Melamine contamination and associated health risks: Gut microbiota does make a difference.

Melamine is a nitrogenous organic compound containing high amounts of nitrogen, which is interpreted as high protein in various standard protein measuring tests, therefore added to foods to boost the protein content. Illegal addition of melamine has been in practice by food manufacturers, which leads to toxicity and stone formation in kidneys of individuals consuming melamine-contaminated milk products. A focused and thorough structured search of bibliographic databases for peer-reviewed researches reported in the literature was carried out with a focused attention on melamine contamination, associated health risks, and the role of gut microbiota. The overall outcomes of the research and review articles pertaining to searched keywords along with analysis of the interventions have been described employing a deductive qualitative content analysis approach. Current review focuses on the various health risks associated with consumption of melamine-contaminated foods and the need to develop better and effective methods for its testing. Moreover, the importance of gut microbiota in mediating toxicity due to melamine has also been discussed as there is a link between toxicity and activities of gut microbiota.

Functional genomics of blood cellular LXR-alpha gene in human coronary heart disease.

Recent studies on the liver X receptor-alpha (LXR-alpha) have recognized its crucial protective role in the initiation of a cross-talk between lipid metabolism and inflammation regarded as a prerequisite for the development of atherosclerotic lesions. The present study was directed to explore the functional genomics of LXR-alpha gene within blood mononuclear cells of subjects suffering from coronary heart disease (CHD), revealed a paradoxical relationship between blood cellular LXR-alpha mRNA expression and the severity of coronary occlusion. In order to resolve this apparent paradox, the ligand binding domain of LXR-alpha gene was analyzed. The results of such a study revealed that three critical mutations in the domain comprising of amino acids Asp324, Pro327 and Arg328, were responsible for inability of this domain to interact with its natural ligands leading thereby to deregulation of its effector genes that are known to play crucial role in the cross-talk between lipid peroxidation and inflammation. This phenomenon was in conformity with functional assay of LXR-alpha dependent transcriptional activity within cells derived from normal and CHD subjects. Based upon these results we propose that the mutations in the LXR-alpha gene reported here for the first time not only may be exploited for the diagnosis of CHD in human subjects but also could be used as a marker for exploring the predisposition of human subjects towards CHD.