Nutritional characteristics and quality of eggs from laying hens fed on a diet supplemented with chestnut tannin extract (Castanea sativa Miller)

The trial was performed with 80 laying hens belonging to two Tuscan autochthonous breeds: 40 birds of the Mugellese (MU) breed and 40 of the White Leghorn (WL) breed. The animals were allotted to 4 groups of individually caged 20 hens each: two groups were fed on a commercial diet and worked as the control groups (MUC and WLC); the other two groups received the same diet, integrated with 2 g of chestnut tannin (CT) extract per kg of diet (MUT and WLT). A sample of 70 eggs were randomly collected and analysed for cholesterol content, fatty acid (FA) profile, weight, thickness of shell and colour of yolk. Physical parameters, including yolk colour, and indices of egg quality were not affected by the treatments. The concentration of unsaturated FAs increased, whereas cholesterol was significantly decreased: -17% in WLT and -9% in MUT. Dietary supplementation with CT extract resulted in a modification of lipid composition, towards a more healthy quality of eggs.

Parasympathetic nervous system involvement in food allergy: description of a paediatric case

The latest research data emphasize the interaction between the nervous and the immune systems. It has been demonstrated that the central nervous system (CNS) can be involved secondarily due to blood brain barrier (BBB) disruption via pro-inflammatory cytokines released in allergy. More recently it was demonstrated that the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) could also be equally involved in models of peripheral inflammation such as food allergy; although this last clinical presentation has rarely been described. Herein, the authors report the case of a five-year-old Caucasian female who was admitted to our Pediatric Acute and Emergency Operative Unit for cyclic vomiting. Her vomiting, which was preceded by objective torque vertigo, headache and weakness, had been recurring with constant frequency every two months since she was 3 years old. After a complex diagnostic flow-chart, it was found that this spectrum of neurologic symptoms was due to a food allergy syndrome, which postulates some etiopathogenic hypotheses to explain the relationship between the two mentioned diseases.

Redox modulation of cellular stress response and lipoxin A4 expression by Hericium Erinaceus in rat brain: relevance to Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis

Background

There has been a recent upsurge of interest in complementary medicine, especially dietary supplements and foods functional in delaying the onset of age-associated neurodegenerative diseases. Mushrooms have long been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years, being now increasingly recognized as antitumor, antioxidant, antiviral, antibacterial and hepatoprotective agent also capable to stimulate host immune responses.

Results

Here we provide evidence of neuroprotective action of Hericium Herinaceus when administered orally to rat. Expression of Lipoxin A4 (LXA4) was measured in different brain regions after oral administration of a biomass Hericium preparation, given for 3 month. LXA4 up-regulation was associated with an increased content of redox sensitive proteins involved in cellular stress response, such as Hsp72, Heme oxygenase −1 and Thioredoxin. In the brain of rats receiving Hericium, maximum induction of LXA4 was observed in cortex, and hippocampus followed by substantia Nigra, striatum and cerebellum. Increasing evidence supports the notion that oxidative stress-driven neuroinflammation is a fundamental cause in neurodegenerative diseases. As prominent intracellular redox system involved in neuroprotection, the vitagene system is emerging as a neurohormetic potential target for novel cytoprotective interventions. Vitagenes encode for cytoprotective heat shock proteins 70, heme oxygenase-1, thioredoxin and Lipoxin A4. Emerging interest is now focussing on molecules capable of activating the vitagene system as novel therapeutic target to minimize deleterious consequences associated with free radical-induced cell damage, such as in neurodegeneration. LXA4 is an emerging endogenous eicosanoid able to promote resolution of inflammation, acting as an endogenous “braking signal” in the inflammatory process. In addition, Hsp system is emerging as key pathway for modulation to prevent neuronal dysfunction, caused by protein misfolding.

Conclusions

Conceivably, activation of LXA4 signaling and modulation of stress responsive vitagene proteins could serve as a potential therapeutic target for AD-related inflammation and neurodegenerative damage.

A Therapeutic Approach in the Treatment of Infections of the Upper Airways: Thiamphenicol Glycinate Acetylcysteinate in Sequential Treatment (Systemic-Inhalatory Route)

Eight hundred and seventeen patients with upper respiratory tract infections were treated with thiamphenicol glycinate acetylcisteinate (TGA) or other standard antibiotics for 6–10 days in a randomised trial. In 419 out of 817 patients, the symptomatology was severe and they were treated with TGA in sequential therapy (TGA 500 mg- as thiamphenicol- b.i.d. intramuscularly on the first day and TGA 500 mg b.i.d by aerosol during the following days) (n=151), or with antibiotics of comparison (n=268) given intramuscularly. In this group the disappearance of the symptomatology with TGA ranged from 90% of the patients with otitis media to 94% in pharyngotonsillitis and rhinosinusitis; in this latter group TGA was significantly better than cefazolin. In 398 patients with mild symptomatology TGA (250 mg - as thiamphenicol- b.i.d.) was given by aerosol (n=149) and the antibiotics of comparison by oral route (n=249). In TGA patients, the disappearance of symptoms was achieved in 87% of those with rhinosinusitis, in 88% of those with pharyngotonsillitis and in 91% of those with otitis media. S. pyogenes, S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae were the most frequently isolated pathogens, and none of the isolated bacteria proved to be resistant to TGA. Microbiological eradication was obtained in TGA groups in a percentage of patients ranging from 90.2 to 96.0% in those with severe forms, and from 86.2 to 91.6% in those with a mild clinical picture. Investigators rated the TGA efficacy as “excellent” in 96–100% of the patients with severe forms and in 85.5%–100% of the patients with mild forms, whereas in the group of patients with rhinosinusitis the comparison of TGA versus other treatment was significantly in favour of TGA. The Investigator rating of treatment tolerability significantly favoured TGA in sequential treatments in comparison to the other antibiotics. No patient dropped out from the trial because of adverse events.

Microwave-Assisted Drying for the Conservation of Honeybee Pollen

Bee pollen is becoming an important product thanks to its nutritional properties, including a high content of bioactive compounds such as essential amino acids, antioxidants, and vitamins. Fresh bee pollen has a high water content (15%–30% wt %), thus it is a good substrate for microorganisms. Traditional conservation methods include drying in a hot air chamber and/or freezing. These techniques may significantly affect the pollen organoleptic properties and its content of bioactive compounds. Here, a new conservation method, microwave drying, is introduced and investigated. The method implies irradiating the fresh pollen with microwaves under vacuum, in order to reduce the water content without reaching temperatures capable of thermally deteriorating important bioactive compounds. The method was evaluated by taking into account the nutritional properties after the treatment. The analyzed parameters were phenols, flavonoids, with special reference to rutin content, and amino acids. Results showed that microwave drying offers important advantages for the conservation of bee pollen. Irrespective of microwave power and treatment time, phenol and flavonoid content did not vary over untreated fresh pollen. Similarly, rutin content was unaffected by the microwave drying, suggesting that the microwave-assisted drying could be a powerful technology to preserve bioprotective compounds in fresh pollen.

Carbon monoxide as stunning/killing method on farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): effects on lipid and cholesterol oxidation

BACKGROUND

Carbon monoxide (CO) has been recently utilized as a new stunning/killing procedure for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Its effects on lipid and cholesterol oxidation of farmed Atlantic salmon fillets were evaluated at two times of refrigerated (2.5 °C) storage, T0 (64 h after death) and T14 (14 days from T0). The use of CO was compared with the commonly utilized percussion (P) method.

RESULTS

Fatty acid profile, primary (conjugated dienes) and secondary (TBARS) oxidation products, cholesterol oxidation products (COPs) and carotenoids were unaffected by the killing method. Despite the low oxidative status of lipid (0.66 and 0.60 mg malondialdehyde kg(-1) muscle in P and CO fish respectively), cholesterol was found to be highly oxidized (0.17 and 0.13 mg COPs kg(-1) ). Storage significantly affected oxidative stability of fish muscle by increasing oxidation products. Interestingly, TBARS content doubled while the increase for COPs was not homogeneous: α- and β-epoxycholesterol increased by 25%, whereas triol and 7-ketocholesterol increased by 48 and 62% respectively.

CONCLUSION

The quality of salmon fillets just after slaughtering and after 14 days of refrigerated storage at 2.5 °C did not change, irrespective of the killing method adopted, suggesting that the CO method may be applied without any detrimental effect on the quality of fish fillets. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Efficacy and safety of omalizumab in paediatric age: an update of literature data

Immunoglobulin E (IgE) was discovered in 1966 and was found responsible for immune defense against helminths, type I hypersensitivity and allergic diseases. IgE mediates allergic responses by binding to Fc receptors (the high affinity Fc-epsilon receptor I and the low affinity Fc-epsilon receptor II or CD23) expressed on tissue mast cells and blood basophils. This binding leads to degranulation and release of pro-inflammatory mediators. Considering the pivotal role of IgE in allergic diseases, antibodies against IgE potentiate an array of new therapeutic strategies and in this regard omalizumab (rhuMAb-E25, Xolair) has been developed as a monoclonal biologic drug to block serum IgEs. Although the use of omalizumab has been studied vigorously in many adult populations with allergic diseases, there are few heterogenous studies on children. There are very few ongoing clinical trials with omalizumab exclusively on children, although some adult studies have concluded pediatric patients as a part of their studies. Nevertheless, in pediatric clinical trials omalizumab has been demonstrated to be effective and safe also in this age group. Herein, the authors present a systematic review of extensive literature data on the use of omalizumab in children and adolescents.