Peptide-Oligonucleotide Conjugation: Chemistry and Therapeutic Applications.

Oligonucleotides have been identified as powerful therapeutics for treating genetic disorders and diseases related to epigenetic factors such as metabolic and immunological dysfunctions. However, they face certain obstacles in terms of limited delivery to tissues and poor cellular uptake due to their large size and often highly charged nature. Peptide-oligonucleotide conjugation is an extensively utilized approach for addressing the challenges associated with oligonucleotide-based therapeutics by improving their delivery, cellular uptake and bioavailability, consequently enhancing their overall therapeutic efficiency.

Thiol-Specific Linkers for the Synthesis of Oligonucleotide Conjugates via Metal-Free Thiol-Ene Click Reaction.

Chemical conjugation of oligonucleotides is widely used to improve their delivery and therapeutic potential. A variety of strategies are implemented to efficiently modify oligonucleotides with conjugating partners. The linkers typically used for oligonucleotide conjugation have limitations in terms of stability or ease of synthesis, which generates the need for providing new improved linkers for oligonucleotide conjugation.

Probiotics and Antibiotic-Induced Microbial Aberrations in Children: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Probiotics are often considered in children to prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea. However, the underlying mechanistic effects and impact of probiotics on antibiotic-induced microbiota changes are not well understood.

Objective: To investigate the effects of a multispecies probiotic on the gut microbiota composition in children receiving antibiotics.

Effect of a high-fat high-fructose diet on the composition of the intestinal microbiota and its association with metabolic and anthropometric parameters in a letrozole-induced mouse model of polycystic ovary syndrome.

Objective: It has been suggested that dysbiosis of the gut microbiota is associated with the pathogenesis of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), and that improper diet can aggravate these changes. This study thus aimed to investigate the effects of a high-fat/high-fructose (HF/HFr) diet on the gut microbial community and their metabolites in prepubertal female mice with letrozole (LET)-induced PCOS. We also tested the correlations between the relative abundance of microbial taxa and selected PCOS parameters.

Experimental Capacity of Human Fecal Microbiota to Degrade Fiber and Produce Short-Chain Fatty Acids Is Associated with Diet Quality and Anthropometric Parameters.

Background: Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are considered beneficial to human health. The associations between bacterial capacity to produce SCFAs, diet, and health are not fully understood.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the capacity of human fecal microbiota to produce SCFAs and to metabolize soluble and insoluble fiber and to study its associations with human diet, anthropometric parameters, and carbohydrate and lipid metabolism.

The effects of time-restricted eating and Ramadan fasting on gut microbiota composition: a systematic review of human and animal studies.

Context: It is well known that the microbiome undergoes cyclical diurnal rhythms. It has thus been hypothesized that meal timing may affect gut microbial composition, function, and host health.

Objective: This review aims to examine the effects of time-restricted eating (TRE) and Ramadan fasting (RF) on the composition of the gut microbiota in animal and human studies.

Human gut microbiota composition and its predicted functional properties in people with western and healthy dietary patterns.

Purpose: Some dietary habits cluster together, and for this reason it is advised to study the impact of entire dietary patterns on human health, rather than that of individual dietary habits. The main objective of this study was to evaluate differences in gut microbiota composition and their predicted functional properties between people with a healthy (HDP) and western (WDP) dietary pattern.

Methods: A cross-sectional, observational study was carried out on 200 participants enrolled 2017-2018 in Poznań, Poland, equally distributed into HDP and WDP groups.

Associations of plasma betaine, plasma choline, choline intake, and MTHFR polymorphism (rs1801133) with anthropometric parameters of healthy adults are sex-dependent.

Background: Choline and its metabolites apppear to have relationships with body mass index (BMI), body fat, and body weight, but the research results have proved inconsistent. We thus investigated the associations of plasma levels of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), choline, and betaine with anthropometric measurements, including modulatory effects of genetics and diet.

Methods: The study was performed on a group of 421 adults, aged 20-40 years, who had been recruited in Poland.

Ex vivo folate production by fecal bacteria does not predict human blood folate status: Associations between dietary patterns, gut microbiota, and folate metabolism.

Although some bacteria inhabiting the human gut synthesize folates, it has not yet been established whether bacterial folate biosynthesis can impact human folate status. The main objectives of this study were to evaluate associations between different lifestyle factors and the potential of fecal microbiota to produce folates, and to investigate whether this potential is associated with circulating folate and total homocysteine (tHcy) levels in humans. To this end, we carried out an observational study of two hundred adult participants, with high variance in dietary habits.

Diet, Trimethylamine Metabolism, and Mitochondrial DNA: An Observational Study.

Scope: Mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn) and its methylation level in the D-loop area have been correlated with metabolic health and are suggested to vary in response to environmental stimuli, including diet. Circulating levels of trimethylamine-n-oxide (TMAO), which is an oxidative derivative of the trimethylamine (TMA) produced by the gut microbiome from dietary precursors, have been associated with chronic diseases and are suggested to have an impact on mitochondrial dynamics. This study is aimed to investigate the relationship between diet, TMA, TMAO, and mtDNAcn, as well as DNA methylation.

β-glucuronidase activity is associated with carbohydrate metabolism but not with androgen status in overweight and obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between β-glucuronidase and androgen levels in overweight and obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The connection between β-glucuronidase, the abundance of selected gut bacteria, carbohydrate metabolism, and diet quality was also determined.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 56 women with a mean age of 29.

Mitochondrial DNA and Epigenetics: Investigating Interactions with the One-Carbon Metabolism in Obesity.

Mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn) has been proposed for use as a surrogate biomarker of mitochondrial health, and evidence suggests that mtDNA might be methylated. Intermediates of the one-carbon cycle (1CC), which is duplicated in the cytoplasm and mitochondria, have a major role in modulating the impact of diet on the epigenome. Moreover, epigenetic pathways and the redox system are linked by the metabolism of glutathione (GSH).

Easy Diet Screener: A quick and easy tool for determining dietary patterns associated with lipid profile and body adiposity.

Background: There is a lack of simple tools that could allow members of the general population to estimate their own dietary patterns and to associate them with unfavourable health outcomes. The present study aimed to develop and validate a simple self-administered tool, called the Easy Diet Screener (EDS), that would identify healthy and unhealthy dietary patterns and evaluate their association with unfavourable blood and anthropometric parameters (i.e.

Comparison of Associations between One-Carbon Metabolism, Lipid Metabolism, and Fatty Liver Markers in Normal-Weight and Overweight People Aged 20-40 Years.

The aim of the present study was to compare biomarkers of one-carbon metabolism (OCM), lipid metabolism, and fatty liver in people with normal and increased body weight. The study was performed on 421 participants, aged 20-40 years, enrolled in Poznan, Poland, in 2016-2018. Choline and betaine intakes were assessed.

Design and Application of Mini-libraries of miRNA Probes for an Efficient and Versatile miRNA-mRNA Cross-linking.

MicroRNAs constitute a class of endogenous, non-coding RNAs that influence various processes within the cell. By base-pairing to partially-complementary sites located in the 3' untranslated region of target messenger RNAs, microRNAs participate in post-transcriptional regulation of the majority of human protein-coding genes. Their dysregulation has been related to many pathological processes and diseases.

MiR-CLIP reveals iso-miR selective regulation in the miR-124 targetome.

Many microRNAs regulate gene expression via atypical mechanisms, which are difficult to discern using native cross-linking methods. To ascertain the scope of non-canonical miRNA targeting, methods are needed that identify all targets of a given miRNA. We designed a new class of miR-CLIP probe, whereby psoralen is conjugated to the 3p arm of a pre-microRNA to capture targetomes of miR-124 and miR-132 in HEK293T cells.

Greater self-reported preference for fat taste and lower fat restraint are associated with more frequent intake of high-fat food.

The determinants of the intake of high-fat products are not well recognized, but fat preference may be one of them. The aim of this study was thus to determine whether intake of different types of high-fat food is associated with fat preference in people with normal and increased body weight. Participants aged 20-40 years [n = 421] were enrolled in Poznań, Poland in 2016-2018.

Improvement of glucose metabolism in pregnant women through probiotic supplementation depends on gestational diabetes status: meta-analysis.

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of probiotic and synbiotic supplementation on glucose metabolism in pregnant women using data from randomized controlled trials. Furthermore, this meta-analysis examines whether the observed effects depend on the presence or absence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and if the effect is dependent on the type of supplement used (probiotic or synbiotic). We performed a literature search of databases (Medline, Scopus, Web of Knowledge, and Cochrane Library) and identified all relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published prior to May 2019.

Porto-systemic shunt - a rare cause of hyperandrogenism in children. Two case reports and review of literature.

Objectives The main cause of hyperandrogenism in children is congenital adrenal hyperplasia, adrenal and gonadal tumors, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOs) and Cushing's disease. In the last 20 years several descriptions of girls with hyperandrogenism and venous porto-systemic shunts appeared in literature. Case presentation First case is an eleven and a half-year-old girl, was admitted to Department of Endocrinology because of symptoms of hyperandrogenism.

Low folate intake and serum levels are associated with higher body mass index and abdominal fat accumulation: a case control study.

Background: The link between folate metabolism and obesity has recently been underlined, suggesting that folate deficiency may lead to body weight gain and adiposity. We thus wished to determine whether the inefficiency in folate metabolism caused by genetic variation in the MTHFR and DHFR genes in folate metabolism, or inadequate folate intake, is associated with obesity.

Methods: A case-control study including 421 healthy participants (aged 20-40) was performed in Poznań, Poland.

Polymorphism of CD36 Determines Fat Discrimination but Not Intake of High-Fat Food in 20- to 40-Year-Old Adults.

Background: The determinants of the intake of high-fat products are not well understood.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the relations between fat perception, intake of high-fat food, and body-weight status, taking into account the polymorphism of the genes that encode the proteins involved in oral fat perception.

Methods: A total of 421 participants aged 20-40 y were enrolled in Poznań, Poland, from 2016 to 2018.

Grape Cane Extracts as Multifunctional Rejuvenating Cosmetic Ingredient: Evaluation of Sirtuin Activity, Tyrosinase Inhibition and Bioavailability Potential.

Grape canes are waste biomass of viticulture containing bioactive polyphenols valuable in cosmetics. Whereas several studies reported the cosmetic activities of -resveratrol, only few described the potential of -ε-viniferin, the second major constituent of grape cane extracts (GCE), and none of them investigated GCE as a natural blend of polyphenols for cosmetic applications. In this study, we considered the potential of GCE from polyphenol-rich grape varieties as multifunctional cosmetic ingredients.

Polymorphism of TAS2R3, TAS2R5, TAS2R19, and TAS2R50 genes and bitter food intake frequency inelderly woman.

Background: Taste sensitivity is one of the most important biological determinants of food choice. Polymorphisms within the bitter taste receptor genes TAS2R3 (rs765007), TAS2R5 (rs2234012), TAS2R19 (rs10772420), and TAS2R50 (rs1376251) may affect bitter taste sensitivity and thus food choices and thereby metabolic biomarkers in blood. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between selected TAS2Rs  single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the choice of the most popular bitter food items in    a Polish population, BMI and blood biomarkers in elderly women.

Dietary patterns associated with obesity and overweight: When should misreporters be included in analysis?

Objective: The aim of the study was to identify dietary patterns associated with overweight and obesity and to examine the effect of including and excluding misreporters on the analysis of these dietary patterns and on the associations between identified dietary patterns and anthropometric parameters.

Methods: The study was carried out with adult participants in an observational case-control manner. The participants' diet was assessed using 3-d dietary records.

Author Correction: Weight loss and metabolic health effects from energy-restricted Mediterranean and Central-European diets in postmenopausal women: A randomized controlled trial.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.