Untargeted metabolomics to reveal red versus white meat‐associated gut metabolites in a prudent and western dietary context

Scope: To improve understanding of the epidemiological link between red and processed meat consumption and chronic diseases, more insight in the formation of metabolites during meat digestion is warranted.Methods and results: Untargeted MS-based metabolomics was applied to explore the impact of red and processed meat consumption (compared to chicken), combined with a prudent or Western dietary pattern. A pig feeding study (n=32), as a sentinel for humans, was conducted in a 2×2 factorial design for four weeks. The luminal content of the small intestine and colon of the pigs were collected to determine their metabolic fingerprints. Seventy-six unique metabolites (38 in small intestine, 32 in colon, and 6 in both intestinal compartments) contributing tothe distinct gut metabolic profiles of pigs fed either chicken or red and processed meat were (tentatively) identified. Consumption of red and processed meat resulted in higher levels of short-and medium-chain acylcarnitines and 3-dehydroxycarnitine, irrespective of dietary context, whereas long-chain acylcarnitines and monoacylglycerols were specifically associated with the red and processed-Western diet.Conclusion: The identification of red and processed meat-associated gut metabolites in this study contributes to the understanding of meat digestion in a complex but controlled dietary context and its potential health effect

Phloroglucinol-mediated Hsp70 production in crustaceans : protection against Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Artemia franciscana and Macrobrachium rosenbergii

The halophilic aquatic bacterium, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, is an important aquatic pathogen, also capable of causing acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) in shrimp resulting in significant economic losses. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop anti-infective strategies to control AHPND. The gnotobiotic Artemia model is used to establish whether a phenolic compound phloroglucinol is effective against the AHPND strain V. parahaemolyticus MO904. We found that pretreatment with phloroglucinol, at an optimum concentration (30 mu M), protects axenic brine shrimp larvae against V. parahaemolyticus infection and induced heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) production (twofolds or more) as compared with the control. We further demonstrated that the Vibrio-protective effect of phloroglucinol was caused by its prooxidant effect and is linked to the induction of Hsp70. In addition, RNA interference confirms that phloroglucinol-induced Hsp70 mediates the survival of brine shrimp larvae against V. parahaemolyticus infection. The study was validated in xenic Artemia model and in a Macrobrachium rosenbergii system. Pretreatment of xenic brine shrimp larvae (30 mu M) and Macrobrachium larvae (5 mu M) with phloroglucinol increases the survival of xenic brine shrimp and Macrobrachium larvae against subsequent V. parahaemolyticus challenge. Taken together, our study provides substantial evidence that the prooxidant activity of phloroglucinol induces Hsp70 production protecting brine shrimp, A. franciscana, and freshwater shrimp, M. rosenbergii, against the AHPND V. parahaemolyticus strain MO904. Probably, phloroglucinol treatment might become part of a holistic strategy to control AHPND in shrimp