Gut microbiota has a proven role in regulating multiple neuro-chemical pathways through the highly interconnected gut-brain axis. Oral bacteriotherapy thus has potential in the treatment of central ...nervous system-related pathologies, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Current AD treatments aim to prevent onset, delay progression and ameliorate symptoms. In this work, 3xTg-AD mice in the early stage of AD were treated with SLAB51 probiotic formulation, thereby affecting the composition of gut microbiota and its metabolites. This influenced plasma concentration of inflammatory cytokines and key metabolic hormones considered therapeutic targets in neurodegeneration. Treated mice showed partial restoration of two impaired neuronal proteolytic pathways (the ubiquitin proteasome system and autophagy). Their cognitive decline was decreased compared with controls, due to a reduction in brain damage and reduced accumulation of amyloid beta aggregates. Collectively, our results clearly prove that modulation of the microbiota induces positive effects on neuronal pathways that are able to slow down the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
Display omitted
•The toxicity of essential oil from monoecious hemp cv Felina 32 was tested on key insect pests and vectors.•The hemp oil composition was dominated by (E)-caryophyllene, myrcene and ...α-pinene.•The oil was toxic to houseflies and peach aphids, efficacy on mosquitoes and Spodoptera moth pests was scarce.•Hemp cv Felina 32 oil was not toxic to non-target invertebrates, including ladybugs and earthworms.•Industrial hemp cv Felina 32 may represent valuable source of green insecticides.
The inflorescences of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) represent a consistent by-product that is underutilized. Moving from the concept that this plant part has evolved as a natural weapon against phytophagous insects, secreting important secondary metabolites such as cannabinoids and volatile terpenes, herein we assayed the potential of its essential oil as a botanical insecticide. For the purpose, the essential oil was obtained by fresh inflorescences of hemp (monoecious cv. Felina 32) by steam-distillation and analysed by gas chromatography (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The oil was tested against the filariasis vector Culex quinquefasciatus, the peach-potato aphid Myzus persicae, the housefly Musca domestica and the tobacco cutworm Spodoptera littoralis. To prove its harmlessness on non-target invertebrates, it was tested on the multicolored Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis, and Eisenia fetida earthworms, and compared with α-cypermethrin as the positive control. The essential oil composition was dominated by monoterpene and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, with (E)-caryophyllene (45.4%), myrcene (25.0%) and α-pinene (17.9%) as the most abundant compounds. Results from insecticidal tests showed that the essential oil from inflorescences of industrial hemp cv Felina 32 was highly toxic to M. persicae aphids (LC50 of 3.5 mL L−1) and M. domestica flies (43.3 μg adult−1), while toxicity was moderate towards S. littoralis larvae (152.3 μg larva−1), and scarce against C. quinquefasciatus larvae (LC50 of 252.5 mL L−1) and adults (LC50 > 500 μg cm−2). Contrary to α-cypermethrin, the hemp cv Felina 32 essential oil was not toxic to non-target invertebrate species, including 3rd instar larvae and adults of H. axyridis ladybugs and adults of E. fetida earthworms. Taken together our results shed light on the possible utilization of the crop residue of industrial hemp as a source of environmental-friendly botanical insecticides to be used in Integrated Pest Management and organic agriculture, particularly to manage aphid and housefly populations.
•Salting out agents able to improve HS–SPME of the FFAs from C2 to C10 were evaluated.•A combination of (NH4)2SO4 and NaH2PO4 improves HS–SPME of the FFAs from C2 to C10.•The effect of ...(NH4)2SO4/NaH2PO4 was also assessed on food and biological samples.•Up to 4-fold increases in extraction compared to extraction with NaCl were obtained.
Given the importance of short and medium chain free fatty acids (FFAs) in several fields, this study sought to improve the extraction efficiency of the solid-phase microextraction (SPME) of FFAs by evaluating salting out agents that appear promising for this application. The salts ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4) and sodium dihydrogen phosphate (NaH2PO4) were tried on their own and in combination (3.7/1), in four different total amounts, as salting out agents in the headspace–SPME–gas chromatographic (HS–SPME–GC) analysis of the FFAs from acetic acid (C2) to decanoic acid (C10). Their performance in a model system of an aqueous standard mixture of FFAs at a pH of 3.5 was compared to that of the more commonly used sodium chloride (NaCl) and sodium sulfate (Na2SO4). All of the salts and salt systems evaluated, in proper amount, gave improved results compared to NaCl (saturated), which instead gave interesting results only for the least volatile FFAs C8 and C10. For C2–C6, the salt system that gave the best results compared to NaCl was (NH4)2SO4/NaH2PO4, in the highest of the four amounts evaluated, with factor increases between 1.2 and 4.1-fold, and NaH2PO4, between 1.0 and 4.3-fold. The SPME extraction efficiency given by the mixture (NH4)2SO4/NaH2PO4 was also assessed on biological and food samples, confirming that overall it performed better than NaCl.
A new analytical method for the determination of six volatile short and medium-chain fatty acids (acetic, propionic, isobutyric, isovaleric, hexanoic, and octanoic acids) through liquid-liquid ...extraction with diethyl ether, followed by GC-FID analysis, was developed and validated. The extraction conditions were optimized by evaluating the effect of the number of extractions (1 to 3) and the effect of the addition of salts (NaH
PO
, (NH
)
SO
, NaCl, (NH
)
SO
/NaH
PO
) to increase the concentration of the analytes in the ethyl ether phase. Results showed that a single extraction allows obtaining the highest sensitivity (due to the impossibility of evaporating the solvent to avoid losses of the analytes). The use of salting out agents, in particular, NaH
PO
, showed an important increase in the extraction extent, on average, 1.5 times higher as compared to the extraction performed without salt. The proposed method is rapid, requiring a total of 30 min for preparation and analysis, and it makes use of small amounts of sample (500 µL) and solvent (400 µL). The method was then applied to quantify the analytes in 5 white wines and 5 red wines, allowing to highlight some clear differences between red and white wines, with the red ones having a significantly higher amount of acetic acid (715.7 ± 142.3 mg/L in red wines and 351.5 ± 21.2 mg/L in white wines) and the white wines having a significantly higher amount of hexanoic and octanoic acid (6.1 ± 3.0 mg/L and 2.6 ± 0.8 mg/L, respectively, are the mean concentrations in white wines, and 4.7 ± 0.8 and 2.4 ± 0.4 mg/L, respectively, are the mean concentrations in red wines).
In the attempt to exploit the potential of the monoecious fiber hemp cv. Futura 75 in new fields besides textile, cosmetics and food industry, its crop-residue given by leaves and inflorescences was ...subjected to hydrodistillation to obtain the essential oils. These are niche products representing an ideal candidate for the development of natural insecticides for the control and management of mosquito vectors, houseflies and moth pests. After GC-MS analysis highlighting a safe and legal chemical profile (THC in the range 0.004–0.012% dw), the leaf and inflorescence essential oils were investigated for the insecticidal potential against three insect targets: the larvae of
Culex quinquefasciatus
and
Spodoptera littoralis
and the adults of
Musca domestica
. The essential oil from inflorescences, showing (
E
)-caryophyllene (21.4%), myrcene (11.3%), cannabidiol (CBD, 11.1%), α-pinene (7.8%), terpinolene (7.6%), and α-humulene (7.1%) as the main components, was more effective than leaf oil against these insects, with LD
50
values of 65.8 μg/larva on
S. littoralis,
122.1 μg/adult on
M. domestica
, and LC
50
of 124.5 μl/l on
C. quinquefasciatus
larvae. The hemp essential oil moderately inhibited the acetylcholinesterase (AChE), which is a target enzyme in pesticide science. Overall, these results shed light on the future application of fiber hemp crop-residue for the development of effective, eco-friendly and sustainable insecticides.
This study sought to develop and validate a quantitative method to analyze short chain free fatty acids (SCFAs) in rat feces by solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography (SPME–GC) using the ...salt mixture ammonium sulfate and sodium dihydrogen phosphate as salting out agent. Conditioning and extraction time, linearity, limits of detection and quantification, repeatability, and recovery were evaluated. The proposed method allows quantification with improved sensitivity as compared with other methods exploiting SPME–GC. The method has been applied to analyze rat fecal samples, quantifying acetic, propionic, isobutyric, butyric, isopentanoic, pentanoic, and hexanoic acids.
There is growing awareness within the scientific community of the strong connection between the inflammation in the intestine and the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). In previous studies we ...developed a PD animal model exposing pup rats to permethrin (PERM) pesticide. Here, we intended to explore whether in our animal model there were changes in gut permeability, fecal microbiota and hepatic injury. Moreover, we tested if the co-treatment with an electrolyzed reduced (ERW) was effective to protect against alterations induced by PERM. Rats (from postnatal day 6 to 21) were gavaged daily with PERM, PERM+ERW or vehicle and gut, liver and feces were analyzed in 2-months-old rats. Increased gut permeability, measured by FITC-dextran assay, was detected in PERM group compared to control and PERM+ERW groups. In duodenum and ileum, concentration of occludin was higher in control group than those measured in PERM group, whereas only in duodenum ZO-1 was higher in control than those measured in PERM and PERM+ERW groups. Number of inflammatory focis and neutrophils as well as iNOS protein levels were higher in livers of PERM-treated rats than in those of PERM+ERW and control rats. Fecal microbiota analysis revealed that Lachnospira was less abundant and Defluviitaleaceae more abundant in the PERM group, whereas the co-treatment with ERW was protective against PERM treatment since the abundances in Lachnospira and Defluviitaleaceae were similar to those in the control group. Higher abundances of butyrate- producing bacteria such as Blautia, U.m. of Lachnospiraceae family, U.m. of Ruminococcaceae family, Papillibacter, Roseburia, Intestinimonas, Shuttleworthia together with higher butyric acid levels were detected in PERM+ERW group compared to the other groups. In conclusion, the PD animal model showed increased intestinal permeability together with hepatic inflammation correlated with altered gut microbiota. The positive effects of ERW co-treatment observed in gut, liver and brain of rats were linked to changes on gut microbiota.
For the first time the volatile fraction of coffee silverskin has been studied focusing on odor-active compounds detected by gas chromatography-olfactometry/flame ionization detector (GC-O/FID) ...system. Two approaches, namely headspace (HS) analysis by solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS) and odor-active compounds analysis by gas chromatography-olfactometry/flame ionization detector (GC-O/FID), have been employed to fully characterize the aroma profile of this by-product. This work also provided an entire characterization of the bioactive compounds present in coffee silverskin, including alkaloids, chlorogenic acids, phenolic acids, flavonoids, and secoiridoids, by using different extraction procedures and high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) system. Coffee silverskin was shown to be a good source of caffeine and chlorogenic acids but also of phenolic acids and flavonoids. In addition, the fatty acid composition of the coffee silverskin was established by GC-FID system. The results from this research could contribute to the development of innovative applications and reuses of coffee silverskin, an interesting resource with a high potential to be tapped by the food and nutraceutical sector, and possibly also in the cosmetics and perfumery.
Extra virgin olive (EVO) oil and
(NG) oil are two well-known Mediterranean foods whose consumption has been associated with beneficial effects on human health. This study investigates the ...nutrigenomic properties of two high quality EVO and NG oils in an in vitro model of low-grade inflammation of human macrophages (THP-1 cells). The aim was to assess whether these healthy foods could modulate inflammation through antioxidant and epigenetic mechanisms. When THP-1 cells were co-exposed to both lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-induced inflammation and oils, both EVO and NG oils displayed anti-inflammatory activity. Both oils were able to restore normal expression levels of
3
and
(but not
3
), which were altered under inflammatory conditions. Moreover, EVO oil was able to prevent the increase in
expression and reduce global DNA methylation that were measured in inflamed cells. Due to its antioxidant properties, EVO oil was particularly efficient in restoring normal levels of membrane fluidity, which, on the contrary, were reduced in the presence of inflammation. In conclusion, these data support the hypothesis that these Mediterranean oils could play a major role in the modulation of low-grade inflammation and metabolic syndrome prevention. However, NS oil seems to be more efficient in the control of proinflammatory cytokines, whereas EVO oil better helps to counteract redox imbalance. Further studies that elucidate the nutrigenomic properties of local produce might help to promote regional the production and consumption of high-quality food, which could also help the population to maintain and promote health.
PDF
