BacHBerry: BACterial Hosts for production of Bioactive phenolics from bERRY fruits

BACterial Hosts for production of Bioactive phenolics from bERRY fruits (BacHBerry) was a 3-year project funded by the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) of the European Union that ran between November 2013 and October 2016. The overall aim of the project was to establish a sustainable and economically-feasible strategy for the production of novel high-value phenolic compounds isolated from berry fruits using bacterial platforms. The project aimed at covering all stages of the discovery and pre-commercialization process, including berry collection, screening and characterization of their bioactive components, identification and functional characterization of the corresponding biosynthetic pathways, and construction of Gram-positive bacterial cell factories producing phenolic compounds. Further activities included optimization of polyphenol extraction methods from bacterial cultures, scale-up of production by fermentation up to pilot scale, as well as societal and economic analyses of the processes. This review article summarizes some of the key findings obtained throughout the duration of the project

EFFECTS OF CALORIC RESTRICTION AND EXERCISE ON B-ENDORPHIN, ACTH AND CORTISOL CIRCULATING LEVELS IN OBESITY

B-Endorphin (B-Ep), ACTH and cortisol circulating levels, before and after a two months therapy with a hypocaloric diet and an increase in physical exercise, were measured by RIA in 17 obese female subjects. After therapy, the body weight excess fell from 56.6±22.2% to 38.6±22.1% (p<0.01). Plasma levels of B-Ep decreased from 18.3±12.5 fmol/ml to 6.4±3.5 fmol/ml (p<0.01); those of ACTH from 46.8±22.8 pg/ml to 31.2±11.6 pg/ml (p<0.01); and those of cortisol from 15.9±4.6 μg% to 10.3±2.5 μg% (p<0.01). The reduction of the elevated plasma B-Ep levels found in obese subjects is related principally to the diet therapy. Thus, as shown in experimental animals, excessive feeding results in an increased hypothalamic-pituitary secretion of B-Ep

[Neuroendocrine changes and affective disorders in patients with hyperphagic obesity].

Circulating levels of cortisol and beta-endorphin were evaluated in basal condition and following dexamethasone administration in 20 healthy subjects and in 60 subjects suffering from hyperphagic obesity. Moreover, mental tests were administered to these subjects in order to evaluate the affective state. Our data showed that in obese patients B-Ep plasma levels were significantly higher than those of the control group, while cortisol plasma levels were similar in the two groups. Dexamethasone administration decreased cortisol plasma levels in normal and obese subjects, while did not modify B-Ep plasma levels in obese subjects. However, after dexamethasone administration 16.6\% of the obese subjects did not show a complete decrease of cortisol level. This group of subjects obtained the highest scores for depression and hypochondria to MMPI