The USDA trypsin inhibitor study. I. Background, objectives, and procedural details

Mechanism of action, benefits, and research gap in fermented soybean meal utilization as a high-quality protein source for livestock and poultry

Animal nutritionists have incessantly worked towards providing livestock with high-quality plant protein feed resources. Soybean meal (SBM) has been an essential and predominantly adopted vegetable protein source in livestock feeding for a long time; however, several SBM antinutrients could potentially impair the animal's performance and growth, limiting its use. Several processing methods have been employed to remove SBM antinutrients, including fermentation with fungal or bacterial microorganisms. According to the literature, fermentation, a traditional food processing method, could improve SBM's nutritional and functional properties, making it more suitable and beneficial to livestock. The current interest in health-promoting functional feed, which can enhance the growth of animals, improve their immune system, and promote physiological benefits more than conventional feed, coupled with the ban on the use of antimicrobial growth promoters, has caused a renewed interest in the use of fermented SBM (FSBM) in livestock diets. This review details the mechanism of SBM fermentation and its impacts on animal health and discusses the recent trend in the application and emerging advantages to livestock while shedding light on the research gap that needs to be critically addressed in future studies. FSBM appears to be a multifunctional high-quality plant protein source for animals. Besides removing soybean antinutrients, beneficial bioactive peptides and digestive enzymes are produced during fermentation, providing probiotics, antioxidants, and immunomodulatory effects. Critical aspects regarding FSBM feeding to animals remain uncharted, such as the duration of fermentation, the influence of feeding on digestive tissue development, choice of microbial strain, and possible environmental impact.

A fast and cost-effective procedure for reliable measurement of trypsin inhibitor activity in soy and soy products

Rapid and accurate measurement of trypsin inhibitor is critical for soy processors to assess the quality of soy meal. Currently, trypsin inhibitor activity is measured using the American Oil Chemists' Society (AOCS) and the American Association of Cereal Chemists International (AACCI) approved method. We have modified and improved the AACCI/AOCS approved method resulting in the elimination of several time-consuming steps and drastically reducing the assay volume. By employing our simplified procedure, we have measured trypsin inhibitor activity of several soy and soy products. A side-by side comparison of our simplified procedure with AOCS approved method revealed strikingly similar results indicating that several time-consuming and tedious steps associated with AACCI/AOCS approved methods can be eliminated without sacrificing the accuracy of the assay. Moreover, we demonstrate that our assay can also be carried out in 96-well microplates which will enable high-throughput screening of large number of soy meal samples.

A microparticulate based formulation to protect therapeutic enzymes from proteolytic digestion: phenylalanine ammonia lyase as case study

Phenylketonuria is a genetic disorder affecting the metabolism of phenylalanine (phe) due to a deficiency in the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase. This disorder is characterized by an elevated phe blood level, which can lead to severe intellectual disabilities in newborns. The current strategy to prevent these devastating consequences is limited to a life-long phe-free diet, which implies major lifestyle changes and restrictions. Recently, an injectable enzyme replacement therapy, Pegvaliase, has been approved for treating phenylketonuria, but is associated with significant side-effects. In this study a phe-metabolizing system suitable for oral delivery is designed to overcome the need for daily injections. Active phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), an enzyme that catalyses phe metabolism, is loaded into mesoporous silica microparticles (MSP) with pore sizes ranging from 10 to 35 nm. The surface of the MSP is lined with a semipermeable barrier to allow permeation of phe while blocking digestive enzymes that degrade PAL. The enzymatic activity can be partially preserved in vitro by coating the MSP with poly(allylamine) and poly(acrylic acid)-bowman birk (protease inhibitor) conjugate. The carrier system presented herein may provide a general approach to overcome gastro-intestinal proteolytic digestion and to deliver active enzymes to the intestinal lumen for prolonged local action.

Riscos e controvérsias na construção social do conceito de alimento saudável: o caso da soja

Riscos e controvérsias na construção social do conceito de alimento saudável são discutidos, tendo a soja como objeto de estudo. Estudos dos impactos da soja sobre a saúde e da sojicultura sobre o meio socioambiental foram revisados para analisar as controvérsias científicas da pesquisa na área de soja e saúde humana, bem como seu contexto político e as repercussões socioambientais da sojicultura. Com base na Sociologia do Conhecimento Científico e na Sociologia Ambiental, argumenta-se que a fronteira entre o alimento saudável e o de risco é tênue e vulnerável a diferentes influências construídas reflexivamente. Destaca-se a importância de ampliar o conceito de alimento saudável para o de alimentação saudável, considerando sua dimensão cultural e socioambiental.

Affinity-trap polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis: a novel method of capturing specific proteins by electro-transfer

A method for the affinity capture of specific proteins from a complex mixture using a polyacrylamide gel technique is described. The approach is based on the orthogonal electro-transfer of proteins separated by ordinary polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) to a ligand-coupled polyacrylamide gel (Li-PAG), which is placed under the PAGE gel. Upon electro-transfer, the proteins orthogonally migrate from the PAGE into the Li-PAG, based on the net charge. During migration to the Li-PAG, proteins that specifically interact with a ligand can be transiently trapped in the Li-PAG, while those that do not interact with a ligand pass through it. This method permits the separation of the proteins that can specifically interact with a ligand, even when present in a complex mixture. The method is demonstrated by applying it to the one-step isolation of a trypsin inhibitor from a crude extract of soybean flour.

Clinical review: a critical evaluation of the role of soy protein and isoflavone supplementation in the control of plasma cholesterol concentrations

CONTEXT

The purpose of this review was to critically evaluate current research on the effect of soy protein and isoflavone supplements on plasma lipoproteins and place the potential role of soy in the prevention of coronary artery disease (CAD) into a clinical perspective.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

An extensive literature search was performed using a variety of medical and scientific databases including Medline, PubMed, Science Direct, Ovid, NIST, and Infotrac to identify relevant articles. Journal articles were cross-referenced for additional sources of information. Articles were evaluated based on level of experimental control as well as statistical, quantitative, and clinical analysis.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

Soy and soy isoflavones have been the object of extensive research investigating their potential hypocholesterolemic effects and possible role in the prevention of CAD. It has been suggested that soy, especially the isoflavones contained in soy, improves lipoprotein levels, thus reducing the risk for CAD. This belief, however, is not uniformly accepted. Moreover, the experimental evidence in support of this notion is not as overwhelming as generally perceived, and the current available data reveal that the discrepancies observed are primarily statistical in nature rather than reflecting actual quantitative differences in the hypocholesterolemic effects detected.

CONCLUSIONS

A critical analysis of the investigations to date indicates the data are not quantitatively impressive and raises substantial questions about the clinical importance of the hypocholesterolemic effects observed.

Qualidade protéica de linhagens de soja com ausência do Inibidor de Tripsina Kunitz e das isoenzimas Lipoxigenases

OBJETIVO: Avaliar a qualidade protéica de farinhas de soja, que diferem entre si com relação à presença de lipoxigenases e/ou Inibidor de Tripsina Kunitz. MÉTODOS: Procedeu-se aos ensaios biológicos com ratos, em que foram avaliados a Razão da Eficiência Protéica, Razão Protéica Líquida, Utilização Protéica Líquida e a digestibilidade. Determinou-se a composição aminoacídica das farinhas e cálculo do Escore Químico Corrigido pela Digestibilidade. RESULTADOS: Os valores de Razão da Eficiência Protéica, Razão Protéica Líquida, Utilização Protéica Líquida para as variedades de soja foram inferiores aos valores obtidos para caseína. Para as farinhas sem Inibidor de Tripsina Kunitz foram obtidos valores de digestibilidade maiores que para as farinhas com Inibidor de Tripsina Kunitz, e esses foram bem próximos aos da caseína. Com relação ao teor aminoacídico, constatou-se que o aminoácido limitante dessa soja é lisina e não metionina, ao contrário do que aponta a literatura. CONCLUSÃO: A eliminação genética do Inibidor de Tripsina Kunitz melhora consideravelmente a digestibilidade da proteína de soja. Os resultados do Escore Químico Corrigido pela Digestibilidade não indicaram diferença entre as farinhas sem Inibidor de Tripsina Kunitz das farinhas derivadas de linhagens com Inibidor de Tripsina Kunitz, como foi observado pelos resultados da digestibilidade in vivo.

Pathological evaluation, clinical chemistry and plasma cholecystokinin in neonatal and young miniature swine fed soy trypsin inhibitor from 1 to 39 weeks of age

The potential toxicity of dietary soy trypsin inhibitor (TI) was evaluated in neonatal miniature swine. From 1 to 6 weeks of age, two groups of male piglets were artificially reared in an Autosow and automatically fed either TI or control liquid diet. From 6 to 39 weeks of age, these two groups were fed either TI or control chow diet. A third group, sow control (SC), suckled from birth to 6 weeks of age, were also weaned to control chow from 6 to 39 weeks of age. Clinical chemistry and plasma cholecystokinin (CCK) determined at 6, 18, 30 and 39 weeks of age, and serum amylase activity with gross and histopathological analyses of major organs at 6 and 39 weeks of age are reported. TI had no effect on plasma CCK, serum amylase activity, or numerous clinical chemistry values. TI-fed piglets had a larger relative liver weight at 6 weeks of age. Relative pancreas weight decreased with age but was not affected by TI. Gross and histopathological analyses of major organs, except the spleen, were within normal limits. Increased incidence of extramedullary hematopoiesis was noted in the spleen of the TI group at 6 but not at 39 weeks of age. There was no consistent pattern in immunohistochemical foci for secretin, gastrin releasing polypeptide or CCK, and no change in DNA, RNA, mitotic index or nuclear density of pancreatic cells. At 6 weeks of age, TI increased pancreatic protein and amylase activity but not trypsin or chymotrypsin activity. None of the effects suggested that this dose of TI was toxic to either the neonatal or sexually mature miniature male swine.

The Autosow raised miniature swine as a model for assessing the effects of dietary soy trypsin inhibitor

Toxicological effects of dietary soy trypsin inhibitor (TI) were assessed in male miniature swine, a model chosen for its similarities to human digestive physiology and anatomy. The TI preparation was extracted from defatted raw soy flour. From 1 through 5 weeks of age, piglets were automatically fed either a TI liquid diet [Autosow TI group (ASTI)] or a control liquid diet [Autosow control group (ASC)]. From 6 to 39 weeks of age, these animals received either swine chow and TI or swine chow and control article. The TI diets were formulated to contain a TI activity of approximately 500 mg TI/100 g dry matter. A sow control (SC) group suckled from birth to 6 weeks of age and then fed as the ASC group with swine chow plus control article from 6 to 39 weeks of age. The SC piglets grew faster than ASC piglets during postnatal weeks 1 and 2; however, the ASC piglets were significantly heavier than the SC piglets (P=0.001) at 6 weeks of age. Compared with the ASC group, TI caused a moderate decrease in feed consumption and a moderate but reversible decrease in growth from 2 to 5 weeks of age, but not thereafter. Some control and TI-fed Autosow-reared piglets had loose stools until 6 weeks of age; the effect was significantly greater in the TI-fed group. Otherwise, all swine were active and had normal appearance and behavior.

Comparison of growth, nitrogen metabolism and organ weights in piglets and rats fed on diets containing Phaseolus vulgaris beans

The effects of lectins in the diet have been mainly studied in rats. An important question is whether results obtained in rats can be extrapolated to larger animals like the pig. Phaseolus vulgaris beans are rich in toxic lectins. Therefore a study was carried out to compare the effects of diets containing 200 g Phaseolus vulgaris beans (raw or toasted)/kg in rats and piglets. Live-weight gain, nitrogen digestibility and N balance were much lower in piglets than in rats fed on diets containing raw beans. Live-weight gain and N balance were slightly negative in the piglets. When toasted beans were given, live-weight gain and N balance values were reduced in piglets but hardly at all in rats. Giving raw beans caused hypertrophy of the pancreas in the rats but in piglets the weight of the pancreas was reduced. Spleen weight was depressed in the piglets but not in the rats. Weight of liver was not affected in either animal species. When toasted beans were given no effects on the weights of pancreas, spleen or liver were found in piglets or rats. It was concluded that the piglet is much more sensitive to antinutritional factors in the Phaseolus vulgaris bean than the rat.

Pancreatic response in rats and mice to trypsin inhibitors from soy and potato after short- and long-term dietary exposure

The effects on the pancreas of chronic (95 wk) dietary exposure to protease inhibitors from soy and potato were compared in rats and mice. Soy and potato trypsin inhibitor (TI) concentrates were prepared from defatted raw soy flour and potato juice, respectively, by selective precipitation and ultrafiltration. Animals were fed a diet in which casein supplied approximately 20% protein. Each concentrate (less than 1% of the diet) was added to provide 100 and 200 mg of trypsin inhibitor activity per 100 g of diet. In short-term (28 d) experiments in rats, both sources of TI decreased the apparent nutritional quality of casein and produced pancreatic hypertrophy consistent with a hormonally mediated feedback mechanism for pancreatic adaptation to diet that is interactive with the nutritional status of the animal. After long-term feeding (95 wk), soy and potato TI produced dose-related pancreatic pathology in rats consisting of nodular hyperplasia and acinar adenoma, which was typical of that associated with raw soy flour. Although mice responded similarly to rats to soy TI in short-term (28-d) feeding experiments, they were resistant to the formation of these lesions following long-term feeding. This considerable species variation in propensity to develop preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions of the pancreas is not predicted by the short-term hypertrophic and hyperplastic response of the pancreas to TI.

Hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the rat pancreas produced by short-term dietary administration of soya-derived protein and soybean trypsin inhibitor

Feeding soy protein concentrate to weanling rats over a one-week period produced a dose-related increase in pancreatic weight due to an increase in acinar cell size. Hyperplastic changes occur simultaneously, as evidenced by an increase in mitotic activity after two days on the test diet. Similar changes were also obtained by feeding soybean Kunitz trypsin inhibitor over the same time period. The results suggest that this approach may be useful as a model to investigate the effect of plant-derived material on the pancreas, in particular proliferative lesions.

Induction of ornithine decarboxylase activity in weanling rat pancreas by an orally administered soy protein isolate

The induction of ornithine decarboxylase activity in weanling rat pancreas by a trypsin inhibitor-containing soy protein isolate has been studied. Oral administration of the isolate at 0.8, 1.6, 4.0, 6.0, and 8.0 mg/g body wt produced marked elevations in enzyme activity, a response which was proportional to the amount of isolate administered. Ornithine decarboxylase activity was measured at 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 24 hr after the isolate was given. A statistically significant increase in enzyme activity was evident as early as 2 hr after treatment; maximal activity occurred at 6 hr and was approximately 140 times greater than the

Safety of trypsin inhibitors in the diet: effects on the rat pancreas of long-term feeding of soy flour and soy protein isolate

The effects on the pancreas of chronic dietary exposure to defatted soy flour and soy protein isolate have been studied in two two-year feeding trials in rats. Emphasis was placed on detecting changes that might accompany low levels of dietary trypsin inhibitor (TI) as might be found in edible grade soy products and on studying the influence of protein nutrition. The major pathological findings in the pancreas were nodular hyperplasia (NH), consisting of foci of hyperplastic acinar cells often grossly visible by six months, and the benign neoplastic lesion, acinar adenoma (AA), which developed more slowly. In the first feeding trial, the objectives were to obtain the dose-response relationship of pancreatic pathology to dietary TI provided by raw and heated soy flour and to study the nutritional interaction of protein level which was varied from 10% to 30% using casein supplementation. Also, the responses to raw and heated soy protein isolate were compared to determine whether the removal of more than 50% of the constituents found in soy flour would alter the development of pancreatic lesions. In the second trial, the effect of unusually low levels of TI in raw and heat-treated soy protein isolate, prepared through a salt extraction process and fed at 10% and 30% protein in the diet, was investigated. The incidence of both NH and AA was positively related to the TI content of the diet. The probit transformation of the percent incidence of AA was linearly related to the log of TI/g protein in the diet. A single curve best described the response to 20% and 30% protein, with a slope that was distinctly greater than that for 10% protein. The intersection of the two curves near the TI concentration of edible grade soy flour predicts that protein level in the diet can be expected to have essentially no effect on the incidence of AA when TI activity is in this range. But, for proteins containing greater concentrations of TI, increasing the level of protein in the diet will increase the incidence of pancreatic pathology, while for proteins with quite low levels of TI, increasing the protein in the diet above 10% will have a protective effect.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The effect of the long-term feeding of raw soy flour on the pancreas of the mouse and hamster

The effects of the long-term feeding of mice and hamsters with raw (RSF) or heated (HSF) soy flours were investigated both in the presence and absence of chemical carcinogens. Mice which had been fed RSF for 18 months had enlarged pancreas but only a relatively low incidence of atypical acinar cell nodules (AACN). Mice on either RSF or HSF were also relatively resistant to the carcinogenic effects of azaserine which is known to produce a high incidence of AACN in rats. Hamsters which had been fed RSF for 15 months did not exhibit pancreatic enlargement and had a very low incidence of pancreatic tumors. Although the incidence of tumors in hamsters which had been injected with N-nitrosobis (2-oxopropyl)amine and maintained on HSF was very high (88%), those on RSF had a tumor incidence of less than 10%. Thus, there appears to be a marked difference in the response of the pancreas in different species of animals to the long-term effects of feeding RSF. This should be taken into consideration in evaluating the potential carcinogenicity of the trypsin inhibitors.