Protective Effects of Short-Chain Fatty Acids on Endothelial Dysfunction Induced by Angiotensin II.

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are among the main classes of bacterial metabolic products and are mainly synthesized in the colon through bacterial fermentation. Short-chain fatty acids, such as acetate, butyrate, and propionate, reduce endothelial activation induced by proinflammatory mediators, at least in part, by activation of G protein-coupled receptors (GPRs): GPR41 and GPR43. The objective of the study was to analyze the possible protective effects of SCFAs on endothelial dysfunction induced by angiotensin II (AngII).

Maternal and paternal preconception exposure to phenols and preterm birth.

Background: Phenol exposure during pregnancy has been associated with preterm birth, but the potential effect of preconception exposure in either parent is unknown. There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that the preconception period is a critical window of vulnerability for adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Objective: We examined whether maternal and paternal preconception urinary concentrations of select phenols were associated with the risk of preterm birth among couples attending fertility care.

How polluted is your fat? What the study of adipose tissue can contribute to environmental epidemiology.

The study of the potential contribution of low-dose exposure to environmental chemicals on the development of chronic conditions in human populations is often hampered by methodological issues, including exposure misclassification and the inability to assess biological effects in target organs. White adipose tissue (WAT) presents the unique feature of being both an advantageous matrix for assessing long-term exposure to mixtures of persistent organic pollutants and an interesting tissue to investigate early preclinical effects. Moreover, other lipophilic non-persistent chemicals and heavy metals have been recently quantified in fat, suggesting that human WAT contains chemical mixtures more complex than initially thought.

Probiotics Prevent Dysbiosis and the Rise in Blood Pressure in Genetic Hypertension: Role of Short-Chain Fatty Acids.

Scope: The objective of this study is to determine the cardiovascular effects of the probiotics Bifidobacterium breve CECT7263 (BFM) and Lactobacillus fermentum CECT5716 (LC40), and the short chain fatty acids butyrate, and acetate in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR).

Methods And Results: Ten five-week old Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) and fifty aged-matched SHR are randomly distributed into six groups: control WKY, control SHR, treated SHR-LC40, treated SHR-BMF, treated SHR-butyrate, and treated SHR-acetate. Chronic treatments with LC40 or BFM increase butyrate-producing bacteria and prevent the blood pressure increase in SHR.

Changes to the gut microbiota induced by losartan contributes to its antihypertensive effects.

Background And Purpose: Hypertension is associated with gut dysbiosis. Here we have evaluated the effects of the angiotensin receptor antagonist losartan on gut microbiota in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) to assess their contribution to its antihypertensive effects.

Experimental Approach: Twenty-week-old Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) and SHR were treated with losartan for 5 weeks (SHR-losartan).

The prebiotic properties of Hibiscus sabdariffa extract contribute to the beneficial effects in diet-induced obesity in mice.

The metabolic syndrome has been associated with an alteration of intestinal microbiota, which can be considered as a target for the management of these patients. Phenolic extracts from Hibiscus sabdariffa have shown beneficial effects on obesity and its related complications. However, their effects on gut microbiota have not been investigated yet.

The metabolic and vascular protective effects of olive (Olea europaea L.) leaf extract in diet-induced obesity in mice are related to the amelioration of gut microbiota dysbiosis and to its immunomodulatory properties.

Introduction: Many studies have showed the beneficial effects of the olive (Olea europaea) leaf extract (OLE) in experimental models of metabolic syndrome, which have been ascribed to the presence of phenolic compounds, like oleuropeoside. This study evaluated the effects of a chemically characterized OLE in high fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity in mice, describing the underlying mechanisms involved in the beneficial effects, with special attention to vascular dysfunction and gut microbiota composition.

Methods: C57BL/6J mice were distributed in different groups: control, control-treated, obese and obese-treated with OLE (1, 10 and 25 mg/kg/day).

Bisphenol A and cognitive function in school-age boys: Is BPA predominantly related to behavior?

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) has been associated with impairments in children's behavior, but few studies have investigated its relationship with cognitive function.

Objective: To investigate the association of urinary BPA concentrations with cognitive domains and intelligence quotient (IQ) in Spanish boys.

Methods: BPA levels were quantified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) in one spot urine sample from 269 boys of the INMA-Granada cohort, in their follow-up at 9-11 years of age.

CECT5716: a novel alternative for the prevention of vascular disorders in a mouse model of systemic lupus erythematosus.

The aim of the present study was to examine whether the immune-modulatory bacteria CECT5716 (LC40) ameliorates disease activity and cardiovascular complications in a female mouse model of lupus. Eighteen-week-old NZBWF1 [systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)] and NZW/LacJ (control) mice were treated with vehicle or LC40 (5 × 10 colony-forming units/d) for 15 wk. LC40 treatment reduced lupus disease activity, blood pressure, cardiac and renal hypertrophy, and splenomegaly in SLE mice.

A strategy to validate a selection of human effect biomarkers using adverse outcome pathways: Proof of concept for phthalates and reproductive effects.

Human biomonitoring measures the concentrations of environmental chemicals or their metabolites in body fluids or tissues. Complementing exposure biomarkers with mechanistically based effect biomarkers may further elucidate causal pathways between chemical exposure and adverse health outcomes. We combined information on effect biomarkers previously implemented in human observational studies with mechanisms of action reported in experimental studies and with information from published Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs), focusing on adverse reproductive effects of phthalate exposure.

Differential activity pattern of c-Fos in the nucleus accumbens between adult and aged rats during flavor recognition memory.

Previous studies have addressed the role of the nucleus accumbens core (NAcbC) and shell (NAcbSh) in taste aversion learning and in the processing of taste palatability which is affected by aging. However, little is known about its implication in safe taste memory and the aging impact. To explore the role of the NAcb in flavor neophobia and its attenuation during aging, we applied c-Fos immunohistochemistry as an index of neural activity of the NAcbC and NAcbSh.

The Immunomodulatory Properties of Extracellular Vesicles Derived from Probiotics: A Novel Approach for the Management of Gastrointestinal Diseases.

Probiotics, included in functional foods, nutritional supplements, or nutraceuticals, exhibit different beneficial effects on gut function. They are extensively used to improve the digestive processes as well as reduce the symptoms and progression of different diseases. Probiotics have shown to improve dysbiosis and modulate the immune response of the host by interacting with different cell types.

Role of the immune system in vascular function and blood pressure control induced by faecal microbiota transplantation in rats.

Aim: High blood pressure (BP) is associated with gut microbiota dysbiosis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether changes in gut microbiota induced by exchanging the gut microbiota between spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) alter the gut-immune system interaction inducing changes in vascular function and BP.

Methods: Twenty-week-old recipient WKY and SHR were orally gavaged with donor faecal contents from WKY or SHR.

Bisphenol A and adiposity measures in peripubertal boys from the INMA-Granada cohort.

Introduction: Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of our times. Although an important body of experimental evidence highlights the obesogenic potential of endocrine disruptors such as bisphenol A (BPA), the epidemiological evidence remains inconclusive and limited.

Objective: To assess associations between urinary BPA concentrations and several adiposity measures in peripubertal boys from the Environment and Childhood (INMA) cohort in Granada, Spain.

Calcium Pyruvate Exerts Beneficial Effects in an Experimental Model of Irritable Bowel Disease Induced by DCA in Rats.

Pyruvate is a normal constituent of the body that participates in carbohydrate metabolism and functions as a scavenger of free radicals. Calcium pyruvate monohydrate (CPM) is a more stable derivative that has proved its anti-inflammatory effect in experimental colitis, among other disorders, and that could also be considered a source of calcium. Thus, it would be useful for the treatment of diseases with an inflammatory component and a high prevalence of osteoporosis like the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Prenatal bisphenol A exposure is associated with language development but not with ADHD-related behavior in toddlers from the Odense Child Cohort.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a non-persistent chemical with endocrine disrupting abilities widely used in a variety of consumer products. The fetal brain is particularly sensitive to chemical exposures due to its rapid growth and complexity. Some studies have reported associationbetween maternal BPA exposure and behavior but few have assessed impact on cognitive development, and to our knowledge no studies have specifically assessed the impact on language development.

Dorsal hippocampal damage disrupts the auditory context-dependent attenuation of taste neophobia in mice.

Rodents exhibit neophobia for novel tastes, demonstrated by an initial reluctance to drink novel-tasting, potentially-aversive solutions. Taste neophobia attenuates across days if the solution is not aversive, demonstrated by increased consumption as the solution becomes familiar. This attenuation of taste neophobia is context dependent, which has been demonstrated by maintained reluctance to drink the novel tasting solution if the subject has to drink it after being brought to a novel environment.

Placental weight in relation to maternal and paternal preconception and prenatal urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations among subfertile couples.

Introduction: Phthalates are known reproductive toxicants that reduce placental and fetal weight in experimental animal studies. Although phthalate exposure has been associated with reduced birth weight in humans, there is limited epidemiologic evidence on whether the placenta is also affected.

Objective: To assess whether maternal and paternal preconception and prenatal urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations are associated with placental weight, and the birth weight: placental weight (BW:PW) ratio among singletons conceived by subfertile couples.

Personal exposure to radio-frequency electromagnetic fields in Europe: Is there a generation gap?

Background: Exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) from mobile communication technologies is changing rapidly. To characterize sources and associated variability, we studied the differences and correlations in exposure patterns between children aged 8 to 18 and their parents, over the course of the day, by age, by activity pattern, and for different metrics of exposure.

Methods: Using portable RF-EMF measurement devices, we collected simultaneous real-time personal measurements of RF-EMF over 24 to 72 h in 294 parent-child pairs from Denmark, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Spain.

Immunomodulatory tetracyclines shape the intestinal inflammatory response inducing mucosal healing and resolution.

Background And Purpose: Immunomodulatory tetracyclines are well-characterized drugs with a pharmacological potential beyond their antibiotic properties. Specifically, minocycline and doxycycline have shown beneficial effects in experimental colitis, although pro-inflammatory actions have also been described in macrophages. Therefore, we aimed to characterize the mechanism behind their effect in acute intestinal inflammation.

Immunomodulatory tetracyclines ameliorate DNBS-colitis: Impact on microRNA expression and microbiota composition.

Objective: The use of immunomodulatory antibiotics to simultaneously target different factors involved in intestinal inflammatory conditions is an interesting but understudied pharmacological strategy. A great therapeutic potential has been obtained with minocycline and doxycycline in experimental colitis. Therefore, understanding the contribution of the different activities of immunomodulatory tetracyclines is crucial for the improvement and translation of their use into clinic.

Maternal and paternal preconception exposure to bisphenols and size at birth.

Study Question: Are maternal and paternal preconception urinary bisphenol A (BPA) or bisphenol S (BPS) concentrations associated with offspring birth size?

Summary Answer: Maternal-but not paternal-preconception urinary BPA concentrations were associated with lower birth size among couples seeking fertility evaluation.

What Is Known Already: Prenatal BPA exposure has been previously associated with reduced birth size in some but not all epidemiologic studies. However, the potential effect of BPA exposure before conception in either parent is unknown.

Lactobacillus fermentum Improves Tacrolimus-Induced Hypertension by Restoring Vascular Redox State and Improving eNOS Coupling.

Scope: The aim is to analyze whether the probiotic Lactobacillus fermentum CECT5716 (LC40) can prevent endothelial dysfunction and hypertension induced by tacrolimus in mice.

Methods And Results: Tacrolimus increases systolic blood pressure (SBP) and impairs endothelium-dependent relaxation to acetylcholine and these effects are partially prevented by LC40. Endothelial dysfunction induced by tacrolimus is related to both increased nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase (NOX2) and uncoupled endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS)-driven superoxide production and Rho-kinase-mediated eNOS inhibition.

Can a Conversation Between Mesenchymal Stromal Cells and Macrophages Solve the Crisis in the Inflamed Intestine?

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of chronic inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal tract characterized by an exacerbated mucosal immune response. Macrophages play pivotal roles in the maintenance of gut homeostasis but they are also implicated in the pathogenesis of IBD. They are highly plastic cells and their activation state depends on the local environment.

Preconception and prenatal urinary concentrations of phenols and birth size of singleton infants born to mothers and fathers from the Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) study.

Background: Although pregnancy concentrations of some phenols have been associated with infant size at birth, there is limited data on the effect of preconception exposure.

Objective: We aimed to examine paternal and maternal preconception and maternal prenatal urinary phenol concentrations in relation to birth weight and head circumference.

Methods: We evaluated 346 singletons born to 346 mothers and 184 fathers (184 couples) from a prospective preconception cohort of subfertile couples from the Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) Study in Boston, USA.