Regulation of intestinal immunity by dietary fatty acids

Gastrointestinal mucositis: a sign of a (systemic) inflammatory response

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Gastrointestinal mucositis (GIM) is a significant complication of cancer therapy. Whilst inflammation is a central feature of GIM, studies attempting to mitigate mucosal damage via this mechanism are scarce. This review describes the relation between GIM, local and systemic inflammation, and the microbiome and its metabolites, and explores recent research on therapeutics that target this relationship.

RECENT FINDINGS

Recent literature underscores the pivotal role of inflammation in GIM, elucidating its bidirectional relation with disturbance of the gut microbiota composition and intestinal permeability. These events cause a heightened risk of bloodstream infections and lead to systemic inflammation. While studies investigating risk prediction models or therapeutics targeting GIM-related inflammation remain scarce, results have shown promise in finding biomarkers and alleviating GIM and its accompanying clinical symptoms.

SUMMARY

The findings underscore the important role of inflammation and the microbiome in GIM. Understanding the inflammatory pathways driving GIM is crucial for developing effective treatments. Further research is needed using genomics, epigenomics, and microbiomics to explore better risk prediction models or therapeutic strategies aimed at mitigating GIM-related inflammation.

A comprehensive review of medium chain monoglycerides on metabolic pathways, nutritional and functional properties, nanotechnology formulations and applications in food system

A large and growing body of literature has investigated the broad antibacterial spectrum and strong synergistic antimicrobial activity of medium chain monoglycerides (MCMs) have been widely investigated. Recently, more and more researches have focused on the regulation of MCMs on metabolic health and gut microbiota both in vivo and in vitro. The current review summarizes the digestion, absorption and metabolism of MCMs. Subsequently, it focuses on the functional and nutritional properties of MCMs, including the antibacterial and antiviral characteristics, the modulation of metabolic balance, the regulation of gut microbiota, and the improvement in intestinal health. Additionally, we discuss the most recent developments and application of MCMs using nanotechnologies in food industry, poultry and pharmaceutical industry. Additionally, we analyze recent application examples of MCMs and their nanotechnology formation used in food. The development of nanotechnology platforms facilitating molecular encapsulation and functional presentation contribute to the application of hydrophobic fatty acids and monoglycerides in food preservation and their antibacterial effectiveness. This study emphasizes the metabolic mechanisms and biological activity of MCMs by summarizing the prevailing state of knowledge on this topic, as well as providing insights into prospective techniques for developing the beneficial applications of MCMs to realize the industrialized production.

Quantitative Analysis of NKX2-3 Expression in Human Colon: An Immunohistochemical Study

In mice, Nkx2-3 homeodomain transcription factor defines the vascular specification of secondary and tertiary lymphoid tissues of the intestines. In human studies, polymorphisms in NKX2-3 have been identified as a susceptibility factor in inflammatory bowel diseases, whereas in mice, its absence is associated with protection against experimental colitis and enhanced intestinal epithelial proliferation. Here, we investigated the expression of NKX2-3 in normal, polyp, and adenocarcinoma human colon samples using immunohistochemistry and quantitative morphometry, correlating its expression with endothelial and mesenchymal stromal markers. Our results revealed that the expression of NKX2-3 is regionally confined to the lamina propria and lamina muscularis mucosae, and its production is restricted mostly to endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells with variable co-expression of CD34, alpha smooth muscle antigen (αSMA), and vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1). The frequency of NKX2-3-positive cells and intensity of expression correlated inversely with aging. Furthermore, in most colorectal carcinoma samples, we observed a significant reduction of NKX2-3 expression. These findings indicate that the NKX2-3 transcription factor is produced by both endothelial and non-endothelial tissue constituents in the colon, and its expression changes during aging and in colorectal malignancies. (J Histochem Cytochem XX: XXX-XXX, XXXX).

Oral Delivery of Transformable Bilirubin Self-Assembled System for Targeted Therapy of Colitis

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a high incidence disease worldwide and clinically presents as relapsing and incurable inflammation of the colon. Bilirubin (BR), a natural antioxidant with significant anti-colitic effects, is utilized in preclinical studies as an intestinal disease therapy. Due to their water-insolubility, the design of BR-based agents usually involves complicated chemosynthetic processes, introducing various uncertainties in BR development. After screening numerous materials, it is identified that chondroitin sulfate can efficiently mediate the construction of BR self-assembled nanomedicine (BSNM) via intermolecular hydrogen bonds between dense sulfate and carboxyl of chondroitin sulfate and imino groups of BR. BSNM exhibits pH sensitivity and reactive oxygen species responsiveness, enabling targeted delivery to the colon. After oral administration, BSNM significantly inhibits colonic fibrosis and apoptosis of colon and goblet cells; it also reduces the expression of inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, BSNM maintains the normal level of zonula occludens-1 and occludin to sustain the integrity of intestinal barrier, regulates the macrophage polarization from M1 to M2 type, and promotes the ecological recovery of intestinal flora. Collectively, the work provides a colon-targeted and transformable BSNM that is simple to prepare and is useful as an efficient targeted UC therapy.

Temporary consumption of western diet trains the immune system to reduce future gut inflammation

Urbanization drives the popularity of western diet (WD), which increased burden in metabolic diseases but also in inflammatory diseases. Here, we show continuous WD disrupted the gut barrier, initiating low-grade inflammation and enhancing the colitis response. Nevertheless, transient WD consumption followed by ad libitum normal diet enhanced mucin production and tight junction protein expression in recovered mice. Furthermore, transient WD consumption surprisingly reduced the subsequent inflammatory response in DSS colitis and Citrobacter rodentium-infection induced colitis. The protective effect of WD training was not sex-dependent, and co-housing experiments suggested microbiota changes were not responsible. We identified important roles for cholesterol biosynthesis pathway and macrophages, pointing to innate myeloid training. Together, these data suggest detrimental effects of WD consumption can be reversed on return to a healthier diet. Furthermore, transient WD consumption leads to beneficial immune training, suggesting an evolutionary mechanism to benefit from feasting when abundant food is available.

Mucositis and Infection in Hematology Patients

Survival in patients with hematological malignancies has improved over the years, both due to major developments in anticancer treatment, as well as in supportive care. Nevertheless, important and debilitating complications of intensive treatment regimens still frequently occur, including mucositis, fever and bloodstream infections. Exploring potential interacting mechanisms and directed therapies to counteract mucosal barrier injury is of the utmost importance if we are to continue to improve care for this increasingly growing patient population. In this perspective, I highlight recent advances in our understanding of the relation of mucositis and infection.

Fat Quality Impacts the Effect of a High-Fat Diet on the Fatty Acid Profile, Life History Traits and Gene Expression in Drosophila melanogaster

Feeding a high-fat diet (HFD) has been shown to alter phenotypic and metabolic parameters in Drosophila melanogaster. However, the impact of fat quantity and quality remains uncertain. We first used butterfat (BF) as an example to investigate the effects of increasing dietary fat content (3-12%) on male and female fruit flies. Although body weight and body composition were not altered by any BF concentration, health parameters, such as lifespan, fecundity and larval development, were negatively affected in a dose-dependent manner. When fruit flies were fed various 12% HFDs (BF, sunflower oil, olive oil, linseed oil, fish oil), their fatty acid profiles shifted according to the dietary fat qualities. Moreover, fat quality was found to determine the effect size of the response to an HFD for traits, such as lifespan, climbing activity, or fertility. Consistently, we also found a highly fat quality-specific transcriptional response to three exemplary HFD qualities with a small overlap of only 30 differentially expressed genes associated with the immune/stress response and fatty acid metabolism. In conclusion, our data indicate that not only the fat content but also the fat quality is a crucial factor in terms of life-history traits when applying an HFD in D. melanogaster.