The Effect of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis MN-Gup on Glucose Metabolism, Gut Microbiota, and Their Metabolites in Type 2 Diabetic Mice.

Probiotics have garnered increasing attention as a potential therapeutic approach for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Previous studies have confirmed that Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis MN-Gup (MN-Gup) could stimulate the secretion of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) in NCI-H716 cells, but whether MN-Gup has a hypoglycemic effect on T2DM in vivo remains unclear. In this study, a T2DM mouse model was constructed, with a high-fat diet and streptozotocin in mice, to investigate the effect of MN-Gup on diabetes. Then, different doses of MN-Gup (2 × 109 CFU/kg, 1 × 1010 CFU/kg) were gavaged for 6 weeks to investigate the effect of MN-Gup on glucose metabolism and its potential mechanisms. The results showed that a high-dose of MN-Gup significantly reduced the fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels and homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) of T2DM mice compared to the other groups. In addition, there were significant increases in the short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), especially acetate, and GLP-1 levels in the MN-Gup group. MN-Gup increased the relative abundance of Bifidobacterium and decreased the number of Escherichia-Shigella and Staphylococcus. Moreover, the correlation analysis revealed that Bifidobacterium demonstrated a significant positive correlation with GLP-1 and a negative correlation with the incremental AUC. In summary, this study demonstrates that Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis MN-Gup has significant hypoglycemic effects in T2DM mice and can modulate the gut microbiota, promoting the secretion of SCFAs and GLP-1.

α-Lactalbumin Peptide Asp-Gln-Trp Ameliorates Hepatic Steatosis and Oxidative Stress in Free Fatty Acids-Treated HepG2 Cells and High-Fat Diet-Induced NAFLD Mice by Activating the PPARα Pathway.

SCOPE: Dietary intervention has emerged as a promising strategy for the management of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The aim of this study is to investigate the ameliorative effects of the α-lactalbumin peptide Asp-Gln-Trp (DQW) against NAFLD and the underlying mechanism. METHODS AND RESULTS: The models of lipid metabolism disorders are established both in HepG2 cells and in C57BL/6J mice. The results demonstrate that DQW activates peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) and subsequently ameliorates lipid deposition and oxidative stress in vitro. Interestingly, GW6471 markedly attenuates the modulatory effects of DQW on the PPARα pathway in HepG2 cells. Moreover, results of in vivo experiments indicate that DQW alleviates body weight gain, dyslipidemia, hepatic steatosis, and oxidative stress in high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced NAFLD mice. At the molecular level, DQW activates PPARα, subsequently enhances fatty acid ß-oxidation, and reduces lipogenesis, thereby ameliorating hepatic steatosis. Meanwhile, DQW may ameliorate liver injury and oxidative stress via activating the PPARα/nuclear-factor erythroid 2 (Nrf2)/heme-oxygenase 1 (HO-1) pathway. CONCLUSION: Those results indicate that α-lactalbumin peptide DQW may be an effective dietary supplement for alleviating NAFLD by alleviating lipid deposition and oxidative stress.

Effects of Ultra-High-Pressure Jet Processing on Casein Structure and Curdling Properties of Skimmed Bovine Milk.

Ultra-high-pressure jet processing (UHPJ) is a new non-thermal processing technique that can be employed for the homogenization and the sterilization of dairy products. However, the effects on dairy products are unknown when using UHPJ for homogenization and sterilization. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effects of UHPJ on the sensory and curdling properties of skimmed milk and the casein structure in skimmed milk. Skimmed bovine milk was treated with UHPJ using different pressures (100, 150, 200, 250, 300 MPa) and casein was extracted by isoelectric precipitation. Subsequently, the average particle size, Zeta potential, contents of free sulfhydryl and disulfide bonds, secondary structure, and surface micromorphology were all used as evaluation indicators to explore the effects of UHPJ on the structure of casein. The results showed that with an increase of pressure, the free sulfhydryl group content changed irregularly, while the disulfide bond content increased from 1.085 to 3.0944 µmol/g. The content of α-helix and random coil in the casein decreased, while the ß-sheet content increased at 100, 150, 200 MPa pressure. However, treatment with higher pressures of 250 and 300 MPa had the opposite effect. The average particle size of the casein micelles first decreased to 167.47 nm and then increased up to 174.63 nm; the absolute value of Zeta potential decreased from 28.33 to 23.77 mV. Scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed that the casein micelles had fractured into flat, loose, porous structures under pressure instead of into large clusters. After being ultra-high-pressure jet-processed, the sensory properties of skimmed milk and its fermented curd were analyzed concurrently. The results demonstrated that UHPJ could alter the viscosity and color of skimmed milk, shortening curdling time from 4.5 h to 2.67 h, and that the texture of the curd fermented with this skimmed milk could be improved to varying degrees by changing the structure of casein. Thus, UHPJ has a promising application in the manufacture of fermented milk due to its ability to enhance the curdling efficiency of skimmed milk and improve the texture of fermented milk.

An Empirical Study on the Satisfaction of Rural Leisure Tourism Tourists Based on IPA Method.

In recent years, under the background of the national development strategy of rural revitalization, rural tourism has become a new way of tourism. With the upsurge of rural tourism, there has also been a wave of "homestay fever" across the country. Country house tourism is a personalized rural tourism method that has emerged with the development of our country's tourism industry in recent years. However, in the context of the surge in the number of homestays in rural tourism destinations, homogeneous competition, simple replication, low-price competition, and other quality development problems have become increasingly prominent. In order to realize the high-quality development of country houses and meet the differentiated needs of customers, it is necessary to explore the dimensions of tourists' perceived value of country houses from the perspective of tourists, to study the gap between tourists' expectations and actual perceptions, and from the perspective of tourists' value perception to make suggestions for improvement. This paper takes the theory of customer perceived value as the theoretical basis, and on the basis of referring to the relevant literature, combined with the actual situation of the homestay in Luci Village, to construct an index system of the perceived value of tourists in the country house. Use IPA (Importance-Performance Analysis) to identify the difference between the actual performance and expected importance of tourists' perceived value, use questionnaires and statistical software to analyze the difference in guest satisfaction and importance, and put forward key improvement goals to improve the quality of homestay development in the future. The effectiveness of the method proposed in this paper is verified through the case of a country house in Luci Village, Tonglu County.

Triacylglycerol Composition of Butterfat Fractions Determines Its Gastrointestinal Fate and Postprandial Effects: Lipidomic Analysis of Tri-, Di-, and Mono-acylglycerols and Free Fatty Acids.

The lipolytic behaviors and postprandial effects of butterfat and its fractions (30L and 30S) procured by dry fractionation at 30 °C were investigated using in vivo digestion. A total of 142 triacylglycerols (TAGs), 64 diacylglycerols (DAGs), 14 monoacylglycerols (MAGs), and 7 free fatty acids (FFAs) in the butterfat fractions and their hydrolysates were identified by combining high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization-tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry with solid-phase extraction. The first-step hydrolysis from TAGs to sn-1,2 DAGs occurred slower in the high-melting-temperature solid fat (30S) fraction, which is rich in long-chain FAs compared to that of the low-melting-temperature liquid oil (30L) fraction, which is rich in short-chain unsaturated FAs (the hydrolysis rates were 39.22% vs 60.11%, respectively, in the 30 min gastric phase), and these differences were also reflected in the delayed and relatively flat postprandial lipemia levels in rats force-fed with 30S fraction. This study revealed the importance of TAG composition and lipid physical state in regulating digestion and absorption, which is related to nutrition science and the dairy or pharmaceutical industry.

Identification of a Lactic Acid Bacteria to Degrade Biogenic Amines in Chinese Rice Wine and Its Enzymatic Mechanism.

A L. plantarum, CAU 3823, which can degrade 40% of biogenic amines (BAs) content in Chinese rice wine (CRW) at the end of post-fermentation, was selected and characterized in this work. It would be an optimal choice to add 106 cfu/mL of selected strain into the fermentation broth to decrease the BAs while keeping the character and quality of CRW. Nine amine oxidases were identified from the strain and separated using Sephadex column followed by LC-MS/MS analysis. The purified amine oxidase mixture showed a high monoamine oxidase activity of 19.8 U/mg, and more than 40% of BAs could be degraded. The biochemical characters of the amine oxidases were also studied. This work seeks to provide a better solution to degrade BAs in CRW prior to keeping the character and quality of CRW and a better understanding of the degradability of the strain to the BAs.