Current Issue : October - December Volume : 2020 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 5 Articles
Studies suggest that migraine pain has a vascular component. The prevailing dogma is\nthat peripheral vasoconstriction activates baroreceptors in central, large arteries. Dilatation of central\nvessels stimulates nociceptors and induces cortical spreading depression. Studies investigating\nnitric oxide (NO) donors support the indicated hypothesis that pain is amplified when acutely\nadministered. In this review, we provide an alternate hypothesis which, if substantiated, may provide\ntherapeutic opportunities for attenuating migraine frequency and severity. We suggest that in\nmigraines, heightened sympathetic tone results in progressive central microvascular constriction.\nSuboptimal parenchymal blood flow, we suggest, activates nociceptors and triggers headache pain\nonset. Administration of NO donors could paradoxically promote constriction of the microvasculature\nas a consequence of larger upstream central artery vasodilatation. Inhibitors of NO production are\nreported to alleviate migraine pain. We describe how constriction of larger upstream arteries, induced\nby NO synthesis inhibitors, may result in a compensatory dilatory response of the microvasculature.\nThe restoration of central capillary blood flow may be the primary mechanism for pain relief.\nAttenuating the propensity for central capillary constriction and promoting a more dilatory phenotype\nmay reduce frequency and severity of migraines. Here, we propose consideration of two dietary\nnutraceuticals for reducing migraine risk: L-arginine and aged garlic extracts....
Food plays a central role in health, especially through consumption of plant-derived foods.\nFunctional foods, supplements, and nutraceuticals are increasingly entering the market to respond to\nconsumer demand for healthy products. They are foods, supplements, and ingredients which oer\nhealth benefits beyond the standard nutritional value. Some benefits are associated with phenolic\ncompounds and phytochemicals with antioxidant properties. An olive pâté (OP) was added with\nantioxidants derived from olive mill wastewater (OMWW) to obtain a functional product rich in\nphenolic compounds. The olive pâté is produced from the ground olive pericarp, which shows an\nexcellent natural antioxidant content. The OMWW is a waste product from oil processing, which is\nalso rich in phenolic compounds. The result was a product rich in trans-resveratrol, OH tyrosol,\nand tyrosol in concentrations such as satisfying the European communityâ??s claims regarding the\npossible antioxidant action on plasma lipids with excellent shelf-life stability. The total phenolic\ncontent was assayed by a colorimetric method, the antioxidant activity by the ABTS [(2,20-azino-bis\n(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)] test, the phenolic profile by Q Exactive Orbitrap LC-MS/MS.\nThe shelf-life stability was confirmed by yeast, molds, and total microbial count, pH, and water\nactivity determinations, and the best pasteurization parameters were determined. The palatability\nwas judged as excellent....
Current nutritional recommendations are focused on energy, fat, carbohydrate, protein and\nvitamins. Less attention has been paid to the nutritional demand of one-carbon units for nucleotide\nand methionine synthesis. Here, we investigated the impact of sodium formate supplementation as a\nnutritional intervention to increase the dietary intake of one-carbon units. A cohort of six female and\nsix male mice received 125 mM of sodium formate in the drinking water for three months. A control\ngroup of another six female and six male mice was also followed up for the same period of time. Tail\nvein blood samples were collected once a month and profiled with a haematology analyser. At the end\nof the study, blood and tissues were collected for metabolomics analysis and immune cell profiling.\nFormate supplementation had no significant physiological effect on male mice, except for a small\ndecrease in body weight. Formate supplementation had no significant effect on the immune cell\ncounts during the intervention or at the end of the study in either gender. In female mice, however, the\nbody weight and spleen wet weight were significantly increased by formate supplementation, while\nthe blood plasma levels of amino acids were decreased. Formate supplementation also increased the\nfrequency of bifidobacteria, a probiotic bacterium, in the stools of female mice. We conclude that\nformate supplementation induces physiological changes in a gender-specific manner....
Varicocele is one of the main causes of infertility in men. Oxidative stress and consequently\napoptosis activation contribute to varicocele pathogenesis, worsening its prognosis. Natural products,\nsuch as lycopene, showed antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in several experimental models,\nalso in testes. In this study we investigated lycopene effects in an experimental model of varicocele.\nMale rats (n = 14) underwent sham operations and were administered with vehicle (n = 7) or\nwith lycopene (n = 7; 1 mg/kg i.p., daily). Another group of animals (n = 14) underwent surgical\nvaricocele. After 28 days, the sham and 7 varicocele animals were euthanized, and both operated and\ncontralateral testes were weighted and processed. The remaining rats were treated with lycopene\n(1 mg/kg i.p., daily) for 30 days. Varicocele rats showed reduced testosterone levels, testes weight,\nBcl-2 mRNA expression, changes in testes structure and increased malondialdehyde levels and BAX\ngene expression. TUNEL (Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase dUTP Nick End Labeling) assay\nshowed an increased number of apoptotic cells. Treatment with lycopene significantly increased\ntestosterone levels, testes weight, and Bcl-2 mRNA expression, improved tubular structure and\ndecreased malondialdehyde levels, BAX mRNA expression and TUNEL-positive cells. The present\nresults show that lycopene exerts beneficial eects in testes, and suggest that supplementation with\nthe tomato-derived carotenoid might be considered a novel nutraceutical strategy for the treatment of\nvaricocele and male infertility....
Rosemary, an aromatic herb with significant antioxidative activity, is frequently used as\nfood preservative and a source of nutraceuticals. Its antioxidant effect is mainly related to the presence\nof phenolic compounds, molecules considerably unstable and prone to irreversible physicochemical\nchanges when exposed to external agents. We here proposed the loading of rosemary into structured\nlipid systems to improve its physicochemical properties. Four formulations were prepared using the\nsame amount of rosemary lyophilized extract. The lipid phase was composed of stearic acid and oleic\nacid, and the aqueous phase, a varying combination of drying carriers (whey protein concentrate or\ngum Arabic) and surfactant (Poloxamer 188). The formulations were sonicated, spray-dried, and the\nobtained powders were characterized regarding the density (0.18 g/mL to 0.26 g/mL), particle size\ndistribution (7 microM and 52 microM), and water solubility (29% to 48%). The antioxidant activity was\ndetermined by applying ABTS+ radical-scavenging assay and the results expressed per gram of\nlyophilized extract (150.6 micromol Trolox/g to 376.4 micromol Trolox/g), with a significantly lower/higher result\nseen for formulations containing gum Arabic and a higher concentration of Poloxamer. The prepared\nsystems may have potential applications as preservative in foodstuff and as nutraceutical....
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