Evaluation of anti-inflammatory activity of food compounds using zebrafish

Podeu consultar el llibre complet a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/128014The principal aim of this work was to optimize and apply a zebrafish experimental model for the screening of anti-inflammatory substances present in the Mediterranean diet. The zebrafish is an organism widely used in various fields of experimental biology. The inflammation is easily inducible, reproducible and visualized in their early stages of development. Specifically, the migration of neutrophils to the injured caudal fin, one of the first steps of the inflammatory response, is quantitatively measured by image analysis. The anti-inflammatory effect of natural compounds can be evaluated as a decrease of migration. Adverse effects triggered by inflammation are mainly mediated by reactive oxygen species. The anti-oxidant activity of compounds was evaluated in zebrafish embryo measuring their protective effect against tert-butyl hydroperoxide toxicity. Several phenolic compounds have been assayed. Our results showed that the compounds with the greatest decrease on neutrophil migration were chlorogenic acid and cyanidin. The activity of these two polyphenols was quite similar to that observed with anti-inflammatory drugs (indomethacin, piroxicam) and NADPH oxidase inhibitor compounds (dibenzoidolium, apocynin). The anti-inflammatory and the anti-oxidant activity of the assayed polyphenols did not show a clear correlation

The impact of pipeline changes and temperature increase in a hospital historically colonised with Legionella

Healthcare-related Legionnaires' disease has a devastating impact on high risk patients, with a case fatality rate of 30-50%. Legionella prevention and control in hospitals is therefore crucial. To control Legionella water colonisation in a hospital setting we evaluated the effect of pipeline improvements and temperature increase, analysing 237 samples over a 2-year period (first year: 129, second year: 108). In the first year, 25.58% of samples were positive for Legionella and 16.67% for amoeba. Assessing the distance of the points analysed from the hot water tank, the most distal points presented higher proportion of Legionella colonisation and lower temperatures (nearest points: 6.4% colonised, and temperature 61.4 °C; most distal points: 50% and temperature 59.1 °C). After the first year, the hot water system was repaired and the temperature stabilised. This led to a dramatic reduction in Legionella colonisation, which was negative in all the samples analysed; however, amoeba colonisation remained stable. This study shows the importance of keeping the temperature stable throughout the circuit, at around 60 °C. Special attention should be paid to the most distal points of the circuit; a fall in temperature at these weak points would favour the colonisation and spread of Legionella, because amoeba (the main Legionella reservoir) are not affected by temperature

Zebrafish as a model for developmental toxicity assessment

Podeu consultar el llibre complet a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/67430The zebrafish embryo has emerged as promising alternative model for traditional in vivo developmental toxicological screening due to their advantageous characteristics as their small size and transparency. In this paper, we reviewed the applicability of the zebrafish embryo model in some relevant areas to human t oxicology as developmental toxicity, cardiovascular toxicity and neurotoxicity (behavioral assessment). Despite the promising results, further optimization and testing of more substances as well as a harmonized methodology is needed to streamline the metho ds and make the assay conducive to medium - throughput

Effect of dietary seaweed (Ascophyllum nodosum) supplementation on milk mineral concentrations, transfer efficiency, and hematological parameters in lactating Holstein cows

This study investigated the effect of feeding seaweed (Ascophyllum nodosum) to dairy cows on milk mineral concentrations, feed-to-milk mineral transfer efficiencies and hematological parameters. Lactating Holstein cows (n = 46) were allocated to one of 2 diets (n = 23 each): (i) control (CON; without seaweed), and (ii) seaweed (SWD; replacing 330 g/d of dried corn meal in CON with 330 g/d dried A. nodosum). All cows were fed the CON diet for 4 weeks before the experiment (adaptation period); and animals were then fed the experimental diets for 9 weeks. Samples included sequential 3-week composite feed samples, a composite milk sample on the last day of each week, and a blood sample at the end of the study. Data were statistically analyzed using a linear mixed effects model with diet, week, and their interaction as fixed factors; cow (nested within diet) as a random factor and data collected on the last day of the adaptation period as covariates. Feeding SWD increased milk concentrations of Mg (+6.6 mg/kg), P (+56 mg/kg), and I (+1720 μg/kg). It also reduced transfer efficiency of Ca, Mg, P, K, Mn, and Zn, and increased transfer efficiency of Mo. Feeding SWD marginally reduced milk protein concentrations while there was no effect of SWD feeding on cows' hematological parameters. Feeding A. nodosum increased milk I concentrations, which can be beneficial when feed I concentration is limited or in demographics or populations with increased risk of I deficiency (e.g., female adolescents, pregnant women, nursing mothers). However, care should also be taken when feeding SWD to dairy cows because, in the present study, milk I concentrations were particularly high and could result in I intakes that pose a health risk for children consuming milk.The project leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 730924 (SmartCow). The analysis of macrominerals and trace elements in feed, milk, and blood plasma was funded by the University of Reading (Reading, UK); special thanks go to the laboratory personnel at the University of Reading who supported the analysis of feed, milk, and blood plasma. This output reflects only the authors' views, and the European Union cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. The data set supporting the conclusions of this article is available on request from the corresponding authors. Eric E. Newton: conceptualization, methodology, software, validation, formal analysis, investigation, data curation, writing–original draft, writing–review and editing, visualization. Katerina Theodoridou: conceptualization, methodology, resources, writing–review and editing, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition. Marta Terré: project administration, investigation, resources, writing–review and editing. Sharon Huws: writing–review and editing. Partha Ray: conceptualization, methodology, software, supervision. Christopher K. Reynolds: writing–review and editing, supervision. N. Prat: investigation, resources. D. Sabrià: investigation, resources. Sokratis Stergiadis: conceptualization, methodology, resources, data curation, writing–original draft, writing–review and editing, visualization, supervision, project administration. All authors reviewed and approved the manuscript. Animals were managed with common rearing conditions under the supervision of Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA, Monells, Spain) technicians and the approval of the Animal Care Committee of the Government of Catalonia (authorization code 11392). The authors have not stated any conflicts of interest.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio