Anionic Methacrylate Copolymer Microparticles for the Delivery of Myo-Inositol Produced by Spray-Drying: In Vitro and In Vivo Bioavailability.

In this study, a new micro delivery system based on an anionic methacrylate copolymer, able to improve the biological response of myo-inositol by daily oral administration, was manufactured by spray-drying. It has an ideal dose form for oral administration, with an experimental drug loading (DL)% of 14% and a regulated particle size of less than 15 µm. The new formulation features an improvement on traditional formulations used as a chronic therapy for the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome.

Correlation of Metabolic Syndrome with Redox Homeostasis Biomarkers: Evidence from High-Fat Diet Model in Wistar Rats.

Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is an extremely complex disease. A non-balanced diet such as high-fat diet (HFD) induces metabolic dysfunction that could modify redox homeostasis. We here aimed at exploring redox homeostasis in male Wistar rats, following 8 weeks of HFD, correlating the eventual modification of selected biomarkers that could be associated with the clinical manifestations of MetS.

A New Potential Dietary Approach to Supply Micronutrients to Physically Active People through Consumption of Biofortified Vegetables.

Micronutrients are required in many reactions involved in physical activity and exercise. Most physically active people do not meet the body's needs in terms of micronutrients through diet. The novelty of the present manuscript is the use of an innovative dietary approach to supply micronutrients to physically active people through biofortified food.

Analysis of Body Perception, Preworkout Meal Habits and Bone Resorption in Child Gymnasts.

The beneficial effects of physical activity on body image perception and bone are debated among artistic gymnasts. Gymnasts seem to be at greater risk of developing body dissatisfaction, eating disorders and osteoporosis due to inadequate nutrition and attention to the appearance of the body. The objective of this work was to investigate the association between the artistic gymnast and a more favorable body image compared to their sedentary peers and if a preworkout high-carbohydrate meal (HCM; 300 kcal, 88% carbohydrates, 9% protein, 3% fat) or high-protein meal (HPM; 300 kcal, 55% carbohydrates, 31% protein, 13% fat) is able to attenuate bone resorption in young rhythmic gymnasts.

AphaMax, an Aphanizomenon Flos-Aquae Aqueous Extract, Exerts Intestinal Protective Effects in Experimental Colitis in Rats.

Background: Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (AFA) is a unicellular cyanobacterium considered to be a "superfood" for its complete nutritional profile and beneficial properties. We investigated possible beneficial effects of an AFA extract, commercialized as AphaMax, containing concentrated amount of phycocyanins and phytochrome, in 2,4 dinitrobenzensulfonic acid(DNBS)-induced colitis in rats.

Methods: Effects of preventive oral treatment of AphaMax (20, 50 or 100 mg/kg/day) in colitic rats were assessed and then macroscopic and microscopic analyses were performed to evaluate the inflammation degree.

Pistachio Consumption Alleviates Inflammation and Improves Gut Microbiota Composition in Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet.

High-fat diet (HFD) induces inflammation and microbial dysbiosis, which are components of the metabolic syndrome. Nutritional strategies can be a valid tool to prevent metabolic and inflammatory diseases. The aim of the present study was to evaluate if the chronic intake of pistachio prevents obesity-associated inflammation and dysbiosis in HFD-fed mice.

PD123319, angiotensin II type II receptor antagonist, inhibits oxidative stress and inflammation in 2, 4-dinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced colitis in rat and ameliorates colonic contractility.

Angiotensin II, the main effector of renin angiotensin system, plays an important role in the inflammatory process and most of its effects are mediated through the AT1 receptor activation. However, the knowledge about the AT2 receptor involvement in this process is still evolving. We previously found that in an experimental model of colitis, AT2 receptor activation can contribute to the impairment of the muscle contractility in vitro in the course of inflammation.

Pistachio Consumption Prevents and Improves Lipid Dysmetabolism by Reducing the Lipid Metabolizing Gene Expression in Diet-Induced Obese Mice.

Pistachios contain beneficial substances such as unsaturated fatty acids, phytosterols, and polyphenols. In the present study, we investigated if pistachio consumption is able to prevent or to revert hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, hepatic steatosis, and adipose tissue morphological alterations caused by high fat diet (HFD) in the mouse. Moreover, the impact of pistachio intake on the mRNA expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (), fatty acid transport proteins (), fatty acid synthase (), stearoyl-CoA desaturase (), and sterol regulatory element-binding transcription factor-1c () in liver and adipose tissue was also analyzed.

Preventive effects of guanosine on intestinal inflammation in 2, 4-dinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (DNBS)-induced colitis in rats.

Background: Guanosine, a guanine-based purine, is an extracellular signaling molecule exerting anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects in several in vivo and in vitro injury models. We aimed to investigate its protective effects on 2, 4-dinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (DNBS)-induced colitis in rat.

Methods: Rats were divided into five groups and colitis was induced by intracolonic instillation of DNBS (15 mg/rat).

Impact of diet-induced obesity on the mouse brain phosphoproteome.

Obesity is closely associated to several diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hepatic steatosis, airway disease, neurodegeneration, biliary diseases and certain cancers. It is, therefore, of importance to assess the role of nutrition in disease prevention as well as its effect in the course of such pathologies. In the present study, we addressed the impact of the exposure to different obesogenic diets in the mice brains phosphoproteome.

Health benefits of pistachios consumption.

The health benefits of nuts, mainly in relation to the improvement of dysmetabolic conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus and the related cardiovascular diseases, have been widely demonstrated. Compared to other nuts, pistachios have a lower fat and caloric content, and contain the highest levels of unsaturated fatty acids, potassium, γ-tocopherol, phytosterols and xanthophyll carotenoids, all substances that are well known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions. This variety of nutrients contributes to the growing body of evidence that the consumption of pistachios improves health, leading to a greater potential of healthy antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, glycemic control, and endothelial function.

Postnatal development of the dopaminergic signaling involved in the modulation of intestinal motility in mice.

Background: Since antidopaminergic drugs are pharmacological agents employed in the management of gastrointestinal motor disorders at all ages, we investigated whether the enteric dopaminergic system may undergo developmental changes after birth.

Methods: Intestinal mechanical activity was examined in vitro as changes in isometric tension.

Results: In 2-d-old (P2) mice, dopamine induced a contractile effect, decreasing in intensity with age, replaced, at the weaning (day 20), by a relaxant response.

Glucagon-like peptide-2 treatment improves glucose dysmetabolism in mice fed a high-fat diet.

Previous studies suggested that endogenous glucagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2) is dispensable for the regulation of glucose homeostasis under normal conditions, while it can play a beneficial role in obesity conditions. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether chronic treatment with Gly-GLP-2, a stable analogue of GLP-2, can have an impact on glycaemic and lipid control in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD), an animal model of human obesity and insulin resistance. HFD mice were treated once a day with Gly-GLP-2 for 4 weeks.

Neuronostatin: peripheral site of action in mouse stomach.

Neuronostatin is a 13-amino acid peptide encoded by somatostatin gene. It is distributed in different organs including gastrointestinal tract and has been involved in the control of food intake and gastrointestinal motility, likely through an action in the brain. So far, there are no reports about the occurrence of peripheral action sites in the gut.

Chronic administration of green tea extract to TRAMP mice induces the collapse of Golgi apparatus in prostate secretory cells and results in alterations of protein post-translational processing.

Considering its long latency, prostate cancer (PCa) represents an ideal target for chemoprevention strategies. Green tea extract (GTE) has been proved to be one of the most promising natural substances capable of inhibiting PCa progression in animal models (transgenic adenocarcinoma of mouse prostate), as well as in humans. However, the cellular targets of the GTE action are mostly unknown.

The "intraendothelial canalicular formation": the route for lymphocyte diapedesis at the level of peripheral and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue HEVs.

How the lymphocyte crosses the blood endothelium during transendothelial migration is demonstrated through the study of serial sections of high endothelial venules (HEVs) of peripheral (mesenteric lymph nodes) and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (Peyer's patches, vermiform appendix) during normal lymphocyte homing and experimental intestinal inflammation. The sequence of serial ultrastructural features of lymphocytes englobed in the endothelial wall at different moments of transmigration made it possible to bring out that their transendothelial migration toward the extracellular matrix of lymphoid tissues occurs through an intraendothelial canalicular formation constituted by two adjacent endothelial cells that have closed interendothelial junctions. This intraendothelial canalicular formation, morphologically unlike the transcellular and paracellular migratory pathways, is an innovative model of migratory route for lymphocyte diapedesis that does not compromise the continuity of the endothelial wall.

The "mode" of lymphocyte extravasation through HEV of Peyer's patches and its role in normal homing and inflammation.

The mode of lymphocyte transendothelial migration in the postcapillary high endothelial venules (HEVs) of Peyer's patches during normal homing and acute inflammation in the guinea pig was studied. It is common opinion that the lymphocyte transendothelial passage from the blood stream into the extravasal lymphoid tissue calls for a multistep process of endothelial and lymphocyte molecules favoring tethering, rolling, activation, arrest and its firm adhesion to the endothelial luminal surface. Ultrastructural serial pictures and the three-dimensional reconstruction of HEVs with lymphocytes during different moments of their transmigration through the endothelial wall enabled us to demonstrate in vivo the morphological modality of their extravasation in lymphoid tissue.