The effect of surgical treatment of morbid obesity on functional capacity and risk factors for cardiovascular diseases

Introduction: Morbid obesity is associated with elevated risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Bariatric surgery is the most effective weight loss method for morbidly obese patients. Aim: To examine the effect of surgical treatment of morbid obesity on functional capacity and risk factors for CVD. Material and Methods: In a group of 56 morbidly obese patients Body Mass Index (BMI), functional capacity and risk factors for CVD were compared before and after laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery. BMI was derived from the patients' weight and height. Functional capacity parameters (peak VO2 and VE/VCO2 slope) and systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure were obtained during ergospirometry testing. Data on risk factors was acquired from medical histories and laboratory analyses. Results: A statistically significant difference was found in peak VO2 (p<0.0001) and VE/ VCO2 slope (p =0.003) before and 6 months after the surgery. Resting SBP significantly decreased (p=0.017), as did SBP in maximal effort (p<0.0001). Similar results were observed when comparing resting and maximal effort DBP (p<0.0001 and p=0.002, respectively) before and after the surgery. Risk factors for CVD improved - hypercholesterolemia (12,5% vs 9%), diabetes (37% vs 19,6%) and hypertension (48,2% vs 33%). Conclusion: Morbidly obese patients showed an improvement of functional capacity, as well as in the risk factors for CVD 6 months following laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery

Efikasnost združivanja mrkve i crnog luka na njihova morfološka i nutritivna svojstva

A trial involving intercropped and pure stands of carrots 'Nantes' and onions 'Kupusinski jabučar' was conducted on a certified organic farm in Futog. The yield, morphological and nutritional properties of the crops analyzed were determined in the study. Furthermore, the biological efficiency of intercropping was assessed using the relative yield (RYT) and the land use efficiency index (LER). The mixture of crops had influenced the morphological properties examined. In both experimental plant species, the nutritional properties of onions and carrots exhibited a higher content of dry matter (DM) in the double-row growing system without maize gluten meal (onions - 11.42 %, carrots - 10.45 %) compared to single crops. The highest content of β-carotene was determined by alternating single rows of onions and carrots in a plot without the use of gluten (68.94 μg/g DM). The relative yield and the land use efficiency index have shown that there is a biological efficiency of combining carrots and onion as the values obtained are higher than 1. Carrots and black onions are favorable for intercropping because they are complementary, thus interactively contribute to increasing the yield per unit area and improving the nutritional properties.Ogled sa združenim i čistim usevima mrkve i crnog luka izveden je na organskoj parceli u Futogu. Određen je prinos sveže mase lukovica i svežeg korena mrkve, utvrđena su morfološka i nutritivna svojstva, a ispitivanjem je ocenjena biološka efikasnost združivanja numeričkim pokazateljima: relativni prinos (RYT) i indeks efikasnosti korišćenja zemljišta (LER). Združivanje useva statistički je značajno uticalo na ispitivana svojstva (masa lukovice, masa korena mrkve, udeo korena mrkve, dužina i broj listova mrkve). U ispitivanju nutritivnih svojstava kod crnog luka i mrkve, veći sadržaj suve materije (SM) kod obe proučavane biljne vrste ustanovljen je u dvoredom združenom usevu bez primene glutena (crni luk - 11,42%; mrkva - 10,45%) u poređenju sa čistim usevima. Najveći sadržaj β-karotena utvrđen je kod naizmeničnog združenog useva sa crnim lukom na parceli bez primene glutena (68,94 μg/g SM). RYT i LER su pokazali da postoji biološka efikasnost združivanja mrkve i crnog luka, jer su dobijene vrednosti gt 1. Mrkva i crni luk predstavljaju pravilan izbor useva za zdurživanje jer su komplementarni i doprinose povećanju prinosa po jedinici površine i poboljšanju nutritivnih svojstava

Supplementary data for the article: Ajdačić, V.; Nikolić, A.; Simić, S.; Manojlović, D.; Stojanović, Z.; Nikodinovic-Runic, J.; Opsenica, I. M. Decarbonylation of Aromatic Aldehydes and Dehalogenation of Aryl Halides Using Maghemite-Supported Palladium Catalyst. Synthesis (Germany) 2018, 50 (1), 119–126. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0036-1590892

Supplementary material for: [https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0036-1590892]Related to published version: [http://cherry.chem.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/2569

The humanised CYP2C19 transgenic mouse exhibits cerebellar atrophy and movement impairment reminiscent of ataxia

Aims: CYP2C19 transgenic mouse expresses the human CYP2C19 gene in the liver and developing brain, and it exhibits altered neurodevelopment associated with impairments in emotionality and locomotion. Because the validation of new animal models is essential for the understanding of the aetiology and pathophysiology of movement disorders, the objective was to characterise motoric phenotype in CYP2C19 transgenic mice and to investigate its validity as a new animal model of ataxia. Methods: The rotarod, paw-print and beam-walking tests were utilised to characterise the motoric phenotype. The volumes of 20 brain regions in CYP2C19 transgenic and wild-type mice were quantified by 9.4T gadolinium-enhanced post-mortem structural neuroimaging. Antioxidative enzymatic activity was quantified biochemically. Dopaminergic alterations were characterised by chromatographic quantification of concentrations of dopamine and its metabolites and by subsequent immunohistochemical analyses. The beam-walking test was repeated after the treatment with dopamine receptor antagonists ecopipam and raclopride. Results: CYP2C19 transgenic mice exhibit abnormal, unilateral ataxia-like gait, clasping reflex and 5.6-fold more paw-slips in the beam-walking test; the motoric phenotype was more pronounced in youth. Transgenic mice exhibited a profound reduction of 12% in cerebellar volume and a moderate reduction of 4% in hippocampal volume; both regions exhibited an increased antioxidative enzyme activity. CYP2C19 mice were hyperdopaminergic; however, the motoric impairment was not ameliorated by dopamine receptor antagonists, and there was no alteration in the number of midbrain dopaminergic neurons in CYP2C19 mice. Conclusions: Humanised CYP2C19 transgenic mice exhibit altered gait and functional motoric impairments; this phenotype is likely caused by an aberrant cerebellar development

Social adolescent stress causes increased general anxiety in male rats and reduced social anxiety in both male and female rats

Background: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence of anxiety and depression disorders increased by approximately 25-30% [1]. Reasons behind this are likely associated with the increased average daily level of stress, especially during social isolation. Since one of the main adolescence hallmarks is formation of meaningful social and love relationships, it represents a particularly vulnerable period for social stress [2]. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether isolation stress during the adolescence causes general and social anxiety in rats. Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats of both sexes were used for the adolescence social isolation experiment. From the fourth postnatal week, 24 rats were single caged and therefore subjected to the social isolation stress, while 24 non-stressed control rats remained in groups of four per cage and were handled three times a week. All rats were handled daily for one week and weighted before behavioural tests. From eleventh week, rats were subjected to the open field, elevated plus maze, and three-chamber sociability tests, with two-day gap between different tests. In open field test, time spent in the centre was measured, while in the elevated plus maze test, the time spent in open arms, normalized to time spent in all arms was measured; reduction in values of these parameters was interpreted as general anxiety. In the social preference test, social preference ratio was calculated for each animal, according to the previously published protocol [3], and reduction in this ratio was interpreted as social anxiety. 2-way ANOVA, with sex and isolation stress as factors, was used for parametric data analysis, and Fischer’s post hoc test was used to detect statistically significant between group differences. Kruskal-Wallis test was used for non-parametric data analysis, and Mann-Whitney post hoc test with multiple comparison correction was used to detect statistically significant between group differences. Results: Compared to control rats, time spent in the centre of open field (-44% [95%CI: -76%, -12%] p¼0,008) and total distance travelled (-17% [95%CI: -32%, -2%], p¼0.028) were decreased in isolated males, but not in females (p>0.1). In elevated plus maze test, time spent in the open arms was significantly decreased in male isolated rats (isolated: [median: 0.76, IQR: 0.00 – 2.06] vs control: [median: 4.96, IQR: 2.04 – 17.75], p¼0.034); however, this change did not remain significant after multiple comparisons corrections. In sociability tests, both male and female isolated rats exhibited increase in social preference ratio (+32% [95%CI: 12%, 51%], p¼0.002) and preference for novel animal over familiar one (+48% [95%CI: 10%, 86%], p¼0.015), compared to control rats. Body weight, measured after six weeks of social isolation at week ten, was increased in isolated male compared to control rats (+19% [95%CI: 14%, 24%], p<0.001), while there was no such difference observed in female rats. Conclusion: Social isolation caused increase in general anxiety in male, but not female rats. In addition, both male and female rats exhibited robust increase in preference for social interaction and novel social stimulus, which is the result opposite from the expected social anxiety as initially hypothesized. References [1] CMD Collaborators, 2021. Global prevalence and burden of depressive and anxiety disorders in 204 countries and territories in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lancet 398 (10312), 1700-1712. [2] Sawyer, S.M., Afifi, R.A., Bear inger, L.H., Blakemore, S.J., Dick, B., Ezeh, A.C., Patton, G.C., 2012. Adolescence: a foundation for future health. Lancet 379 (9826), 1630-1640. [3] Rein, B., Ma, K., Yan, Z., 2020. A standardized social preference protocol for measuring social deficits in mouse models of autism. Nat Protoc 15 (10), 3464-3477.35th ECNP Congress, 15-18 October 2022, Vienna, Austri

Аntioxidant activity of peptide fractions obtained by membrane ultrafiltration of egg white protein enzymatic hydrolysates

The objective of this research was a production of egg white protein hydrolysates with improved antioxidant properties. For this purpose, a thermal and ultrasound pretreated egg white proteins were intensively hydrolysed with a commercial food-grade bacterial protease Alcalase. Thus obtained hydrolysates were further separated by sequential ultrafiltration into four peptide fraction viz. Fraction I (> 30kDa), II (10 - 30 kDa), III (1 - 10 kDa) and IV (< 1kDa) which were investigated in terms of their antioxidant activity. The antioxidant activity of hydrolysates and peptide fractions were evaluated using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) radical scavenging assays and measuring ferric reducing antioxidant power assay. Scavenging of 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) by Fraction III, prepared with ultrasound pretreatment (35 kHz - 30 min) was found to be significantly higher than other fractions (21.17 ± 2.01 % and 80.72 ± 1.32 %, respectively), while ferric reducing antioxidant power assay has proven to be the best for thermal pretreatment. The results show that the fractionated hydrolysates were superior to the original hydrolysate in the antioxidative activity tested and can be concluded that by combining ultrasound pretreatment hydrolysates with improved functional and antioxidant properties can be produced enhancing utilization of egg white in food products

Uticaj sonikacije i pretretmana visokim pritiskom na enzimsku hidrolizu proteina belanceta

The objectives of this study were to examine the effect of sonication and high-pressure carbon dioxide processing on proteolytic hydrolysis of egg white proteins and antioxidant activity of the obtained hydrolysates. It appeared that the ultrasound pretreatment resulted in an increase in the degree of hydrolysis of the enzymatic reaction while the high-pressure carbon dioxide processing showed an inhibition effect on the enzymatic hydrolysis of egg white proteins to some extent. The antioxidant activity of the obtained hydrolysates was improved by ultrasound pretreatment of egg white proteins at the pH 8.3. Thus, the combination of ultrasound pretreatment at the pH 8.3 and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis with alcalase at 50°C and pH 8.0 could offer a new approach to the improvement of the functional properties of egg white proteins and their biological activity.Proteini belanceta spadaju u veoma kvalitetne proteine zbog svog jedinstvenog aminokiselinskog sastava. Međutim, veća komercijalna primena hidrolizata proteina belanceta je ograničena usled neadekvatnog procesnog tretmana pri obradi i sterilizaciji belanceta termičkim tretmanom kao i hemijskoj hidrolizi proteina, koji dovode do značajne promene boje, ukusa, funkcionalnosti i nutritivnih svojstava proizvoda. Cilj ovog rada je bio da se ispita mogućnost primene netermičkih tretmanima, kao što su sonikacija i tretman visokim pritiskom, da bi se unapredila enzimska hidroliza proteina belanceta i omogućilo dobijanje hidrolizata sa antioksidativnom aktivnošću. Pokazano je da tretiranje proteina belanceta ultrazvukom pod određenim uslovima dovodi do njihove kasnije poboljšane hidrolize alkalazom, dok procesiranje belanceta visokim pritiskom ima negativan uticaj na aktivnost alkalaze. Antioksidativna aktivnost dobijenih hidrolizata je povećana nakon pretretmana ultrazvukom na pH 8,3. Tako, kombinacija pretretmana proteina belanceta ultrazvukom na pH 8,3 i njihova sukcesivna hidroliza alkalazom na 50°C i pri pH 8,0 se pokazala kao efikasna alternativna metoda za dobijanje hidrolizata proteina belanceta sa unapređenim funkcionalnim svojstvima i biološkom aktivnošću

Biochemical and funcional properties of egg white hydrolysates produced by different proteases

Enzymatic hydrolysis of egg white proteins (EWPs) has shown a great potential to improve their functional properties such as increased solubility, stability, and digestibility while still retaining their nutrition value. The high selectivity and mild reaction conditions associated with the enzymatic process have made this approach an attractive alternative in the production of EWPs with improved functional properties, which are often difficult to obtain by conventional chemical route. Moreover, the inherent specificity of various proteolytic enzymes should control the nature and extent of hydrolysis and thus the functional properties of the product. The focus of this work is to find the best combination of enzymes and the mode of both substrate pretreatment and process implementation for improvement of the overall hydrolysates` quality. For this purpose EWP solution was hydrolysed with several enzymes using both, one-step and two-step hydrolysis in a stirred stirred-tank reactor employing an enzyme to protein substrate weight ratio previously selected to obtain the desired level of conversion in the first step within a time period from about 20 to about 75 minutes depending of protease used. The obtained hydrolysates were then tested on antioxidant activity, flavour, solubility, digestibility emulsifying activity, foaming capacity and stability. Selected results have been presented in Figure 1. The application of two-step enzymatic process, based on the use of the bacterial alkaline protease in the first step, and then the introduction a more specific protease in the second step to selectively reduce the bitter peptides, seemed to be advantageous

Impact of ultrasound on egg white proteins as a pretreatment for functional hydrolysates production

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of different ultrasound pretreatment on enzymatic hydrolysis of egg white proteins (EWPs) by Alcalase as well as evaluating some functional and antioxidant properties of hydrolysates obtained by various proteases treatment and ultrasound technology. The effects of chosen ultrasound pretreatment parameters including frequency of ultrasonic waves (35 and 40 kHz), temperature (25 and 55 A degrees C), time of pretreatment (15-60 min) and pH of egg white solution (7.00-10.00) were examined. It appeared that controlled ultrasound treatment can improved the hydrolysis process compared with untreated samples, but optimization of the power and length of sonication was important. The optimal ultrasound pretreatment at calorimetric power of 21.3 W and frequency of 40 kHz for 15 min at 25 A degrees C and with naturally basic egg white (pH 9.25) resulted in increased initial rate and equilibrium degree of Alcalase hydrolysis by about 139.8 and 13.86 % compared with the control, respectively. EWP hydrolysates with a parts per thousand 27.0 % degree of hydrolysis obtained with heat pretreatment and ultrasound pretreatments under optimal conditions were further separated by sequential ultrafiltration into 4 hydrolysate fractions ( lt 1, 1-10, 10-30 and gt 30 kDa) which were investigated for protein content, peptide yield and antioxidant activity. The hydrolysis after heat pretreatment generated more peptides lt 1 kDa (19.04 +/- A 1.02 %) than ultrasound pretreatment did (11.90 +/- A 0.53 %), whereas the proportion of peptides lt 10 kDa were higher in the second case (28.80 +/- A 0.07 vs. 20.46 +/- A 0.39 %). The fraction obtained by the ultrasound pretreatment containing peptides with a molecular weight between 1 and 10 kDa demonstrated the strongest ABTS radical scavenging efficacy among the fractions (97.54 +/- A 0.30) with IC50 value of 4.31 mg/mL. Compared with single-enzyme processes, the two-stage enzymatic processes did not significantly improve both antioxidant and functional hydrolysates' properties

Enzymatic Production of Bioactive Protein Hydrolysates from Egg White: Effects of Egg White Protein Pretreatment

The use of egg white hydrolysed protein has attracted particular interests as a protein source in human nutrition providing a number of benefits when compared to unhydrolysed protein ingredients. Of high importance is the production of an hydrolysate which contains bioactive peptides and does not have allergen potential to be used as the primary or only source of protein in “infant formula”, diets, or “medical food”. At present, expanded egg white hydrolysates utilization is impeded by inadequate functional properties caused by processing treatments during commercial production that alter egg white proteins` physicochemical properties and nutritional quality, among then the thermal treatment is one of the most damaging to the proteins. Thus, a lot of research works have been performed to investigate the effectiveness of replacing conventional thermal treatment with several non-thermal alternative approaches for improvement the overall process performances of egg white proteins (EWPs) hydrolysis and produce protein solutions with new functional properties. In this study, the effect of ultrasound pretreatment at 27 oC and at atmospheric pressure and of high pressure carbon dioxide processing in the range 10-30 MPa on the enzymatic hydrolysis of EWPs with alcalase has been investigated. As pH seemed to strongly affect the ultrasound induced protein denaturation, the effect of pH during sonication in the range 6.0-10.0 on the egg white susceptibilityto enzymatic hydrolysis has been studied. The functional properties, molecular weight distribution, and antioxidant activity of obtained hydrolysates were also investigated. It appeared that the ultrasound pretreatment resulted in an increase in degree of hydrolysis of the enzymatic reaction while the high pressure carbon dioxide processing showed an inhibition effect on the enzymatic hydrolysis of EWPs to some extent. Antioxidant activity of obtained hydrolysates was improved by ultrasound pretreatment of EGPs at pH 8.3. Thus, the combination of ultrasound pretreatment at pH 8.3 and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis with alcalase at 50 oC and pH 8.0 could offer a new approach to improve the functional properties of EWPs and their biological activity