Quantification of Urinary Phenyl-γ-Valerolactones and Related Valeric Acids in Human Urine on Consumption of Apples

Flavan-3-ols are dietary bioactive molecules that have beneficial effects on human health and reduce the risk of various diseases. Monomeric flavan-3-ols are rapidly absorbed in the small intestine and released in the blood stream as phase II conjugates. Polymeric flavan-3-ols are extensively metabolized by colonic gut microbiota into phenyl-γ-valerolactones and their related phenylvaleric acids. These molecules are the main circulating metabolites in humans after the ingestion of flavan-3-ol rich-products; nevertheless, they have received less attention and their role is not understood yet. Here, we describe the quantification of 8 phenyl-γ-valerolactones and 3 phenylvaleric acids in the urine of 11 subjects on consumption of apples by using UHPLC-ESI-Triple Quad-MS with pure reference compounds. Phenyl-γ-valerolactones, mainly as sulfate and glucuronic acid conjugates, reached maximum excretion between 6 and 12 after apple consumption, with a decline thereafter. Significant differences were detected in the cumulative excretion rates within subjects and in the ratio of dihydroxyphenyl-γ-valerolactone sulfate to glucuronide conjugates. This work observed for the first time the presence of two distinct metabotypes with regards to the excretion of phenyl-γ-valerolactone phase II conjugates

Food intake biomarkers for berries and grapes

Grapes and berries are two types of widely consumed fruits characterized by a high content in different phytochemicals. However, their accurate dietary assessment is particularly arduous, because of the already wide recognized bias associated with self-reporting methods, combined with the large range of species and cultivars and the fact that these fruits are popularly consumed not only in fresh and frozen forms but also as processed and derived products, including dried and canned fruits, beverages, jams, and jellies. Reporting precise type and/or quantity of grape and berries in FFQ or diaries can obviously be affected by errors. Recently, biomarkers of food intake (BFIs) rose as a promising tool to provide accurate information indicating consumption of certain food items. Protocols for performing systematic reviews in this field, as well as for assessing the validity of candidate BFIs have been developed within the Food Biomarker Alliance (FoodBAll) Project. This paper aims to evaluate the putative BIFs for blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, blackcurrant, and grapes. Candidate BFIs for grapes were resveratrol metabolites and tartaric acid. The metabolites considered as putative BFI for berries consumption were mostly anthocyanins derivatives together with several metabolites of ellagitannins and some aroma compounds. However, identification of BFIs for single berry types encountered more difficulties. In the absence of highly specific metabolites reported to date, we suggested some multi-metabolite panels that may be further investigated as putative biomarkers for some berry fruits

Food intake biomarkers for apple, pear, and stone fruit

Fruit is a key component of a healthy diet. However, it is still not clear whether some classes of fruit may be more beneficial than others and whether all individuals whatever their age, gender, health status, genotype, or gut microbiota composition respond in the same way to fruit consumption. Such questions require further observational and intervention studies in which the intake of a specific fruit can be precisely assessed at the population and individual levels. Within the Food Biomarker Alliance Project (FoodBAll Project) under the Joint Programming Initiative 'A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life', an ambitious action was undertaken aiming at reviewing existent literature in a systematic way to identify validated and promising biomarkers of intake for all major food groups, including fruits. This paper belongs to a series of reviews following the same BFIRev protocol and is focusing on biomarkers of pome and stone fruit intake. Selected candidate biomarkers extracted from the literature search went through a validation process specifically developed for food intake biomarkers

Discovery of intake biomarkers of lentils, chickpeas and white beans by untargeted LC-MS metabolomics in serum and urine.

Scope: To identify reliable biomarkers of food intake (BFIs) of pulses. Methods and results: A randomized crossover postprandial intervention study is conducted on 11 volunteers who consumed lentils, chickpeas, and white beans. Urine and serum samples are collected at distinct postprandial time points up to 48 h, and analyzed by LC-HR-MS untargeted metabolomics. Hypaphorine, trigonelline, several small peptides, and polyphenol-derived metabolites prove to be the most discriminating urinary metabolites. Two arginine-related compounds, dopamine sulfate and epicatechin metabolites, with their microbial derivatives, are identified only after intake of lentils, whereas protocatechuic acid is identified only after consumption of chickpeas. Urinary hydroxyjasmonic and hydroxydihydrojasmonic acids, as well as serum pipecolic acid and methylcysteine, are found after white bean consumption. Most of the metabolites identified in the postprandial study are replicated as discriminants in 24 h urine samples, demonstrating that in this case the use of a single, noninvasive sample is suitable for revealing the consumption of pulses. Conclusions: The results of the present untargeted metabolomics work reveals a broad list of metabolites that are candidates for use as biomarkers of pulse intake. Further studies are needed to validate these BFIs and to find the best combinations of them to boost their specificity

Counteracting gemcitabine+nab-paclitaxel induced dysbiosis in KRAS wild type and KRASG12D mutated pancreatic cancer in vivo model

Pancreatic cancer (PC) has a very low survival rate mainly due to late diagnosis and refractoriness to therapies. The latter also cause adverse effects negatively affecting the patients' quality of life, often requiring dose reduction or discontinuation of scheduled treatments, compromising the chances of cure. We explored the effects of a specific probiotic blend on PC mice xenografted with KRAS wild-type or KRASG12D mutated cell lines alone or together with gemcitabine+nab-paclitaxel treatment to then assess tumor volume and clinical pathological variables. Beside a semi-quantitative histopathological evaluation of murine tumor and large intestine samples, histochemical and immunohistochemical analyses were carried out to evaluate collagen deposition, proliferation index Ki67, immunological microenvironment tumor-associated, DNA damage markers and also mucin production. Blood cellular and biochemical parameters and serum metabolomics were further analyzed. 16S sequencing was performed to analyze the composition of fecal microbiota. Gemcitabine+nab-paclitaxel treatment impaired gut microbial profile in KRAS wild-type and KRASG12D mice. Counteracting gemcitabine+nab-paclitaxel- induced dysbiosis through the administration of probiotics ameliorated chemotherapy side effects and decreased cancer-associated stromatogenesis. Milder intestinal damage and improved blood count were also observed upon probiotics treatment as well as a positive effect on fecal microbiota, yielding an increase in species richness and in short chain fatty acids producing- bacteria. Mice' serum metabolomic profiles revealed significant drops in many amino acids upon probiotics administration in KRAS wild-type mice while in animals transplanted with PANC-1 KRASG12D mutated all treated groups showed a sharp decline in serum levels of bile acids with respect to control mice. These results suggest that counteracting gemcitabine+nab-paclitaxel-induced dysbiosis ameliorates chemotherapy side effects by restoring a favorable microbiota composition. Relieving adverse effects of the chemotherapy through microbiota manipulation could be a desirable strategy in order to improve pancreatic cancer patients' quality of life and to increase the chance of cure

A Dietary Intervention of Bioactive Enriched Foods Aimed at Adults at Risk of Metabolic Syndrome: Protocol and Results from PATHWAY-27 Pilot Study

Around a quarter of the global adult population have metabolic syndrome (MetS) and therefore increased risk of cardiovascular mortality and diabetes. Docosahexaenoic acid, oat beta-glucan and grape anthocyanins have been shown to be effective in reducing MetS risk factors when administered as isolated compounds, but their effect when administered as bioactive-enriched foods has not been evaluated. Objective: The overall aim of the PATHWAY-27 project was to evaluate the effectiveness of bioactive-enriched food consumption on improving risk factors of MetS. A pilot study was conducted to assess which of five bioactive combinations provided within three different food matrices (bakery, dairy or egg) were the most effective in adult volunteers. The trial also evaluated the feasibility of production, consumer acceptability and gastrointestinal tolerance of the bioactive-enriched food. Method: The study included three monocentric, parallel-arm, double-blind, randomised, dietary intervention trials without a placebo. Each recruiting centre tested the five bioactive combinations within a single food matrix. Results: The study was completed by 167 participants (74 male, 93 female). The results indicated that specific bioactive/matrix combinations have effects on serum triglyceride or HDL-cholesterol level without adverse effects. Conclusion: The study evidenced that bioactive-enriched food offers a promising food-based strategy for MetS prevention, and highlighted the importance of conducting pilot studies

Complex Investigations of Double Layer of Colloid Particles. Electric Conductivity of Suspensions and Anisotropy of Electrophoresis

Conditions for obtaining quantitative .ililformation on the double layer of colloid particles on the basis of electrosurface measurements have been analyzed. A rigorous theory of electric conductivdty of diluted suspensions on the basis of induced dilpole moments of particles has been presented. The .isoconductance point of a suspension has been shown to codncide wd.th the isopolarisation state of a particle. A theory of anisotropy of the electrophoresis of long rod-like particles has been put forward. The identity of the formules of electrophoresis of a sphere and of cylindrical particles oriented pevpendicular towards the field at a small thickness of the double layer has been shown. A good agreement has been found between the values of induced dipole moments and, specific surface conductivity in a wide electrolite concentration range measured by the methods of electric conductivity of suspensions and anisotropy of electrophoresis. The theories of induced dipole moment, electric conductivity of suspension and anisotropy of electrophoresis have been experimentally examined

Isolation and characterisation of human gingival margin-derived STRO-1/MACS+ and MACS− cell populations

Recently, gingival margin-derived stem/progenitor cells isolated via STRO-1/magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS) showed remarkable periodontal regenerative potential in vivo. As a second-stage investigation, the present study's aim was to perform in vitro characterisation and comparison of the stem/progenitor cell characteristics of sorted STRO-1-positive (MACS+) and STRO-1-negative (MACS−) cell populations from the human free gingival margin. Cells were isolated from the free gingiva using a minimally invasive technique and were magnetically sorted using anti-STRO-1 antibodies. Subsequently, the MACS+ and MACS− cell fractions were characterized by flow cytometry for expression of CD14, CD34, CD45, CD73, CD90, CD105, CD146/MUC18 and STRO-1. Colony-forming unit (CFU) and multilineage differentiation potential were assayed for both cell fractions. Mineralisation marker expression was examined using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). MACS+ and MACS− cell fractions showed plastic adherence. MACS+ cells, in contrast to MACS− cells, showed all of the predefined mesenchymal stem/progenitor cell characteristics and a significantly higher number of CFUs (P<0.01). More than 95% of MACS+ cells expressed CD105, CD90 and CD73; lacked the haematopoietic markers CD45, CD34 and CD14, and expressed STRO-1 and CD146/MUC18. MACS− cells showed a different surface marker expression profile, with almost no expression of CD14 or STRO-1, and more than 95% of these cells expressed CD73, CD90 and CD146/MUC18, as well as the haematopoietic markers CD34 and CD45 and CD105. MACS+ cells could be differentiated along osteoblastic, adipocytic and chondroblastic lineages. In contrast, MACS− cells demonstrated slight osteogenic potential. Unstimulated MACS+ cells showed significantly higher expression of collagen I (P<0.05) and collagen III (P<0.01), whereas MACS− cells demonstrated higher expression of osteonectin (P<0.05; Mann–Whitney). The present study is the first to compare gingival MACS+ and MACS− cell populations demonstrating that MACS+ cells, in contrast to MACS− cells, harbour stem/progenitor cell characteristics. This study also validates the effectiveness of the STRO-1/MACS+ technique for the isolation of gingival stem/progenitor cells. Human free gingival margin-derived STRO-1/MACS+ cells are a unique renewable source of multipotent stem/progenitor cells

Nutrimetabolomics: An Integrative Action for Metabolomic Analyses in Human Nutritional Studies

The life sciences are currently being transformed by an unprecedented wave of developments in molecular analysis, which include important advances in instrumental analysis as well as biocomputing. In light of the central role played by metabolism in nutrition, metabolomics is rapidly being established as a key analytical tool in human nutritional studies. Consequently, an increasing number of nutritionists integrate metabolomics into their study designs. Within this dynamic landscape, the potential of nutritional metabolomics (nutrimetabolomics) to be translated into a science, which can impact on health policies, still needs to be realized. A key element to reach this goal is the ability of the research community to join, to collectively make the best use of the potential offered by nutritional metabolomics. This article, therefore, provides a methodological description of nutritional metabolomics that reflects on the state‐of‐the‐art techniques used in the laboratories of the Food Biomarker Alliance (funded by the European Joint Programming Initiative "A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life" (JPI HDHL)) as well as points of reflections to harmonize this field. It is not intended to be exhaustive but rather to present a pragmatic guidance on metabolomic methodologies, providing readers with useful "tips and tricks" along the analytical workflow