Publications by authors named "Maria Paz Lorenzo"

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are the third most abundant solid component of breast milk. However, the newborn cannot assimilate them as nutrients. They are recognized prebiotic agents (the first in the newborn diet) that stimulate the growth of beneficial microorganisms, mainly the genus dominant in the gut of breastfed infants.

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Asp, Glu, and D-Ser are chiral amino acids and neurotransmitters binding to the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA) and they participate in glutamate signalization. D-amino acids are increasingly being recognized as important signaling molecules and variations in their levels are considered a marker of different pathologies, however, there is still a lack of knowledge about the role of most of D-amino acids in living organisms such as bone cells. A method for determination of concentrations of L/D-Asp, L/D-Glu and L/D-Ser in two types of bone cell lines: murine osteocytes (MLOY4) and osteoblasts (MC3T3-E1) is presented.

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In the nutrition field, there is a lack of understanding about the impact that dietary chiral composition may have on health, especially regarding cooked meals. Chiral amino acids (AAs) are naturally present in food and their proportion may vary quite a lot. Besides, the D-amino acids (D-AAs) are present in very low concentration compared to L-AAs, so very sensitive methods are required for their accurate quantitation.

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Rationale: (R,S)-ketamine is a rapid and effective antidepressant drug that produces a response in two thirds of patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). The underlying biochemical differences between a (R,S)-ketamine responder (KET-R) and non-responder (KET-NR) have not been definitively identified but may involve serine metabolism.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between baseline plasma concentrations of D-serine and its precursor L-serine and antidepressant response to (R,S)-ketamine in TRD patients.

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