The present study aimed to analyze and compare the effects of four different interval‐training protocols on aerobic fitness and muscle strength. Thirty‐seven subjects (23.8 ± 4 years; 171.7 ± 9.5 cm; ...70 ± 11 kg) were assigned to one of four groups: low‐intensity interval training with (BFR, n = 10) or without (LOW, n = 7) blood flow restriction, high‐intensity interval training (HIT, n = 10), and combined HIT and BFR (BFR + HIT, n = 10, every session performed 50% as BFR and 50% as HIT). Before and after 4 weeks training (3 days a week), the maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), maximal power output (Pmax), onset blood lactate accumulation (OBLA), and muscle strength were measured for all subjects. All training groups were able to improve OBLA (BFR, 16%; HIT, 25%; HIT + BFR, 22%; LOW, 6%), with no difference between groups. However, VO2max and Pmax improved only for BFR (6%, 12%), HIT (9%, 15%) and HIT + BFR (6%, 11%), with no difference between groups. Muscle strength gains were only observed after BFR training (11%). This study demonstrates the advantage of short‐term low‐intensity interval BFR training as the single mode of training able to simultaneously improve aerobic fitness and muscular strength.
Food security is a current major concern. Protein malnutrition, in particular, must be overcome urgently. Simultaneously, food manufacturers are increasingly interested proteins from plant sources. ...Hence, pulse crops could be exploited as sustainable, climate change resistant and high quality protein sources.
Pulses, such as peas, common beans, cowpea, fava beans, chickpea, lentil, or lupin, contain high levels of globulins and albumins, providing around 33% of dietary needs. Nevertheless, there are different compositional and technological problems (e.g., digestibility, allergenicity, or antinutritional factors: ANF) that need to be overcome to consider pulse proteins as feasible alternative sources of protein.
The ANF might be highly decreased by adequate processing conditions, increasing nutrients bioavailability and protein digestibility. Curiously, ANF might also be associated with the positive physiologic effects commonly attributed to pulses.
In turn, the technological and functional properties (water and fat absorption, solubility, gel forming, emulsifying activity, foaming capacity and foam stability) of pulse proteins should be considered in food formulation and processing, particularly in the development of innovative food products, as already validated at industrial level. In either case, the potential allergenicity of pulse proteins (such as exemplified by lupin), or cross reactivity, should not be neglected throughout the complete production chain, including downstream concerns such as safe labelling.
Despite the highlighted limitations, it seems evident that pulse proteins will have a major role in fulfilling food protein demands, contributing to food security worldwide, besides being achievable in more sustainable exploration processes.
•Different pulse species were characterized as alternative protein sources.•Nutritional, chemical, functional and bioactive properties, of pulse proteins were described.•Likewise, technological and chemical issues associated with pulse proteins were characterized.•Techniques to overcome allergenicity and antinutritional limitations were suggested.•Major industrial applications were also described and new ones were proposed.
Soil salinity is a major abiotic stress that results in considerable crop yield losses worldwide. However, some plant genotypes show a high tolerance to soil salinity, as they manage to maintain a ...high K+/Na+ ratio in the cytosol, in contrast to salt stress susceptible genotypes. Although, different plant genotypes show different salt tolerance mechanisms, they all rely on the regulation and function of K+ and Na+ transporters and H+ pumps, which generate the driving force for K+ and Na+ transport. In this review we will introduce salt stress responses in plants and summarize the current knowledge about the most important ion transporters that facilitate intra- and intercellular K+ and Na+ homeostasis in these organisms. We will describe and discuss the regulation and function of the H+-ATPases, H+-PPases, SOS1, HKTs, and NHXs, including the specific tissues where they work and their response to salt stress.
In the last years, consumers are paying much more attention to natural medicines and principles, mainly due to the general sense that natural compounds are safe. On the other hand, there is a growing ...demand by industry for plants used in traditional medicine that could be incorporated in foods, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, or even pharmaceuticals. Glycyrrhiza glabra Linn. belongs to the Fabaceae family and has been recognized since ancient times for its ethnopharmacological values. This plant contains different phytocompounds, such as glycyrrhizin, 18β‐glycyrrhetinic acid, glabrin A and B, and isoflavones, that have demonstrated various pharmacological activities. Pharmacological experiments have demonstrated that different extracts and pure compounds from this species exhibit a broad range of biological properties, including antibacterial, anti‐inflammatory, antiviral, antioxidant, and antidiabetic activities. A few toxicological studies have reported some concerns. This review addresses all those issues and focuses on the pharmacological activities reported for G. glabra. Therefore, an updated, critical, and extensive overview on the current knowledge of G. glabra composition and biological activities is provided here in order to explore its therapeutic potential and future challenges to be utilized for the formulation of new products that will contribute to human well‐being.
Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) conditions for testing the susceptibilities of pathogenic
species to antifungal agents are based on a collaborative study that evaluated five ...clinically relevant isolates of
and some antifungal agents. With the advent of molecular identification, there are two basic needs: to confirm the suitability of these testing conditions for all agents and
species and to establish species-specific epidemiologic cutoff values (ECVs) or breakpoints (BPs) for the species. We collected available CLSI MICs/minimal effective concentrations (MECs) of amphotericin B, five triazoles, terbinafine, flucytosine, and caspofungin for 301
, 486
, 75
, and 13
molecularly identified isolates. Data were obtained in 17 independent laboratories (Australia, Europe, India, South Africa, and South and North America) using conidial inoculum suspensions and 48 to 72 h of incubation at 35°C. Sufficient and suitable data (modal MICs within 2-fold concentrations) allowed the proposal of the following ECVs for
and
, respectively: amphotericin B, 4 and 4 μg/ml; itraconazole, 2 and 2 μg/ml; posaconazole, 2 and 2 μg/ml; and voriconazole, 64 and 32 μg/ml. Ketoconazole and terbinafine ECVs for
were 2 and 0.12 μg/ml, respectively. Insufficient or unsuitable data precluded the calculation of ketoconazole and terbinafine (or any other antifungal agent) ECVs for
, as well as ECVs for
and
These ECVs could aid the clinician in identifying potentially resistant isolates (non-wild type) less likely to respond to therapy.
α-Synuclein misfolding and aggregation is a hallmark in Parkinson's disease and in several other neurodegenerative diseases known as synucleinopathies. The toxic properties of α-synuclein are ...conserved from yeast to man, but the precise underpinnings of the cellular pathologies associated are still elusive, complicating the development of effective therapeutic strategies. Combining molecular genetics with target-based approaches, we established that glycation, an unavoidable age-associated post-translational modification, enhanced α-synuclein toxicity in vitro and in vivo, in Drosophila and in mice. Glycation affected primarily the N-terminal region of α-synuclein, reducing membrane binding, impaired the clearance of α-synuclein, and promoted the accumulation of toxic oligomers that impaired neuronal synaptic transmission. Strikingly, using glycation inhibitors, we demonstrated that normal clearance of α-synuclein was re-established, aggregation was reduced, and motor phenotypes in Drosophila were alleviated. Altogether, our study demonstrates glycation constitutes a novel drug target that can be explored in synucleinopathies as well as in other neurodegenerative conditions.
Phytoremediation, the use of plants and their associated microbes to remedy contaminated soils, sediments, and groundwater, is emerging as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly technology. ...Due in large part to its aesthetic appeal, this technology has gained increasing attention over the past 10 years. Phytoremediation uses different plant processes and mechanisms normally involved in the accumulation, complexation, volatilization, and degradation of organic and inorganic pollutants. Certain plants, called hyperaccumulators, are good candidates in phytoremediation, particularly for the removal of heavy metals. Phytoremediation efficiency of plants can be substantially improved using genetic engineering technologies. Recent research results, including overexpression of genes whose protein products are involved in metal uptake, transport, and sequestration, or act as enzymes involved in the degradation of hazardous organics, have opened up new possibilities in phytoremediation. This paper provides a critical review of the recent progress made toward the development of transgenic plants with improved phytoremediation capabilities and their potential use in environmental cleanup.
Spontaneous abortion is considered a public health problem having several causes, including infections. Among the infectious agents, bacteria of the vaginal microbiota and Ureaplasma parvum have been ...associated with abortion, but their participation needs to be further elucidated. This study aims to evaluate the influence of Mollicutes on the development of spontaneous abortion. Women who underwent spontaneous abortion and those with normal birth (control) were studied. Samples of cervical mucus (CM) and placental tissue were collected to identify Mollicutes using the quantitative polymerase chain reaction methodology. Eighty-nine women who had a miscarriage and 20 women with normal pregnancies were studied. The presence of Mollicutes in placental tissue increased the chance of developing miscarriage sevenfold. The prevalence of U. parvum in women who experienced spontaneous abortion was 66.3% in placental tissue. A positive association was observed between the detection of U. parvum in samples of placental tissue and abortion. There was a significant increase in microbial load in placental tissue for M. hominis, U. urealyticum and U. parvum compared to the control group. Detection of U. parvum in CM in pregnant women can ascend to the region of the placental tissue and trigger a spontaneous abortion.
PDF
