Dysregulation of glucose metabolism is an early event in sporadic Parkinson's disease

AbstractUnlike most other cell types, neurons preferentially metabolize glucose via the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) to maintain their antioxidant status. Inhibiting the PPP in neuronal cell models causes cell death. In rodents, inhibition of this pathway causes selective dopaminergic cell death leading to motor deficits resembling parkinsonism. Using postmortem human brain tissue, we characterized glucose metabolism via the PPP in sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and controls. AD brains showed increased nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) production in areas affected by disease. In PD however, increased NADPH production was only seen in the affected areas of late-stage cases. Quantifying PPP NADPH-producing enzymes glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, showed a reduction in the putamen of early-stage PD and interestingly in the cerebellum of early and late-stage PD. Importantly, there was no decrease in enzyme levels in the cortex, putamen, or cerebellum of AD. Our results suggest that down-regulation of PPP enzymes and a failure to increase antioxidant reserve is an early event in the pathogenesis of sporadic PD

Distribution of antioxidant components in roots of different red beets (Beta vulgaris L.) cultivars

The beetroot is typically on the table in winter in form of pickles or juice, but for its nutritional values it would deserve more common consumption. Its curative effect in great part is due to the several vitamins, minerals, and compounds with antioxidant activity. But the division of biological active compounds is very different in the parts of the root. Based on our results, we could compare the differences between the morphology and some inner contents (soluble solid content, colour, betacyanin, betaxanthin, and polyphenol contents, antioxidant activity, and some flavonoids) of two beetroot cultivars. The results of the morphological investigations showed that the ‘Cylindre’ cultivar had more favourable crop parameters than the ‘Alto F1’ cultivar. In the ‘Cylindre’ cultivar the polyphenol content and the antioxidant capacity were significantly higher than in the ‘Alto F1’ cultivar. By determination of the betanin contents of the investigated beetroots, our results showed both betacyanin and betaxanthin contents were higher in the ‘Cylindre’ cultivar. The chlorogenic acid, gallic acid, the cumaric acid have been identified based on the peaks of HPLC in the studied beetroot cultivars

Characteristic Metabolism of Free Amino Acids in Cetacean Plasma: Cluster Analysis and Comparison with Mice

From an evolutionary perspective, the ancestors of cetaceans first lived in terrestrial environments prior to adapting to aquatic environments. Whereas anatomical and morphological adaptations to aquatic environments have been well studied, few studies have focused on physiological changes. We focused on plasma amino acid concentrations (aminograms) since they show distinct patterns under various physiological conditions. Plasma and urine aminograms were obtained from bottlenose dolphins, pacific white-sided dolphins, Risso's dolphins, false-killer whales and C57BL/6J and ICR mice. Hierarchical cluster analyses were employed to uncover a multitude of amino acid relationships among different species, which can help us understand the complex interrelations comprising metabolic adaptations. The cetacean aminograms formed a cluster that was markedly distinguishable from the mouse cluster, indicating that cetaceans and terrestrial mammals have quite different metabolic machinery for amino acids. Levels of carnosine and 3-methylhistidine, both of which are antioxidants, were substantially higher in cetaceans. Urea was markedly elevated in cetaceans, whereas the level of urea cycle-related amino acids was lower. Because diving mammals must cope with high rates of reactive oxygen species generation due to alterations in apnea/reoxygenation and ischemia-reperfusion processes, high concentrations of antioxidative amino acids are advantageous. Moreover, shifting the set point of urea cycle may be an adaption used for body water conservation in the hyperosmotic sea water environment, because urea functions as a major blood osmolyte. Furthermore, since dolphins are kept in many aquariums for observation, the evaluation of these aminograms may provide useful diagnostic indices for the assessment of cetacean health in artificial environments in the future

Nutritional and functional potential of Beta vulgaris cicla and rubra

Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris cicla, BVc) and beetroot (Beta vulgaris rubra, BVr) are vegetables of the Chenopodiaceae family,widely consumed in traditional western cooking. These vegetables represent a highly renewable and cheap source of nutrients. They can be cultivated in soils with scarce organic material and little light and water. BVc and BVr have a long history of use in folkmedicine. Modern pharmacology shows that BVc extracts possess antihypertensive and hypoglycaemic activity as well as excellent antioxidant activity. BVc contains apigenin flavonoids, namely vitexin, vitexin-2-O-rhamnoside and vitexin-2-O-xyloside, which show antiproliferative activity on cancer cell lines. BVr contains secondary metabolites, called betalains, which are used as natural dyes in food industry and show anticancer activity. In this light, BVc and BVr can be considered functional foods. Moreover, the promising results of their phytochemicals in health protection suggest the opportunity to take advantage of the large availability of this crop for purification of chemopreventive molecules to be used in functional foods and nutraceutical products. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved