Search

Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is the most common complication after cardiac surgery; however, antiarrhythmic strategies have not lowered the rate of POAF. This study aimed to identify specific gene transcripts of atrial inflammation, inflammatory handling, and oxidative stress associated with POAF. Left atrial tissue was obtained from 50 patients undergoing intended degenerative mitral repair who did not have any of the following risk factors for POAF: history of atrial fibrillation or other arrhythmia, left atrial diameter greater than 6.0 cm, or left ventricular ejection fraction less than 40%. Postoperative outcomes and left atrial tissue messenger ribonucleuc acid (mRNA) levels were recorded. Parametric 2-sample t-tests and chi-square tests were used to evaluate for statistical significance in comparing POAF and non-POAF groups. Within 30 days of surgery, 19 of 50 of patients (38%) developed POAF. There were no significant preoperative, intraoperative, or postoperative differences between POAF and non-POAF patients. In the tissue transcriptome analysis, POAF patients were found to have a worse preoperative inflammatory state with higher levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha, Interleukin-6, and nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells mRNA, worse inflammatory handling capacity with lower levels of nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells inhibitor mRNA, and reduced antioxidant defenses with lower levels of glutathione synthetase, glutathione reductase, and mitochondrial superoxide dismutase 2 mRNA. This study found POAF patients to have preoperative left atrial tissue profiles suggestive of more inflammation, worse inflammatory handling, and reduced antioxidant defenses against oxidative stress. Investigation of therapies targeted to the tissue-specific inflammatory transcriptome of POAF patients is warranted.

The inhibitory potential of Montmorency tart cherry on glycemia regulation and other enzymes relevant to inflammation were evaluated. Tart cherry has superior inhibitory potential against key enzymes associated with carbohydrate digestion linked to hypertension. In particular, α-amylase activity was significantly inhibited (IC50 = 3.46 ± 0.06 mg/ml), whereas we observed mild inhibition of α-glucosidase (IC50 = 11.64 ± 0.65 mg/ml). Angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibition was also strong by about 89%. Tart cherry extract showed strong to moderate inhibitions of cyclooxygenase-1 (65%), lipoxygenase (64%), cyclooxygenase-2 (38%) and xanthine oxidase (26%), respectively. Anthocyanins, cyanidin 3-rutinoside and cyanidin 3-glucoside, were strong inhibitors of α-amylase and α-glucosidase. Kaempferol showed relatively potent inhibition on COX and XO. It was revealed that some pairs of metabolites manifest positive or negative interactions against XO enzyme inhibition. Inhibition of all these enzymes provides a strong biochemical basis for management of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease by controlling glucose absorption, reducing associated hypertension and inflammation.

The effect of red raspberry fruit (RSP) was assessed in obesity-prone, Zucker Fatty rats as a model of cardiometabolic risk. RSP reduced fasting triglycerides and fasting glucose but did not appear to affect fasting insulin, low-density lipoprotein, or body weight gain. RSP did significantly reduce heart rate relative to time-matched CON rats. Noteworthy, RSP reduced left ventricular enlargement and wall thickening as measured by echocardiography, without impacting ejection fraction. Cardiac tissue was also evaluated for relative gene expression of key genes impacted in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). RSP upregulated the expression of myocardial adiponectin receptor 1 and apolipoprotein E, which may impact plasma cholesterol and triglyceride homeostasis. The lipoprotein lipase (Lpl) gene was down-regulated. On the contrary, RSP did not alter PPAR and NF-kB-related mRNA in heart tissue, but did alter nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (Nampt) mRNA. RSP intake impacted cardiometabolic pathophysiology in this model, and molecular mechanisms deserve further study.

Raspberry and strawberry are high value-added food products that can contribute to human health due to the abundance of polyphenols that they contain. Polyphenols are secondary metabolites and therefore devoted to improve plant adaptation, these polyphenol profile can be induced applying different stimuli, such as certain bacteria. The aim of this study was twofold: (i) to evaluate the ability of two bacterial strains to modulate secondary metabolisms in strawberry and raspberry, and (ii) to explore the ability of plant extracts to modify enzyme activities related to metabolic syndrome. Results Total phenolic and anthocyanin content was higher in strawberries than in raspberries, despite similar antioxidant capacities. Strawberry extracts performed better on the tested enzymes, except on α-glucosidase inhibition capacity. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens stabilized the effects of extracts at different points in time, and Pseudomonas fluorescens modified plant metabolism after more inoculations (spring) in both species, improving the effects of raspberry extracts on α-glucosidase, COX1, and COX2, and of strawberry on α-amylase and COX1. Conclusion It is good to include these two fruits in the diet because they improve the activity of metabolic syndrome-related enzymes. Applying either strain during plant growth modifies the bioactive profile of the plants, improving the effects of the fruit extracts on human health. ? 2018 Society of Chemical Industry

Our aim was to confirm and identify the presence of tart cherry anthocyanins in several target tissues of healthy rats. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis was employed for detection and characterisation of anthocyanin metabolites. It was shown that four native anthocyanins, namely cyanidin 3-glucosylrutinoside, cyanidin 3-rutinoside, cyanidin 3-rutinoside 5-β-D-glucoside, and peonidin 3-rutinoside were differentially distributed among targeted tissues of rats. Bladder and kidney contained more total anthocyanins than all other tissues analysed. It was also revealed that the bioavailability pattern of these native anthocyanins among tissues is varied. The highest concentration of individual anthocyanin cyanidin 3-glucosylrutinoside (2339 picograms/gram of tissue) was detected in bladder, followed by cyanidin 3-rutinoside 5-β-d-glucoside (916 picograms/gram) in the liver of rats. Although the diverse distribution of tart cherry anthocyanins in different rat tissues still requires further explanation, it may provide an evidentiary link between tissue bioavailability and health-enhancing properties of anthocyanins at target sites.

Anthocyanin-rich tart cherries may impart health benefits for oxidative stress and inflammation. Anthocyanin (ACN) pharmacokinetic studies often sample plasma and urine within hours of ingestion; these approaches do not reveal enterohepatic metabolites that may be critical for pharmacodynamic bioactivity. This study investigated ACN pharmacokinetics in healthy humans following intake of Montmorency tart cherries (Prunus cerasus). Using a within-subject crossover design, subjects (n = 12) ingested whole frozen tart cherries (45 or 90 cherries), and blood and urine samples were collected over 12 hours. LC-MS/MS identified two unmodified ACN in plasma and two ACN metabolites in urine. Intake of 45 cherries caused a biphasic antioxidant response, while 90 cherries caused a prolonged elevation over the 12 h period. The broad antioxidant peak beyond 8 h suggests that enterohepatic metabolites contribute to antioxidant pharmacodynamics. These findings should encourage extended pharmacokinetic studies with ACN-rich foods to reveal their breadth of bioavailability and bioactivity.

Metabolic syndrome can precede the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease and includes phenotypes such as obesity, systemic inflammation, insulin resistance, and hyperlipidemia. A recent epidemiological study indicated that blueberry intake reduced cardiovascular mortality in humans, but the possible genetic mechanisms of this effect are unknown. Blueberries are a rich source of anthocyanins, and anthocyanins can alter the activity of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), which affect energy substrate metabolism. The effect of blueberry intake was assessed in obesity-prone rats. Zucker Fatty and Zucker Lean rats were fed a higher-fat diet (45% of kcal) or a lower-fat diet (10% of kcal) containing 2% (wt/wt) freeze-dried whole highbush blueberry powder or added sugars to match macronutrient and calorie content. In Zucker Fatty rats fed a high-fat diet, the addition of blueberry reduced triglycerides, fasting insulin, homeostasis model index of insulin resistance, and glucose area under the curve. Blueberry intake also reduced abdominal fat mass, increased adipose and skeletal muscle PPAR activity, and affected PPAR transcripts involved in fat oxidation and glucose uptake/oxidation. In Zucker Fatty rats fed a low-fat diet, the addition of blueberry also significantly reduced liver weight, body weight, and total fat mass. Finally, Zucker Lean rats fed blueberry had higher body weight and reduced triglycerides, but all other measures were unaffected. In conclusion, whole blueberry intake reduced phenotypes of metabolic syndrome in obesity-prone rats and affected PPAR gene transcripts in adipose and muscle tissue involved in fat and glucose metabolism.

Tart cherry produces various kinds of polyphenolics in its fruits that include cyanidin derivatives (mostly cyanidin 3-glucosylrutinoside, cyanidin 3-rutinoside, cyanidin sophoroside), peonidin 3-glucoside; kaempferol, quercetin, and isorhamnetin and their derivatives, as well as the alkaloid, melatonin. The antioxidant capacities of these constituents were analysed using the TEAC antioxidant assay. Kaempferol, quercetin, isorhamnetin 3-rutinoside, cyanidin 3-rutinoside, and melatonin showed significant antioxidant capacities; of these, kaempferol proved to be the most active. In order to determine how these constituents interact in terms of expression of their antioxidant action, we performed an isobolographic analysis. Using different dose ratios (e.g., 1:1, 1:2, 1:4) for the selected polyphenol constituents, we found evidence that three types of interactions may occur: synergistic, additive, and negative. The most important and new finding here was that pairs of compounds with the highest antioxidant capacity (e.g., kaempferol and melatonin at a dose ratio of 2:1, respectively, and cyanidin 3-rutinoside and isorhamnetin 3-rutinoside at a dose ratio of 1:4, respectively) showed strong synergistic types of interactions. Additive or negative types of interactions occurred for pairs of compounds that had lower antioxidant capacities. Thus, not all polyphenols in tart cherry fruits are equally effective in alleviating oxidative stress. Those which are most effective are likely to be acting synergistically.

Obesity, systemic inflammation, and hyperlipidemia are among the components of metabolic syndrome, a spectrum of phenotypes that can precede the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Animal studies show that intake of anthocyanin-rich extracts can affect these phenotypes. Anthocyanins can alter the activity of tissue peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), which affect energy substrate metabolism and inflammation. However, it is unknown if physiologically relevant, anthocyanin-containing whole foods confer similar effects to concentrated, anthocyanin extracts. The effect of anthocyanin-rich tart cherries was tested in the Zucker fatty rat model of obesity and metabolic syndrome. For 90 days, rats were pair-fed a higher fat diet supplemented with either 1% (wt/wt) freeze-dried, whole tart cherry powder or with a calorie- and macronutrient-matched control diet. Tart cherry intake was associated with reduced hyperlipidemia, percentage fat mass, abdominal fat (retroperitoneal) weight, retroperitoneal interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) expression, and plasma IL-6 and TNF-alpha. Tart cherry diet also increased retroperitoneal fat PPAR-alpha and PPAR-gamma mRNA (P = .12), decreased IL-6 and TNF-alpha mRNA, and decreased nuclear factor kappaB activity. In conclusion, in at-risk obese rats fed a high fat diet, physiologically relevant tart cherry consumption reduced several phenotypes of metabolic syndrome and reduced both systemic and local inflammation. Tart cherries may reduce the degree or trajectory of metabolic syndrome, thereby reducing risk for the development of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

The levels of anthocyanins and other flavonoids, as well as melatonin, in various tart cherry products (frozen and dried cherries, powders from individually quick frozen (IQF) cherry and juice concentrate) from two tart cherry cultivars, ‘Montmorency’ and ‘Balaton’ were analysed comparatively by HPLC and electrospray mass spectrometry (EMS). Our results show that the major anthocyanin compound in these two tart cherry cultivars is cyanidin 3-glucosylrutinoside, followed by cyanidin 3-rutinoside, cyanydin sophoroside, and peonidin 3-glucoside. Studies on antioxidant activities (total antioxidant status assay) of crude extracts of ten tart cherry products show that these products preserve their antioxidant capacities after processing and storage. We have also compared the antioxidant activities of several single constituents that are present in tart cherry. When TEAC (trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity) values were evaluated conceptually against the cherry phytochemical profile, cyanidin and its derivatives were found to be the significant contributors to the antioxidant systems of tart cherries. It was shown that standard compounds with common aglycon moieties show similar antioxidant activities.

Salt-sensitive hypertension is common in the aged population. Increased fruit and vegetable intake reduces hypertension, but its effect on eventual diastolic dysfunction is unknown. This relationship is tested in the Dahl Salt-Sensitive (Dahl-SS) rat model of salt-sensitive hypertension and diastolic dysfunction. Table grape powder contains phytochemicals that are relevant to human diets. For 18 weeks, male Dahl-SS rats were fed one of five diets: low salt (LS), a low salt + grape powder (LSG), high salt (HS), a high salt + grape powder (HSG), or high salt + vasodilator hydralazine (HSH). Compared to the HS diet, the HSG diet lowered blood pressure and improved cardiac function; reduced systemic inflammation; reduced cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis, and oxidative damage; and increased cardiac glutathione. The HSH diet similarly reduced blood pressure but did not reduce cardiac pathogenesis. The LSG diet reduced cardiac oxidative damage and increased cardiac glutathione. In conclusion, physiologically relevant phytochemical intake reduced salt-sensitive hypertension and diastolic dysfunction.

Exogenously applied brassinolide (BL) increased both gravitropic curvature and length of primary roots of Arabidopsis at low concentration (10(-10) M), whereas at higher concentration, BL further increased gravitropic curvature while it inhibited primary root growth. BRI1-GFP plants possessing a high steady-state expression level of a brassinosteroid (BR) receptor kinase rendered the plant's responses to gravity and root growth more sensitive, while BR-insensitive mutants, bri1-301 and bak1, delayed root growth and reduced their response to the gravitropic stimulus. The stimulatory effect of BL on the root gravitropic curvature was also enhanced in auxin transport mutants, aux1-7 and pin2, relative to wild-type plants, and increasing concentration of auxin attenuated BL-induced root sensitivity to gravity. Interestingly, IAA treatment to the roots of bri1-301 and bak1 plants or of plants pretreated with a BL biosynthetic inhibitor, brassinazole, increased their sensitivity to gravity, while these treatments for the BL-hypersensitive transgenic plants, BRI1-GFP and 35S-BAK1, were less effective. Expression of a CYP79B2 gene, encoding an IAA biosynthetic enzyme, was suppressed in BL-hypersensitive plant types and enhanced in BL-insensitive or -deficient plants. In conclusion, our results indicate that BL interacts negatively with IAA in the regulation of plant gravitropic response and root growth, and its regulation is achieved partly by modulating biosynthetic pathways of the counterpart hormone.

The therapeutic effects of tart cherry anthocyanins cannot be understood without analysis of their tissue distribution,metabolism, and excretion. The definition of bioavailability simply refers to the proportion of known compound that is absorbed and metabolised in an organism. Tissue uptake of anthocyanins may depend on their chemical structure, as influenced by the nature of the attached sugar moiety, and also, by the structure of the aglycone. The parent phytochemicals contain functional groups (e.g., a hydroxyl group) that often undergo conjugation reactions with endogenous compounds to yield more polar and water-soluble compounds. The latter are usually ideal substrates for active transport out of cells, tissues, and organs with eventual excretion from the body. The sugar conjugates of anthocyanins may also have an effect on the bioavailability of bioactive phytochemicals. Consequently, it is not only important to know how much of a bioactive metabolite is present in tart cherry; but it is even more ...

This study was conducted to unravel a mechanism for the gravitropic curvature response in oat (Avena sativa) shoot pulvini. For this purpose, we examined the downward movement of starch-filled chloroplast gravisensors, differential changes in inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP(3)) levels, transport of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and gravitropic curvature. Upon gravistimulation, the ratio for IAA levels in lower halves versus those in upper halves (L/U) increased from 1.0 at 0 h and reached a maximum value of 1.45 at 8 h. When shoots were grown in the dark for 10 d, to deplete starch in the chloroplast, the gravity-induced L/U of IAA was reduced to 1.0. N-naphthylphthalamic acid (NPA) and 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA), both auxin transport inhibitors, significantly reduced the amount of gravitropic curvature and gravity-induced lateral IAA transport, but did not reduce the gravity-induced late change in the L/U ratio of IP(3) levels. U73122, a specific phospholipase C (PLC) inhibitor, decreased gravity-induced curvature. Because U73122 reduced the ratio of L/U of IAA imposed by gravistimulation, it is clear that IAA transport is correlated with changes in IP(3) levels upon gravistimulation. These results indicate that gravistimulation-induced differential lateral IAA transport may result from the onset of graviperception in the chloroplast gravisensors coupled with gravity-induced asymmetric changes in IP(3) levels in oat shoot pulvini.

A mini-hydroponic growing system was employed for seedlings of kudzu vine (Pueraria montana) and contents of isoflavones (daidzein, genistein, daidzin, genistin, and puerarin) from shoot and root parts of seedlings were analyzed quantitatively. In addition, exogenous cork pieces, polymeric adsorbent, XAD-4, and universal elicitor, methyl jasmonate (MeJA), were used to regulate the production of these isoflavones. It was shown that cork pieces up-regulate the production of daidzein and genistein up to seven- and eight-fold greater than the levels obtained for control roots. In contrast, levels of glucosyl conjugates, daidzin and genistin, decrease up to five- and eight-fold, respectively. Cork treatment also induces the excretion of the root isoflavone constituents into the growth medium. Minimal levels of isoflavones are absorbed by the cork pieces. XAD-4 stimulates the production of glucosyl conjugates, daidzin and genistin, in root parts about 1.5-fold greater than that obtained in control roots. These are the highest amounts of daidzin and genistin that are observed (5.101 and 6.759 mg g(-1) dry weight, respectively). In contrast to these two adsorbents, MeJA increases the accumulation of isoflavones in shoot rather than in root parts of seedlings, about three- to four-fold over control levels, with the exception of genistein. These studies reveal new observations on the regulation of isoflavone production in hydroponically grown Pueraria montana plants by two adsorbents (cork pieces and XAD-4) and MeJA elicitor.

This study examines how brassinolide (BL) and ethylene interact in the gravitropic response mechanism of maize (Zea mays) primary roots. When applied exogenously, ethylene increases the rate of gravitropic curvature in a dose-dependent manner. This effect of ethylene was confirmed by the fact that AVG, a specific action inhibitor of ACC synthase, reduces the gravitropic curvature in the presence and absence of BL. Since AVG did not inhibit BL-increased gravitropic curvature completely, we investigated the possibility that BL may act on the gravitropic response by ways other than simply through enhanced ethylene production. We show that BL exhibits some of its stimulatory effect in the absence of ethylene. In addition, BL reduces the presentation time and lag period for the gravitropic response, whereas ethylene increases them. One possible mechanism of such action is that BL affects protein kinase activity, since the protein kinase inhibitors, staurosporine and H89, reduce BL-increased gravitropic curvature. In summary, BL is involved in the gravitropic response in maize primary roots via ethylene production, but it acts in a way that differs somewhat from that of ethylene.