Evidence of impaired H-reflex and H-reflex rate-dependent depression in diabetes, prediabetes and obesity: a mini-review

Diabetes Mellitus is a public health problem associated with complications such as neuropathy; however, it has been proposed that these may begin to develop during prediabetes and may also be present in persons with obesity. Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is the presence of signs and/or symptoms of peripheral nerve dysfunction in people living with diabetes, which increases the risk of developing complications and has a deleterious impact on quality of life. As part of the therapeutic protocol for diabetes, screening tests to identify peripheral neuropathy are suggested, however, there are no recommendations for people with prediabetes and obesity without symptoms such as pain, numbness, or paresthesias. Moreover, clinical screening tests that are usually used to recognize this alteration, such as tendon reflex, temperature sensation, and pressure and vibration perception, might be subjective as they depend on the evaluator’s experience thus the incorrect application of these tests may not recognize the damage to small or large-nerve fibers. Recent evidence suggests that an objective study such as the impairment of the rate-dependent depression of the H-reflex could be used as a biomarker of spinal disinhibition and hence may provide more information on sensorimotor integration

Probiotics and Prebiotics as a Therapeutic Strategy to Improve Memory in a Model of Middle-Aged Rats

Aging is associated with morphological, physiological and metabolic changes, leading to multiorgan degenerative pathologies, such as cognitive function decline. It has been suggested that memory loss also involves a decrease in neurotrophic factors, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). In recent years, microbiota has been proposed as an essential player in brain development, as it is believed to activate BDNF secretion through butyrate production. Thus, microbiota modulation by supplementation with probiotics and prebiotics may impact cognitive decline. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of probiotics and prebiotics supplementation on the memory of middle-aged rats. Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomized in four groups (n = 13 per group): control (water), probiotic (E. faecium), prebiotic (agave inulin), symbiotic (E. faecium + inulin), which were administered for 5 weeks by oral gavage. Spatial and associative memory was analyzed using the Morris Water Maze (MWM) and Pavlovian autoshaping tests, respectively. Hippocampus was obtained to analyze cytokines [interleukin (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α)], BDNF and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Butyrate concentrations were also evaluated in feces. The symbiotic group showed a significantly better performance in MWM (p < 0.01), but not in Pavlovian autoshaping test. It also showed significantly lower concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines (p < 0.01) and the reduction in IL-1β correlated with a better performance of the symbiotic group in MWM (p < 0.05). Symbiotic group also showed the highest BDNF and butyrate levels (p < 0.0001). Finally, we compared the electrophysiological responses of control (n = 8) and symbiotic (n = 8) groups. Passive properties of CA1 pyramidal cells (PCs) exhibited changes in response to the symbiotic treatment. Likewise, this group showed an increase in the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA)/AMPA ratio and exhibited robust long-term potentiation (LTP; p < 0.01). Integrated results suggest that symbiotics could improve age-related impaired memory

Utilizing small nutrient compounds as enhancers of exercise-induced mitochondrial biogenesis.

Endurance exercise, when performed regularly as part of a training program, leads to increases in whole-body and skeletal muscle-specific oxidative capacity. At the cellular level, this adaptive response is manifested by an increased number of oxidative fibers (Type I and IIA myosin heavy chain), an increase in capillarity and an increase in mitochondrial biogenesis. The increase in mitochondrial biogenesis (increased volume and functional capacity) is fundamentally important as it leads to greater rates of oxidative phosphorylation and an improved capacity to utilize fatty acids during sub-maximal exercise. Given the importance of mitochondrial biogenesis for skeletal muscle performance, considerable attention has been given to understanding the molecular cues stimulated by endurance exercise that culminate in this adaptive response. In turn, this research has led to the identification of pharmaceutical compounds and small nutritional bioactive ingredients that appear able to amplify exercise-responsive signaling pathways in skeletal muscle. The aim of this review is to discuss these purported exercise mimetics and bioactive ingredients in the context of mitochondrial biogenesis in skeletal muscle. We will examine proposed modes of action, discuss evidence of application in skeletal muscle in vivo and finally comment on the feasibility of such approaches to support endurance-training applications in humans

The Protective Effect of Dietary Arthrospira (Spirulina) maxima Against Mutagenicity Induced by Benzo[alpha]pyrene in Mice

U radu je istražena mogućnost detekcije i lociranja puknuća cijevi unutar izoliranog dijela sustava vodoopskrbe, tj. kontrolirane zone na temelju poznavanja vrijednosti pet parametra. Ti parametri bili su po jedna veličina protoka i tlaka mjerene na ulazu u sustav, te tri veličine tlaka mjerene na različitim lokacijama unutar sustava. Izmjerene vrijednosti svih pet parametra su prikupljane i bilježene kontinuirano u vremenu. Za istraživanje su korišteni podaci o vrijednostima veličina protoka i tlaka po satima i danima u vremenskom razdoblju od jedne godine, na način da su hidrauličkim modelom simulirana hidraulička stanja sa i bez puknuća cjevovoda s različitim protocima curenja. Ovi podaci su korišteni kao ulazi u neuronske mreže, dok je primarno kao izlazna veličina razmatrano stanje puknuća, a sekundarno su, ukoliko je puknuće nastalo, izlazne veličine bile prostorne koordinate njegove lokacije. \Nakon provedenih simulacija različitih stanja sa i bez puknuća unutar vodoopskrbne mreže ustanovljeno je da se pomoću dobro modeliranih neuronskih mreža odabrani parametri mogu iskoristiti za dobivanje informacije o pojavi puknuća cijevi. \Neuronske mreže modelirane u svrhu lociranja puknuća cijevi pokazale su da s povećanjem protoka iz cijevi nastalog uslijed njenog puknuća, pogreška kod određivanja lokacije puknuća linearno pada. Međutim, nije ostvaren dovoljan nagib tog pravca kod kojeg bi se, za neki realno očekivani protok puknuća, pogreška lociranja puknuća smanjila na prihvatljivu vrijednost.The work explores the possibility of detection and location of the pipe burst inside an isolated part of the water supply system, i.e. district metered area, based on the known values of five parameters. These parameters were one variable of flow, one variable of pressure at the inlet of the system and three variables of pressure measured at different locations within the system. The measured values of all five parameters were collected and recorded continuously in time of one year. For the research, we used data on the values of flow and pressure for hours and days in the period of one year, in a manner that the hydraulic model simulated hydraulic conditions with and without pipe burst with different leakage flows. These data were used as inputs in neural networks; while the primarily considered output value was the state of burst, and the secondary, if the bursts occurred, output values were the spatial coordinates of burst location. After the simulation of a number of different conditions with and without a pipe burst in the water supply network, it was found that, managing well trained neural networks, selected parameters could be used to provide information of occurrence of pipe burst. Neural networks modeled for the purpose of locating pipe burst showed that, when flow formed due to pipe burst increases, error in determining the location of burst drops. However, we could not obtain sufficient decrease of this flow-error correlation line in order to achieve acceptable pipe burst location error for particular realistic pipe burst flow

Anthocyanins: Potential Therapeutic Approaches towards Obesity and Diabetes Mellitus Type 2

Overweight and obesity are present in about three-quarters of the adult population in Mexico. The inflammatory mechanisms subjacent to visceral white adipose tissue are accountable for the initiation and development of cardiometabolic alterations, including type 2 diabetes. Lifestyle changes are pillars within its therapeutics and, thus, current dietary modifications should include not only hypocaloric prescriptions with balanced macronutrient intake, preferably by increasing the amount of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, but in concomitance, bioactive substances, such as anthocyanins, have been correlated with lower incidence of this disease

Anthocyanins: Potential Therapeutic Approaches towards Obesity and Diabetes Mellitus Type 2

Overweight and obesity are present in about three-quarters of the adult population in Mexico. The inflammatory mechanisms subjacent to visceral white adipose tissue are accountable for the initiation and development of cardiometabolic alterations, including type 2 diabetes. Lifestyle changes are pillars within its therapeutics and, thus, current dietary modifications should include not only hypocaloric prescriptions with balanced macronutrient intake, preferably by increasing the amount of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, but in concomitance, bioactive substances, such as anthocyanins, have been correlated with lower incidence of this disease

Pre-Hispanic Foods Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus), Nopal (Opuntia ficus-indica) and Amaranth (Amaranthus sp.) as New Alternative Ingredients for Developing Functional Cookies

Oyster mushroom (Pleurotusostreatus), nopal (Opuntia ficus-indica) and amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) are pre-Hispanic foods widely consumed in Mexico. However, there are no standard products developed with these ingredientsas functional cookies. This study evaluated the impact of partial replacement (50%) of whole-wheat flour (WWF) with three formulations of P. ostreatus, nopal and amaranth flours (POF, NF and AF, respectively) on the nutritional/antioxidant properties of fortified cookies. The proportion of the flours’ ingredients (WWF:AF:NF:POF) were 100% WWF (traditional cookies), 50:35:10:5 (F1), 50:30:15:5 (F2) and 50:40:5:5 (F3). Proximal composition, phenolic/flavonoid contents, and ABTS•+ scavenging activity were determined in flours and cookies.POF, NF and AF possess a high nutritional value comprising polyphenols/flavonoids and a significant antioxidant potential. Total protein, ash and flavonoids were higher in fortified cookies than in controls. Cookies prepared with F2—the highest nopal level—contained 5.29% of dietary fiber and five times higher polyphenol content than control cookies. The ABTS•+ scavenging ability was similar in the three enriched cookies (87.73–89.58%), but higher than that in traditional cookies (75.60%). The applicability of POF/NF/AF for replacing up to 50% of WWF in the production of functional cookies was demonstrated without compromising products’ acceptability.This research promotes renewable local bioresouces for a sustainable agri-food chain, especially edible mushrooms