Dietary polyamine intake and polyamines measured in urine

Probiotic induced synthesis of microbiota polyamine as a nutraceutical for metabolic syndrome and obesity-related type 2 diabetes

The gut microbiota regulates multiple facets of host metabolism and immunity through the production of signaling metabolites, such as polyamines which are small organic compounds that are essential to host cell growth and lymphocyte activation. Polyamines are most abundant in the intestinal lumen, where their synthesis by the gut microbiota is influenced by microbiome composition and host diet. Disruption of the host gut microbiome in metabolic syndrome and obesity-related type 2 diabetes (obesity/T2D) results in potential dysregulation of polyamine synthesis. A growing body of evidence suggests that restoration of the dysbiotic gut microbiota and polyamine synthesis is effective in ameliorating metabolic syndrome and strengthening the impaired immune responses of obesity/T2D. In this review, we discuss existing studies on gut microbiome determinants of polyamine synthesis, polyamine production in obesity/T2D, and evidence that demonstrates the potential of polyamines as a nutraceutical in obesity/T2D hosts.

Mechanistic Biomarkers in Toxicology

Biomarkers are important parameters that are reliable, applicable, reproducible, and generally inexpensive. All biomarkers have a significant role in human health, especially mechanistic biomarkers, which are the most important for the prevention of toxic effects and diseases. They demonstrate the possibility of diagnosis, prognosis, recurrence, and spread of disease. Furthermore, they show the exposure levels to numerous chemical, biological, and physical agents. To date, the development and application of biomarkers require the knowledge of mechanisms underlying their production. Therefore, the present study focused on the possible mechanistic biomarkers.

Effect of Tart Cherry on Aromatase Inhibitor-Induced Arthralgia (AIA) in Nonmetastatic Hormone-Positive Breast Cancer Patients: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND

Aromatase Inhibitor induced Arthralgia (AIA) can cause noncompliance leading to decreased breast-cancer survival. Effective interventions for AIA are limited. Tart cherry (TC) showed beneficial effect on musculoskeletal pain. 48 patients (Pts) randomized to TC versus placebo over 6 weeks, TC (23pts) had 34.7% mean pain decrease versus 1.4% in Placebo (25pts). TC can improve AIA in nonmetastatic breast-cancer patients.

METHODS

Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. Eligible patients with NMHPBC on AI for at least 4 weeks were randomized to TC concentrate [50 tart cherries] vs. placebo (P) [syrup] in 1:1 model. Patients instructed to consume 1 Oz of concentrate in 8 Oz water daily for 6 weeks, and document their pain intensity at baseline, weekly and at study completion in a diary using Visual Analog Scale (VAS), with 0 mm indicating no pain, and 100 mm indicating highest pain.

RESULTS

Sixty patients were enrolled. Two patients did not complete the study due to diarrhea, and 10 patients were noncompliant. Forty-eight patients were included in the final analysis. TC group (23 pts) had 34.7% mean decrease in pain compared to 1.4% in P group (25 pts). This difference was statistically significant (Mann-Whitney U Test, P = .034).

CONCLUSIONS

Tart cherry can significantly improve AIA in nonmetastatic breast cancer patient.

Genomics and metagenomics of colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common cancer globally. It is a complex disease influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Early studies on familial cases have identified major genes involved in CRC, such as proto-oncogenes KRAS, PIK3CA and BRAF, and tumour-suppressor genes APC and TP53. These genes have provided valuable insight into the molecular pathogenesis of CRC, and some have made ways to clinical utility to help diagnose cancer syndromes, prognosticate oncological outcomes and predict treatment responses. While these genetic factors are important, recent studies have suggested contribution of microorganisms to colorectal carcinogenesis. Observational studies, animal experiments and translational works have identified several microorganisms as potential carcinogenic bacteria, such as Fusobacterium nucleatum and Peptostreptococcus anaerobius. With the advent of sequencing technology and bioinformatics, more genomic and metagenomic factors are being uncovered as important players in CRC carcinogenesis. This article aims to review recent genomic and metagenomic discoveries relating to CRC.

Salivary metabolomics with alternative decision tree-based machine learning methods for breast cancer discrimination

PURPOSE

The aim of this study is to explore new salivary biomarkers to discriminate breast cancer patients from healthy controls.

METHODS

Saliva samples were collected after 9 h fasting and were immediately stored at - 80 °C. Capillary electrophoresis and liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry were used to quantify hundreds of hydrophilic metabolites. Conventional statistical analyses and artificial intelligence-based methods were used to assess the discrimination abilities of the quantified metabolites. A multiple logistic regression (MLR) model and an alternative decision tree (ADTree)-based machine learning method were used. The generalization abilities of these mathematical models were validated in various computational tests, such as cross-validation and resampling methods.

RESULTS

One hundred sixty-six unstimulated saliva samples were collected from 101 patients with invasive carcinoma of the breast (IC), 23 patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), and 42 healthy controls (C). Of the 260 quantified metabolites, polyamines were significantly elevated in the saliva of patients with breast cancer. Spermine showed the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic curves [0.766; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.671-0.840, P < 0.0001] to discriminate IC from C. In addition to spermine, polyamines and their acetylated forms were elevated in IC only. Two hundred each of two-fold, five-fold, and ten-fold cross-validation using different random values were conducted and the MLR model had slightly better accuracy. The ADTree with an ensemble approach showed higher accuracy (0.912; 95% CI 0.838-0.961, P < 0.0001). These prediction models also included spermine as a predictive factor.

CONCLUSIONS

These data indicated that combinations of salivary metabolomics with the ADTree-based machine learning methods show potential for non-invasive screening of breast cancer.

Cancer pharmacoprevention: Targeting polyamine metabolism to manage risk factors for colon cancer

Cancer is a set of diseases characterized by uncontrolled cell growth. In certain cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) tumor suppressor gene is altered in either germline or somatic cells and causes formation of risk factors, such as benign colonic or intestinal neoplasia, which can progress to invasive cancer. APC is a key component of the WNT pathway, contributing to normal GI tract development, and APC alteration results in dysregulation of the pathway for production of polyamines, which are ubiquitous cations essential for cell growth. Studies with mice have identified nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), an inhibitor of polyamine synthesis, as potent inhibitors of colon carcinogenesis. Moreover, gene expression profiling has uncovered that NSAIDs activate polyamine catabolism and export. Several DFMO-NSAID combination strategies are effective and safe methods for reducing risk factors in clinical trials with patients having genetic or sporadic risk of colon cancer. These strategies affect cancer stem cells, inflammation, immune surveillance, and the microbiome. Pharmacotherapies consisting of drug combinations targeting the polyamine pathway provide a complementary approach to surgery and cytotoxic cancer treatments for treating patients with cancer risk factors. In this Minireview, we discuss the role of polyamines in colon cancer and highlight the mechanisms of select pharmacoprevention agents to delay or prevent carcinogenesis in humans.

What We Know and What We Need to Know about Aromatic and Cationic Biogenic Amines in the Gastrointestinal Tract

Biogenic amines derived from basic and aromatic amino acids (B/A-BAs), polyamines, histamine, serotonin, and catecholamines are a group of molecules playing essential roles in many relevant physiological processes, including cell proliferation, immune response, nutrition and reproduction. All these physiological effects involve a variety of tissue-specific cellular receptors and signalling pathways, which conforms to a very complex network that is not yet well-characterized. Strong evidence has proved the importance of this group of molecules in the gastrointestinal context, also playing roles in several pathologies. This work is based on the hypothesis that integration of biomedical information helps to reach new translational actions. Thus, the major aim of this work is to combine scientific knowledge on biomolecules, metabolism and physiology of the main B/A-BAs involved in the pathophysiology of the gastrointestinal tract, in order to point out important gaps in information and other facts deserving further research efforts in order to connect molecular information with pathophysiological observations.

Dietary protein source and butyrylated high-amylose maize starch included in a high-protein diet determines the urinary metabolome of rats

Intake of red and processed meat increases the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), whereas dairy product consumption and the intake of dietary fibre are negatively associated with this risk. We investigated the effect of (i) low-protein diets with either whey or cooked meat (beef) as the protein source and (ii) high-protein diets with cooked meat (beef) either without or with the inclusion of 10% butyrylated high-amylose maize starch (HAMSB), on the urinary metabolome of rats. Urine samples from rats were analysed using untargeted LC-MS metabolomics. The level and source of the dietary protein affected the urinary excretion of numerous metabolites indicating that several metabolic pathways were changed. The inclusion of HAMSB in a high-protein diet caused significant alterations in the excretion of several metabolites. HAMSB reduced urinary excretion of potentially harmful metabolites resulting from a high level of meat consumption.

Effect of storage conditions on salivary polyamines quantified via liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Salivary polyamines are potential non-invasive tools for screening various types of cancers. For clinical use, the reproducibility of these metabolites should be evaluated under various storage conditions, including duration and temperature, to establish standard operating protocols. Polyamines and amino acids in unstimulated whole saliva were quantified via liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Concentrations of time course samples were analysed after short-term storage for up to 240 min and long-term storage for up to 8 days under various storage conditions. As expected, storage at the lowest temperature (-18 °C) exerted the least pronounced effects on the quantified values in both tests. At a higher temperature, polyamines were more stable than amino acids, as evident from polyamine profiling. Addition of ethanol significantly stabilized polyamine profiles even at a higher temperature. Comparative processing of saliva revealed a minor effect of the solvent, whereas drying had a more prominent effect on polyamine profiles. Computational analyses evaluated the ability of polyamines to discriminate pancreatic cancer from controls. Repeated noise added tests were designed on the basis of the results of the storage tests; these analyses confirmed that the discriminative abilities were robust. These data contribute to the standardization of salivary storage conditions, thereby highlighting the clinical utility of saliva.

A Review of the Health Benefits of Cherries

Increased oxidative stress contributes to development and progression of several human chronic inflammatory diseases. Cherries are a rich source of polyphenols and vitamin C which have anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Our aim is to summarize results from human studies regarding health benefits of both sweet and tart cherries, including products made from them (juice, powder, concentrate, capsules); all referred to as cherries here. We found 29 (tart 20, sweet 7, unspecified 2) published human studies which examined health benefits of consuming cherries. Most of these studies were less than 2 weeks of duration (range 5 h to 3 months) and served the equivalent of 45 to 270 cherries/day (anthocyanins 55–720 mg/day) in single or split doses. Two-thirds of these studies were randomized and placebo controlled. Consumption of cherries decreased markers for oxidative stress in 8/10 studies; inflammation in 11/16; exercise-induced muscle soreness and loss of strength in 8/9; blood pressure in 5/7; arthritis in 5/5, and improved sleep in 4/4. Cherries also decreased hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C), Very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) and triglycerides/high-density lipoprotein (TG/HDL) in diabetic women, and VLDL and TG/HDL in obese participants. These results suggest that consumption of sweet or tart cherries can promote health by preventing or decreasing oxidative stress and inflammation.

Urinary Polyamines: A Pilot Study on Their Roles as Prostate Cancer Detection Biomarkers

Current screening methods towards prostate cancer (PCa) are not without limitations. Research work has been on-going to assess if there are other better tests suitable for primary or secondary screening of PCa to supplement the serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, which fails to work accurately in a grey zone of 4-10ng/ml. In this pilot study, the potential roles of urinary polyamines as prostate cancer biomarkers were evaluated. PCa, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients and healthy controls (HC) showing PSA>4.0ng/ml were enrolled in the study. Their urine samples were obtained, and the urinary levels of putrescine (Put), spermidine (Spd) and spermine (Spm) were determined by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (UPLC-MS/MS). Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve and Student’s t-test were used to evaluate their diagnostic accuracies. Among the three biogenic polyamines, Spm had demonstrated a good diagnostic performance when comparing their levels in PCa patients with BPH patients (1.47 in PCa vs 5.87 in BPH; p<0.0001). Results are in accordance with transrectal ultrasound prostatic biopsy (TRUSPB) results, with an area under curve (AUC) value of 0.83±0.03. Therefore urinary Spm shows potential to serve as a novel PCa diagnostic biomarker, which in turn can help to address the limited sensitivity and specificity problem of serum PSA test.

Metabolomics: beyond biomarkers and towards mechanisms

Metabolomics, which is the profiling of metabolites in biofluids, cells and tissues, is routinely applied as a tool for biomarker discovery. Owing to innovative developments in informatics and analytical technologies, and the integration of orthogonal biological approaches, it is now possible to expand metabolomic analyses to understand the systems-level effects of metabolites. Moreover, because of the inherent sensitivity of metabolomics, subtle alterations in biological pathways can be detected to provide insight into the mechanisms that underlie various physiological conditions and aberrant processes, including diseases.