Bestimmung der ernährungsphysiologischen Qualität von Öko-Produkten anhand des antioxidativen Potentials der Lebensmittel

Problemstellung: Die Diskussionen über sichere Lebensmittel (u.a. Rückstände von Pestiziden) im letzten Jahrzehnt hat das Verbraucherverhalten verändert. Viele Verbraucher bevorzugen ökologisch erzeugte Lebensmittel. Allerdings gibt es bis heute noch nicht ausreichende wissenschaftliche Daten dazu, ob ökologisch erzeugte Lebensmittel tatsächlich ernährungsphysiologisch hochwertiger sind als konventionell produzierte. Sekundären Pflanzenstoffen aus Obst und Gemüse (Carotinoiden, Polyphenole) kommt im Allgemeinen eine hohe gesundheitliche Bedeutung zu. Die in der Literatur beschriebenen protektiven Effekte auf entzündliche, atherosklerotische und tumorigene Prozesse werden u.a. auf ihr antioxidatives Potenzial zurückgeführt. Ziel der Studie war es daher zu untersuchen, ob sich der Gehalt an Carotinoiden und Polyphenolen und die antioxidative Kapazität in Lebensmitteln aus konventionellem und ökologischem Anbau unterscheidet. Darüber hinaus wurden drei humane Interventionsstudien durchgeführt, die klären sollten, ob die unterschiedlichen Anbauvarianten (ökologisch/konventionell) Einfluss auf die Bioverfügbarkeit der sekundären Pflanzenstoffe und den antioxidativen Status in vivo haben. Methodik: Im Rahmen des Projektes wurden Äpfel, Karotten und Weizenvollkorn der Erntejahre 2004, 2005 und 2006 aus kontrollierten Anbauversuchen untersucht. Die Gehalte an sekundären Pflanzenstoffen in vitro und in vivo wurden mittels HPLC/DAD/MS quantifiziert. Die antioxidativen Kapazitäten in vivo und in vitro wurden mit drei unterschiedlichen Testsystemen analysiert. Ergebnisse: Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Anbauweise (ökologisch/konventionell) die Bildung von sekundären Pflanzenstoffen und das antioxidatives Potenzial in den untersuchten Lebensmitteln beeinflussen kann. Für die Öko-Produkte kann ein leicht höherer Gehalt und antioxidatives Potenzial bestimmt werden. In den durchgeführten Humanstudien, konnten keine Unterschiede in der Bioverfügbarkeit von Carotinoiden und Polyphenolen zwischen ökologisch und konventionell angebauten Äpfeln bzw. Karotten gezeigt werden. Schlussfolgerung: Die beobachteten Unterschiede im Gehalt an sekundären Pflanzenstoffen sowie im antioxidativen Potenzial zwischen den Anbauweisen sind klein und besitzen geringe ernährungsphysiologische Relevanz

Anthocyanin-Rich Juice Lowers Serum Cholesterol, Leptin, and Resistin and Improves Plasma Fatty Acid Composition in Fischer Rats

Obesity and obesity-associated diseases e.g. cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes are spread worldwide. Anthocyanins are supposed to have health-promoting properties, although convincing evidence is lacking. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of anthocyanins on several risk factors for obesity-associated diseases. Therefore, Fischer rats were fed anthocyanin-rich grape-bilberry juice or an anthocyanin-depleted control juice for 10 weeks. Intervention with anthocyanin-rich grape-bilberry juice reduced serum cholesterol and tended to decrease serum triglycerides. No effects were seen for serum non-esterified fatty acids, glucose, and insulin. Anthocyanin-rich grape-bilberry juice intervention reduced serum leptin and resistin, but showed no influence on serum adiponectin and secretion of adipokines from mesenteric adipose tissue. Furthermore, anthocyanin-rich grape-bilberry juice increased the proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids and decreased the amount of saturated fatty acids in plasma. These results indicate that anthocyanins possess a preventive potential for obesity-associated diseases

Specific Wheat Fractions Influence Hepatic Fat Metabolism in Diet-Induced Obese Mice

Low whole grain consumption is a risk factor for the development of non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes. Dietary fiber and phytochemicals are bioactive grain compounds, which could be involved in mediating these beneficial effects. These compounds are not equally distributed in the wheat grain, but are enriched in the bran and aleurone fractions. As little is known on physiological effects of different wheat fractions, the aim of this study was to investigate this aspect in an obesity model. For twelve weeks, C57BL/6J mice were fed high-fat diets (HFD), supplemented with one of four wheat fractions: whole grain flour, refined white flour, bran, or aleurone. The different diets did not affect body weight, however bran and aleurone decreased liver triglyceride content, and increased hepatic n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) concentrations. Furthermore, lipidomics analysis revealed increased PUFA concentration in the lipid classes of phosphatidylcholine (PC), PC-ether, and phosphatidylinositol in the plasma of mice fed whole grain, bran, and aleurone supplemented diets, compared to refined white flour. Furthermore, bran, aleurone, and whole grain supplemented diets increased microbial α-diversity, but only bran and aleurone increased the cecal concentrations of short-chain fatty acids. The effects on hepatic lipid metabolism might thus at least partially be mediated by microbiota-dependent mechanism

Расчет гашения обратного напряжения в импульсной схеме

Grid and e-science infrastructure interoperability is an increasing demand for Grid applications but interoperability based on common open standards adopted by Grid middle-wares are only starting to emerge on Grid infrastructures and are not broadly provided today. In earlier work we have shown how open standards can be improved by lessons learned from cross-Grid applications that require access to both, High Throughput Computing (HTC) resources as well as High Performance Computing (HPC) resources. This paper provides more insights in several concepts with a particular focus on effectively describing Grid job descriptions in order to satisfy the demands of e-scientists and their cross-Grid applications. Based on lessons learned over years gained with interoperability setups between production Grids such as EGEE, DEISA, and NorduGrid, we illustrate how common open Grid standards (i.e. JSDL and GLUE2) can take cross-Grid application experience into account

A Consideration of Biomarkers to be Used for Evaluation of Inflammation in Human Nutritional Studies

To monitor inflammation in a meaningful way, the markers used must be valid: they must reflect the inflammatory process under study and they must be predictive of future health status. In 2009, the Nutrition and Immunity Task Force of the International Life Sciences Institute, European Branch, organized an expert group to attempt to identify robust and predictive markers, or patterns or clusters of markers, which can be used to assess inflammation in human nutrition studies in the general population. Inflammation is a normal process and there are a number of cells and mediators involved. These markers are involved in, or are produced as a result of, the inflammatory process irrespective of its trigger and its location and are common to all inflammatory situations. Currently, there is no consensus as to which markers of inflammation best represent low-grade inflammation or differentiate between acute and chronic inflammation or between the various phases of inflammatory responses. There are a number of modifying factors that affect the concentration of an inflammatory marker at a given time, including age, diet and body fatness, among others. Measuring the concentration of inflammatory markers in the bloodstream under basal conditions is probably less informative compared with data related to the concentration change in response to a challenge. A number of inflammatory challenges have been described. However, many of these challenges are poorly standardised. Patterns and clusters may be important as robust biomarkers of inflammation. Therefore, it is likely that a combination of multiple inflammatory markers and integrated readouts based upon kinetic analysis following defined challenges will be the most informative biomarker of inflammatio

The Structure of Episodic Memory: Ganeri's ‘Mental Time Travel and Attention’

We offer a framework for assessing what the structure of episodic memory might be, if one accepts the Buddhist denial of persisting selves. This paper is a response to Jonardon Ganeri's paper "Mental time travel and attention", which explores Buddhaghosa's ideas about memory. (It will eventually be published with a reply by Ganeri)

Expression Analysis of the Ligands for the Natural Killer Cell Receptors NKp30 and NKp44

BACKGROUND: The natural cytotoxicity receptors (NCR) are important to stimulate the activity of Natural Killer (NK) cells against transformed cells. Identification of NCR ligands and their level of expression on normal and neoplastic cells has important implications for the rational design of immunotherapy strategies for cancer. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we analyze the expression of NKp30 ligand and NKp44 ligand on 30 transformed or non-transformed cell lines of different origin. We find intracellular and surface expression of these two ligands on almost all cell lines tested. Expression of NKp30 and NKp44 ligands was variable and did not correlate with the origin of the cell line. Expression of NKp30 and NKp44 ligand correlated with NKp30 and NKp44-mediated NK cell lysis of tumor cells, respectively. The surface expression of NKp30 ligand and NKp44 ligand was sensitive to trypsin treatment and was reduced in cells arrested in G(2)/M phase. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: These data demonstrate the ubiquitous expression of the ligands for NKp30 and NKp44 and give an important insight into the regulation of these ligands