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Blueberry is considered a functional food due to various beneficial health effects associated with its consumption. Therefore, we examined the cardiovascular benefits of a blueberry polyphenolic extract in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Male SHR and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats were administered with blueberry polyphenolic extract for 15 weeks. SHR showed significant augmented media-to-lumen ratio compared to WKY rats and blueberry polyphenolic extract significantly improved media-to-lumen ratio. SHR also had high blood pressure (BP), cardiac remodeling, and diastolic dysfunction and treatment did not affect BP or cardiac structure and function. SHR showed significantly increased the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and blueberry polyphenolic extract did not lower MDA. The levels of interleukin 6 and nitrate/nitrite ratio were unaltered in SHR. SHR showed a significant increase in the pro-apoptotic marker, Bax. Blueberry polyphenolic extract significantly lowered Bax. Our study shows that blueberry polyphenolic extract is beneficial in preventing vascular remodeling and cardiac apoptosis. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Similar to many other berries, blueberries are repertoire of many phytochemicals including polyphenols. Along with its considerably well-established role as a sought after berry, blueberries have been at the forefront of approaches to hharnessing health benefits from plant food sources. Several studies have attempted to unravel the role of blueberry and their major phytochemicals in reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and reported their beneficial effects. Our pre-clinical study found that blueberry polyphenolic extract can reduce vascular remodeling in the setting of hypertension. This new finding further suggests the potential of blueberry-based phytochemicals. Further exploration of blueberries and their phytochemicals and positive outcomes from such studies can lead to substantial benefits for consumers and economy as a whole., (© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

The liver of a young girl which had been successfully transplanted was investigated at the ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC, EC 2.1.3.3) gene expression level. Northern blot hybridization using a human OTC cDNA probe showed a greater than 80% decrease in specific OTC mRNA although having the same molecular size as a normal control. OTC polypeptide was simultaneously synthesized with a normal molecular size but at a low level (20%) as shown by immunoblotting. The OTC enzyme from the deficient liver exhibited very little catalytic activity (7.2% as compared to the normal subject). These results may support several explanations of this disease such as mutation of the OTC gene promoter leading to a low transcriptional activity or mutation of the encoding sequence which results in a modified translation product but with a normal size. mRNA instability may also occur.