Publications by authors named "Pilar Rodriguez-Rodriguez"

Gastrointestinal motility disturbances are a hallmark of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); however, their mechanisms remain unclear. This study used a dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis mouse model, deficient in mature B and T lymphocytes, to assess intestinal motility and the role of the adaptive immune system in health and IBD. In healthy mice, the absence of adaptive lymphocytes reduced acetylcholine (ACh) sensitivity in the ileum.

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Maternal obesity has been shown to impair the oxidative status in the placenta and newborns, potentially leading to adverse pregnancy outcomes and long-term effects on the programming of offspring metabolic status. This study aimed to investigate the impact of maternal obesity on maternal and umbilical cord plasma oxidative status, as well as placental oxidative adaptation. Maternal obesity ( = 20), defined as a pre-pregnancy BMI ≥ 25 kg/m, and maternal leanness ( = 20), defined as a pre-pregnancy BMI < 23 kg/m, were the group categories used in this study.

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An aortic aneurysm (AA) is a life-threatening condition. Oxidative stress may be a common pathway linking multiple mechanisms of an AA, including vascular inflammation and metalloproteinase activity. Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) is the preferred surgical approach for AA treatment.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Fetal undernutrition, linked to oxidative stress, can lead to hypertension, prompting interest in using cocoa shell extract (CSE) as a potential treatment to improve blood flow and reduce high blood pressure caused by poor maternal nutrition.
  • - In a study with rats, those whose mothers experienced food restrictions showed increased systolic blood pressure and impaired artery function, while CSE supplementation successfully normalized blood pressure and improved artery function without affecting control group rats.
  • - CSE's benefits stem from reducing superoxide anion levels, leading to better vasodilation of mesenteric resistance arteries, suggesting it could be a viable natural treatment for hypertension, especially in cases related to early developmental challenges.
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  • The study investigates coffee pulp, typically discarded but potentially valuable, focusing on its flour (CPF) and aqueous extract (CPE) for their chemical composition and safety.
  • Results showed that CPF is high in insoluble fiber and amino acids, while CPE contains soluble pectic polysaccharides and free amino acids, both having elevated mineral content.
  • Toxicity tests on mice indicated that CPF and CPE are safe for consumption, supporting their potential as novel food ingredients with health benefits.
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Background: Adverse environmental conditions during intrauterine life, known as fetal programming, significantly contribute to the development of diseases in adulthood. Fetal programming induced by factors like maternal undernutrition leads to low birth weight and increases the risk of cardiometabolic diseases.

Methods: We studied a rat model of maternal undernutrition during gestation (MUN) to investigate gene expression changes in cardiac tissue using RNA-sequencing of day 0-1 litters.

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  • Oral gavage used in drug studies can cause issues, so voluntary ingestion of gelatin-based supplements in rats presents a better alternative for administration.
  • Research found that male rats are less likely to accept the gelatin than females, but fasting improved acceptance for females; additives like vanilla and sucralose did not have an effect.
  • The study concluded that trained rats can reliably consume supplements without affecting lactation, making this method useful for administering drugs that need to be digested and ensuring all rats can participate in studies.
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Cocoa shell is a by-product of cocoa manufacturing. We obtained an aqueous extract (CSE) rich in polyphenols and methylxanthines with antioxidant and vasodilatory properties. We aimed to evaluate the effects of CSE supplementation in aged hypertensive rats on blood pressure and the mechanism implicated.

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Coffee and cocoa manufacturing produces large amounts of waste. Generated by-products contain bioactive compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, suitable for treating metabolic syndrome (MetS). We aimed to compare the efficacy of aqueous extracts and flours from coffee pulp (CfPulp-E, CfPulp-F) and cocoa shell (CcShell-E, CcShell-F) to ameliorate MetS alterations induced by a high-fat diet (HFD).

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The cocoa industry generates a considerable quantity of cocoa shell, a by-product with high levels of methylxanthines and phenolic compounds. Nevertheless, the digestion process can extensively modify these compounds' bioaccessibility, bioavailability, and bioactivity as a consequence of their transformation. Hence, this work's objective was to assess the influence of simulated gastrointestinal digestion on the concentration of phenolic compounds found in the cocoa shell flour (CSF) and the cocoa shell extract (CSE), as well as to investigate their radical scavenging capacity and antioxidant activity in both intestinal epithelial (IEC-6) and hepatic (HepG2) cells.

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  • Breast milk (BM) cytokines are important for supporting infant immunity, especially in premature babies with adverse outcomes, and this study looked into how these cytokines change during the first month of breastfeeding among Spanish women.
  • Researchers assessed cytokine levels (like IL-10 and TNFα) at days 7 and 28 of lactation, finding that certain cytokines increased or decreased over this period, while overall antioxidant capacity in the milk also decreased.
  • Factors such as the infant's sex, gestational age, and the mother's diet (measured by the maternal dietary inflammatory index) influenced the cytokine levels, with significant findings regarding C-section births and neonates with adverse outcomes affecting inflammatory markers in breast milk.
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Fetal undernutrition predisposes to hypertension development. Since nitric oxide (NO) is a key factor in blood pressure control, we aimed to investigate the role of NO alterations in hypertension induced by fetal undernutrition in rats. Male and female offspring from dams exposed to undernutrition during the second half of gestation (MUN) were studied at 21 days (normotensive) and 6 months of age (hypertension developed only in males).

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We previously observed that esmolol treatment for 48 h reduced vascular lesions in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). Therefore, we investigated whether this beneficial effect is persistent after withdrawal. Fourteen-month-old SHRs (SHR-Es) were treated with esmolol (300 μg/kg/min) or a vehicle for 48 h.

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Low birth weight (LBW) and accelerated growth during lactation are associated with cardiometabolic disease development. LBW offspring from rats exposed to undernutrition during gestation (MUN) develops hypertension. In this rat model, we tested if slower postnatal growth improves early cardiometabolic alterations.

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Sleep, mental health and physical activity are fundamental for wellbeing, and some of these factors are interrelated. However, these aspects are not usually considered during pregnancy and lactation, which are particularly vulnerable periods. Therefore, our aims were to conduct a cross sectional study to assess the psychological capital, quality of life, sleep hygiene and physical activity in a cohort of women during pregnancy and lactation periods.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Researchers studied two animal models: spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) for essential hypertension and offspring of undernourished mothers (MUN) for developmental hypertension, examining various cardiovascular health metrics.
  • * Both models displayed increased blood pressure and signs of vascular changes, suggesting that sympathetic nerve hyperactivity contributes to both types of hypertension, particularly in those with developmental origins from poor prenatal nutrition.
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Fetal undernutrition is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Male offspring from rats exposed to undernutrition during gestation (MUN) exhibit oxidative stress during perinatal life and develop cardiac dysfunction in ageing. Angiotensin-II is implicated in oxidative stress-mediated cardiovascular fibrosis and remodeling, and lactation is a key developmental window.

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Cocoa has cardiovascular beneficial effects related to its content of antioxidant phytochemicals. Cocoa manufacturing produces large amounts of waste, but some by-products may be used as ingredients with health-promoting potential. We aimed to investigate the vasoactive actions of an extract from cocoa shell (CSE), a by-product containing theobromine (TH), caffeine (CAF) and protocatechuic acid (PCA) as major phytochemicals.

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Fetal stress is known to increase susceptibility to cardiometabolic diseases and hypertension in adult age in a process known as fetal programming. This study investigated the relationship between vascular RAS, oxidative damage and remodeling in fetal programming. Six-month old Sprague-Dawley offspring from mothers that were fed ad libitum (CONTROL) or with 50% intake during the second half of gestation (maternal undernutrition, MUN) were used.

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Fetal undernutrition programs cardiometabolic diseases, with higher susceptibility in males. The mechanisms implicated are not fully understood and may be related to sex differences in placental adaptation. To evaluate this hypothesis, we investigated placental oxidative balance, vascularization, glucocorticoid barrier, and fetal growth in rats exposed to 50% global nutrient restriction from gestation day 11 (MUN, = 8) and controls ( = 8).

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Fetal undernutrition programs hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, and resistance artery remodeling may be a contributing factor. We aimed to assess if fetal undernutrition induces resistance artery remodeling and the relationship with hypertension. Sprague-Dawley dams were fed ad libitum (Control) or with 50% of control intake between days 11 and 21 of gestation (maternal undernutrition, MUN).

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Twin pregnancies are considered a risk factor for preeclampsia, an obstetric complication with high maternal and infant morbi-mortality. We hypothesize that alterations in maternal hematocrit, plasma lipid peroxidation and nitrates in the first trimester of pregnancy are associated with preeclampsia development in twin pregnancies. Blood samples were extracted from 102 healthy women with twin pregnancies at tenth week of gestation to assess hematological parameters and plasma levels of malondialdehyde and nitrates.

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Male fetal sex associates with higher rates of materno-fetal complications. Inflammation and inadequate vasoactive responses are mechanisms implicated in obstetric complications, and alterations in maternal plasma cytokine profile and nitric oxide (NO) metabolites are potential predictive biomarkers. We aimed to assess if these parameters are influenced by fetal sex.

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Breast milk (BM) is beneficial due to its content in a wide range of different antioxidants, particularly relevant for preterm infants, who are at higher risk of oxidative stress. We hypothesize that BM antioxidants are adapted to gestational age and are negatively influenced by maternal age. Fifty breastfeeding women from two hospitals (Madrid, Spain) provided BM samples at days 7, 14 and 28 of lactation to assess total antioxidant capacity (ABTS), thiol groups, reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase activities, lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde, MDA + 4-Hydroxy-Trans-2-Nonenal, HNE), protein oxidation (carbonyl groups) (spectrophotometry) and melatonin (ELISA).

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Background: A recently developed global indicator of oxidative stress (OXY-SCORE), by combining individual plasma biomarkers of oxidative damage and antioxidant capacity, has been validated in several pathologies, but not in left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). The aim of this study was to design and calculate a plasma oxidative stress global index for patients with LVH.

Methods: A total of 70 consecutive adult patients were recruited in our institution and assigned to one of the two study groups (control group/LVH group) by an echocardiography study.

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