Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-obesity effects of onion and its by-products in high-fat fed rodents: a systematic review.

The effects of onion and its by-products on metabolic changes induced by excessive consumption of a high fat diet have been the focus of many studies. The aim of this study was to systematically review the effects of onion and its by-products antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-obesity in rats exposed to a high-fat diet. Five databases were used: Pubmed, EMBASE, Science Direct, Web of science and Scopus until June 2020 updated December 1, 2022. Research of the articles was carried out by two reviewers, searching and selecting studies after an initial reading of the titles and abstracts. In total, 2,448 papers were found and, after assessing against the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 18 papers were selected for this review. The findings of this review show the beneficial effects of onion and its by-products on inflammatory parameters, obesity, cardiovascular disease, thermogenesis and hepatic alterations generally associated with the consumption of a high-fat diet.

Novel promoter and splice junction defects add to the genetic, clinical or geographic heterogeneity of beta-thalassaemia in the Portuguese population.

In order to delineate the spectrum and the relative abundance of beta-globin gene defects causing thalassaemia in the Portuguese population, a representative sample was analysed including 51 beta-thalassaemia carriers along with 26 patients representing different clinical phenotypes. Seven mutations were identified, four of which [codon 39 (C----T), 39%; intervening sequence (IVS) 1 nucleotide (nt) 1 (G----A), 26%; IVS 1 nt 110 (G----A), 17%; IVS 1 nt 6 (T----C), 15%] account for 97% of 93 beta-thalassaemia chromosomes. Two previously undescribed mutations, namely a C----T substitution at position--90 in the proximal CACCC box, and the deletion of nucleotides 4 and 5 (AG) in IVS2 were identified. The uncommon, though ubiquitous, G----T transversion at codon 121 was found once upon haplotype V. Direct prenatal diagnosis can be offered to 95% of couples at risk of bearing a thalassaemic child.