Tick-borne diseases have emerged as a major global public health problem in recent decades. The increasing incidence and geographical dissemination of these diseases requires the implementation of robust surveillance systems to monitor their prevalence, distribution, and public health impact. It is therefore not unexpected that tick-borne pathogens coexist in the same vectors, but the interactions of these agents between vectors and vertebrate hosts, including humans, remain poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Investig Arterioscler
November 2024
Aim: Epidemiological evidence suggests adherence to vegetable-rich diets is associated to atheroprotective effects and bioactive components are most likely to play a relevant role. The notion of inter-kingdom regulation has opened a new research paradigm and perhaps microRNAs (miRNAs) from edible vegetables could influence consumer gene expression and lead to biological effects. We aimed to investigate the potential impact of broccoli-derived miRNAs on cellular cholesterol efflux in vitro.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression. The wide-ranging biological activities of microRNAs stimulated research on disease mechanisms and is suggesting appealing therapeutic applications. When unprotected, miRNAs suffer from rapid degradation and appropriate strategies need to be developed to improve their therapeutic potential.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mechanisms underlying the lipid-lowering effect of nuts remain elusive. This study explores whether one-year supplementation with walnuts decreases LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) by affecting the expression of circulating microRNAs (c-miRNA). In this sub-study of the Walnuts and Healthy Aging (WAHA) trial, we obtained fasting serum at baseline and at 1 year from 330 free-living participants (63-79 year, 68% women), allocated into a control group (CG, abstinence from walnuts, = 164) and a walnut group (WG, 15% of daily energy as walnuts, ~30-60 g/d, = 166).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur J Nutr
March 2022
Purpose: Extracellular RNAs are unstable and rapidly degraded unless protected. Bovine-milk extracellular vesicles (EVs) confer protection to dietary miRNAs, although it remains unclear whether this importantly improves their chances of reaching host target cells to exert biological effects.
Methods: Caco-2, HT-29, Hep-G2 and FHs-74 cell lines were exposed to natural/labelled milk EVs to evaluate cellular uptake.
Broccoli ( var. italica) and its bioactive compounds are associated with beneficial health effects, which might be enabled, at least in part, through miRNA regulation, despite recent controversial studies suggesting that exogenous dietary miRNAs may reach host circulation and target cells to regulate gene expression. Here, a computational analysis was performed to explore the processes and pathways associated with genes targeted either by (1) host-expressed miRNAs (endogenous) modulated by the bioactive compounds in broccoli or (2) miRNAs derived from broccoli (exogenous).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOverfishing of sea cucumber from Yucatan has led to a major population decline. They are being captured as an alternative to traditional species despite a paucity of information about their health-promoting properties. The transcriptome of the body wall of wild and farmed has now been studied for the first time by an RNA-Seq approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe role of miRNAs in intestinal lipid metabolism is poorly described. The small intestine is constantly exposed to high amounts of dietary lipids, and it is under conditions of stress that the functions of miRNAs become especially pronounced. Approaches consisting in either a chronic exposure to cholesterol and triglyceride rich diets (for several days or weeks) or an acute lipid challenge were employed in the search for intestinal miRNAs with a potential role in lipid metabolism regulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Epidemiological studies and clinical trials support the association of nut consumption with a lower risk of prevalent non-communicable diseases, particularly cardiovascular disease. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying nut benefits remain to be fully described. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression and play a pivotal role in health and disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicroRNAs (miRNAs) crucial roles in translation repression and post-transcriptional adjustments contribute to regulate intestinal lipid metabolism. Even though their actions in different metabolic tissues have been elucidated, their intestinal activity is yet unclear. We aimed to investigate intestinal miRNA-regulated lipid metabolism-related genes, by creating an intestinal-specific Dicer1 knockout (Int-Dicer1 KO) mouse model, with a depletion of microRNAs in enterocytes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSea cucumber body wall contains several naturally occurring bioactive components that possess health-promoting properties. from Yucatan, Mexico is heavily fished, but little is known about its bioactive constituents. We previously established that meal had potent anti-inflammatory properties in vivo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPostprandial lipemia has many physiopathological effects, some of which increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can be found in almost all biological fluids, but their postprandial kinetics are poorly described. We aimed to profile circulating miRNAs in response to a fat challenge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBacterial arthropod-borne pathogens are a common cause of fever in Africa, but their precise impact is unknown and usually underdiagnosed in the basic rural laboratories of low-resourced African countries. Our aim was to determine the prevalence of arthropod-borne bacterial diseases causing fever among malaria smear-negative patients in a rural hospital located in Ethiopia. The study population included patients aged 2 years or older; referred to Gambo Rural General Hospital (West Arsi, Ethiopia), between July and November 2013, for fever or report of fever in the previous 48 h; attending the outpatient department; and testing negative for malaria by Giemsa-stained thin blood smears.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is highly prevalent worldwide. The most severe form is nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Among risk factors for the development of NAFLD is excessive lipid intake.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHybrid palm oil, which contains higher levels of oleic acid and lower saturated fatty acids in comparison with African palm oil, has been proposed to be somehow equivalent to extra virgin olive oil. However, the biological effects of its consumption are poorly described. Here we have explored the effects of its overconsumption on lipid metabolism in a non-human primate model, the common marmoset.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDietary microRNAs (miRNAs) modulation could be important for health and wellbeing. Part of the healthful activities of polyphenols might be due to a modulation of miRNAs' expression. Among the most biologically active polyphenols, hydroxytyrosol (HT) has never been studied for its actions on miRNAs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHuntington's disease (HD) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disease, with peripheral consequences that negatively contribute to quality of life. Circulating microRNAs (cmiRNAs) are being explored for their roles in intercellular communication and gene expression regulation, which allows gaining insight into the regulation of crosstalk between neuronal and peripheral tissues. Here, we explore the cmiRNA profile of plasma samples from fifteen symptomatic patients, with 40-45 CAG repeats in the HTT gene, and seven healthy matched controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFConsumption of the long-chain ω-3 (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and greater chemoprevention. However, the mechanisms underlying the biologic effects of DHA remain unknown. It is well known that microRNAs (miRNAs) are versatile regulators of gene expression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNumerous studies have shown that resveratrol (RES) exerts anti-inflammatory effects but human trials evidencing these effects in vivo are limited. Furthermore, the molecular mechanisms triggered in humans following the oral intake of RES are not yet understood. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the molecular changes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) associated to the one-year daily intake of a RES enriched (8 mg) grape extract (GE-RES) in hypertensive male patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
View Article and Find Full Text PDF