Desarrollo de las capacidades gluconeogénica y glucolítica de corteza renal durante ciclos de ayuno y alimentación

Se han estudiado los efectos de diferentes ciclos alternativos de alimentación y ayuno sobre las capacidades gluconeogénica y glucolítica de corteza renal, así como sobre los principales enzimas implicados en ambos procesos. Durante el período de alimentación, caracterizado por someter a los animales a una dieta rica en carbohidratos, la capacidad gluconeogénica de corteza renal disminuyó hasta un máximo del 60 %, mientras que el flujo glucolítico se incrementó significativamente a lo largo del tiempo llegando a alcanzar un valor superior al 100 %. La situación cambia durante el período de ayuno, dando lugar a un importante y significativo (70 %) incremento de la síntesis de glucosa con una disminución (31 %) de la capacidad glucolítica. Los resultados presentados en este trabajo permiten concluir que la corteza renal es capaz de poner en marcha los mecanismos adecuados de adaptación frente a diferentes situaciones nutricionales, indicando el importante papel que juega este tejido en el mantenimiento del estado glucostático del animal.The effects of different starve-feed cycles on gluconeogenic and glycolytic capacities of kidney cortex have been studied. Opposite effects were found during these nutritional states (feeding, characterized by a high carbohydrate diet, and starvation) and both metabolic processes. During the feeding state, a decrease in the gluconeogenic flux was parallel to an increase in the glycolytic one. The behaviour of these metabolic processes was opposed during starvation. The results in this work show that kidney cortex, is able to adapt itself to different availability of exogenous macronutrients or nutritional situations, pointing out the important role that it plays in the maintenance of the glucostatic state of the animal

Unveiling the Differential Antioxidant Activity of Maslinic Acid in Murine Melanoma Cells and in Rat Embryonic Healthy Cells Following Treatment with Hydrogen Peroxide

Maslinic acid (MA) is a natural triterpene from Olea europaea L. with multiple biological properties. The aim of the present study was to examine MA’s effect on cell viability (by the MTT assay), reactive oxygen species (ROS levels, by flow cytometry) and key antioxidant enzyme activities (by spectrophotometry) in murine skin melanoma (B16F10) cells compared to those on healthy cells (A10). MA induced cytotoxic effects in cancer cells (IC50 42 M), whereas no effect was found in A10 cells treated withMA(up to 210 M). In order to produce a stress situation in cells, 0.15mMH2O2 was added. Under stressful conditions, MA protected both cell lines against oxidative damage, decreasing intracellular ROS, which were higher in B16F10 than in A10 cells. The treatment with H2O2 and without MA produced different responses in antioxidant enzyme activities depending on the cell line. In A10 cells, all the enzymes were up-regulated, but in B16F10 cells, only superoxide dismutase, glutathione S-transferase and glutathione peroxidase increased their activities. MA restored the enzyme activities to levels similar to those in the control group in both cell lines, highlighting that in A10 cells, the highest MA doses induced values lower than control. Overall, these findings demonstrate the great antioxidant capacity of MA.General Secretariat of Universities, Research and Technology of the Ministry of Economy, Innovation, Science and Employment Government of the Junta de Andalucia (Spain) BIO-157program FEDER-INNTERCONECTA from the Spanish Government C-3650-0

Nutraceutical Role of Polyphenols and Triterpenes Present in the Extracts of Fruits and Leaves of Olea europaea as Antioxidants, Anti-Infectives and Anticancer Agents on Healthy Growth

This research has been funded by the Junta de Andalucia (Andalusian Research Plan, Junta de Andalucia, Spain) by the grant from the research group BIO-157 "Drugs, Environmental Toxics and Cellular Metabolism".There is currently a worldwide consensus and recognition of the undoubted health benefits of the so-called Mediterranean diet, with its intake being associated with a lower risk of mortality. The most important characteristics of this type of diet are based on the consumption of significant amounts of fruit, vegetables, legumes, and nuts, which provide, in addition to some active ingredients, fiber and a proportion of vegetable protein, together with extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) as the main sources of vegetable fat. Fish and meat from poultry and other small farm animals are the main sources of protein. One of the main components, as already mentioned, is EVOO, which is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids and to a lesser extent in polyunsaturated fatty acids. The intake of this type of nutrient also provides an important set of phytochemicals whose health potential is widely spread and agreed upon. These phytochemicals include significant amounts of anthocyanins, stilbenes, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and terpenes of varying complexities. Therefore, the inclusion in the diet of this type of molecules, with a proven healthy effect, provides an unquestionable preventive and/or curative activity on an important group of pathologies related to cardiovascular, infectious, and cancerous diseases, as well as those related to the metabolic syndrome. The aim of this review is therefore to shed light on the nutraceutical role of two of the main phytochemicals present in Olea europaea fruit and leaf extracts, polyphenols, and triterpenes, on healthy animal growth. Their immunomodulatory, anti-infective, antioxidant, anti-aging, and anti-carcinogenic capabilities show them to be potential nutraceuticals, providing healthy growth.Junta de Andalucia BIO-15