Effects of astaxanthin in animal models of obesity-associated diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Obesity is a major risk factor for several diseases, including metabolic syndrome (MetS), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). The use of natural products, such as astaxanthin (ASX), a potent antioxidant compound produced by the freshwater green microalga Haematococcus pluvialis, has gained particular interest to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, and to improve redox status, often associated with obesity. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to comprehensively examine the effects of ASX in animal models of diet induced obesity-associated diseases in order to inform the design of future human clinical studies for ASX use as supplement or nutraceutical. METHODS: Cinahl, Cochraine, MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science were searched for English-language manuscripts published between January 2000 and April 2020 using the following key words: astaxanthin, obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, diabetes mellitus type 2, NAFLD and metabolic. RESULTS: Seventeen eligible articles, corresponding to 21 animal studies, were included in the final quantitative analysis. ASX, at different concentrations and administered for different length of time, induced a significant reduction in adipose tissue weight (P = 0.05) and systolic blood pressure (P < 0.0001) in control animals. In animal models of T2D, ASX significantly reduced serum glucose levels (P = 0.04); whereas it improved several disease biomarkers in the blood (e.g. cholesterol, triglycerides, ALT and AST, P < 0.10), and reduced liver (P = 0.0002) and body weight (P = 0.11), in animal models of NAFLD. CONCLUSIONS: Supplementation of ASX in the diet has positive effects on symptoms associated with obesity related diseases in animals, by having lipid-lowering, hypo-insulin and hypoglycaemic capacity, protecting organs from oxidative stress and mitigating the immune system, as suggested in this review.

Pistacia lentiscus Hydrosol: Untargeted Metabolomic Analysis and Anti-Inflammatory Activity Mediated by NF-κB and the Citrate Pathway.

Pistacia lentiscus shows a long range of biological activities, and it has been used in traditional medicine for treatment of various kinds of diseases. Moreover, related essential oil keeps important health-promoting properties. However, less is known about P. lentiscus hydrosol, a main by-product of essential oil production, usually used for steam distillation itself or discarded. In this work, by using ultra-high-resolution ESI(+)-FT-ICR mass spectrometry, a direct identification of four main classes of metabolites of P. lentiscus hydrosol (i.e., terpenes, amino acids, peptides, and condensed heterocycles) was obtained. Remarkably, P. lentiscus hydrosol exhibited an anti-inflammatory activity by suppressing the secretion of IL-1ß, IL-6, and TNF-α proinflammatory cytokines in lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) activated primary human monocytes. In LPS-triggered U937 cells, it inhibited NF-κB, a key transcription factor in inflammatory cascade, regulating the expression of both the mitochondrial citrate carrier and the ATP citrate lyase genes. These two main components of the citrate pathway were downregulated by P. lentiscus hydrosol. Therefore, the levels of ROS, NO, and PGE2, the inflammatory mediators downstream the citrate pathway, were reduced. Results shed light on metabolic profile and anti-inflammatory properties of P. lentiscus hydrosol, suggesting its potential as a therapeutic agent.

Favorable effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in attentional control and conversion rate to psychosis in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.

Omega-3-polyunsaturated-fatty-acids were suggested against cognitive dysfunctions and conversion to psychosis. However, a recent multicenter trial found no effect in reducing conversion rates in individuals at risk of developing schizophrenia. Patients' genetic heterogeneity and the timing of treatment might influence omega-3 efficacy. Here, we addressed the impact of omega-3 early treatment in both mice and human subjects with a 22q11.2 genetic hemi-deletion (22q11DS), characterized by cognitive dysfunctions and high penetrance of schizophrenia. We first tested the behavioural and cognitive consequences of adolescent exposure to normal or omega-3-enriched diets in wild-type and 22q11DS (LgDel/+) mice. We then contrasted mouse data with those gathered from sixty-two patients with 22q11DS exposed to a normal diet or supplemented with omega-3 during pre-adolescence/adolescence. Adolescent omega-3 exposure had no effects in wild-type mice. However, this treatment ameliorated distractibility deficits revealed in LgDel/+ mice by the Five Choice Serial Reaction Time Task (5CSRTT). The omega-3 improvement in LgDel/+ mice was selective, as no other generalized cognitive and non-cognitive effects were evident. Similarly, omega-3-exposed 22q11DS patients showed long-lasting improvements on distractibility as revealed by the continuous performance test (CPT). Moreover, omega-3-exposed 22q11DS patients showed less risk of developing an Ultra High Risk status and lower conversion rate to psychosis. Our convergent mouse-human findings represent a first analysis on the effects of omega-3 early treatment in 22q11DS. The beneficial effects in attentional control and transition to psychosis could support the early use of omega-3 supplementation in the 22q11DS population.

Cultivar based selection and genetic analysis of strawberry fruits with high levels of health promoting compounds.

Twenty different strawberry genotypes from phenolic compound content and genetic diversity have been investigated. Twelve phenolic derivatives in the strawberry fruit extracts, their total phenolic content (TPC) and their radical scavenging activity have been quantified. In order to study the influence of the genetic basis of each cultivar (cv) on the chemical composition of fruits, Principal Component Analysis of the obtained data was also used. Significant differences in the content of individual anthocyanins among the 20cvs have been found. Pelargonidin 3-O-glucoside was the predominant anthocyanin in the strawberry extracts with 61.0% of the total anthocyanins in Salva cv, followed by cyanidin 3-O-glucoside. TPC values ranged from 129,96 (Laica cv) to 269,04 (Naiad cv) mg of gallic acid equivalent per 100g of fresh weight and it was congruent previous studies. Moreover RAPD markers have been applied in order to describe their genetic relationships. A total of 32decamer primers were used in RAPD analysis; 19 of them provided at least one polymorphic band, the remaining primers were monomorphic. A total of 124 bands were detected with the mean number of 11.53 accountable fragments per primer and 59.98% were polymorphic. The results of the present study highlighted the health-promoting compound content of strawberry fruits, and provided a good prospect for discriminating strawberries by phenolic content and genetic analysis.