Peanuts improve blood glutathione, HDL-cholesterol level and change tissue factor activity in rats fed a high-cholesterol diet

Nutrition, Thrombosis, and Cardiovascular Disease

Previous studies reported an inverse association between healthy dietary patterns (such as Mediterranean diet) and the incidence of cardiovascular events. As the mechanism accounting for cardiovascular disease is prevalently due to the atherothrombosis, where a pivotal role is played by platelet activation, it would be arguable that diets with protective effects against cardiovascular disease exert an anti-atherothrombotic effect via inhibition of platelet activation. There are several and sparse typologies of studies, which investigated if single nutrients by diets recognized as having cardiovascular protection may exert an antithrombotic effect. The most investigated nutrients are key components of the Mediterranean diets such as fruits and vegetables, fish, olive oil, and wine; other diets with protective effects include nuts and cocoa. Here we summarize experimental and human interventional studies which investigated the antithrombotic effects of such nutrients in experimental models of thrombosis or analyzed biomarkers of clotting, platelet, and fibrinolysis activation in human; furthermore in vitro studies explored the underlying mechanism at level of several cell lines such as platelets or endothelial cells. In this context, we analyzed if nutrients affect simultaneously or separately clotting, platelet, and fibrinolysis pathways giving special attention to the relationship between oxidative stress and thrombosis as most nutrients are believed to possess antioxidant properties.

Effects of Ankaferd Blood Stopper and Celox on the tissue factor activities of warfarin-treated rats

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of these new generation hemostatic agents on early-stage soft tissue healing of warfarin-treated rats by measuring the tissue factor (TF) activities. Rats in the warfarin group were treated intraperitonally with 0.1 mg/kg warfarin, and rats in the control group were treated with 1 mL/kg saline. All rats had 3 incisions on dorsal dermal tissue applied Celox, Ankaferd Blood Stopper (ABS), or no hemostatic agent. Six rats from each group were killed on day 4, and the other 6 were killed on day 8. Prothrombin time (PT) and TF activities were evaluated, respectively. Both the hemostatic agents positively affected the hemostasis. Warfarin treatment increased the PT levels as expected. Celox-treated dermal tissues had higher TF activity when compared to ABS-treated ones. The ABS affected the early-stage healing positively in clinical aspect, whereas Celox was more effective on hemostasis by means of increasing TF activities.

Antioxidant biomarkers and food intake in elderly women

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the relationship between antioxidant biomarkers and food intake in elderly women.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Recreation Center for the Elderly in the city of Itajaí, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

PARTICIPANTS

73 elderly women with an average age of 71 years, 93% caucasian, average body weight 68.7 ± 13.1 kg and average BMI 28.5 ± 2.3 kg/m².

MEASUREMENTS

Nutritional status was assessed based on the Body Mass Index (BMI). Data on food intake were obtained by applying the 24h diet recall method in three non-consecutive days, including Sunday. The assessment of antioxidant biomarkers was performed based on tests for total plasma thiols and phenolic compounds. The linear regression analysis was used to assess the effect of the consumption of food groups on antioxidant biomarkers.

RESULTS

A positive association was found between thiols and intake of carotenoid-rich vegetables (p=0.03), oils, fats and oilseeds (p=0.03); a negative association was observed between total concentrations of phenolic compounds and intake of cereals (p=0.04).

CONCLUSION

The intake of foods from the carotenoid-rich vegetables, oils, fats and oilseeds food groups increased the levels of plasma thiols, and the intake of foods from the group of cereals decreased the plasma concentration of phenols. Studies should be conducted to investigate the association between the intake of antioxidant-rich foods and the plasma antioxidant profile, as a way to protect against the aging process.

Peanut protein reduces body protein mass and alters skeletal muscle contractile properties and lipid metabolism in rats

It is well known that diets high in nuts or peanuts favourably affect plasma lipid concentrations. However, few studies have examined the effects of nut and peanut protein (PP) on body composition and skeletal muscle properties. The present study was aimed at evaluating the effect of dietary PP compared with two animal proteins, casein (C) and cod protein (CP) on body composition, skeletal muscle contractile properties and lipid metabolism in rats. Thirty-two male rats were assigned to one of the following four diets containing either C, CP, PP or C+peanut protein (CPP, 50:50) mixture. After 28 d of ad libitum feeding and after 12-h fast, blood, liver and muscle were collected for measurements of plasma and hepatic cholesterol and TAG, plasma glucose and insulin and contractile properties. Rats fed with the low-quality protein, PP, had lower body weight gain, body protein mass, soleus mass and liver weight than those fed with the high-quality dietary proteins, C and CP. PP also caused a deficit in contractile properties in soleus. Likewise, PP increased plasma cholesterol and body fat mass compared with CP. However, these elevations were accompanied with increased hepatic TAG concentrations and lowered intestinal fat excretion. These results show that PP intake alters body composition by reducing skeletal muscle mass and liver weight as well as muscle contractility and lipid metabolism. Adding a complete protein such as C might partially counteract these adverse effects.