Resembling breast milk: influence of polyamine-supplemented formula on neonatal BALB/cOlaHsd mouse microbiota.

Infant microbiota is influenced by numerous factors, such as delivery mode, environment, prematurity and diet (breast milk or formula). In addition to its nutritional value, breast milk contains bioactive substances that drive microbial colonisation and support immune system development, which are usually not present in infant formulas. Among these substances, polyamines have been described to be essential for intestinal and immune functions in newborns. However, their effect on the establishment of microbiota remains unclear. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to ascertain whether an infant formula supplemented with polyamines has an impact on microbial colonisation by modifying it to resemble that in breast-fed neonatal BALB/c mice. In a 4 d intervention, a total of sixty pups (14 d old) were randomly assigned to the following groups: (1) breast-fed group; (2) non-enriched infant formula-fed group; (3) three different groups fed an infant formula enriched with increasing concentrations of polyamines (mixture of putrescine, spermidine and spermine), following the proportions found in human milk. Microbial composition in the contents of the oral cavity, stomach and small and large intestines was analysed by quantitative PCR targeted at fourteen bacterial genera and species. Significantly different (P< 0·05) microbial colonisation patterns were observed in the entire gastrointestinal tract of the breast-fed and formula-fed mice. In addition, our findings demonstrate that supplementation of polyamines regulates the amounts of total bacteria, Akkermansia muciniphila, Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Bacteroides-Prevotella and Clostridium groups to levels found in the breast-fed group. Such an effect requires further investigation in human infants, as supplementation of an infant formula with polyamines might contribute to healthy gastrointestinal tract development.

Lipid biomarkers and metabolic effects of lycopene from tomato juice on liver of rats with induced hepatic steatosis.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common liver disorders, covering steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Dietary factors may modulate its evolution, and antioxidants have been proposed as therapeutic agents. Among them, lycopene has been demonstrated to prevent the development of steatohepatitis and even to inhibit NASH-promoted early hepatocarcinogenesis induced by a high-fat diet in rats. These conclusions have been related to its antioxidant activity; however, NAFLD is more complex than a simple redox imbalance state since it disturbs several metabolic systems in the liver. In consequence, there is a lack of information related to the action of lycopene beyond antioxidant biomarkers. In this work, NAFLD was induced in rats using a hypercholesterolemic and high-fat diet to evaluate the effect of lycopene consumption from tomato juice on liver metabolism. Several classical antioxidant biomarkers related to NAFLD were measured to check the state of this disease after 7 weeks of the controlled diet. Moreover, a metabolomics platform was applied to measure more than 70 metabolites. Results showed clear differences in the classical antioxidant biomarkers as well as in the metabolic pattern, attending not only to the diet but also to the intake of lycopene from tomato juice. Interestingly, tomato juice administration partially reverted the metabolic pattern from a high-fat diet to a normal diet even in metabolites not related to the redox state, which could lead to new targets for therapeutic agents against NAFLD and to achieving a better understanding of the role of lycopene in liver metabolism.

Infant formula supplemented with polyamines alters the intestinal microbiota in neonatal BALB/cOlaHsd mice.

Polyamines play a critical role in the development of intestinal and immune systems during the infant breastfeeding period, but the effect of polyamines on the microbiota has not been reported. The aim of our study was to characterize the impact on the colonization pattern in neonatal BALB/cOlaHsd mice after supplementing an infant formula (IF) with a mixture of putrescine (PUT), spermidine (SPD) and spermine (SPM). A total of 48 pups (14 days old) were randomly assigned to 4-day intervention groups as follows: breast-fed (unweaned) pups (n=12); weaned pups (n=12) fed an infant formula (IF); weaned pups (n=12) fed an IF enriched with a low concentration of PUT, SPD and SPM (2.10, 22.05 and 38.00 µg/day, respectively); and weaned pups (n=12) fed with IF enriched with a high concentration of PUT, SPD and SPM (8.40, 88.20 and 152.00 µg/day, respectively) of polyamines in accordance with normal proportions found in human milk. Microbiota composition was analyzed by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) with flow cytometry detection. Microbiota changes in formula-fed mice were significantly greater following supplementation with polyamines (P<.01). Bifidobacterium group bacteria, Akkermansia-like bacteria and Lactobacillus-Enterococcus group levels were higher in the groups fed infant formula supplemented with polyamines, resulting in even higher numbers of bacteria than in the breastfed pups. Our findings indicate that infant formulas enriched with polyamines may interact with gut microbiota, suggesting that further studies in human infants are required to assess the impact of polyamines on both growth and microbiota levels.

Changes in antioxidant compounds during the shelf life of commercial tomato juices in different packaging materials.

Tomatoes provide an optimal mix of dietary antioxidants that may be responsible for the reported health benefits of tomato consumption. However, technological processing, packaging materials, and storage conditions have an impact on the nutritional quality of tomato products by affecting the stability of antioxidant nutrients to different extents. In this study, we evaluated the stability of the antioxidant compounds (lycopene, ascorbic acid, total phenols, and total flavonoids) present in commercially available tomato juices during storage extended for 12 months at three different temperatures (8, 22, and 37 degrees C). To further characterize the impact of storage conditions, two commonly used packaging materials (Tetra pack and glass bottles) were used to determine whether packaging materials affect antioxidant stability. Overall, the total lycopene, total phenolic compounds, and total flavonoids remained almost stable during storage for 12 months, regardless of the packaging material used, indicating that tomato juices maintain their nutritional value in terms of antioxidant composition during their shelf life. However, ascorbic acid was the most labile antioxidant and was markedly affected by storage conditions. The hydrophilic total antioxidant activity (TAA) paralleled the losses in ascorbic acid content, whereas the lipophilic TAA remained substantially stable throughout the storage trial.

Influence of lycopene and vitamin C from tomato juice on biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation.

A human study was carried out to investigate whether tomato juice, rich in natural lycopene and fortified with vitamin C, is able to reduce several biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation and whether the effect can be attributed to lycopene, vitamin C or any other micronutrient. Following a 2-week depletion phase, volunteers were assigned randomly to ingest either tomato juice with (LC) or without (L) vitamin C fortification for 2 weeks (daily dose 20.6 mg lycopene and 45.5/435 mg vitamin C). Plasma and urine were analysed for carotenoids and vitamin C, lipid status, antioxidant capacity, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and 8-epi-PGF2alpha, protein carbonyls, cytokines IL-1beta and TNFalpha and C-reactive protein (CRP). The consumption of tomato juice led to a reduction in total cholesterol levels (L: 157.6 v. 153.2 mg/dl, P = 0.008; LC: 153.4 v. 147.4 mg/dl, P = 0.002) and that of CRP (L: 315.6 v. 262.3 microg/l, P = 0.017; LC: 319.2 v. 247.1 microg/l, P = 0.001) in both groups. The vitamin C-fortified juice slightly raised the antioxidant capacity in urine and decreased TBARS in plasma and urine. All other markers were affected to a lesser extent or remained unchanged. Cholesterol reduction was correlated with lycopene uptake (P = 0.003), whereas the other effects could not be related with particular micronutrients. Any beneficial effects of tomato consumption for human health cannot be attributed only to lycopene and, as the additional supplementation with ascorbic acid indicates, a variety of antioxidants might be needed to optimize protection against chronic diseases.

Phenolic-rich juice prevents DNA single-strand breakage and cytotoxicity caused by tert-butylhydroperoxide in U937 cells: the role of iron chelation.

The antioxidant potential of phenolic compounds is generally linked to their ability to scavenge free radicals. However, in addition to their radical-scavenging activity, phenolic compounds can chelate metal ions, such as iron, to prevent their participation in Fenton-type reactions, which lead to the formation of free radicals. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the ability of a phenolic-rich juice made from grapes, cherries and berries to protect human myeloid leukemia (U937) cells from oxidative stress caused by tert-butylhydroperoxide (tB-OOH). Preincubation of cells with extracts of the phenolic-rich juice at different concentrations (0-200 microM ferulic acid equivalents) for 3 h partially prevented cell death and abolished the DNA cleavage induced by tB-OOH. Moreover, when preincubating cells with the 100-microM juice extract (the dose that diminished cell death by around 50%), the partial prevention of tB-OOH-induced formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening was observed. The radical scavenger antioxidant N,N'-diphenyl-1,4-phenylene-diamine (DPPD) and the intracellular iron chelator o-phenanthroline (o-Phe) were also tested to know whether protective effects depended on radical-scavenging or iron-chelating activities. o-Phe prevented cell death, DNA cleavage and ROS generation, whereas DPPD only prevented cell death, suggesting that phenolics in the juice afforded protection against induced oxidative stress, most probably by means of an iron-chelating mechanism.