Influence of Honey on the Suppression of Human Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) Peroxidation (In vitro)

The antioxidant activity of four honey samples from different floral sources (Acacia, Coriander, Sider and Palm) were evaluated with three different assays; DPPH free radical scavenging assay, superoxide anion generated in xanthine–xanthine oxidase (XOD) system and low density lipoprotein (LDL) peroxidation assay. The dark Palm and Sider honeys had the highest antioxidant activity in the DPPH assay. But all the honey samples exhibited more or less the same highly significant antioxidant activity within the concentration of 1mg honey/1 ml in XOD system and LDL peroxidation assays. The chemical composition of these samples was investigated by GC/MS and HPLC analysis, 11 compounds being new to honey. The GC/MS revealed the presence of 90 compounds, mainly aliphatic acids (37 compounds), which represent 54.73, 8.72, 22.87 and 64.10% and phenolic acids (15 compound) 2.3, 1.02, 2.07 and 11.68% for Acacia, Coriander, Sider and Palm honeys. In HPLC analysis, 19 flavonoids were identified. Coriander and Sider honeys were characterized by the presence of large amounts of flavonoids

Practical procedure for discriminating monofloral honey with a broad pollen profile variability using an electronic tongue

Colour and floral origin are key parameters that may influence the honey market. Monofloral light honey are more demanded by consumers, mainly due to their flavour, being more valuable for producers due to their higher price when compared to darker honey. The latter usually have a high anti-oxidant content that increases their healthy potential. This work showed that it is possible to correctly classify monofloral honey with a high variability in floral origin with a potentiometric electronic tongue after making a preliminary selection of honey according their colours: white, amber and dark honey. The results showed that the device had a very satisfactory sensitivity towards floral origin (Castanea sp., Echium sp., Erica sp., Lavandula sp., Prunus sp. and Rubus sp.), allowing a leave-one-out cross validation correct classification of 100%. Therefore, the E-tongue shows potential to be used at analytical laboratory level for honey samples classification according to market and quality parameters, as a practical tool for ensuring monofloral honey authenticity

A forced titration study of the antioxidant and immunomodulatory effects of Ambrotose AO supplement

Background Oxidative stress plays a role in acute and chronic inflammatory disease and antioxidant supplementation has demonstrated beneficial effects in the treatment of these conditions. This study was designed to determine the optimal dose of an antioxidant supplement in healthy volunteers to inform a Phase 3 clinical trial. Methods The study was designed as a combined Phase 1 and 2 open label, forced titration dose response study in healthy volunteers (n = 21) to determine both acute safety and efficacy. Participants received a dietary supplement in a forced titration over five weeks commencing with a no treatment baseline through 1, 2, 4 and 8 capsules. The primary outcome measurement was ex vivo changes in serum oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC). The secondary outcome measures were undertaken as an exploratory investigation of immune function. Results A significant increase in antioxidant activity (serum ORAC) was observed between baseline (no capsules) and the highest dose of 8 capsules per day (p = 0.040) representing a change of 36.6%. A quadratic function for dose levels was fitted in order to estimate a dose response curve for estimating the optimal dose. The quadratic component of the curve was significant (p = 0.047), with predicted serum ORAC scores increasing from the zero dose to a maximum at a predicted dose of 4.7 capsules per day and decreasing for higher doses. Among the secondary outcome measures, a significant dose effect was observed on phagocytosis of granulocytes, and a significant increase was also observed on Cox 2 expression. Conclusion This study suggests that Ambrotose AO® capsules appear to be safe and most effective at a dosage of 4 capsules/day. It is important that this study is not over interpreted; it aimed to find an optimal dose to assess the dietary supplement using a more rigorous clinical trial design. The study achieved this aim and demonstrated that the dietary supplement has the potential to increase antioxidant activity. The most significant limitation of this study was that it was open label Phase 1/Phase 2 trial and is subject to potential bias that is reduced with the use of randomization and blinding. To confirm the benefits of this dietary supplement these effects now need to be demonstrated in a Phase 3 randomised controlled trial (RCT)

Effect of Ambrotose AO® on resting and exercise-induced antioxidant capacity and oxidative stress in healthy adults

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of a dietary supplement (Ambrotose AO^®) on resting and exercise-induced blood antioxidant capacity and oxidative stress in exercise-trained and untrained men and women.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>25 individuals (7 trained and 5 untrained men; 7 trained and 6 untrained women) received Ambrotose AO^®(4 capsules per day = 2 grams per day) or a placebo for 3 weeks in a random order, double blind cross-over design (with a 3 week washout period). Blood samples were collected at rest, and at 0 and 30 minutes following a graded exercise treadmill test (GXT) performed to exhaustion, both before and after each 3 week supplementation period. Samples were analyzed for Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC), Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC), malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), and nitrate/nitrite (NOx). Quality of life was assessed using the SF-12 form and exercise time to exhaustion was recorded. Resting blood samples were analyzed for complete blood count (CBC), metabolic panel, and lipid panel before and after each 3 week supplementation period. Dietary intake during the week before each exercise test was recorded.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>No condition effects were noted for SF-12 data, for GXT time to exhaustion, or for any variable within the CBC, metabolic panel, or lipid panel (p > 0.05). Treatment with Ambrotose AO^®resulted in an increase in resting levels of TEAC (p = 0.02) and ORAC (p < 0.0001). No significant change was noted in resting levels of MDA, H₂O₂, or NOx (p > 0.05). Exercise resulted in an acute increase in TEAC, MDA, and H₂O₂(p < 0.05), all which were higher at 0 minutes post exercise compared to pre exercise (p < 0.05). No condition effects were noted for exercise related data (p > 0.05), with the exception of ORAC (p = 0.0005) which was greater at 30 minutes post exercise for Ambrotose AO^®compared to placebo.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Ambrotose AO^®at a daily dosage of 4 capsules per day increases resting blood antioxidant capacity and may enhance post exercise antioxidant capacity. However, no statistically detected difference is observed in resting or exercise-induced oxidative stress biomarkers, in quality of life, or in GXT time to exhaustion.</p

Sensory Evaluation of Pralines Containing Different Honey Products

In this study, pralines manufactured by hand were evaluated sensorially. These pralines were obtained from dark chocolate containing 60% cocoa components, filled with Apis mellifera carnica Poll drone larvae, blossom honey and a blossom honey/pollen mixture from the protected region of Stara Planina-Eastern Serbia (a specific botanical region). The objectives of this study were investigations related to the use of sensory analysis for quality assessment of new functional products with potential benefits for human health, in particular of desserts based on dark chocolate pralines filled with different bee products characterized by a specific botanical and geographic origin, as well as of their storage properties and expected shelf life. Sensory quality (appearance, texture, odor and taste were evaluated by a group of experienced panelists immediately after the production (day 0), and then after 30, 90 and 180 days of storage under ambient conditions (temperature 18–20 °C). The results were statistically analyzed by the two-factorial analysis of variance (MANOVA) and with the LSD-test. It is possible to conclude that the storage time and composition of dark chocolate pralines containing different honey-bee products have statistically highly significant (p < 0.01) influence on the sensorially evaluated properties of pralines

Diagnosis Of The Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) Using A Raman-Based Scanner Optimized For Blood Smear Analysis (M3s Project)

Introduction/ Background In hematology, actual diagnosis of B chronic lymphocyte-leukemia (CLL) is based on the microscopic analysis of cell morphology from patient blood smear. However, new photonic technologies appear promising to facilitate and improve the early diagnosis, prognostic and monitoring of personalized therapy. The development of automated diagnostic approaches could assist clinicians in improving the efficiency and quality of health services, but also reduce medical costs. Aims The M3S project aims at improving the diagnosis and prognosis of the CLL pathology by developing a multimodal microscopy platform, including Raman spectrometry, dedicated to the automatic analysis of lymphocytes. Methods Blood smears were prepared on glass slides commonly used in pathology laboratories for microscopy. Two types of sample per patient were prepared: a conventional blood smear and a deposit of “pure” lymphocyte subtypes (i.e. normal B, CLL B, T and NK), sorted out in flow cytometry by using the negative double labeling technique. The second sample is used for the construction of a database of spectral markers specific of these different cell types. The preparations were analyzed with the multimodal machine which combines i) a Raman micro-spectrometer, equipped with a 532nm diode laser excitation source; ii) a microscope equipped with 40x and 150x lenses and a high precision xyz motorized stage for scanning the blood smear, and localizing x-y coordinates of representative series (~100 for each patient) of lymphocyte cells before registering three Raman spectra; these cells of interest being previously localized by an original method based on the morphology analysis. After the Raman acquisitions, the conventional blood smears were submitted to immunolabelling using specific antibodies. For the establishment of the Raman classifiers, this post-acquisition treatment was used as reference to distinguish the different lymphocyte sub-populations. Raman data were then analyzed using chemometric processing and supervised statistical classifiers in order to construct a spectral library of markers highly specific of the lymphocyte type and status (normal or pathological). Results Currently, a total of 60 patients (CLL and healthy) were included in the study. Various classification methods such as LDA (Linear Discriminant Analysis), PLS-DA (Partial Least Square Discriminant Analysis), RF (Random Forest) and SVM (Support Vector Machine), were tested in the purpose to distinguish tumoral B lymphocytes from other cell types. These classification algorithms were combined with feature selection approaches. The best performances were around 70% of correct identification when a three-class model (B-CLL vs B-normal vs T and NK lymphocytes) was considered, and 80% in case of a two-class model (B-CLL vs B-normal lymphocytes). These encouraging results demonstrate the potential of Raman micro-spectroscopy coupled to supervised classification algorithms for leukemic cell classification. The approach can find interest more generally in the field of cyto-hematology. Further developments will concern the integration of additional modality such as Quantitative Phase Imaging on one hand to speed the exploration process of cells of interest to be probed, and on the other hand to extract additional characteristics likely to be informative for CLL diagnosis. In addition, the identification of prognostic markers will be investigated by confronting the photonic data to clinical patient information.

A randomised controlled trial among cleaners-Effects on strength, balance and kinesiophobia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cleaners constitute a job group with poor health and low socioeconomic resources. Therefore, there is a great need for scientifically documented health promoting initiatives for cleaners. However, both workplace initiatives and high quality intervention studies are lacking. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a 3-month workplace trial with interventions to improve physical or cognitive behavioural resources among cleaners.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted among 294 female cleaners from 9 workplaces. The participants were allocated to three groups: Physical coordination training (PCT, n = 95), Cognitive behavioural theory-based training (CBTr, n = 99) and Reference group (REF, n = 100). Interventions were conducted during work hours for an average of 1 hour/week. Muscle strength was measured by maximal voluntary contractions in trunk/extension, and shoulder abduction/elevation. Postural balance was measured on a force platform. Kinesiophobia was measured with Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia. Test and questionnaires were completed at baseline and at 3-month follow-up and analyses followed the intention-to-treat (ITT) principle with last observation carried forward in case of missing data at follow-up. Reports and analyses are given on true observations as well.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>ITT-analyses revealed that PCT improved strength of the trunk (p < .05) and postural balance (p < .05) compared to CBTr and REF. Based on true observations the strength and balance improvements corresponded to ~20% and ~16%, respectively. ITT-analyses showed that CBTr reduced kinesiophobia compared to PCT and REF (p < .05). Based on true observations, the improvement corresponded to a ~16% improvement.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This workplace-based intervention study including PCT and CBTr among cleaners improved strength and postural balance from PCT, and kinesiophobia from CBTr. The improved strength, postural balance and kinesiophobia may improve the cleaners' tolerance for high physical work demands. Future studies should investigate the potential in the combination of PCT and CBTr in a workplace intervention.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Current controlled trials <a href="http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN96241850">ISRCTN96241850</a></p

Antiproliferative effect of Tualang honey on oral squamous cell carcinoma and osteosarcoma cell lines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The treatment of oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) and human osteosarcoma (HOS) includes surgery and/or radiotherapy which often lead to reduced quality of life. This study was aimed to study the antiproliferative activity of local honey (Tualang) on OSCC and HOS cell lines.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Several concentrations of Tualang honey (1% - 20%) were applied on OSCC and HOS cell lines for 3, 6, 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours. Morphological characteristics were observed under light and fluorescent microscope. Cell viability was assessed using MTT assay and the optical density for absorbance values in each experiment was measured at 570 nm by an ELISA reader. Detection of cellular apoptosis was done using the Annexin V-FITC Apoptosis Detection Kit.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Morphological appearance showed apoptotic cellular changes like becoming rounded, reduction in cell number, blebbed membrane and apoptotic nuclear changes like nuclear shrinkage, chromatin condensation and fragmented nucleus on OSCC and HOS cell lines. Cell viability assay showed a time and dose-dependent inhibitory effect of honey on both cell lines. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC_<b>50</b>) for OSCC and HOS cell lines was found to be 4% and 3.5% respectively. The maximum inhibition of cell growth of ≥80% was obtained at 15% for both cell lines. Early apoptosis was evident by flow cytometry where percentage of early apoptotic cells increased in dose and time dependent manner.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Tualang honey showed antiproliferative effect on OSCC and HOS cell lines by inducing early apoptosis.</p