The Efficacy of Camelina sativa Defatted Seed Meal against Colitis-Induced Persistent Visceral Hypersensitivity: The Relevance of PPAR α Receptor Activation in Pain Relief.

Brassicaceae are natural sources of bioactive compounds able to promote gut health. Belonging to this plant family, Camelina sativa is an ancient oil crop rich in glucosinolates, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and antioxidants that is attracting renewed attention for its nutraceutical potential. This work aimed at investigating the therapeutic effects of a defatted seed meal (DSM) of Camelina sativa on the colon damage and the persistent visceral hypersensitivity associated with colitis in rats. Inflammation was induced by the intrarectal injection of 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (DNBS). The acute administration of Camelina sativa DSM (0.1-1 g kg-1) showed a dose-dependent pain-relieving effect in DNBS-treated rats. The efficacy of the meal was slightly enhanced after bioactivation with myrosinase, which increased isothiocyanate availability, and drastically decreased by pre-treating the animals with the selective peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR α) receptor antagonist GW6471. Repeated treatments with Camelina sativa DSM (1 g kg-1) meal counteracted the development, as well as the persistence, of visceral hyperalgesia in DNBS-treated animals by reducing the intestinal inflammatory damage and preventing enteric neuron damage. In conclusion, Camelina sativa meal might be employed as a nutraceutical tool to manage persistent abdominal pain in patients and to promote gut healing.

Cardiovascular benefits of Eruca sativa mill. Defatted seed meal extract: Potential role of hydrogen sulfide.

Eruca sativa Mill. is an edible plant belonging to the Brassicaceae botanical family with a long story as a medicinal material, mainly linked to the presence of glucoerucin. One of the main products of this glucosinolate is erucin, a biologicallly active isothiocyanate recently recognized as a hydrogen sulfide (H2 S) donor. In this work, an Eruca sativa extract has been obtained from a defatted seed meal (DSM), achieving a powder rich in thiofunctionalized glucosinolates, glucoerucin, and glucoraphanin, accounting for 95% and 5% of the total glucosinolate content (17% on a dry weight basis), associated with 13 identified phenolic acids and flavonoids accounting for 2.5%. In a cell-free model, Eruca sativa DSM extract slowly released H2 S. Moreover, this extract promoted significant hypotensive effects in hypertensive rats, and evoked dose-dependent cardioprotection in in vivo model of acute myocardial infarct, obtained through a reversible coronary occlusion. This latter effect was sensitive to blockers of mitochondrial KATP and Kv7.4 potassium channels, suggesting a potential role of these mitochondrial channels in the protective effects of Eruca sativa DSM extract. Accordingly, Eruca sativa DSM extract reduced calcium uptake and apoptotic cell death in isolated cardiac mitochondria. Taken together, these results demonstrate that Eruca sativa DSM extract is endowed with an interesting nutraceutical profile on the cardiovascular system due to, at least in part, its H2 S releasing properties. These results pave the way for future investigations on active metabolites.

Geographical origin of durum wheat studied by 1H-NMR profiling.

(1)H-Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to detect metabolic profiles of wheat flour samples of different geographical and botanical origin. The NMR profiles were analyzed by multivariate statistical techniques in order to establish the origin of the samples. A linear model, able to discriminate among three different locations, was built achieving a prediction level of about 80% of correctly assigned samples. The principal classes of compounds responsible for the geographic origin discrimination were individuated in aromatic compounds and amino acids. The statistical modeling also indicated that botanical origin information is very poor in the NMR profiles of the analyzed wheat samples.