Procyanidins are potent inhibitors of LOX-1: a new player in the French Paradox

Lectin-like oxidized LDL receptor-1 (LOX-1) is an endothelial receptor for oxidized LDL (oxLDL) and plays multiple roles in the development of cardiovascular diseases. We screened more than 400 foodstuff extracts for identifying materials that inhibit oxLDL binding to LOX-1. Results showed that 52 extracts inhibited LOX-1 by more than 70% in cell-free assays. Subsequent cell-based assays revealed that a variety of foodstuffs known to be rich in procyanidins such as grape seed extracts and apple polyphenols, potently inhibited oxLDL uptake in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells expressing LOX-1. Indeed, purified procyanidins significantly inhibited oxLDL binding to LOX-1 while other ingredients of apple polyphenols did not. Moreover, chronic administration of oligomeric procyanidins suppressed lipid accumulation in vascular wall in hypertensive rats fed with high fat diet. These results suggest that procyanidins are LOX-1 inhibitors and LOX-1 inhibition might be a possible underlying mechanism of the well-known vascular protective effects of red wine, the French Paradox

Joint analysis of the energy spectrum of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays measured at the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array

The measurement of the energy spectrum of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) is of crucial importance to clarify their origin and acceleration mechanisms. The Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina and the Telescope Array (TA) in the US have reported their measurements of UHECR energy spectra observed in the southern and northern hemisphere, respectively. The region of the sky accessible to both Observatories ([−15,+24] degrees in declination) can be used to cross-calibrate the two spectra. The Auger-TA energy spectrum working group was organized in 2012 and has been working to understand the uncertainties in energy scale in both experiments, their systematic differences, and differences in the shape of the spectra. In previous works, we reported that there was an overall agreement of the energy spectra measured by the two observatories below 10 EeV while at higher energies, a remaining significant difference was observed in the common declination band. We revisit this issue to understand its origin by examining the systematic uncertainties, statistical effects, and other possibilities. We will also discuss the differences in the spectra in different declination bands and a new feature in the spectrum recently reported by the Auger Collaboration