Viscous food matrix influences absorption and excretion but not metabolism of blackcurrant anthocyanins in rats.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of a simultaneous intake of food and anthocyanins (ACNs) on ACN absorption, metabolism, and excretion. Blackcurrant ACNs (BcACNs) were dissolved in water with or without the addition of oatmeal and orally administered to rats, providing approximately 250 mg total ACNs per kilogram BW. Blood, urine, digesta, and tissue samples of the stomach, jejunum, and colon were subsequently collected at 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 7, and 24 h. Identification and quantification of ACNs were carried out by Reversed phase-high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Four major ACNs were present in the blackcurrant extract: delphinidin 3-O-glucoside, delphinidin 3-O-rutinoside, cyanidin 3-O-glucoside, and cyanidin 3-O-rutinoside. In plasma, the 4 ACNs of blackcurrant were identified and quantified. The time to reach maximal total ACN plasma concentration (C(max) BcACN/water = 0.37 +/- 0.07 micromol/L; C(max) BcACN/oatmeal = 0.20 +/- 0.05 micromol/L) occurred faster after BcACN/water (t(max)= 0.25 h), than after BcACN/oatmeal administration (t(max)= 1.0 h). In digesta and tissue samples, the 4 original blackcurrant ACNs were detected. The relative concentration of rutinosides in the digesta increased during their passage through the gastrointestinal tract, while the glucosides decreased. Maximum ACN excretion in urine occurred later after BcACN/oatmeal than after BcACN/water administration (3 compared with 2 h). The 4 original ACNs of blackcurrant in their unchanged form, as well as several metabolites, were identified in the urine samples of both groups. The simultaneous intake of food affects ACN absorption and excretion in the urine, but not metabolism.

The in vivo antioxidant action and the reduction of oxidative stress by boysenberry extract is dependent on base diet constituents in rats.

Dietary antioxidants are often defined by in vitro measures of antioxidant activity. Such measures are valid indicators of the antioxidant potential, but provide little evidence of activity as a dietary antioxidant. This study was undertaken to assess the in vivo antioxidant efficacy of a berry fruit extract by measuring biomarkers of oxidative damage to protein (carbonyls), lipids (malondialdehyde), and DNA (8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine urinary excretion) and plasma antioxidant status (antioxidant capacity, vitamin E) in rats when fed basal diets containing fish and soybean oils, which are likely to generate different levels of oxidative stress. Boysenberry (Rubus loganbaccus x baileyanus Britt) extract was used as the dietary antioxidant. The basal diets (chow, synthetic/soybean oil, or synthetic/fish oil) had significant effects on the biomarkers of oxidative damage and antioxidant status, with rats fed the synthetic/fish oil diet having the lowest levels of oxidative damage and the highest antioxidant status. When boysenberry extract was added to the diet, there was little change in 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine excretion in urine, oxidative damage to proteins decreased, and plasma malondialdehyde either increased or decreased depending on the basal diet. This study showed that boysenberry extract functioned as an in vivo antioxidant and raised the antioxidant status of plasma while decreasing some biomarkers of oxidative damage, but the effect was highly modified by basal diet. Our results are further evidence of complex interactions among dietary antioxidants, background nutritional status as determined by diet, and the biochemical nature of the compartments in which antioxidants function.

Supplemental dietary whey protein concentrate reduces rotavirus-induced disease symptoms in suckling mice.

Rotavirus-induced diarrhea is a common infection that results in the death of nearly 500,000 children annually. Currently, no large-scale preventative treatments or vaccines exist. Because some whey protein concentrates (WPC) were shown to contain bioactive ingredients that may activate immune cells and/or prevent infection, the current study was conducted to assess whether the proprietary WPC IMUCARE (WPC-IC) could protect against rotavirus. Suckling BALB/c mice were treated by gavage once daily with WPC-IC or with the control protein bovine serum albumin from the age of 9 to 17 d, and were infected with murine rotavirus at the age of 11 d. Disease symptoms were graded as mild, moderate, or severe, and viral shedding was measured in fecal samples during the postinfection period. Severe diarrhea occurred in 63% of control mice; this was significantly reduced to 36% in WPC-IC-fed mice. Severe diarrhea occurred for a 4-d period in the control group but only for a 2-d period in the WPC-IC group. Although the mean viral load per mouse did not differ between the groups, the proportion of mice shedding high levels of the virus in the feces postinfection was significantly lower in the WPC-IC group on d 13, 16, and 17, and significantly higher on d 14. Rotavirus-specific antibody levels in serum and gut fluid did not differ between groups. Thus, prophylactic treatment with WPC-IC may reduce rotaviral disease by decreasing the prevalence of severe diarrhea and by decreasing the time period during which severe symptoms and high viral shedding occur.