat milk is consumed fresh or used for the production of dairy products, while sheep and buffalo milk is used exclu-sively for cheese production. In developing countries, sheep milk or milk from particular animal species such as the yak is also used for fresh consumption and is a low-cost food source for consumers. Milk is the only raw food with a complete profile of all nutri-ents, from proteins to fats, carbohydrates, water, min-erals, and vitamins. Several bioactive compounds are present in milk or originate during protein digestion and fat fraction. Thus, milk can be defined as a func-tional food because it adapts to the definition "any food or food ingredient that can provide a health ben-efit over the traditional nutrients it contains"

Effect of Quebracho tannin extract on soybean and linseed oil biohydrogenation by solid associated bacteria: an in vitro study

An in vitro trial was carried out to study the effects of Quebracho tannins extract (QE) on fatty acid profile of rumen solid adherent bac- teria (SAB) during the fermentation of diets supplemented with soybean or linseed oil, as sources of linoleic (LA; 18:2 n-6) and α- linolenic acid (α-LNA; 18:3 n-3), respectively. Two control diets were prepared using a basal mixture of grass hay [760 g/kg on dry matter (DM)], soybean meal (55 g/kg DM), barley meal (130 g/kg DM), vitamin mineral premix (20 g/kg DM) and 35 g/kg DM of soybean (SOC diet) or linseed oil (LOC diet) as lipid supple- ment. Other two diets (SOCT and LOCT) were obtained by integrating SOC and LOC with QE (49 g/kg DM). The results confirmed that Quebracho tannins may be an effective method for reducing in SAB the biohydrogena- tion of LA (17.3 vs 34.5 g/100 g of fatty acid in SOC and SOCT, respectively) and LNA (10.7 vs 21.4 g/100 g of fatty acid in LOC and LOCT, respectively), but not for increasing the rumen accumulation of cis9, trans11 18:2 (0.77 vs 0.32 g/100 g of fatty acid in SOC and SOCT, respec- tively; 0.51 vs 0.43 g/100 g of fatty acid in LOC and LOCT, respectively) and trans11 18:1 (6.15 vs 3.64 g/100 g of fatty acid in SOC and SOCT, respectively; 5.53 vs 4.47 g/100 g of fatty acid in LOC and LOCT, respectively)

Changes in conjugated linoleic acid and C18:1 isomers profile during the ripening of Pecorino Toscano cheese produced with raw milk

The aim of the present study was to investigate the evolution of the fatty acid profile, with particular attention to conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and to C18:1 isomers, during ripening of sheep cheese (Pecorino Toscano cheese) produced with raw milk. After 60 days of ripening the total concentration of C18:1 isomers and that of CLA pool content decreased. In particular, if isomers profile is considered, the percentage of trans11 C18:1, trans10 C18:1 and cis9, trans11 CLA decreased as consequence of biohydrogenation or of double bonds isomerisation, while the concentration of trans10, cis12 CLA increased

Higher ventricular-arterial coupling derived from three-dimensional echocardiography is associated with a worse clinical outcome in systemic sclerosis

Primary myocardial involvement is common in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Ventricular-arterial coupling (VAC) reflecting the interplay between ventricular performance and arterial load, is a key determinant of cardiovascular (CV) performance. We aimed to investigate VAC, VAC-derived indices, and the potential association between altered VAC and survival free from death/hospitalization for major adverse CV events (MACE) in scleroderma. Only SSc patients without any anamnes-tic and echocardiographic evidence of primary myocardial involvement who underwent three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) were included in this cross-sectional study and compared with healthy matched controls. 3DE was used for noninvasive measurements of end-systolic elastance (Ees), arterial elastance (Ea), VAC (Ea/Ees) and end-diastolic elastance (Eed); the occurrence of death/hospitalization for MACE was recorded during follow-up. Sixty-five SSc patients (54 female; aged 56 ± 14 years) were included. Ees (p = 0.04), Ea (p = 0.04) and Eed (p = 0.01) were higher in patients vs. controls. Thus, VAC was similar in both groups. Ees was lower and VAC was higher in patients with diffuse cutaneous form (dcSSc) vs. patients with limited form (lcSSc) (p = 0.001 and p = 0.02, respectively). Over a median follow-up of 4 years, four patients died for heart failure and 34 were hospitalized for CV events. In patients with VAC >0.63 the risk of MACE was higher (HR 2.5; 95% CI 1.13–5.7; p = 0.01) and survival free from death/hospitalization was lower (p = 0.005) than in those with VAC < 0.63. Our study suggests that VAC may be impaired in SSc patients without signs and symptoms of primary myocardial involvement. Moreover, VAC appears to have a prognostic role in SSc

Thoracic involvement in systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases: pathogenesis and management.

Thoracic involvement is one of the main determinants of morbidity and mortality in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs), with different prevalence and manifestations according to the underlying disease. Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is the most common pulmonary complication, particularly in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Other thoracic manifestations include pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), mostly in patients with SSc, airway disease, mainly in RA, and pleural involvement, which is common in systemic lupus erythematosus and RA, but rare in other ARDs.In this review, we summarize and critically discuss the current knowledge on thoracic involvement in ARDs, with emphasis on disease pathogenesis and management. Immunosuppression is the mainstay of therapy, particularly for ARDs-ILD, but it should be reserved to patients with clinically significant disease or at risk of progressive disease. Therefore, a thorough, multidisciplinary assessment to determine disease activity and degree of impairment is required to optimize patient management. Nevertheless, the management of thoracic involvement-particularly ILD-is challenging due to the heterogeneity of disease pathogenesis, the variety of patterns of interstitial pneumonia and the paucity of randomized controlled clinical trials of pharmacological intervention. Further studies are needed to better understand the pathogenesis of these conditions, which in turn is instrumental to the development of more efficacious therapies