Cashew apple extract inhibition of fat storage and insulin resistance in the diet-induced obesity mouse model.

The cashew apple is an unvalued by-product from the cashew nut industry, of which millions of tonnes are simply discarded globally. Interestingly, however, cashew apple nutrients may have beneficial effects for health even if these are still poorly described. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of a hydro-alcoholic extract of cashew apple (cashew apple extract; CAE; Cashewin(™)) on obesity and diabetes, in two experimental designs using the diet-induced obesity (DIO) mouse model. First, in the preventive design, mice were treated orally with the CAE at the dose of 200 mg/kg body weight from the first day under a high-fat diet (HFD) and during 8 weeks thereafter. Second, in the curative design, the animals were first maintained under the HFD for 4 weeks and then treated with the CAE for a further 4 weeks under the same regimen. For both experimental designs, body weight, peri-epididymal adipose tissue, liver weight, food consumption, glycaemia, insulinaemia and insulin resistance were assessed. In both designs, the CAE significantly reduced body-weight gain and fat storage in both the peri-epididymal adipose tissue and the liver for mice under the HFD. This was achieved without modifying their energy consumption. Furthermore, glycaemia, insulinaemia and insulin resistance (homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance) of the DIO mice were significantly lowered compared with the control group. Thus, a well-designed hydro-alcoholic extract of cashew apple could provide an attractive nutritional food ingredient to help support the management of body weight and associated metabolic parameters such as blood glucose and insulin levels.

Acute effect of Ceylon cinnamon extract on postprandial glycemia: alpha-amylase inhibition, starch tolerance test in rats, and randomized crossover clinical trial in healthy volunteers.

BACKGROUND: Postprandial hyperglycemia is a known risk factor for the development of several health disorders including type 2 diabetes, obesity, oxidative stress, and cardiovascular diseases. One encouraging approach for a better control of postprandial glycemia is to reduce carbohydrate digestion. Cinnamon extracts have been known for managing blood glucose. However, their effects on inhibiting digestion of carbohydrate have been poorly analyzed to date. The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effect of a specific Ceylon cinnamon hydro-alcoholic extract (CCE) on carbohydrate digestion and post-meal blood glucose reduction. METHODS: In vitro enzymatic assays and in vivo starch tolerance tests in rats were designed as preclinical assays. Then, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over clinical trial was conducted in 18 healthy female and male volunteers. Following the intake of 1 g of CCE, the subjects ate a standardized meal. Blood samples were collected during the 2 hours following the meal to measure glucose and insulin concentrations. Areas under the curves were calculated and statistical differences between the CCE and placebo groups were analyzed using the Mann Whitney-Wilcoxon test. RESULTS: CCE has demonstrated in the in vitro study that it inhibited pancreatic alpha-amylase activity with an IC50 of 25 µg/mL. In the in vivo study, CCE was shown to acutely reduce the glycemic response to starch in a dose-dependent manner in rats. This effect was significant from the dose of 12.5 mg/kg of body weight. In both, the in vitro and in vivo studies, the hydro-alcoholic extract has shown to be more efficacious than the aqueous extract. In the human clinical trial, 1 g of CCE lowered the area under the curve of glycemia between 0 and 120 min by 14.8% (P = 0.15) and between 0 and 60 min by 21.2% (P < 0.05) compared to the placebo. This effect occurred without stimulating insulin secretion. No adverse effects were reported. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that Ceylon cinnamon hydro-alcoholic extract (CCE) may provide a natural and safe solution for the reduction of postprandial hyperglycemia and therefore help to reduce the risks of developing metabolic disorders. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02074423 (26/02/2014).

Pharmacoproteomic approach to the study of drug mode of action, toxicity, and resistance: applications in diabetes and cancer.

Proteomics is a powerful technique for investigating protein expression profiles in biological systems and their modifications in response to stimuli or to particular physiological or pathophysiological conditions. It is therefore a technique of choice for the study of drug mode of action, side-effects, toxicity and resistance. It is also a valuable approach for the discovery of new drug targets. All these proteomic applications to pharmacological issues may be called pharmacoproteomics. The pharmacoproteomic approach could be particularly useful for the identification of molecular alterations implicated in type 2 diabetes and for further characterization of existing or new drugs. In oncology, proteomics is widely used for the identification of tumour-specific protein markers, and pharmacoproteomics is used for the evaluation of chemotherapy, particularly for the characterization of drug-resistance mechanisms. The large amount of data generated by pharmacoproteomic screening requires the use of bioinformatic tools to insure a pertinent interpretation. Herein, we review the applications of pharmacoproteomics to the study of type 2 diabetes and to chemoresistance in different types of cancer and the current state of this technology in these pathologies. We also suggest a number of bioinformatic solutions for proteomic data management.

The human anti-thyroid peroxidase autoantibody repertoire in Graves' and Hashimoto's autoimmune thyroid diseases.

Human anti-thyroid peroxidase (TPO) autoantibodies (aAb) are generated during autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD). Within recent years, increasing knowledge of the TPO-specific aAb repertoire, gained mainly by the use of combinatorial library methodology, has led to the cloning and sequencing of around 180 human anti-TPO aAb. Analysis of the immunoglobulin (Ig) variable (V) genes encoding the TPO aAb in the ImMunoGeneTics database (IMGT) (http://imgt.cines.fr) reveals major features of the TPO-directed aAb repertoire during AITD. Heavy chain VH domains of TPO-specific aAb from Graves' disease patients preferentially use D proximal IGHV1 genes, whereas those from Hashimoto's thyroiditis are characterized more frequently by IGHV3 genes, mainly located in the middle of the IGH locus. A large proportion of the anti-TPO heavy chain VH domains is obtained following a VDJ recombination process that uses inverted D genes. J distal IGKV1 and IGLV1 genes are predominantly used in TPO aAb. In contrast to the numerous somatic hypermutations in the TPO-specific heavy chains, there is only limited amino acid replacement in most of the TPO-specific light chains, particularly in those encoded by J proximal IGLV or IGKV genes, suggesting that a defect in receptor editing can occur during aAb generation in AITD. Among the predominant IGHV1 or IGKV1 TPO aAb, conserved somatic mutations are the hallmark of the TPO aAb repertoire. The aim of this review is to provide new insights into aAb generation against TPO, a major autoantigen involved in AITD.

[Pharmaco-proteomic analysis: application of proteomic analysis to the discovery and development of new drugs]. / L'analyse pharmacoprotéomique: application de l'analyse protéomique à la découverte et au développement de nouvelles thérapeutiques.

Pharmacoproteomics may be defined as proteomics applied to the discovery of new therapeutic targets and to the study of drug effects. Proteomics is a powerful technique for analyzing the protein expression profiles in a biological system and its modifications in response to a stimulus or according to the physiological or pathophysiological states. Thus it is a technique of choice for the discovery of new drug targets. It is also an interesting approach for the study of the mode of action of treatments and preclinical drug development. This pharmacoproteomic approach may be particularly useful for the research of new molecular alterations implicated in type 2 diabetes and/or obesity and for the further characterization of existing or new drugs.