Dietary oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) aqueous extract improves oxidative stability and consumer acceptance of meat enriched with CLA and n-3 PUFA in broilers.

The effect of a dietary oregano aqueous extract on meat fatty acid profile, quality, and consumer acceptance in chickens fed a diet rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) was evaluated in 3 consecutive trials.For each trial, 171 day-old Ross 308 chicks were randomly divided in replicates of 19 birds each and assigned to one of 3 experimental diets: 1) basal control diet, 2) basal diet supplemented with 0.2 g/kg of oregano aqueous extract, and 3) basal diet supplemented with 150 ppm of vitamin E (as positive control). To better analyze the antioxidant activity of both oregano and vitamin E, all the experimental diets were enriched with a fatty acid supplement consisting in a mixture of PUFA at the same dose (1.16 %) in both starter and finisher feeds. Oregano supplementation positively influenced (P < 0.05) broiler live performance. No differences were observed in physicochemical or proximal composition or in total fatty acid composition of breast meat. Dietary oregano influenced meat composition in terms of total phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, improving meat resistance to oxidation, compared to both other groups. During consumer tests, meat from the 3 dietary groups obtained the same liking score in a blind session. Under informed condition, consumer perception was positively influenced by labeling for all the considered attributes. Furthermore, consumers showed a higher expectation for meat derived from chickens fed the oregano extract when compared to that deriving from the other 2 groups.Results obtained in the present study allow stating that using oregano aqueous extract in diets enriched with PUFA can represent a valid solution to increase live weight of chickens, improve resistance to oxidation of meat, and positively influence consumer perception of poultry meat.

Changes in the Fatty Acid Profile and Phospholipid Molecular Species Composition of Human Erythrocyte Membranes after Hybrid Palm and Extra Virgin Olive Oil Supplementation.

This work aims to evaluate and compare, for the first time, the effects of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and hybrid palm oil (HPO) supplementation on the fatty acid profile and phospholipid (PL) molecular species composition of human erythrocyte membranes. Results supported the effectiveness of both HPO and EVOO supplementation (3 months, 25 mL/day) in decreasing the lipophilic index of erythrocytes with no significant differences between HPO and EVOO groups at month 3. On the other hand, the novel and rapid ultraperformance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method used for PL analysis reveals an increase in the levels of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine species esterified with polyunsaturated fatty acids. This work demonstrates the ability of both EVOO and HPO to increase the degree of unsaturation of erythrocyte membrane lipids with an improvement in membrane fluidity that could be associated with a lower risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.

Palm oil and cardiovascular disease: a randomized trial of the effects of hybrid palm oil supplementation on human plasma lipid patterns.

This study examines, for the first time, the effect of hybrid Elaeis oleifera × E. guineensis palm oil supplementation on human plasma lipids related to CVD risk factors. One hundred sixty eligible participants were randomized and assigned to one of the two treatments: 25 mL hybrid palm oil (HPO group) or 25 mL extra virgin olive oil (EVOO group) daily for 3 months. Fasting venous samples were obtained at baseline and after 1, 2 and 3 months for measurement of plasma lipids (TC, LDL-C, HDL-C and TAGs). Changes in body mass index and waist circumference were also assessed. Although there was an overall reduction in TC (7.4%, p < 0.001) and in LDL-C (15.6%, p < 0.001), no significant differences were found between the treatment groups in a repeated measures analysis of variance for TC (p = 0.0525), LDL-C (p = 0.2356), HDL-C (p = 0.8293) or TAGs (p = 0.3749). Furthermore, HPO consumption had similar effects on plasma lipids to EVOO, thus providing additional support for the concept that hybrid Elaeis oleifera × E. guineensis palm oil can be seen as a "tropical equivalent of olive oil".

[The role of eggs in the diet: nutraceutical and epigenetic aspects]. / Il ruolo delle uova nella dieta: aspetti nutraceutici ed epigenetici.

The use of eggs in human diet has been object of many prejudices which are not yet completely disappeared The evolution of knowledge in the field of nutrition has, partially, countered these prejudices by highlighting the biological importance of several compounds present in the eggs. The nutritional and commercial revaluation of the eggs are passed through the enrichment of the lipid fraction in omega3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA omega3) which, have shown positive effects against cardiovascular diseases and development of the central nervous system and retina. The enrichment of eggs lipid with omega3 fatty acids is carried out by the integration of feeding hens with oils rich in omega3 fatty acids such as plant or marine oils. The results showed that the accumulation of omega3 in the egg yolk lipids is strongly affected by the type of oil used as supplement and by the amounts of oils administrated to the hens.

[Milk and butter. From the Neolithic to the current nutritional aspects]. / Il latte e il burro. Dal Neolitico agli attuali aspetti nutrizionali.

The evolution in the history of nutrition knowledge towards dairy products, is strictly related to the socio-cultural development of humans. In fact, milk and butter have accompanied humans since ancient times, which traces of the consumption of such products are dated back about the earliest times after the last (glaciation) ice age, while the application for extra nutritional uses, such as cosmetics and ceremonial rites, are reported in the writings of the Old Testament. Even in Italy, before the Roman Empire, were known rudimentary techniques of production and storage of dairy products. But only with the advent of the Etruscans, and the Romans later, that the use of milk and dairy products reach a wide diffusion in several applications. Since the advent of Christ until today, milk and its derivatives have maintained a privileged place in the human diet, but it is only with the advent of modern medicine and new findings in lipidic chemistry that emerged multiple biological and nutritional properties, very important for human health. After a short summary of the ancient history of the milk and butter, the role of dairy products in cancer, in hypercholesterolemia, and cardiovascular disease are reported. Moreover, the current opinions on saturated fatty acids, the role of polyunsaturated fatty acids and their lipid mediators obtained by the action of cyclooxygenase, lipoxygenase and the cytochrome P450 enzymes, are treated. Even if sometimes mistreated, the milk, but most of all its high fat content derivatives such as butter, is a rich source of biologically active compounds that foster a controversial action against neolplastic and cardiovascular disease. These compounds, mainly contained in the lipid fraction, for the more obvious relationships that exist between nutrition and health status, have been the subject in the last decades of intense scientific investigation in which there were expressed lights and shadows, but recognizing that not all fats are harmful and further thorough studies are necessary, in particular, on the derived lipid mediators. This will allow a significant progress based on new scientific evidences, further orienting researchers and clinicians on evidence-based nutritional science.

Two Case Reports of Biliary Tract Injuries during Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy.

Background and Study Aims. Biliary tract injuries (BTI) represent the most serious and potentially life-threatening complication of cholecystectomy occurring also during laparoscopic approaches. Patients and Methods. We describe and discuss two different cases of BTI occurring during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). Results. Two patients developed BTI during LC and one evidenced the complication during the LC itself and was treated during the same LC in real time. The other patient evidenced BTI only after the primary intervention and was successfully reoperated in laparotomy after 10 days from the LC. Conclusions. The factors that predispose to the occurrence of BTI during cholecystectomy and the cautions to be used to prevent BTI are discussed.

Antioxidant and antibacterial activities on foodborne pathogens of Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. (Moraceae) leaves extracts.

Total water extract, ethyl acetate, and aqueous fractions from the leaves of Artocarpus heterophyllus were evaluated for phenolic content, antioxidant, and antibacterial activities against some foodborne pathogens such as E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella typhimurium, Salmonella enterica, Bacillus cereus, Enterococcus faecalis, and Staphylococcus aureus. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MICs) of extract and fractions determined by the agar dilution method were ranged from 221.9 microg/mL for ethyl acetate fraction to 488.1 microg/mL for total extract. In the agar diffusion method the diameters of inhibition were 12.2 for the total extract, 10.7 and 11.5 for ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions, respectively. A. heterophyllus showed significant antioxidant activity tested in different in vitro systems (DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, and Fe(2+) chelating activity assay). In particular, in DPPH assay A. heterophyllus total extract exhibited a strong antiradical activity with an IC(50) value of 73.5 microg/mL while aqueous fraction exerted the highest activity in FRAP assay (IC(50) value of 72.0 microg/mL). The total phenols content by Folin-Ciocalteau method was determined with the purpose of testing its relationship with the antioxidant and antibacterial activities.

Determination of phospholipid molecular species in pork meat by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and evaporative light scattering detection.

Normal phase high performance liquid chromatography has been optimized for both evaporative light scattering detection and tandem mass spectrometry in order to characterize the natural phospholipids (PL) (classes and molecular species) of raw and cooked pork meat. The PL fraction included phosphatidylcholine (PC) (42.9%±4.5 for raw vs 42.6%±8.0 for cooked meat), plasmalogen-phosphatidylethanolamine (pPE) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) (26.7%±3.1 vs 28.5%±2.3), cardiolipin (CL) (8.3%±2.9 vs 6.3%±0.7), sphingomyelin (Sph) (7.5%±0.9 vs 8.3%±2.1), phosphatidylinositol (PI) (6.8%±0.7 vs 6.5%±2.1) phosphatidylserine (PS) (4.9%±0.5 vs 4.6%±1.4) and lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) (2.9%±1.3 vs 3.3%±2.6). Arachidonic acid (absent in Sph) was mainly present in pPE and PI and formed molecular species with a saturated fatty acid, such as stearic (as in PI, PS, PE and PC) or palmitic acid (as in PE and PC), or the respective vinyl ethers in pPE (p18:0 and p16:0); however, in PC, arachidonic acid also formed combinations with oleic and linoleic acid. Palmitic acid formed the most abundant molecular species in PC, but not in CL, PE, PI and PS. Unexpectedly, the cooked pork meat showed an increased content of the molecular species of PI and LPC with more unsaturated fatty acids (18:0/20:4 and 18:2, respectively) with respect to raw meat.

Fatty acids composition of plasma phospholipids and triglycerides in children with cystic fibrosis. The effect of dietary supplementation with an olive and soybean oils mixture.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is characterized by abnormal levels of essential fatty acids (EFA) in plasma phospholipids. The reduced availability of EFA has been reported to alter patterns of circulating and tissue esterified acids and may determine profound changes in membrane fluidity and cell signaling mechanisms. In the current study, the results of a new strategy aimed at the realization of a practical, low cost integrator, for daily use in the dietary management of FC subjects, are reported. We investigated the plasma phospholipids and triglycerides fatty acids composition of CF patients subjected to a dietary supplement constituted of a mixture of 50% extra virgin olive oil and 50% soybean oil and studied the clinical effects of this supplementation. The study included fourteen young subjects, aged between 6 and 15 years, affected by cystic fibrosis, with pancreatic insufficiency and heterozygotes or homozygotes for the delta F508 mutation. The subjects were matched by age and randomly assigned to either an oil mixture supplemented (OM) group (n = 7), or to a control (C) group (n = 7). In contrast to the control group, the patients with supplemented diet achieved significant increases of the relative amount of C18:1 in the triglycerides as well as a significant decrease in saturated fatty acids (C 16:0, C 17:0, C 18:0, C 22:0). Moreover, the ratio between LA acid and AA significantly increased in the triglycerides of the OM group. In the phospholipids of the OM group, the relative amount of C 18:1 and of palmitic acid increased significantly whereas the relative amount of the most important polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) decreased. These results show that oleic acid can be absorbed and incorporated into the plasma triglycerides of CF patients receiving pancreatic enzymes, whereas poor incorporation of LA occurs. Despite the reduction in the relative amounts of phospholipid PUFA, the supplemented subjects did not reported adverse effects There were no significant differences between groups in the clinical indexes recorded (height, weight, BMI, Schwachman-Kulczycki score and FEV 1s). The results of this study showed that the supplementation with a mixture of extravirgin olive and soybean oil was safe in seven CF patients treated during a 2-months period and no negative clinical effects were evident. However, further clinical trials will be necessary in order to better evaluate the consequence of the observed changes in plasma fatty acids composition in a longer testing period.

Antioxidant properties of Mediterranean spices compared with common food additives.

In this study, the antioxidant properties of Mediterranean food spices (annatto, cumin, oregano, sweet and hot paprika, rosemary, and saffron) at 5% concentration and of common food additives (butylated hydroxyanisole [BHA], butylated hydroxytoluene [BHT], and propyl gallate) at 100 microg/g are compared. The ability of these compounds to inhibit lipid peroxidation was, in decreasing order, rosemary > oregano > propyl gallate > annatto > BHA > sweet paprika > cumin > hot paprika > saffron > BHT. Deoxyribose damage is partially inhibited in the presence of cumin extract that exhibits the strongest protective action. The rest of the spices also protect deoxyribose better than the BHA and BHT used in the assay. Finally, the results obtained in the assay point to the prooxidant effect of propyl gallate. Hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity is measured by using peroxidase-based assay systems. In aqueous medium, the spice extracts show lower antioxidant activity than propyl gallate, the decreasing order being cumin > oregano > annatto > rosemary > hot paprika > sweet paprika. BHA and BHT did not scavenge H2O2 Spices are able to scavenge HOCl and protect alpha1-antiproteinase. The results indicate that rosemary and oregano are more effective HOCl scavengers than the other substances analyzed, which, in decreasing order, were propyl gallate, annatto, sweet and hot paprika, saffron, and cumin. The effect of Mediterranean food spices on the oxidative stability of refined olive oil tested by the Rancimat method was compared with common food additives during storage (72 h, 2, 4, and 6 months) at room temperature. The results showed that the spice extracts analyzed have significant stabilizing effects (P < 0.05).

Cannabinoid acids analysis.

The cannabinoid pattern of vegetable preparations from Cannabis sativa (hashish, marijuana) allows to recognize the phenotype of the plants, to be used as drug or for fiber. Cannabinoid determination by analytical point of view has represented some problems caused by the complex composition of the hexane extract. Capillary gas chromatography of the hexane extracts of vegetable samples, shows the presence of rather polar constituents that eluted, with noticeable interactions, only on polar phase. The compounds can be methylated by diazomethane and silanized (TMS) by silylating reagents. The methyl and methyl-TMS derivatives are analyzed by high resolution gas chromatography (HRGC) and by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The identification of the compounds shows their nature of cannabinoid acids, which the main by quantitative point of view results the cannabidiolic acid (CBDA). It is known that the cannabinoid acids are thermally unstable and are transformed in the corresponding cannabinoids by decarboxilation. This is of interest in forensic analysis with the aim to establish the total amount of THC in the Cannabis preparations, as the active component.

Mycobacterium gastri arthritis: septic arthritis due to Mycobacterium gastri in a patient with a renal transplant.

We describe an 18-year-old man with a renal transplant who developed septic metacarpophalangeal arthritis due to Mycobacterium gastri. He had several episodes of crystal induced synovitis, and treatment with intraarticular steroids was complicated 3 months later by iatrogenic septic arthritis. Appropriate treatment based on in vitro drug susceptibility was successful. This seems to be the first case of articular infection and the third report of human infection caused by this atypical mycobacteria.

Effect of endogenous angiotensin on the efferent glomerular arteriole of rat kidney.

The local, direct effect of endogenous angiotensin II (AII) in the isolated, perfused rat kidney was studied in an "open-circuit," single-pass preparation perfused at a constant pressure with an artificial solution containing 6.5% bovine albumin in Krebs-Ringer solution. After the addition of purified renin substrate (tetradecapeptide, 3 to 5 X 10(-8) M), renal plasma flow fell from 25.3 +/- 1.6 to 14.4 +/- 1.0 ml x min-1 (N = 6, P < 0.001) and GFR rose from 0.3 +/- 0.03 to 0.63 +/- 0.06 ml.min-1 (P < 0.001). Filtration fraction rose accordingly from 0.015 +/- 0.001 to 0.044 +/- 0.002 (P < 0.001). The effects of the renin substrate were promptly reversed by the addition of an angiotensin antagonist, Sar1-Al8-AII (3 X 10(-6) M). Measurements of distribution of perfusate flow between outer and inner cortex were made with radioactive microspheres. Outer cortical flow was 75.3 +/- 3.5% of the total cortical flow during the control periods and 73.7 +/- 2.3% during the maximal renin substrate effect. We conclude that endogenous AII is active locally, independent of systemic recirculation. Its major site of action in this preparation is on the efferent glomerular arteriole.

Effect of exogenous and endogenous angiotensin II in the isolated perfused rat kidney.

Rat kidneys were perfused with an artificial solution at constant pressure. The infusion of angiotensin II (AII) (1.5--6 ng min-1) reduced renal perfusate flow (RPF) from 36.6 +/- 2.4 to 19.3 +/- 1.4 ml min-1 (P less than 0.001) (n = 13); GFR rose from 0.48 +/- 0.06 to 0.63 +/- 0.04 ml min-1 (P less than 0.05), and filtration fraction (FF) rose accordingly from 0.015 +/- 0.002 to 0.033 +/- 0.003 (P greater than 0.01). The same results were obtained with purified renin substrate (synthetic tetradecapeptide, 100 ng min-1, n = 8); RPF fell from 31.5 +/- 2.9 to 17.2 +/- 2 ml min-1 (P less than 0.001), GFR rose from 0.36 +/- 0.05 to 0.51 +/- 0.04 ml min-1 (P less than 0.05), and FF increased from 0.021 +/- 0.002 to 0.034 +/- 0.006 (P less than 0.01). The effects of renin substrate were completely prevented by the converting enzyme inhibitor SQ 20,881 (3 X 10(-5) M). In another six experiments the effects of renin substrate at the same dose were fully reversed by addition of the analogue [Sar1,Ala8]AII. We interpret these findings to indicate that both exogenous and endogenous AII produce preferential vasoconstriction of the efferent arteriole, increasing the driving force for ultrafiltration and thereby maintaining or increasing GFR in the face of a reduced plasma flow.