Supplementation with the Symbiotic Formulation Prodefen® Increases Neuronal Nitric Oxide Synthase and Decreases Oxidative Stress in Superior Mesenteric Artery from Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

In recent years, gut dysbiosis has been related to some peripheral vascular alterations linked to hypertension. In this work, we explore whether gut dysbiosis is related to vascular innervation dysfunction and altered nitric oxide (NO) production in the superior mesenteric artery, one of the main vascular beds involved in peripheral vascular resistance. For this purpose, we used spontaneously hypertensive rats, either treated or not with the commercial synbiotic formulation Prodefen® (108 colony forming units/day, 4 weeks). Prodefen® diminished systolic blood pressure and serum endotoxin, as well as the vasoconstriction elicited by electrical field stimulation (EFS), and enhanced acetic and butyric acid in fecal samples, and the vasodilation induced by the exogenous NO donor DEA-NO. Unspecific nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor L-NAME increased EFS-induced vasoconstriction more markedly in rats supplemented with Prodefen®. Both neuronal NO release and neuronal NOS activity were enhanced by Prodefen®, through a hyperactivation of protein kinase (PK)A, PKC and phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase-AKT signaling pathways. The superoxide anion scavenger tempol increased both NO release and DEA-NO vasodilation only in control animals. Prodefen® caused an increase in both nuclear erythroid related factor 2 and superoxide dismutase activities, consequently reducing both superoxide anion and peroxynitrite releases. In summary, Prodefen® could be an interesting non-pharmacological approach to ameliorate hypertensionThis research was funded by CiberCV (Grant number: CB16/11/00286), the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PID2020-116498RB-I00, and CDTI -Center for Industrial Technological Development-project PID 2020-FEDER Funds), and R+D projects for young researchers, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid-Comunidad de Madrid (SI1-PJI-2019-00321

CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research

CIBERER: Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

13 páginas,1 figura, 3 tablas, 1 apéndice. Se extraen los autores pertenecientes a The CIBERER network que trabajan en Centros del CSIC del Appendix ACIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research.This study has been funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and Spanish Ministry of Science and InnovationPeer reviewe

Supplementation with the Symbiotic Formulation Prodefen® Increases Neuronal Nitric Oxide Synthase and Decreases Oxidative Stress in Superior Mesenteric Artery from Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

In recent years, gut dysbiosis has been related to some peripheral vascular alterations linked to hypertension. In this work, we explore whether gut dysbiosis is related to vascular innervation dysfunction and altered nitric oxide (NO) production in the superior mesenteric artery, one of the main vascular beds involved in peripheral vascular resistance. For this purpose, we used spontaneously hypertensive rats, either treated or not with the commercial synbiotic formulation Prodefen® (108 colony forming units/day, 4 weeks). Prodefen® diminished systolic blood pressure and serum endotoxin, as well as the vasoconstriction elicited by electrical field stimulation (EFS), and enhanced acetic and butyric acid in fecal samples, and the vasodilation induced by the exogenous NO donor DEA-NO. Unspecific nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor L-NAME increased EFS-induced vasoconstriction more markedly in rats supplemented with Prodefen®. Both neuronal NO release and neuronal NOS activity were enhanced by Prodefen®, through a hyperactivation of protein kinase (PK)A, PKC and phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase-AKT signaling pathways. The superoxide anion scavenger tempol increased both NO release and DEA-NO vasodilation only in control animals. Prodefen® caused an increase in both nuclear erythroid related factor 2 and superoxide dismutase activities, consequently reducing both superoxide anion and peroxynitrite releases. In summary, Prodefen® could be an interesting non-pharmacological approach to ameliorate hypertension

Efecto de la suplementación con pectina de cítricos sobre biomarcadores del síndrome metabólico en un modelo animal inducido por una dieta rica en grasa

Máster en Nuevos Alimentos.[ES]: En los últimos años, ha aumentado de forma importante la prevalencia de enfermedades crónicas como el Síndrome Metabólico, caracterizado por, al menos, tres de estos factores de riesgo: adiposidad visceral excesiva, hiperglucemia, resistencia a la insulina, hipertensión y dislipemia. Se ha visto que este tipo de enfermedades tiene un componente dietético, principalmente por un consumo excesivo de grasas, y otro relacionado con un estilo de vida sedentario. Por otro lado, la industria alimentaria genera una elevada cantidad de subproductos, suponiendo un gran problema para el medioambiente como para la propia industria. Estos subproductos pueden ser fuente de compuestos bioactivos, tales como la pectina, en el caso de subproductos de la industria de frutas y verduras. El objetivo de este trabajo fue testar una pectina comercial procedente de subproductos de cítricos debido a que se trata de un carbohidrato prebiótico emergente, del cual existe cierta evidencia científica sobre sus posibles efectos beneficiosos a nivel sistémico. La mayoría de estudios, a día de hoy, son ensayos in vitro por lo que se estimó necesario evaluar el efecto de dicha pectina (previa caracterización y estudio de sus propiedades tecno-funcionales) en un modelo experimental de síndrome metabólico inducido por una dieta rica en grasa para comprobar si favorecía algunas patologías relacionadas con dicha enfermedad. Los resultaron mostraron un efecto beneficioso en cuanto al control de peso, adiposidad, glucemia, resistencia a la insulina, dislipemia e hipertensión, debido probablemente a las propiedades tecno-funcionales de la pectina, así como a su capacidad antioxidante, entre otros factores.[EN]: In recent years, the prevalence of chronic diseases such as Metabolic Syndrome has increased significantly, characterized by at least three of these risk factors: excessive visceral adiposity, hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, hypertension and dyslipidemia. It has been seen that this type of disease has a dietary component, mainly due to an excessive consumption of fats, and another related to a sedentary lifestyle. On the other hand, the food industry generates a high amount of by-products, being a great problem for the environment and for the industry. These by-products can be a source of bioactive compounds, such as pectin, in the case of by-products of the fruit and vegetable industry. The objective of this work was to test a commercial pectin from citrus by-products because it is an emerging prebiotic carbohydrate, of which there is some scientific evidence on its possible beneficial effects at systemic level. Most studies, today, are in vitro tests so it was considered necessary to evaluate the effect of this pectin (after characterization and study of its techno-functional properties) in an experimental model of metabolic syndrome induced by a diet rich in fat to check if it favored some pathologies related to this disease. The results showed a beneficial effect in terms of weight control, adiposity, glycemia, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia and hypertension, probably due to the techno-functional properties of pectin, as well as its antioxidant capacity, among other factors.Peer reviewe

Update of challenges for food quality and safety management

This article aims to review how the concept of food quality and safety has evolved in recent years depending on the different circumstances that have been occurring from both, the point of view of scientific-technological progress and the influence that external agents have had, environmental and biological, with special emphasis on the recent pandemic. With this work, we have tried to show that the notion of food quality reposes on an intricate and multi-dimensional idea, which is affected by a broad series of situational and contextual factors. Thus, it has been showed that the traditional concept of food quality based on consumer acceptance and nutrition has been unavoidably implemented with an approach of a personalized nutrition. Approaches related to authentication and safety control based on noninvasive techniques and robust tools for the data treatment also offer new perspectives in food quality and safety. However, perhaps the most urgent point is to link in such a way the innovation and the production of sustainable food systems to demonstrate that the One Health and Zero Waste concepts are not a wishful but a reality.Peer reviewe

Extraction optimization and structural characterization of pectin from persimmon fruit (Diospyros kaki Thunb. var. Rojo brillante)

In this work we have efficiently extracted and characterized pectin from different tissues of astringent (AS) and non-astringent (NAS) persimmon fruits (peel, pulp, whole fruit) for the first time. The highest pectin extraction (≥7.2%) was carried out at 80 °C, 120 min with 1.5% sodium citrate in peel of both AS and NAS persimmon samples. All persimmon pectins showed a molecular weight and galacturonic acid content upper than 328 kDa and 78%, respectively, indicating their suitability as food ingredient. Pectin extracted from AS pulp and peel tissues exhibited an enriched structure in rhamnose and arabinose, whereas the opposite behavior was observed in NAS persimmon whole fruit samples. Remarkably, both pulp tissues (AS and NAS) presented the highest levels of glucose and mannose, non-pectic carbohydrates. In addition, techno-functional assessment (zeta potential, particle size, apparent viscosity, gelation) showed the suitability of the persimmon pectins for a broad range of industrial applications.This work has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through projects AGL2014-53445-R, and project INIA RTA2015-00044-C02-02.Peer reviewe

Structural, chemical and technofunctional properties pectin modification by green and novel intermediate frequency ultrasound procedure

The impact of intermediate frequency ultrasound (IFUS, 582, 864 and 1144 kHz), mode of operation (continue and pulsed) and ascorbic acid (Aa) addition on the structural, chemical and technofunctional properties of commercial citrus high methoxyl-grade pectin (HMP) was investigated. The chemical dosimetry of IFUS, monitored by the triiodide formation rate (I3−), demonstrated that the pulsed ratio (1900 ms on/100 ms off) at the three frequencies was similar to that of continue mode but IFUS1144 kHz produced more acoustic streaming demonstrated by the height liquid measured using image analysis. In presence of Aa, HMP presented higher fragmentation than in its absence. IFUS did not give rise any changes in the main functional groups of the HMP. In general, a reduction in molecular weight was observed, being the presence of Aa the most influencing factor. Regarding monosaccharides, IFUS modified the structure of homogalacturonan and rhamnogalacturonan-I and increased of GalA contents of the HMP in presence of Aa at the above three frequencies. A reducing of the consistency index (k) and increasing of the flow index (n) of HMP were showed by IFUS frequency and Aa addition. The emulsifying activity and stability index were increased for HMP treated by IFUS in continue mode at all frequencies and in presence of Aa. The results presented in this research shown the effectiveness of IFUS as tool to modify pectin into different structures with different functionalities

Berry fruits as source of pectin: Conventional and non-conventional extraction techniques

Three non-conventional extraction techniques (enzyme-assisted with cellulase, citric acid ultrasound-assisted and enzyme-ultrasound-assisted treatment) and conventional citric acid extraction were applied to obtain pectin from raspberry, blueberry, strawberry and redcurrant, and were compared in terms of extraction yields and physicochemical properties of the extracted pectins. Except for pectin from raspberry, conventional citric acid extraction led to the highest extraction yield (~8%) and, for the same berries, the lowest pectin recovery was found for the extraction with cellulase (~4%). Regarding the structural characteristics of pectins, enzymatically extracted pectins from redcurrant and strawberry exhibited the highest levels of galacturonic acid (≥73%) whereas, in general, this monosaccharide was found from 51 to 69% in the rest of samples. Although, ultrasound-assisted extraction did not improve pectin yield, it minimized the levels of “non-pectic” components leading to the obtainment of purer pectin. The different monomeric composition and the wide range of molecular weight of the obtained pectins pointed out their usefulness in different potential food applications (e.g., thickening, gelling ingredients) and biological activities. This has been evidenced by the differences found in their physicochemical and techno-functional characteristics. Finally, it can be considered that the berries here studied are efficient sources of pectin.This work has been funded by MINECO of Spain, Project AGL2014-53445-R. N. Muñoz-Almagro thanks to Ministry of Economy of Spain for providing her FPI predoctoral fellowship.Peer reviewe