Curcumin dietary supplementation ameliorates disease phenotype in an animal model of Huntington's disease.

Huntington's disease (HD) has traditionally been described as a disorder purely of the brain; however, evidence indicates that peripheral abnormalities are also commonly seen. Among others, severe unintended body weight loss represents a prevalent and often debilitating feature of HD pathology, with no therapies available. It correlates with disease progression and significantly affects the quality of life of HD patients. Curcumin, a naturally occurring polyphenol with multiple therapeutic properties, has been validated to exert important beneficial effects under health conditions as well as in different pathological settings, including neurodegenerative and gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. Here, we investigated the potential therapeutic action that curcumin-supplemented diet may exert on central and peripheral dysfunctions in R6/2 mice, a well-characterized HD animal model which recapitulates some features of human pathology. Maintenance of normal motor function, protection from neuropathology and from GI dysfunction and preservation of GI emptying and conserved intestinal contractility, proved the beneficial role of life-long dietary curcumin in HD and corroborated the potential of the compound to be exploited to alleviate very debilitating symptoms associated with the disease.

Motor phenotype is not associated with vascular dysfunction in symptomatic Huntington's disease transgenic R6/2 (160 CAG) mice.

Whereas Huntington's disease (HD) is unequivocally a neurological disorder, a critical mass of emerging studies highlights the occurrence of peripheral pathology like cardiovascular defects in both animal models and humans. The overt impairment in cardiac function is normally expected to be associated with peripheral vascular dysfunction, however whether this assumption is reasonable or not in HD is still unknown. In this study we functionally characterized the vascular system in R6/2 mouse model (line 160 CAG), which recapitulates several features of human pathology including cardiac disease. Vascular reactivity in different arterial districts was determined by wire myography in symptomatic R6/2 mice and age-matched wild type (WT) littermates. Disease stage was assessed by using well-validated behavioural tests like rotarod and horizontal ladder task. Surprisingly, no signs of vascular dysfunction were detectable in symptomatic mice and no link with motor phenotype was found.

Physical and chemical quality of ostrich eggs during the laying season.

1. Fifteen ostrich females were monitored for a full breeding season. At 30, 70, 110, 150 and 210 d from the beginning of laying, one egg per female was taken to the laboratory to assess its physical and nutritive characteristics. 2. The average length was 15.4 cm, while the width was 12.9 cm. Average shell thickness ranged from 2.20 mm at the equator to 2.24 mm at the small pole. The three principal components of the egg (albumen, yolk and shell) amounted to 57.1, 23.3 and 19.6%, respectively. None of the above variables, despite showing some significant differences between sampling periods, showed a clear trend linked to the laying season. 3. In contrast, the dry matter of the albumen showed a correlation with the sampling period, increasing from 11-1% in the first period to 12.0% in the last. The crude protein content ranged from 47.7 to 48.2%, the fat from 43.8 to 44.2% and the ash between 5.2 and 5.5% of dry matter. 4. The fatty acid composition of the yolk showed the presence of C18:1 (from 122.0 to 136.4 mg/g), followed by C16:0 (from 40.8 to 46.0 mg/g), C18:0 (from 19.2 to 21.2 mg/g) and C18:2 (from 17.1 to 19.6 mg/g). The content of cholesterol/g of yolk was between 10.6 and 10.9 mg. 5. In conclusion, compared with the hen's egg, the ostrich egg has similar chemical and nutritive characteristics, but a higher unsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratio and lower cholesterol content.