Therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles: A focus on inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) have emerged as key regulators of intercellular communication, orchestrating essential biological processes by delivering bioactive cargoes to target cells. Available evidence suggests that MSC-EVs can mimic the functions of their parental cells, exhibiting immunomodulatory, pro-regenerative, anti-apoptotic, and antifibrotic properties. Consequently, MSC-EVs represent a cell-free therapeutic option for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), overcoming the limitations associated with cell replacement therapy, including their non-immunogenic nature, lower risk of tumourigenicity, cargo specificity and ease of manipulation and storage.

Nucleic acid lateral flow dipstick assay for the duplex detection of Gambierdiscus australes and Gambierdiscus excentricus.

The proliferation of harmful microalgae endangers aquatic ecosystems and can have serious economic implications on a global level. Harmful microalgae and their associated toxins also pose a threat to human health since they can cause seafood-borne diseases such as ciguatera. Implementation of DNA-based molecular methods together with appropriate detection strategies in monitoring programs can support the efforts for effective prevention of potential outbreaks.

Glucagon Shows Higher Sensitivity than Insulin to Grapeseed Proanthocyanidin Extract (GSPE) Treatment in Cafeteria-Fed Rats.

The endocrine pancreas plays a key role in metabolism. Procyanidins (GSPE) targets β-cells and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1)-producing cells; however, there is no information on the effects of GSPE on glucagon. We performed GSPE preventive treatments administered to Wistar rats before or at the same time as they were fed a cafeteria diet during 12 or 17 weeks.

Long-Lasting Effects of GSPE on Ileal Gene Expression Are Associated with a Hypomethylation of the Promoter in Female Wistar Rats.

Flavonoids have been shown to modulate in obesity. induces some of its effects through the intestinal receptor (), though no data exist on how flavonoids affect this receptor. Here, we examine how a dose of grape seed proanthocyanidin extract (GSPE) with anti-obesity activity affects intestinal and analyze whether epigenetics play a role in the long-lasting effects of GSPE.

Proanthocyanidins Limit Adipose Accrual Induced by a Cafeteria Diet, Several Weeks after the End of the Treatment.

A dose of proanthocyanidins with satiating properties proved to be able to limit body weight increase several weeks after administration under exposure to a cafeteria diet. Here we describe some of the molecular targets and the duration of the effects. We treated rats with 500 mg grape seed proanthocyanidin extract (GSPE)/kg BW for ten days.

Grape-Seed Proanthocyanidins are Able to Reverse Intestinal Dysfunction and Metabolic Endotoxemia Induced by a Cafeteria Diet in Wistar Rats.

We evaluated the effectiveness of pharmacological doses of grape-seed proanthocyanidin extract (GSPE) in reversing intestinal barrier alterations and local inflammation in female Wistar rats fed a long-term obesogenic diet. Animals were fed a 17-week cafeteria diet (CAF diet), supplemented with daily GSPE doses (100 or 500 mg kg body weight) during the final two weeks. CAF diet enhanced the intestinal permeation of an orally administered marker (ovalbumin, OVA) and increased the plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and lipopolysaccharides (LPS) in 2-3-fold.

Grape Seed Proanthocyanidins Target the Enteroendocrine System in Cafeteria-Diet-Fed Rats.

Scope: The effects on the enteroendocrine system of three different grape seed proanthocyanidin extract (GSPE) treatments are analyzed in rats on a cafeteria diet for 17 weeks.

Methods And Results: GSPE is administered in a corrective manner (15 last days of the cafeteria diet) at two doses, 100 and 500 mg GSPE per kg bw. A third, longer treatment in which GSPE (500 mg kg bw) is administered daily every other week during the 17 weeks of the cafeteria diet is also tested.

Protective Effect of Proanthocyanidins in a Rat Model of Mild Intestinal Inflammation and Impaired Intestinal Permeability Induced by LPS.

Scope: Intestinal dysfunction consists of a defective barrier function, which allows the influx of luminal endotoxins, thus causing intestinal inflammation. Proanthocyanidins are natural bioactive compounds that could modulate intestinal dysfunction. This study analyzes the protective effects of proanthocyanidins in a rat model of intestinal dysfunction.

The co-administration of proanthocyanidins and an obesogenic diet prevents the increase in intestinal permeability and metabolic endotoxemia derived to the diet.

The consumption of Westernized diets leads to hyperphagia and obesity, as well as intestinal alterations. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of the administration of a grape seed proanthocyanidin extract (GSPE) at different time points on the modulation of intestinal barrier function (intestinal permeability and metabolic endotoxemia), in rats with high-fat/high-carbohydrate diet-induced obesity. Animals were fed a cafeteria diet (CAF) supplemented with a preventive (PRE-CAF) or simultaneously intermittent (SIT-CAF) GSPE treatment (500 mg/kg bw).

Novel ex Vivo Experimental Setup to Assay the Vectorial Transepithelial Enteroendocrine Secretions of Different Intestinal Segments.

The enteroendocrine system coordinates gastrointestinal (GI) tract functionality and the whole organism. However, the scarcity of enteroendocrine cells and their scattered distribution make them difficult to study. Here, we glued segments of the GI wall of pigs to a silicon tube, keeping the apical and the basolateral sides separate.

Effects of an Intermittent Grape-Seed Proanthocyanidin (GSPE) Treatment on a Cafeteria Diet Obesogenic Challenge in Rats.

Obesity is highly associated with the pathologies included in the concept of the Metabolic Syndrome. Grape-seed proanthocyanins (GSPE) have showed very positive effects against all these metabolic disruptions; however, there is, as yet, no consensus about their effectiveness against an obesogenic challenge, such as a cafeteria diet. We determined the effectiveness of a dose of 500 mg GSPE/kg b.

Chronic supplementation with dietary proanthocyanidins protects from diet-induced intestinal alterations in obese rats.

Scope: Increased attention has been paid to the link between altered intestinal function and elevated incidence of metabolic disorders, such as in obesity. This study investigated in obese rats the role of grape seed proanthocyanidin extract (GSPE) chronic treatment, taken in a low, moderate, or high dose, on obesity-associated intestinal alterations in response to a cafeteria diet (CAF).

Methods And Results: To evaluate the degree of intestinal inflammation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity were measured as well as the expression of inflammatory-related genes.

Effects of flavonoids on intestinal inflammation, barrier integrity and changes in gut microbiota during diet-induced obesity.

Diet-induced obesity is associated with low-grade inflammation, which, in most cases, leads to the development of metabolic disorders, primarily insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Although prior studies have implicated the adipose tissue as being primarily responsible for obesity-associated inflammation, the latest discoveries have correlated impairments in intestinal immune homeostasis and the mucosal barrier with increased activation of the inflammatory pathways and the development of insulin resistance. Therefore, it is essential to define the mechanisms underlying the obesity-associated gut alterations to develop therapies to prevent and treat obesity and its associated diseases.