Oxidative stress, oxidative stress-based diseases and Mediterranean diet. Raman spectroscopy monitoring of skin carotenoids in healthy individuals and in breast cancer operated patients under controlled diets and in vitro assessment of platelet aggregability

Evaluating the level of body antioxidants may reveal a more or less severe oxidative stress condition in either healthy people or subjects with pathologies, and can be suggestive for suitable dietary interventions to possibly affect it. In this work taking advantage from the Raman spectroscopic technology to measure the level of skin carotenoids in a simple and non-invasive manner, healthy people (age 15 to 70, n=155) and women who had surgery for breast cancer (BC) (age 38 to 76, n=71) have been screened to assess to what extent an increased intake of fruit and vegetables (healthy people and patients), associated with diets based on a classical Mediterranean style and that did not include sugared drinks, alcoholic beverages, animal fats and processed meat (patients), might affect the individual antioxidant status. Our data clearly showed that in healthy individuals an optimal body redox state, as expressed by the skin carotenoid score (SCS), positively correlated with the intake of fruit and vegetables, but was inversely correlated with body mass index (BMI), an acknowledged risk factor for cardiovascular disease and cancer. Daily supplements of fruit servings, fresh orange juice in particular, ameliorated significantly the SCS, i.e. decreased the individual oxidative stress. Findings from BC women, monitored for three years (2011-2014), showed that the patients had a significant increase of SCS as strictly adhered to the Mediterranean dietary regimen, again with a higher SCS associated with a lower BMI. Controlling platelet aggregation may prevent thrombotic vascular events. Assessment of platelet aggregation under conditions mimicking a currently prescribed dual antiplatelet therapy, with the use of a novel aggregability assay, has been carried out as a preliminary study to eventually examine the potential modulatory activity of phytochemicals. Our data suggest that the utilized set-up can be an useful approach for further investigation on either whole extracts or purified compounds from Mediterranean vegetal species.