Changes in lipid profile constitute the main risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Algae extracted carrageenans are long-chain polysaccharides and their ability to form gels provides for the ...formation of vegetable jelly. The objective was to evaluate the bioactive potential of carrageenan (E407) in the lipid profile, after ingestion of jelly. A total of 30 volunteers of both sexes, aged 20-64 years and with total cholesterol (TC) values ≥200 mg/dL, who ingested 100 mL/day of jelly for 60 days, were studied. All had two venous blood collections: before starting the jelly intake and after 60 days. At both times, TC, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglycerides (TG), were evaluated using commercial kits and spectrophotometer. The statistics were performed using the SPSS 25.0 software and p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Serum values after 60 days of jelly intake revealed a statistically significant decrease in TC levels (5.3%; p = 0.001) and LDL-C concentration (5.4%; p = 0.048) in females. The daily intake of vegetable jelly for 60 days showed a reduction in serum TC and LDL-C levels in women, allowing us to conclude that carrageenan has bioactive potential in reducing TC concentration.
Aging is characterized by several progressive physiological changes, including changes in the circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythms influence behavior, physiology, and metabolic processes in order to ...maintain homeostasis; they also influence the function of endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and immune cells in the vessel wall. A clock misalignment could favor vascular damage and indirectly also affect skeletal muscle function. In this review, we focus on the dysregulation of circadian rhythm due to aging and its relationship with skeletal muscle changes and vascular health as possible risk factors for the development of sarcopenia, as well as the role of physical exercise as a potential modulator of these processes.
Sodium, although essential for life, is a key factor in changes in vascular function and cardiovascular disease when consumed in excess.
spp., a halophyte plant with many nutritional benefits, ...presents itself as a promising substitute for the consumption of purified salt. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) 2 and 9 are widely studied due to their action in physiological processes and as biomarkers at the diagnostic level due to their increased expression in inflammatory processes. This study aimed to evaluate whether replacing salt with
(
) powder in healthy young people leads to an improvement in biochemical profiles and the attenuation of MMP-2 and MMP-9 activity. In the present study, 30 participants were randomized into a control group that consumed salt and an intervention group that replaced salt with powdered
. The evaluation of the biochemical parameters was carried out by the spectrophotometry method, and the evaluation of MMP activity was carried out by zymography. A significant decrease was observed in the intervention group in total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), and creatinine (
-value ≤ 0.05), along with lower but not significantly different mean values of triglycerides. Regarding MMP activity after the intervention, a lower mean value was observed for MMP-9 activity, with there being higher mean values for MMP-2 activity, both with
-values ≥ 0.05. The results confirmed that the consumption of
is a beneficial choice for health regarding the lipid profile. The evaluation of MMP activity indicated the potential of
in the regulation of MMP-9 activity in healthy individuals, along with the need for the further study of these proteases in individuals with pathologies.
Obesogenic environments such as Westernized diets, overnutrition, and exposure to glycation during gestation and lactation can alter peripheral neuroendocrine factors in offspring, predisposing for ...metabolic diseases in adulthood. Thus, we hypothesized that exposure to obesogenic environments during the perinatal period reprograms offspring energy balance mechanisms. Four rat obesogenic models were studied: maternal diet-induced obesity (DIO); early-life obesity induced by postnatal overfeeding; maternal glycation; and postnatal overfeeding combined with maternal glycation. Metabolic parameters, energy expenditure, and storage pathways in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and the liver were analyzed. Maternal DIO increased VAT lipogenic NPY receptor-1 (NPY1R), NPY receptor-2 (NPY2R), and ghrelin receptor, but also lipolytic/catabolic mechanisms dopamine-1 receptor (D1R) and p-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in male offspring, while reducing NPY1R in females. Postnatally overfed male animals only exhibited higher NPY2R levels in VAT, while females also presented NPY1R and NPY2R downregulation. Maternal glycation reduces VAT expandability by decreasing NPY2R in overfed animals. Regarding the liver, D1R was decreased in all obesogenic models, while overfeeding induced fat accumulation in both sexes and glycation the inflammatory infiltration. The VAT response to maternal DIO and overfeeding showed a sexual dysmorphism, and exposure to glycotoxins led to a thin-outside-fat-inside phenotype in overfeeding conditions and impaired energy balance, increasing the metabolic risk in adulthood.
Aim
This study aimed to evaluate if physical activity is associated with systemic and cellular immunometabolic responses, in young adults after mild-to-moderate COVID-19 infection.
Methods
Mild- to- ...moderate post-COVID-19 patients (70.50 ± 43.10 days of diagnosis; age: 29.4 (21.9– 34.9) years; BMI: 25.5 ± 4.3 kg m
2
n = 20) and healthy age-matched controls (age: 29.3 (21.2 – 32.6) years; BMI: 25.4 ± 4.7 kg m
2
; n = 20) were evaluated. Physical activity levels (PAL), body composition, dietary habits, muscular and pulmonary function, mental health, sleep quality, metabolic parameters, immune phenotypic characterization, stimulated whole blood and PBMC culture (cytokine production), mRNA, and mitochondrial respiration in PBMCs were evaluated.
Results
The post-COVID-19 group exhibited lower levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (p = 0.038); therefore, all study comparisons were performed with adjustment for MVPA. Post-COVID-19 impacted the pulmonary function (FEV1, FEV1%pred, FVC, and FVC %pred) compared with the control (p adjusted by MVPA (p adj) <0.05). Post-COVID-19 exhibited lower levels of serum IL-6 (p adj <0.01), whereas it showed higher serum IL-10, triglyceride, leptin, IgG, ACE activity, TNFRSF1A, and PGE
2
(p adj <0.05) levels compared with controls. Post-COVID-19 presented a lower percentage of Treg cells (p adj = 0.03) and altered markers of lymphocyte activation and exhaustion (lower CD28 expression in CD8
+
T cells (p adj = 0.014), whereas CD4
+
T cells showed higher PD1 expression (p adj = 0.037)) compared with the control group. Finally, post- COVID-19 presented an increased LPS-stimulated whole- blood IL-10 concentration (p adj <0.01). When exploring mitochondrial respiration and gene expression in PBMCs, we observed a higher LEAK state value (p adj <0.01), lower OXPHOS activity (complex I) (p adj = 0.04), and expression of the Rev-Erb-α clock mRNA after LPS stimulation in the post-COVID-19 patients than in the control (p adj <0.01). Mainly, PAL was associated with changes in IL-10, triglyceride, and leptin levels in the plasma of post-COVID-19 patients. PAL was also associated with modulation of the peripheral frequency of Treg cells and the expression of PD-1 in CD8+ T cells, although it abrogated the statistical effect in the analysis of TNF-α and IL-6 production by LPS- and PMA-stimulated PBMC of post-COVID-19 patients.
Conclusion
Young adults after mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection appeared to have lower physical activity levels, which can be associated with clinical and immunometabolic responses in a complex manner.
In the present study, we applied iTRAQ-based quantitative approach to explore the salivary proteome and peptidome profile in selected subjects with type 1 diabetes, with and without microvascular ...complications, aiming to identify disease-related markers. From a total of 434 distinct proteins, bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein-like 1 and pancreatic adenocarcinoma up-regulated factor were found in higher levels in the saliva of all patients while increased content of other proteins like alpha-2-macroglobulin, defensin alpha 3 neutrophil-specific, leukocyte elastase inhibitor, matrix metalloproteinase-9, neutrophil elastase, plastin-2, protein S100-A8 and protein S100-A9 were related with microvascular complications as retinopathy and nephropathy. Protein–protein interaction network analysis suggests the functional clusters defense, inflammation and response to wounding as the most significantly associated with type 1 diabetes pathogenesis. Peptidome data not only support a diabetes-related higher susceptibility of salivary proteins to proteolysis (mainly of aPRP, bPRP1 and bPRP2), but also evidenced an increased content of some specific protein fragments known to be related with bacterial attachment and the accumulation of phosphopeptides involved in tooth protection. Overall, the salivary protein and peptide profile highlights the importance of the innate immune system in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes mellitus and related complications. This study provides an integrated perspective of salivary proteome and peptidome that should be further explored in future studies targeting specific disease markers.
Previous studies have shown that excessive salt intake is strongly associated with high blood pressure (HT), vascular dysfunction, and the overall risk of cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this ...study was to evaluate Sarcocornia effectiveness as a salt substitute, addressing its effect on cardiovascular function in healthy young individuals. Thirty healthy participants, aged 18 to 26 years, were randomized into two groups: the control group (CG) and the intervention group (IG). The IG used Sarcocornia powder as a salt substitute for cooking, and the CG used regular salt, during a period of 1 month. A baseline evaluation was performed before the participants started the intervention phase, and was repeated after a 30-day intervention period. Each evaluation included blood pressure (BP) measurement, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), and carotid pulse wave analysis (PWA), and blood samples were also collected for analysis. Sodium excretion was measured at baseline and after intervention through spot urine collection and analysis, a method suitable for this population but with known limitations. Baseline parameters were similar between groups and were within the normal range. Sodium excretion remained unchanged in the two evaluations in the CG, but significantly decreased after intervention in the IG. The reduction in sodium excretion in the IG was followed by a significant reduction in brachial and aortic systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and also in PWV. No significant changes were observed in the CG in terms of cardiovascular parameters. This preliminary study conveys positive results in favor of Sarcocornia as a dietary substitute for regular salt, providing added evidence of the negative cardiovascular effects of high salt intake in young and healthy adults.
In recent years, the world's aging population has increased, contributing to the development of age-related pathologies, which have been aggravated by physical inactivity and excessive fat intake. ...This study aimed to evaluate the effect of implementing a nutritional program (control group-CG) combined with exercise (intervention group-IG) on the inflammatory profile, MMPs, and TIMPs in a group of 34 elderly participants (IG,
= 18; CG,
= 16). Participants underwent a full multidisciplinary diagnostic evaluation (T0), with the gathering of clinical information and biochemical and hematological determinations being re-evaluated eight weeks later (T1). A diet manual was made, which provided a selection of different types of diets resulting from the nutritional needs of the different users at the center. The aerobic exercise consisted of two sessions per week with a total duration of 1 h. The laboratory evaluation was performed by slot blot. Statistical analysis included a paired sample
-test and Spearman's correlation coefficient. We observed that in the IG, there was a significant increase at T1 of TNF-α (
< 0.05) and MMP-2 (
< 0.05), without changes in IL-6 and MMP-9, showing that the intervention did not cause an exacerbated inflammatory response in exercised elderly people. The intervention program implemented showed potential to contribute to better active aging strategies, taking advantage of the known benefits of exercise without inducing a harmful inflammatory response in elderly participants.
Oxidative stress is defined as the imbalance between reactive species and antioxidant agents. One of the effects of oxidative stress is the normal process of cellular aging that stems from the ...accumulation of tissue damage. Epidemiological studies show that regular physical exercise prevents the injuries caused by aging. The objective was to evaluate whether the practice of hydrotherapy, in an elderly population, positively influenced the activity of the enzymes superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and reductase that act by reducing reactive species in the body. The study involved 37 participants aged ≥ 60 years, of both sexes, divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group performed 15 hydrotherapy sessions. Enzyme activity was evaluated in two moments: T0-before the first session, and T1-after the last session, with blood collections conducted in both. In T1, there was a significant increase vs. T0 of glutathione peroxidase activity (57.72 ± 19.99 vs. 48.14 ± 17.22 U/g Hb) and glutathione reductase activity (100.18 ± 30.85 vs. 78.44 ± 21.26 U/L). Both sexes tended to show higher values at T1. We concluded that hydrotherapy proved to be a positive stimulus for the enzymatic antioxidant activity of the elderly, suggesting that a regular and moderate practice of physical exercise induces better and higher quality of life.
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