Lauric acid is an inhibitor of Clostridium difficile growth in vitro and reduces inflammation in a mouse infection model

Indexación: Scopus.Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive, spore-forming anaerobic human gastrointestinal pathogen. C. difficile infection (CDI) is a major health concern worldwide, with symptoms ranging from diarrhea to pseudomembranous colitis, toxic megacolon, sepsis, and death. CDI onset and progression are mostly caused by intestinal dysbiosis and exposure to C. difficile spores. Current treatment strategies include antibiotics; however, antibiotic use is often associated with high recurrence rates and an increased risk of antibiotic resistance. Medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) have been revealed to inhibit the growth of multiple human bacterial pathogens. Components of coconut oil, which include lauric acid, have been revealed to inhibit C. difficile growth in vitro. In this study, we demonstrated that lauric acid exhibits potent antimicrobial activities against multiple toxigenic C. difficile isolates in vitro. The inhibitory effect of lauric acid is partly due to reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and cell membrane damage. The administration of lauric acid considerably reduced biofilm formation and preformed biofilms in a dose-dependent manner. Importantly, in a mouse infection model, lauric acid pretreatment reduced CDI symptoms and proinflammatory cytokine production. Our combined results suggest that the naturally occurring MCFA lauric acid is a novel C. difficile inhibitor and is useful in the development of an alternative or adjunctive treatment for CDI.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02635/ful

Lauric acid alleviates inflammation and structural changes in the lungs of type II diabetic male Wistar rats

Lauric acid is a medium-chain fatty acid that has been reported to possess anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antibacterial properties. Diabetic complication in the lungs is characterized by infiltration of inflammatory mediators and structural alteration of the lung parenchyma. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of lauric acid on leucocytes infiltration in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), concentration of tumor necrosis factor-α and lung histology of type II diabetic male Wistar rats. A total of thirty-five male Wistar rats were randomly divided into seven groups of five rats each as follows: Group I served as normal control; group II were normoglycemic rats, administered 125 mg/Kg bwt lauric acid. Group III served as diabetic control. Groups IV, V, VI and VII were diabetic Wistar rats treated with 125 mg/Kg bwt, 250 mg/Kg bwt, 500 mg/Kg bwt lauric acid and 100 mg/Kg bwt metformin respectively. The results obtained, showed a significant (P ≤ 0.05) increase in total white blood cell count and differential count of lymphocytes, neutrophils and macrophages in blood and BALF of the diabetic control compared to the normal control. However, there was a significant decrease in total and  differential white blood cell count in blood and BALF of the diabetic groups treated with lauric acid compared to the diabetic control (P ≤ 0.05). The concentration of TNF-α was significantly higher in the lungs of diabetic rats compared to the normal control, but the concentration was significantly reduced after treatment with lauric acid (P ≤ 0.05). Lauric acid also reversed the reduced alveolar spaces in diabetic lungs. These results indicate that lauric acid reduced inflammation and reversed the histoarchitectural alterations in the lungs of type II diabetic male Wistar rats.Keywords: Lauric acid, Type II diabetes, Hyperglycemia, Lungs, Pneumopathy,Leucocytes infiltration, Inflammation, Wistar rat

Composition of Fatty Acid and Identification of Lauric Acid Position in Coconut and Palm Kernel Oils

The nutritional value and biochemical properties of oil are measured by the fatty acids composition  in oil and the position of fatty acids (sn-1,2,3) in the triacylglycerol (TAG) molecule. The purpose of this study was to measure the nutritional value based on the fatty acids composition of  virgin coconut oil (VCO) and palm kernel oil (PKO), and the position of lauric acid in sn-2. The VCO used was VCO obtained from one of the Pharmacies store in Medan, and PKO from the Oil Processing Plant. The total fatty acid composition was measured by Gas Chromatography. The nutritional value of fat was evaluated by the percentage deviation from 33.33% (ratio: 1: 1: 1) of each group of fatty acid (saturated fatty acids; SFA: monounsaturated fatty acids; MUFA:polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). The distribution of lauric acid in TAG was conducted through hydrolysis by using specific lipase enzymes active at sn-1,3 positions, so that free fatty acids and 2-monoacylglycerol were produced from one TAG molecule. Then free fatty acids were determined by Gas Chromatography. The distribution of lauric acid at sn-2 position was the difference between total lauric acid on TAG before hydrolysis and free lauric acid from sn-1.3 position after hydrolysis. The results showed that PKO nutritional value was better because of the smaller deviation (95.29%) compared with nutritional value of VCO with a greater deviation (118.55%). Lauric acid in sn-2 from VCO and PKO showed that the distribution of lauric acid in sn-2 position was not different,48.33and 48.59%. Keywords: virgin coconut oil, palm kernel oil, composition of fatty acids, sn-2 position, lauric acid

Effect of virgin coconut oil, lauric acid and myristic acid on serum and prostatic markers of benign prostatic hyperplasia

Purpose: To investigate the effect of virgin coconut oil, lauric acid and myristic acid on serum and prostatic androgens in testosterone-induced prostatic hyperplasia.Methods: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) was induced in the animals by repeated subcutaneous injection of testosterone propionate (5 mg/kg) at the inguinal region once a day for 28 days. Thereafter, BPH was treated for 56 days by oral administration of virgin coconut oil, lauric acid and myristic acid. Following the treatment period, the rats were sacrificed and blood samples were collected through cardiac puncture for biochemical analysis.Results: Virgin coconut oil, lauric acid and myristic acid led to a significant reduction (p < 0.05) in serum prostatic acid phosphatase (PAcP), prostate specific antigen (PSA) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels, and also in prostatic DHT level.Conclusion: This study provides evidence that virgin coconut oil, lauric acid and myristic acid may be useful in the management of BPH because they exerted some anti-proliferative effects in the development and progression of BPH. Therefore, coconut may be a potential functional food for the management of BPH patients because it is rich in both lauric and myristic acid. However, further investigations, including clinical trials are required to buttress this

Effect of lipids and thermal processing on antioxidant activity of galangal seasoning, tom-kha paste extract

The effect of lipids on antioxidant activities of tested antioxidants and the galangal seasoning, Tom-Kha paste extract were determined. The result showed that heating caused a decrease of DPPH scavenging activity of lauric acid but did not affected on ABTS scavenging activity of both lauric acid and virgin coconut oil. However, ABTS scavenging activity of p-hydroxycinnamic acid and the paste extract in both lauric acid and virgin coconut oil systems increased after thermal processing. In the system of lauric acid, peroxide value (PV) of almost mixtures was increased (p0.05) by heating. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) of the mixtures were not significantly different (p0.05) after thermal processing while p-anisidine value (AV) of only lauric acid-gallic was enhanced after heating. The results showed that PV of virgin coconut oil added with all tested antioxidant was not changed after heating. TBARS of virgin coconut oil added with antioxidant samples seemed to slightly increase after heating. AV of virgin coconut oil with added gallic acid and the paste extract were not changed while AV of virgin coconut oil with added p-hydroxycinnamic acid and Trolox seemed to decrease after heatin

The Susceptibility of Aphids, Aphis gossypii Glover to Lauric Acid Based Natural Pesticide

The susceptibility of aphids to lauric acid, a type of middle-chain fatty acids, based pesticide formulation was investigated. The insecticidal properties of lauric acid based pesticide formulation against aphids were evaluated through the three main routes of exposure: topical application, leaf-dipping (ingestion) and inhalation. Surface tension dependent aphids toxicity was also investigated by measuring the surface tension value of each formulation prepared. The relationship of surface tension and formulation toxicity was then observed on aphid tested. The obtained results indicate that all tested formulations had insecticidal activity against tested aphids depending on exposure method and lauric acid concentration. The topical application method recorded 100% mortality rates compared to the other two methods. With topical application method, most of the aphids died soon after treatment. Toxicity symptoms from lauric acid to aphids included unusual abdominal contractions which caused quick loss of coordination and decreased activity, and finally dehydration and necrosis within 24 hours. Results from surface tension study revealed close connection between toxicity and surface tension. This might lead to the conclusion that toxicity was possibly related to aphid suffocation in the highly wettable solution. Results from this research also demonstrated that there were possibility that lauric acid do not only kill aphids by suffocation, but also through change of cuticle and cell permeability and desiccation that lead to speedy death due to the chemical nature of lauric acid. Overall, the results recommend that lauric acid based pesticide formulation has both physical and chemical mode of action on aphids

Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering

The toxicological effect of lauric acid based insecticide was investigated in terms of mode of action on aphids target system. Treated leaves were sprayed with different insecticides, which were lauric acid, cinnamaldehyde and malathion at 50µg/ml concentration to compare the effect of the pesticides on reproduction, growth development and feeding activity of aphids. The total number of new born nymphs produced and the relative development stage of nymphs were significantly reduced in all treatments compared to untreated leaves. Number of new born nymphs treated using lauric acid based pesticide was 6.0 ± 1.41 nymphs/day and the growth development rate at second day post treatment was rDS=1.07 ± 0.10. This data showed no significant difference with the data obtained when cinnamaldehyde and malathion were used as positive controls but the results were significantly different from the results obtained using untreated leaves (22.5 ± 3.54 nymphs/day, rDS=1.82 ± 0.02). Lauric acid was also shown to reduce the feeding activity of aphids. The study demonstrated that lauric acid was toxic to aphids. It has the ability to slow down the reproduction system, reduce growth development rate and decrease feeding activity of aphids (Aphis gosyypii Glover)

Sustainable intensification? Increased production diminishes omega-3 content of sheep milk

Intensifying agricultural production alters food composition, but this is often ignored when assessing system sustainability, yet it could compromise consumers’ health and the concept of ‘sustainable diets’. Here we consider milk composition from Mediterranean dairy sheep, finding inferior fatty acid (FA) profiles with respect to consumer health as a result of a more intensive system of production. Semi-intensive management did produce 57% more milk per ewe with 20% lower fat content, but inferior fat composition. Milk had a nutritionally poorer fatty acid (FA) profile, with 18% less omega-3 FA (n-3) (19% less long-chain n-3) and 7% less monounsaturated FA but 3% more saturated FA (9% higher in C14:0) concentrations compared with ewes under traditional, extensive management. Redundancy analysis identified close associations between fat composition and animal diets, particularly concentrate supplementation and grazing cultivated pasture - n-3 was associated with grazing diverse, native mountain pastures. The paper questions if identifying such key elements in traditional systems could be deployed for ‘sustainable intensification’ to maintain food quality whilst increasing output

Pengaruh Asam Laurat Terhadap Ukuran Nanopartikel Magnetit (Fe3O4) dari Pasir Besi Sijunjung

Magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized from natural iron sand originating from the rest of the gold panning area of Sijunjung Regency, West Sumatra, Indonesia. The method used in this study is the coprecipitation method with the addition of lauric acid used to obtain a uniform particle size and to control the crystal size. With variations in the mass of lauric acid: 0 g, 1.25 g, 2.5 g, 3.75 g, and 5 grams. And variations in the mass of iron sand used are 8 g, 10 g, 12 g, 14 g, and 16 g. The difference in mass of iron sand produces a solution of FeCl3 and FeCl2 with different percentages of iron oxide solubility. The results of the synthetic powder tested by XRD on samples without the addition of lauric acid were dominated by the hematite phase and in samples with the addition of 1.25 g, 2.5 g, 3.75 g, and 5 grams of lauric acid, a cubic crystal structure with a single-phase magnetite was obtained. With the optimum conditions obtained in the Scherrer-Debay equation, it was obtained by adding 2.5 g of lauric acid with a crystal size of 22.3 n