Papel de las poliaminas en la alimentación: Importancia de las poliaminas en la alimentación infantil

Durante la década de los 90 del siglo pasado comenzaron los primeros estudios que señalaban a las poliaminas como importantes factores de crecimiento de la leche materna. Sin embargo, todavía se desconoce mucho sobre el papel que desempeñan en la alimentación infantil y cual sería la ingesta recomendada para este grupo poblacional. En los últimos años va siendo cada vez mayor la atención que muestra la comunidad científica internacional hacia las poliaminas, debido no sólo al importante papel que desempeñan en el metabolismo celular, sino por su posible participación en diversas patologías y durante el desarrollo del organismo. Sería recomendable, teniendo en cuenta que el contenido en poliaminas de las fórmulas infantiles es unas 10 veces menor al de la leche materna, profundizar más en este campo, con el fin de garantizar una correcta alimentación durante la etapa de lactancia.

Role of polyamines in diet. Importance of polyamines in infant nutrition. The first studies indicating polyamines as important growth factors in breast milk began during the nineties of last century. Nevertheless, it is still not well known the role they play in infant nutrition or what the recommended intake would be for this population group. In recent years, there has been increased attention of the international scientific community towards polyamines, not only due to the important role they play in the cellular metabolism, but also to their possible implication in some diseases and during the development of the human organism. Bearing in mind that the content in polyamines of the infant formula is around tenfold less than in breast milk, it would be recommended to gain insight into this theme in order to guarantee correct nutrition during lactation.

Dietary protocatechuic acid during the progression phase exerts chemopreventive effects on chemically induced rat tongue carcinogenesis.

The modifying effects of dietary administration of protocatechuic acid (PCA) during the progression phase of tongue carcinogenesis initiated with 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4-NQO) were investigated in male F344 rats. For tumor progression we developed a new animal model, where rats initiated by 4-week treatment of 20 ppm 4-NQO in drinking water, received four cycles of 20 ppm 4-NQO to induce advanced tongue cancer (one cycle: 2 weeks of 4-NQO followed by 2 weeks of tap water), starting at 14 weeks after the initiation. In this model, metastasis of tongue cancer occurred in lungs. Starting two weeks before the cycle treatment with 4-NQO, animals were fed the 2000 ppm PCA containing diet and continued on this diet until the end of the study. At the termination of the experiment (week 32), the incidences of tongue neoplasms and preneoplastic lesions, polyamine levels in the tongue tissue, and cell proliferation activity estimated by morphometric analysis of silver-stained nucleolar organizer regions protein were compared among the groups. Feeding with PCA containing diet during the progression phase significantly decreased the occurrence of advanced tongue squamous cell carcinoma with metastasis (P<0.05) and preneoplasia (hyperplasia and dysplasia) (P<0.001). In addition, PCA exposure decreased polyamine levels in the tongue tissue (P<0.001) during progression phase. Our results suggest that dietary PCA inhibits progression of 4-NQO-induced oral carcinogenesis, and such inhibition might be related to suppression of cell proliferation by PCA.

Efecto de L-arginina y poliaminas sobre la movilidad espermática / Effect of L-arginine and polyamines on spermatic motility

En este trabajo se destaca la importancia bioquímica y fisiológica en el sistema reproductor masculino de L-arginina, ya que este aminoácido ha sido utilizado con éxito en el tratamiento de algunos problemas de fertilidad. Este aminoácido está relacionado con el metabolismo de las poliaminas putrecinas, espermidina y espermina, moléculas que tienen importancia fisiológica, ya que se ha sugerido su participación como iniciadoras del proceso de movilidad espermática. Se sugieren algunas aplicaciones prácticas de la L-arginina.