Does daily consumption of vitamin K1 from cruciferous vegetables reach the circulation and the knee joint?

Irish Section Meeting, 20–22 June 2018, Targeted approaches to tackling current nutritional issue

Gut microbiota composition correlates with diet and health in the elderly

Alterations in intestinal microbiota composition are associated with several chronic conditions, including obesity and inflammatory diseases. The microbiota of older people displays greater inter-individual variation than that of younger adults. Here we show that the faecal microbiota composition from 178 elderly subjects formed groups, correlating with residence location in the community, day-hospital, rehabilitation or in long-term residential care. However, clustering of subjects by diet separated them by the same residence location and microbiota groupings. The separation of microbiota composition significantly correlated with measures of frailty, co-morbidity, nutritional status, markers of inflammation and with metabolites in faecal water. The individual microbiota of people in long-stay care was significantly less diverse than that of community dwellers. Loss of community-associated microbiota correlated with increased frailty. Collectively, the data support a relationship between diet, microbiota and health status, and indicate a role for diet-driven microbiota alterations in varying rates of health decline upon ageing

Bioactivity of protein hydrolysates derived from casein, bovine blood and lung tissues in cultured cells

Bioactive peptides are short amino acid sequences produced from food and food waste-derived proteins and are believed to be capable of exhibiting a variety of physiological functions. Further studies are needed to identify novel bioactive peptides and better understand mechanisms of action. The bioactivities of seven casein hydrolysates generated using different enzymes (mammalian, plant, fungal and bacterial) were compared. All hydrolysates demonstrated significant anti-inflammatory activity; decreasing interleukin (IL)-6 production in RAW264.7 macrophages and Jurkat T cells. There were no differences in bioactivities across the seven samples. Additionally, three of the hydrolysates decreased IL-1β production in RAW264.7 cells. None of the hydrolysates demonstrated antioxidant activity in cells despite showing antioxidant activity in non-cellular assays. Sodium caseinate treatment produced an inflammatory response in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, significantly increasing IL-6 production. This response was not seen when cells were treated with SGID of casein or the casein hydrolysates. The bioactivities of bovine blood and bovine lung protein hydrolysates were also assessed. Papain hydrolysis of blood γ-globulin or fibrinogen generated hydrolysates with significant non-cellular antioxidant activity and these hydrolysates also significantly decreased proliferation in several cancer cell lines, including U937 lymphocytes. Hydrolysates did not demonstrate cellular antioxidant activity. The γ-globulin hydrolysate induced apoptosis in U937 cells, determined by cell morphological changes, DNA fragmentation and flow cytometry analysis. Colony formation in MCF-7 cells was also significantly reduced after hydrolysate treatment. An alcalase hydrolysate from bovine lung demonstrated significant anti-inflammatory activity in RAW264.7 macrophages by decreasing cellular IL-6 and IL-1β production. Bioavailability of bioactive hydrolysates (from casein, bovine blood or bovine lung) was determined in the Caco-2 transwell model and all hydrolysates were transported across the monolayer. In conclusion, casein hydrolysates and novel hydrolysates generated from bovine blood and lung proteins had significant bioactivities and were bioavailable, therefore they show potential as anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer agents

Immunomodulatory activity of 5 kDa permeate fractions of casein hydrolysates generated using a range of enzymes in Jurkat T cells and RAW264.7 macrophages

The in vitro bioactivity of 5 kDa ultrafiltration permeate fractions of casein hydrolysates produced using different enzymes were compared. Reverse phase ultra-performance liquid chromatography and gel permeation chromatography showed that the permeates had different physicochemical properties (molecular mass and degree of hydrolysis). The Flavourzyme® permeate had the highest activity in the 2,2’-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) assay. Cellular antioxidant and immunomodulatory assays showed that none of the permeates exhibited in vitro antioxidant activity, while all permeates significantly (P < 0.05) decreased interleukin-6 (IL-6) production in ConA-stimulated Jurkat T cells at 0.50% (w/v) and LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells at 0.05 and 0.50% (w/v). Three permeates, obtained using Flavourzyme®, Flavorpro Whey and trypsin, also significantly (P < 0.05) decreased IL-1β production at 0.05% (w/v) in RAW264.7 cells. Western blot analysis showed that all permeates significantly decreased the expression of the NF-κB subunit, p65, in RAW264.7 cells indicating that anti-inflammatory activity may be associated with this pathway

The study to investigate COVID-19 infection in people living in Ireland (SCOPI): a seroprevalence study, June to July 2020

Background: Robust data on SARS-CoV-2 population seroprevalence supplement surveillance data in providing evidence for public health action.Aim: To conduct a SARS-CoV-2 population-based seroprevalence survey in Ireland.Methods: Using a cross-sectional study design, we selected population samples from individuals aged 12-69 years in counties Dublin and Sligo using the Health Service Executive Primary Care Reimbursement Service database as a sampling frame. Samples were selected with probability proportional to the general population age-sex distribution, and by simple random sampling within age-sex strata. Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 were detected using the Abbott Architect SARS-CoV-2 IgG Assay and confirmed using the Wantai Assay. We estimated the population SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence weighted for age, sex and geographic area.Results: Participation rates were 30% (913/3,043) and 44% (820/1,863) in Dublin and Sligo. Thirty-three specimens had detectable SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (1.9%). We estimated weighted seroprevalences of 3.12% (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.05-4.53) and 0.58% (95% CI: 0.18-1.38) for Dublin and Sligo, and 1.69% (95% CI: 1.13-2.41) nationally. This equates to an estimated 59,482 (95% CI: 39,772-85,176) people aged 12-69 years nationally having had infection with SARS-CoV-2, 3.0 (95% CI: 2.0-4.3) times higher than confirmed notifications. Ten participants reported a previous laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 -infection; eight of these were antibody-positive. Twenty-five antibody-positive participants had not reported previous laboratory-confirmed infection.Conclusion: The majority of people in Ireland are unlikely to have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 by June-July 2020. Non-pharmaceutical public health measures remained key pending widespread availability of vaccination, and effective treatments.</div

Gut microbiota composition correlates with diet and health in the elderly

Alterations in intestinal microbiota composition are associated with several chronic conditions, including obesity and inflammatory diseases. The microbiota of older people displays greater inter-individual variation than that of younger adults. Here we show that the faecal microbiota composition from 178 elderly subjects formed groups, correlating with residence location in the community, day-hospital, rehabilitation or in long-term residential care. However, clustering of subjects by diet separated them by the same residence location and microbiota groupings. The separation of microbiota composition significantly correlated with measures of frailty, co-morbidity, nutritional status, markers of inflammation and with metabolites in faecal water. The individual microbiota of people in long-stay care was significantly less diverse than that of community dwellers. Loss of community-associated microbiota correlated with increased frailty. Collectively, the data support a relationship between diet, microbiota and health status, and indicate a role for diet-driven microbiota alterations in varying rates of health decline upon ageing

Gut microbiota composition correlates with diet and health in the elderly

Alterations in intestinal microbiota composition are associated with several chronic conditions, including obesity and inflammatory diseases. The microbiota of older people displays greater inter-individual variation than that of younger adults. Here we show that the faecal microbiota composition from 178 elderly subjects formed groups, correlating with residence location in the community, day-hospital, rehabilitation or in long-term residential care. However, clustering of subjects by diet separated them by the same residence location and microbiota groupings. The separation of microbiota composition significantly correlated with measures of frailty, co-morbidity, nutritional status, markers of inflammation and with metabolites in faecal water. The individual microbiota of people in long-stay care was significantly less diverse than that of community dwellers. Loss of community-associated microbiota correlated with increased frailty. Collectively, the data support a relationship between diet, microbiota and health status, and indicate a role for diet-driven microbiota alterations in varying rates of health decline upon ageing