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Meat is a well-known enhancer of iron absorption, yet the molecular entity mediating the effect remains obscure. Recently published data indicate that highly acidic sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAG) from fish and chicken muscle are effective stimulants of iron uptake in Caco-2 cells. Two fully randomized stable isotope studies with crossover design were performed in a group of 16 apparently healthy young women to assess the effect of purified sulfated and unsulfated GAG on human iron absorption. Iron absorption was measured on the basis of erythrocyte incorporation of [sup.57]Fe or [sup.58]Fe 14 d after the administration of labeled semisynthetic meals (SSM) based on egg album in, corn oil, maltodextrin, and water. The meals were consumed with or without added sodium hyaluronate (Nail, 300 mg) or chondroitin sulfate (CS, 360 mg) as representative unsulfated and sulfated GAG, respectively. The level of GAG added was 3 times (Nail) to about 10 times (CS), the amount expected to be present in 150 g beef muscle. Geometric mean iron absorption from SSM containing Nail (21.2%) or CS (19.4%) did not differ from that of SSM without GAG (i 9.5 and 20.3%, respectively). Nail and CS at those levels do not affect human nonheme iron absorption.

Bactericidal antibiotics kill by different mechanisms as a result of a specific interaction with their cellular targets. Over the past few years, alternative explanations for cidality have been proposed based on a postulated common pathway, depending on the intracellular production of reactive oxygen species. Detection of hydroxyl radicals relies on staining with specific fluorescent dyes that can penetrate the cell and are detected using flow cytometry. Flow cytometry has become an important tool in microbiology to study characteristics of individual cells within large heterogeneous cellular populations. We show here that Escherichia coli treated with different bactericidal antibiotics exhibits increased autofluorescence when analyzed by flow cytometry. We present evidence suggesting that this change in autofluorescence is caused by altered cell morphology upon antibiotic treatment. Consistent with this view, mutant cells that fail to elongate upon norfloxacin treatment show no increased auto-fluorescence response. Finally, we present data demonstrating that changes in autofluorescence can impact the results with fluorescent probes when using flow cytometry and confound the findings obtained with specific dyes. In summary, recent findings that correlate the exposure to cidal antibiotics with the production of reactive oxygen species need to be reconsidered in light of such changes in autofluorescence. Conclusive evidence for an increase of hydroxyl radicals after treatment with such drugs is still missing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meat is a well-known enhancer of iron absorption, yet the molecular entity mediating the effect remains obscure. Recently published data indicate that highly acidic sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAG) from fish and chicken muscle are effective stimulants of iron uptake in Caco-2 cells. Two fully randomized stable isotope studies with crossover design were performed in a group of 16 apparently healthy young women to assess the effect of purified sulfated and unsulfated GAG on human iron absorption. Iron absorption was measured on the basis of erythrocyte incorporation of (57)Fe or (58)Fe 14 d after the administration of labeled semisynthetic meals (SSM) based on egg albumin, corn oil, maltodextrin, and water. The meals were consumed with or without added sodium hyaluronate (NaH, 300 mg) or chondroitin sulfate (CS, 360 mg) as representative unsulfated and sulfated GAG, respectively. The level of GAG added was 3 times (NaH) to about 10 times (CS), the amount expected to be present in 150 g beef muscle. Geometric mean iron absorption from SSM containing NaH (21.2%) or CS (19.4%) did not differ from that of SSM without GAG (19.5 and 20.3%, respectively). NaH and CS at those levels do not affect human nonheme iron absorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meat is a well-known enhancer of iron absorption, yet the molecular entity mediating the effect remains obscure. Recently published data indicate that highly acidic sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAG) from fish and chicken muscle are effective stimulants of iron uptake in Caco-2 cells. Two fully randomized stable isotope studies with crossover design were performed in a group of 16 apparently healthy young women to assess the effect of purified sulfated and unsulfated GAG on human iron absorption. Iron absorption was measured on the basis of erythrocyte incorporation of 57Fe or 58Fe 14 d after the administration of labeled semisynthetic meals (SSM( based on egg albumin, corn oil, maltodextrin, and water. The meals were consumed with or without added sodium hyaluronate (NaH, 300 mg) or chondroitin sulfate (CS, 360 mg) as representative unsulfated and sulfated GAG, respectively. The level of GAG added was 3 times (NaH) to about 10 times (CS), the amount expected to be present in 150 g beef muscle. Geometric mean iron absorption from SSM containing NaH (21.2%( or CS (19.4%) did not differ from that of SSM without GAG (19.5 and 20.3%, respectively). NaH and CS at those levels do not affect human nonheme iron absorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]