Natural Choline from Egg Yolk Phospholipids Is More Efficiently Absorbed Compared with Choline Bitartrate; Outcomes of A Randomized Trial in Healthy Adults.

Choline is a vitamin-like essential nutrient, important throughout one's lifespan. Therefore, choline salts are added to infant formula, supplements and functional foods. However, if choline is present in a natural form, e.g. bound to phospholipids, it may be more efficiently absorbed. The study's aim was to evaluate if choline uptake is improved after consumption of an egg yolk phospholipid drink, containing 3 g of phospholipid bound choline, compared to a control drink with 3 g of choline bitartrate. We performed a randomized, double blind, cross-over trial with 18 participants. Plasma choline, betaine and dimethylglycine concentrations were determined before and up to six hours after consumption of the drinks. The plasma choline response, as determined by the incremental area under the curve, was four times higher after consumption of the egg yolk phospholipid drink compared with the control drink (p < 0.01). Similar outcomes were also observed for choline's main metabolites, betaine (p < 0.01) and dimethylglycine (p = 0.01). Consumption of natural choline from egg yolk phospholipids improved choline absorption compared to consumption of chemically produced choline bitartrate. This information is of relevance for the food industry, instead of adding choline-salts, adding choline from egg yolk phospholipids can improve choline uptake and positively impact health.

Airway angiogenesis in stable and exacerbated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Angiogenesis is a prominent feature of structural tissue remodelling that occurs in chronic airway diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of this study was to evaluate the airway levels of VEGF, angiogenin, IL-8 and TNF-α in patients with COPD during the stable phase and during acute exacerbation of the disease. We analysed induced sputum samples from 28 patients with COPD. Thirteen of these patients were followed up and second samples of sputum were obtained during acute exacerbation of the disease. The two control groups consisted of 12 healthy smokers and seven healthy non-smokers, all with normal lung function tests. Concentrations of VEGF, angiogenin, IL-8, TNF-α and bFGF were measured by cytometric bead array. In the induced sputum of patients with stable COPD, concentrations of VEGF (P < 0.001, P = 0.02), angiogenin (P < 0.0001, P < 0.0001), IL-8 (P < 0.0001, P = 0.0021) and TNF-α (P < 0.001, P = 0.03) were significantly elevated in comparison with healthy smokers and non-smokers. No additional elevation of angiogenic factors was demonstrated at the time of exacerbation. There was a significant negative correlation between FEV1 and VEGF (P < 0.05, r = -0.38), angiogenin (P < 0.0001, r = -0.68) and IL-8 (P < 0.001, r = -0.54) among smokers (smoking COPD patients and healthy smokers). No significant differences were observed between groups of healthy smokers and non-smokers. These results showed increased airway angiogenesis in patients with COPD. Moreover, VEGF, IL-8 and angiogenin negatively correlated with pulmonary function, which suggests their important role in COPD airway remodelling. However, no additional angiogenic activation was found during exacerbation of COPD.

Complement factor C5a in acute exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

The complement component C5a is a potent inflammatory peptide, which may be involved in the pathogenesis of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). We analysed the induced sputum and plasma of 28 patients with stable COPD, 12 healthy smokers and 7 non-smokers. In 13 of the patients with COPD, we also observed paired samples during acute exacerbation. The concentrations of C5a/C5a desArg and C3a/C3a desArg were measured using cytometric bead array. Both C5a and C3a concentrations in induced sputum of stable patients with COPD were significantly increased compared to the control groups of healthy smokers and non-smokers. In addition, there was a significant elevation in C5a values in exacerbation of COPD that was independent from the airway C3a levels. Airway C5a levels were negatively correlated with forced expiratory volume in first second (FEV1)% predicted and diffusing capacity of the lung (TLCO). Plasma C5a concentrations in patients with COPD were significantly higher than in healthy smokers, but no further significant systemic C5a elevation was detected with acute exacerbation of COPD. There was no important difference in local or systemic C5a concentrations between healthy smokers and non-smokers. These in vivo results clearly show that local and systemic C5a concentrations in COPD are elevated, and that the local, in contrast to systemic, C5a concentrations additionally increase in the acute exacerbation of COPD. It seems that the cigarette smoke is not related to C5a increase. The elevated local and systemic C5a levels, and additional individual local C5a increase during the exacerbation support the importance of C5a in COPD.

Lung tissue and tumour-infiltrating T lymphocytes in patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): moderate/severe versus mild stage of COPD.

Cytotoxic CD8+ T cells have been suggested to be key players in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We wanted to investigate the phenotype of lung tissue T lymphocytes (LTL) and tumour-infiltrating T lymphocytes (TIL) in smokers with peripheral non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) with moderate/severe versus mild COPD. Lung tissue and tumour samples were obtained from patients with moderate/severe stage of COPD (n = 10) and from patients with mild stage of COPD (n = 7) at lung resection for a solitary peripheral NSCLC, processed and analysed by flow cytometry. The flow-cytometric results showed that lung tissue T cells, regardless of the severity of COPD, were mostly of the activated phenotype, expressed the CXCR3 chemokine receptor characteristic of type 1 T cells, and did neither significantly differ in the expression of activation markers (CD69, CD25 and HLA-DR), differentiation markers (CD27 and CD28) and chemokine receptors (CXCR3 and CCR4) between the selected groups, nor showed any significant correlation with lung function measured as forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) or TLCO. Compared with LTL, a significantly greater proportion of TIL expressed the activation markers CD69 and CD25, but a lower proportion showed a fully differentiated CD27- 28- phenotype. We conclude that lung LTL patterns are similar in NSCLC patients with moderate/severe or mild stages of COPD, and are not significantly related to lung function. LTL and TIL possess different phenotype characteristics. The majority of tumour tissue T cells are activated, but it seems that their process of differentiation is incomplete.

Effective heat inactivation of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in raw milk contaminated with naturally infected feces.

The effectiveness of high-temperature, short holding time (HTST) pasteurization and homogenization with respect to inactivation of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis was evaluated quantitatively. This allowed a detailed determination of inactivation kinetics. High concentrations of feces from cows with clinical symptoms of Johne's disease were used to contaminate raw milk in order to realistically mimic possible incidents most closely. Final M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis concentrations varying from 10(2) to 3.5 x 10(5) cells per ml raw milk were used. Heat treatments including industrial HTST were simulated on a pilot scale with 22 different time-temperature combinations, including 60 to 90 degrees C at holding (mean residence) times of 6 to 15 s. Following 72 degrees C and a holding time of 6 s, 70 degrees C for 10 and 15 s, or under more stringent conditions, no viable M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis cells were recovered, resulting in >4.2- to >7.1-fold reductions, depending on the original inoculum concentrations. Inactivation kinetic modeling of 69 quantitative data points yielded an E(a) of 305,635 J/mol and an lnk(0) of 107.2, corresponding to a D value of 1.2 s at 72 degrees C and a Z value of 7.7 degrees C. Homogenization did not significantly affect the inactivation. The conclusion can be drawn that HTST pasteurization conditions equal to 15 s at > or =72 degrees C result in a more-than-sevenfold reduction of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis.

In silico model as a tool for interpretation of intestinal infection studies.

In nutrition research the number of human in vivo experiments is limited because of the many restrictions and the high costs of testing in humans. Up to now predictive computer models aiming to enhance research have been rare or too complex, with many nonmeasurable adjustable parameters. This study aimed to develop a basic physicochemical computer model for a first quantitative interpretation of results obtained from in vivo intestinal experiments with bacteria. This new modeling approach is validated with results obtained from gut infection studies in vivo. The design of the model is described, and its ability to reproduce experimental data is evaluated. The model predictions are compared with new experimental data. The phenomena that take place in the gastrointestinal tract are summarized by model constants for growth, adherence, and release of bacteria. Although the model is far from describing all details and many processes in the intestine are combined, the model calculation results lead to reasonable conclusions and interesting hypotheses. One of these hypotheses concluded from the model outcomes is that Escherichia coli bacteria have a much lower intestinal growth rate in humans than in rats. Extra laboratory validation experiments proved the reliability of this hypothesis predicted by the model. In addition, the known protective effect of dietary calcium and detrimental effect of clindamycin on the growth and adherence of Salmonella bacteria could be quantified. From these results it is clear that the model enhances the interpretation of in vivo gastrointestinal experiments and will facilitate research trajectories towards new functional foods that improve resistance to pathogenic bacteria in humans.