Food and omics: unraveling the role of food in breast cancer development

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer worldwide and the most common cause of cancer death for women. Its plasticity and variability suggest a multifactorial origin, with powerful influence of environmental factors. Current scientific evidence pinpoints food and specific nutrients as crucial factors in breast tumor development. More precisely, dietary components can actively participate in the suppression and/or progression of cancer by introducing modifications into the epigenetic landscapes of cancer. Food not only can target oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes and modify their methylation levels, but they also can influence histone chemical modifications, non-coding RNA pathways and microbiota metabolism. Breast cancer is currently treated with surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and/or therapies targeting estrogen receptor (ER) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). However, the holistic omics study of the association between diet and breast health opens an interesting alternative for future breast cancer prevention and therapyS

Nuevo método de análisis de residuos de oxolínico y flumequina utilizando la detección de la fluorescencia nativa inducida por láser acoplada en el ultravioleta cercano acoplada al HPLC: comparación con la lámpara de xenon convencional

A new high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method is described for the determination of oxolinic acid and flumequine, with ultraviolet laser-induced fluorescence detection (UV-LIFD). Near-UV excitation at 325 nm was obtained by using an He/Cd laser. Data obtained using UV-LIFD and conventional fluorimetry (Xenon flash, lexc 325/ lem 365) are compared under the same chromatographic conditions, connecting in series both detectors, in terms of linearity, reproducibility and repeatability. The HPLC separation is carried out on a Synergi MAX-RP column with water–acetonitrile (2:1, v/v) adjusted at pH 2.5, with formic acid, as mobile phase and completed in less than 9 min. The detection limits of oxolinic acid and flumequine at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 were 0.43 pg and 0.76 pg on column with UV-LIFD detection, making this method considerably more sensitive than traditional fluorescence detector (16.15 pg and 14.17 pg) having some obvious advantagesEn este trabajo proponemos un nuevo método de cromatografía líquida de alta eficacia para el análisis de ácido oxolínico y flumequina con detección por fluorescencia inducida por Láser. La excitación ultravioleta cercana a 325 nm se obtiene usando un laser HE/Cd. Los datos obtenidos usando esta excitación se compararon con los obtenidos por fluorescencia normal (Xenon flash, lexc 325/lem 365) en las mismas condiciones cromatográficas, conectando en serie los dos detectores, en términos de linearidad, reproducibilidad y repetibilidad. La separación por HPLC se llevó a cabo con una columna Synergi MAX-RP con una fase móvil agua/acetonitrilo (2:1, V/V) ajustada a pH 2.5 con ácido fórmico, completándose en menos de 9 min. Los límites de detección, para una señal/ruido de 3, fueron 0.43 pg y 0.76 pg en columna para oxolínico y flumequina respectivamente, haciendo este método considerablemente más sensible que el tradicional detector por fluorescencia (16.15 pg y 14.17 pg), lo que tiene ventajas obviasXesús Feás acknowledges a scholarship within the program ‘‘Formación de Personal Investigador’’ from Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, Spain, and Ana Carreira for technical collaborationS

Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) and Infant Microbiota: A Scoping Review

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are the third most abundant solid component of breast milk. However, the newborn cannot assimilate them as nutrients. They are recognized prebiotic agents (the first in the newborn diet) that stimulate the growth of beneficial microorganisms, mainly the genus Bifidobacterium, dominant in the gut of breastfed infants. The structures of the oligosaccharides vary mainly according to maternal genetics, but also other maternal factors such as parity and mode of delivery, age, diet, and nutritional status or even geographic location and seasonality cause different breast milk oligosaccharides profiles. Differences in the profiles of HMO have been linked to breast milk microbiota and gut microbial colonization of babies. Here, we provide a review of the scope of reports on associations between HMOs and the infant gut microbiota to assess the impact of HMO compositionS

Association between Breast Milk Mineral Content and Maternal Adherence to Healthy Dietary Patterns in Spain: A Transversal Study

The composition of breast milk is influenced by many factors, some of which dependent on the mother and others on the child. Changes in lactation and other factors depending on the mother’s physiology and anthropometric characteristics, as well as her nutritional status and diet, are of key importance. Breast milk minerals have been extensively studied with highly uneven results. In this work, a comparison will made with data across the world. To understand the factors that might explain the disparity, several minerals (Na, K, Ca, P, Mg, Fe, Se and I) have been analyzed using ICP-MS in a set of human milk samples (n = 75). The samples had an identical geographical origin (Galicia, in northwestern Spain) but different lactation circumstances, including maternal anthropometric data, lactating time, newborn sex and maternal adherence to healthy dietary patterns (Mediterranean Diet, MD, or Atlantic Diet, AD). The required concentrations of essential elements reported in the literature are similar to those found in these Spanish women. A univariate approach revealed that factors such as lactating time, body mass index (BMI) and newborn sex have a significant influence in breastmilk mineral content. According to multivariate linear regression analysis, minerals in milk are particularly associated with lactating time, but also with newborn sex, maternal BMI, age and diet pattern in some cases. More precisely, these results suggest that the iron and selenium concentrations in the milk of Galician donors may be positively influenced by maternal adherence to AD and MD, respectivelyS

Milk Microbiota: A Source of Antimicrobial-Producing Bacteria with Potential Application in Food Safety

Antimicrobial and biocide resistance is a major public health problem today. Therefore, one of the main scientific challenges nowadays is the search for alternatives to these substances. One of these potential alternatives are the bacteriocins. Microbiota are a potential source of bacteriocin-producing bacteria that need to be studied. In this study, a total of 40 samples of human milk and 10 samples of cow milk were collected from healthy individuals and stored at −20 °C until use. Colonies isolated from these samples that showed antimicrobial activity against Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus in the overlaid assays were selected. Well diffusion assays were carried out with the cell-free supernatant (CFS) from these colonies neutralized to pH and inhibition zones were recorded. The activity against eight common bacterial pathogens was evaluated. A total of 32 colonies with potential antimicrobial activity were isolated. The neutralized CFS of 10 strains showed antimicrobial activity against at least one pathogen tested in the well diffusion assays. Eight of the 10 CFS inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus. These CFS also showed activity against Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus agalactiae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa , L. monocytogenes, Clostridium perfringens and Clostridioides difficile. The next steps of the research will be 16s rRNA sequencing to identify the species of isolates and mass spectrometry to determine the antimicrobial product produced by isolation. Finally, this study demonstrated that milk microbiota are a potential source of new producing bacteriocin bacteria that can be used in the formulation of new food productsS

Design of a molecularly imprinted stir-bar for isolation of patulin in apple and LC-MS/MS detection

Mycotoxins are a very diverse group of natural products produced as secondary metabolites by fungi. Patulin is produced by mold species normally related to vegetable-based products and fruit, mainly apple. Its ingestion may result in agitation, convulsions, edema, intestinal ulceration, inflammation, vomiting, and even immune, neurological or gastrointestinal disorders. For this reason, the European Commission Regulation (EC) 1881/2006 established a maximum content for patulin of 10 ppb in infant fruit juice, 50 ppb for fruit juice for adults and 25 ppb in fruit-derived products. In this work, a rapid and selective method based on magnetic molecularly imprinted stir-bar (MMISB) extraction has been developed for the isolation of patulin, using 2-oxindole as a dummy template. The final extraction protocol consisted of simply pouring in, stirring and pouring out samples and solvents from a beaker with the MMISB acting inside. The magnetic device provided satisfactory recoveries of patulin (60%–70%) in apple samples. The successful MMISB approach has been combined with high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) to determine patulin.This research was supported by the project EM 2012/153 from Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenacion Universitaria, Xunta de GaliciaS

Tracing (r)bST in cattle: Liquid-based options for extraction and separation

Growth hormone (GH) or somatotropin (ST) is a species-specific polypeptide hormone produced in the pituitary gland of vertebrates. When administered exogenously to dairy cattle, it has galactopoietic effects and is capable of increasing the milk yield. Recombinant bST enabled large-scale applications in farms, enhancing significantly milk production. While it is banned in the European Union (EU), several countries permit the trade and use of recombinant somatotropins in animal husbandry. In this context, effective analytical methods are needed for residue control to avoid an illegal use of rbST but also to prevent fraudulent labeling in some cases. The present review includes studies published in the last 5 years (from 2012 to 2017) to monitor rbST in bovine animals, using liquid-based applications. It is then intended to serve as a practical guide to help those laboratories interested in developing analytical methods to detect rbST use and abuseMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad (España). Programa Estatal de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación Orientada a los Retos de la Sociedad (proyecto AGL2014-58881-R)S

Evolution of Resistance in Poultry Intestinal Escherichia coli During Three Commonly Used Antimicrobial Therapeutic Treatments in Poultry

The resistance rates of intestinal Escherichia coli populations from poultry were determined during treatment and withdrawal period with 3 antimicrobial agents commonly used as therapeutics in poultry medicine. A total of 108 chickens were considered: 18 were treated orally with enrofloxacin, 18 with doxycycline, and 18 with sulfonamides, whereas another 18 chickens were maintained as controls for each antimicrobial group. Fecal samples were taken during the treatment and after the withdrawal period, and E. coli were isolated through Fluorocult media plating. A total of 648 E. coli strains (216 per antimicrobial tested) were isolated and identified though biochemical methods. Minimal inhibitory concentrations to the antimicrobials used were also determined using a broth microdilution method. The resistance rates of intestinal E. coli to all of the antimicrobials tested significantly increased during the course of the therapeutic treatment. In addition, significant differences (P = 0.0136) in resistance rates persisted between the intestinal E. coli of the enrofloxacin-treated and control batches until the end of the withdrawal period, but this difference was not observed for the cases of doxycycline or sulfonamides treatments. Antimicrobial use in poultry medicine seems to select for antimicrobial-resistant strains of pathogenic bacterial species such as E. coli. In some cases, the higher frequencies of resistant strains may persist in the avian intestinal tract until the end of the withdrawal period, when it is legal to use these animals for human consumptionThe authors wish to thank the Xunta de Galicia for granting research project (PGIDIT05TAL003E)S

Calidad microbiológica y resistencia a antimicrobianos de Escherichia coli y Staphylococcus aureus aislados a partir de queso “Arzúa-Ulloa” convencional y ecológico

The presence of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. was tested in 184 cheese samples included in the Protected Designation of Origin ‘‘Arzu´a-Ulloa’’. From these samples, 57 were raw-milk conventional cheese (RCC), 67 were pasteurized-milk conventional cheese (PCC) and the remaining 60 were pasteurized-milk organic cheese (POC). From these samples, a total of 287 E. coli and 281 S. aureus isolates were analyzed by an agar disk diffusion assay for their resistance to 11 antimicrobial agents. No significant differences were seen in microbiological general acceptance according to European Regulation 2073/2005. Only L. monocytogenes showed unsatisfactorily high levels in RCC samples as compared to PCC (P ¼ 0.0334) and POC (P ¼ 0.0138) samples. Although it was found that both E. coli and S. aureus isolated from POC samples showed lower resistance to some antimicrobials than isolates from RCC and/or PCC, for other antimicrobials higher resistance rates were found for POC isolates than conventional ones. Thus, the differences in antimicrobial resistance were too ambiguous to recommend a higher use of antimicrobials in conventional dairy herds than in organic onesLa presencia de Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes y Salmonella spp fue investigada en 184 quesos pertenecientes a la denominación de origen ‘‘Arzúa-Ulloa’’. De estas muestras, 57 correspondieron a quesos fabricados a partir de leche cruda convencional (RCC), 67 correspondieron a quesos fabricados a partir de leche pasteurizada convencional (PCC), y las restantes 60 muestras correspondieron a quesos fabricados a partir de leche pasteurizada ecológica (POC). A partir de dichas muestras, se aislaron un total de 287 cepas de E. coli y 281 de S. aureus y posteriormente se investigó la resistencia a 11 antimicrobianos de estas cepas mediante el método de difusión en agar. No se encontraron diferencias significativas en la aceptabilidad microbiológica de acuerdo a lo establecido en el Reglamento Europeo 2073/2005. Sólo en el caso de L. monocytogenes, se observó una mayor de proporción de muestras inaceptables en RCC con respecto a PCC (P ¼ 0,0334) y POC (P ¼ 0,0138). Aunque tanto los E. coli como los S. aureus aislados a partir de POC mostraron menores tasas de resistencia a algunos antimicrobianos que las cepas aisladas a partir de RCC y/o PCC, en el caso de otros antimicrobianos se encontró una mayor tasa de resistencia que en las muestras procedentes de leche convencional. Por lo tanto, las diferencias encontradas en la resistencia a antimicrobianos en función del tipo de leche utilizado en la fabricación del queso resultaron demasiado ambiguas para demostrar un mayor uso de antimicrobianos en la producción de leche convencional que en el caso de la ecológicaThe authors are thankful for financial support from Dirección Xeral de Ordenación e Calidade do Sistema Universitario de Galicia, Consellería de Educación e Ordenación Universitaria-Xunta de GaliciaS