Hidrocarburs aromàtics policíclics en oli de sansa o de pinyolada d'oliva i altres aliments

Aquest article revisa amb la perspectiva d'avui els fets i els arguments que van motivar el 2001 l'alerta alimentària decretada pel Ministeri de Sanitat i Consum, i que va desencadenar la retirada del mercat de l'oli de sansa o de pinyolada, ja que presentava una concentració potencialment perillosa d'hidrocarburs aromàtics policíclics (HAPc). Per tal d'entendre la situació creada, es revisen les causes que van portar a l'acumulació d'HAPc, les seves implicacions toxicològiques, les limitacions de les evidències toxicològiques actuals, així com les conseqüències de la mesura adoptada i les actituds de diferents organismes amb competències en l'àmbit de la salut pública

Tyramine and histamine risk assessment related to consumption of dry fermented sausages by the Spanish population

Tyramine and histamine are the main dietary bioactive amines related to acute adverse health effects. Dry fermented sausages can easily accumulate high levels of these hazards and are frequently consumed in Spain. The present work aims to assess the exposure to tyramine and histamine from the consumption of dry fermented sausages by the Spanish population and to assess the risk to suffer acute health effects from this exposure. A probabilistic estimation of the exposure to these hazards was derived combining probability distributions of these amines in dry fermented sausages (n = 474) and their consumption by the Spanish population. The mean dietary exposure to tyramine and histamine was 6.2 and 1.39 mg/meal, respectively. The risk of suffering hypertensive crisis or histamine intoxication by healthy population due to tyramine or histamine intake, respectively, exclusively from dry fermented sausages, can be considered negligible. For individuals under treatment with MAOI drugs, the probability to surpass the safe threshold dose (6 mg/meal) was estimated as 34%. For patients with histamine intolerance, even the presence of this amine in food is not tolerable and it could be estimated that 7000 individuals per million could be at risk to suffer the related symptoms after consuming dry fermented sausage

Lentejas: si quieres las comes, y si no también

2016 fue proclamado por primera vez Año Internacional de las Legumbres por la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas. Desde entonces, cada 10 de febrero se conmemora el Día Mundial de este alimento, que en 2021 tiene como lema “#AmaLasLegumbres por una dieta y un planeta sanos”. Pero, ¿qué tienen las legumbres para merecer tanto protagonismo?, ¿qué explica la evolución desde el dicho “las legumbres dan muchas pesadumbres” a la frase “lentejas: si quieres las comes y si no, también”

New approach for the diagnosis of histamine intolerance based on the determination of histamine and methylhistamine in urine.

Histamine intolerance is a disorder in the homeostasis of histamine due to a reduced intestinal degradation of this amine, mainly caused by diamine oxidase (DAO) enzyme deficiency, which provokes its accumulation in plasma and the appearance of adverse health affects. A new approach for the diagnosis of this intolerance could be the determination of histamine and its metabolites in urine. The aim of this work was to develop and validate a rapid method to determine histamine and methylhistamine in human urine by Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography and Fluorimetric detection (UHPLC-FL). The proposed method is a consistent procedure to determine histamine and methylhistamine in less than 11 minutes with adequate linearity and sensitivity. Relative standard deviation was always lower than 5.5%, ensuring method precision; and mean recovery was greater than 99% for both analytes. The structure of histamine and methylhistamine conjugated with OPA were confirmed by UHPLC-ITD-FTMS which enabled to unequivocally identify both analytes in standards and also in urine samples. The analysis of histamine and methylhistamine in urine samples could be a potential new approach for the routine diagnosis of histamine intolerance, more patient-friendly and with clear advantages in terms of equipment and personnel demand for sample collection in comparison with current plasmatic DAO activity determination

Differences in Polyamine Content between Human Milk and Infant Formulas

Human milk is the gold standard for nutrition during the first months of life, but when breastfeeding is not possible, it may be replaced by infant formulas, either partially or totally. Polyamines, which play an important role in intestinal maturation and the development of the immune system, are found both in human milk and infant formulas, the first exogenous source of these compounds for the newborn. The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence and evolution of polyamines in human milk during the first semester of lactation and to compare the polyamine content with that of infant formulas. In total, 30 samples of human milk provided by six mothers during the first five months of lactation as well as 15 different types of infant formulas were analyzed using UHPLC-FL. Polyamines were detected in all human milk samples but with great variation among mothers. Spermidine and spermine levels tended to decrease during the lactation period, while putrescine remained practically unchanged. Considerable differences were observed in the polyamine contents and profiles between human milk and infant formulas, with concentrations being up to 30 times lower in the latter. The predominant polyamines in human milk were spermidine and spermine, and putrescine in infant formulas. Keywords: polyamines, putrescine, spermidine, spermine, human milk, breastfeeding, infant formula

Lyophilised legume sprouts as a functional ingredient for diamine oxidase enzyme supplementation in histamine intolerance

Diamine oxidase (DAO) is one of the key enzymes involved in the degradation of dietary histamine. An imbalance of histamine scavenging systems leads to histamine intolerance, a diet-related disorder that may be tackled by following a low-histamine diet. Recently, the supplementation with exogenous DAO enzyme of animal origin has received the green light as a novel food to enhance intestinal degradation of histamine. This work performed a screening for histamine-degrading capacity of Leguminosae species in order to explore its potential suitability as plant-derived active ingredient of enzymatic supplements. In vitro DAO activity was determined both in raw pulses and lyophilised sprouts by an enzymatic assay coupled to UHPLC-FLD and several germination and storage conditions were assessed. The sprouts of edible legumes showed an in vitro histamine-degrading capacity ranging from 36.0 to 408.3 mU g-1, much higher than that found for the non-germinated seeds (0.14 - 1.95 mU g-1). The germination of legume seeds for 6 days in darkness provided the maximum DAO activity. Only the freezing storage of the lyophilized sprouts kept the enzymatic activity intact for at least 12 months. These results demonstrate that certain edible legumes could be suitable for the formulation of DAO supplements for the treatment of histamine intolerance

Low-Histamine Diets: Is the Exclusion of Foods Justified by Their Histamine Content?

A low-histamine diet is currently the most advised strategy to prevent the symptomatology of histamine intolerance. Conceptually, these diets should be founded on the exclusion of histamine-containing foods, although a certain disparity is found within the list of excluded foods in accordance with the different low-histamine diets available in the literature. This study aimed to critically review low-histamine diets reported in the scientific literature, according to the histamine and other biogenic amine contents of the excluded foods. A total of ten scientific studies that provided specific recommendations on the foods that must be avoided within the framework of a low-histamine diet were found. Overall, the comparative review brought out the great heterogenicity in the type of foods that are advised against for histamine intolerant individuals. Excluded foods were, in most cases, different depending on the considered diet. Only fermented foods were unanimously excluded. The exclusion of 32% of foods could be explained by the occurrence of high contents of histamine. The presence of putrescine, which may interfere with histamine degradation by the DAO enzyme at the intestinal level, could partly explain the reason why certain foods (i.e., citrus fruits and bananas) were also frequently reported in low-histamine diets. Finally, there was a range of excluded foods with an absence or very low levels of biogenic amines. In this case, certain foods have been tagged as histamine-liberators, although the mechanism responsible has not yet been elucidated

Histamine Intolerance: The Current State of the Art

Histamine intolerance, also referred to as enteral histaminosis or sensitivity to dietary histamine, is a disorder associated with an impaired ability to metabolize ingested histamine that was described at the beginning of the 21st century. Although interest in histamine intolerance has considerably grown in recent years, more scientific evidence is still required to help define, diagnose and clinically manage this condition. This article will provide an updated review on histamine intolerance, mainly focusing on its etiology and the existing diagnostic and treatment strategies. In this work, a glance on histamine intoxication will also be provided, as well as the analysis of some uncertainties historically associated to histamine intoxication outbreaks that may be better explained by the existence of interindividual susceptibility to ingested histamine. Keywords: diamine oxidase (DAO); food intolerance; food supplement; histamine; histamine intolerance; histamine intoxication; histaminosis; low-histamine diet

In vitro determination of diamine oxidase activity in food matrices by an enzymatic assay coupled to UHPLC-FL.

Intestinal diamine oxidase (DAO) acts as a protective barrier against exogenous histamine. A deficit of DAO activity can lead to the appearance of histamine intolerance, a clinical condition that may be treated by a low-histamine diet and oral DAO supplementation to enhance intestinal histamine degradation. As sources of DAO, porcine kidneys and certain legume seedlings are suitable components for the formulation of a DAO supplement. The aim of this work was to develop a rapid and reliable methodology for the in vitro determination of DAO activity in food matrices based on an enzymatic assay coupled to UHPLC-FL. The proposed method showed a satisfactory linearity and sensitivity and provided a relative standard deviation lower than 3%, guaranteeing method precision, and a mean recovery greater than 99% both for lyophilized pea sprouts and porcine kidney protein extracts. A high specificity is a key attribute of this method due to the use of histamine as the reaction substrate and the direct quantification of its degradation. Moreover, the lack of interference of catalase and hydrogen peroxide is another advantage in comparison with previously published methods. Lyophilized pea sprouts showed the greatest histamine-degrading activity (0.40 ± 0.01 mU/mg), followed by porcine kidney protein extracts (0.23 ± 0.01 mU/mg) and commercial DAO supplements (0.09 ± 0.06 mU/mg). This technique could be used as a tool to validate the DAO activity of food matrices of potential interest for the treatment of histamine intolerance

Valoració de les declaracions de salut en l'etiquetatge d'aliments comercialitzats a Catalunya

Des de l'any 2006 les declaracions de propietats saludables presents en els aliments es regeixen sota el Reglament (CE) núm. 1924/2006, que té com a principal objectiu que la població disposi d'informació veraç, fiable i científicament validada. Des de llavors, les afi rmacions de salut presents en les etiquetes s'han d'adequar als textos i les condicions autoritzats per aquesta normativa. La normativa estableix dos grans grups de declaracions: declaracions referides al paper dels nutrients o altres components sobre el creixement, desenvolupament i funcions del cos humà, incloses les psicològiques i de comportament, i les declaracions referides a la reducció d'un factor de risc de malaltia i les relacionades amb la salut i el desenvolupament dels nens. A part de defi nir el tipus de declaracions, aquesta normativa també estableix una sèrie de requisits generals i específi cs de condicions d'ús i restriccions per a l'autorització de les declaracions de salut. Aquest estudi té com a objectiu conèixer i estimar el nombre de declaracions de propietats saludables presents en l'etiquetatge de diferents aliments del mercat català, així com també valorar si aquestes declaracions s'adeqüen al que s'estableix en el Reglament (CE) núm.1924/2006 i altres reglaments que el desenvolupen. Per a la identificació de les declaracions es van avaluar un total de 3.220 aliments comercialitzats en diferents punts de venda de Catalunya. Només un 5% (n = 162) dels productes avaluats van presentar una o més declaracions de salut en les seves etiquetes, ja fos en forma de text, imatge o símbol. D'aquestes declaracions, la gran majoria feien referència a l'acció fisiològica d'un nutrient o una substància. Només un 0,5% dels productes contenien declaracions relatives al desenvolupament i salut dels nens i un 0,3% eren relatives a la reducció d'un factor de risc de malaltia. Així, les categories d'aliments que van presentar una major freqüència de declaracions de salut van ser llets de creixement, begudes vegetals, llets fermentades, margarines, llets, cereals d'esmorzar i sucs de fruita. D'altra banda, els aliments corresponents a les categories de mantegues, formatges, plats preparats i dolços no van mostrar cap declaració de propietats saludables. Entre els 162 productes que incloïen declaracions en les etiquetes es van identificar un total de 384 declaracions, de les quals més del 60% feien referència a les funcions de vitamines i minerals (especialment vitamina D i calci). També van ser freqüents les declaracions sobre els efectes en la salut cardiovascular del consum reduït de greixos saturats o de la seva substitució per greixos insaturats. El 73% de les declaracions de salut s'adequaven als textos i les condicions autoritzats per la normativa. D'aquestes, el 45% utilitzaven la mateixa redacció que l'autoritzada i la resta, encara que amb un text diferent, van ser considerades correctes aplicant els principis de flexibilitat. El 27% de les declaracions no s'adequaven a la normativa. Els motius pels quals aquestes declaracions no es van poder considerar com a correctes van ser perquè feien referència a efectes sobre la salut de nutrients o substàncies per als quals no hi ha autorització expressa (6%), utilitzaven una redacció que excedia els principis de flexibilitat (12%), no complien amb les condicions específiques per a ser utilitzades (3%) o eren imatges o marques comercials considerades com a declaració de salut i no anaven acompanyades de cap altra declaració específica (6%)