High and low inhibitor soybean meals affect human duodenal proteinase activity differently: in vitro comparison of proteinase inhibition

Evidence that the Bowman-Birk inhibitor from Pisum sativum affects intestinal proteolytic activities in chickens

Chicken diet essentially relies on soybean as the major source of proteins but there are increasing efforts to identify other protein-rich feedstuffs. Of these, some pea cultivars constitute interesting sources of proteins, although some of them contain antinutritional factors that may compromise the digestibility of their protein content. Consequently, chickens exhibit low performance, while undigested compounds rejected in feces have a negative environmental impact. In this article, we analyzed the intestinal content of chickens fed a pea diet (Pisum sativum) to decipher the mechanisms that could explain such a low digestibility. Using gelatin zymography, we observed that the contents of chicken fed the pea diet exhibit altered proteolytic activities compared with intestinal contents from chickens fed a rapeseed, corn, or soybean diet. This pea-specific profile parallels the presence of a 34 kDa protein band that resists proteolysis during the digestion process. Using mass spectrometry analysis, we demonstrated that this band contains the pea-derived Bowman-Birk protease inhibitor (BBI) and 3 chicken proteases, the well-known chymotrypsinogen 2-like (CTRB2) and trypsin II-P39 (PRSS2), and the yet uncharacterized trypsin I-P38 (PRSS3). All 3 proteases are assumed to be protease targets of BBI. Molecular modeling of the interaction of pea BBI with PRSS2 and PRSS3 trypsins reveals that electrostatic features of PRSS3 may favor the formation of a BBI-PRSS3 complex at physiological pH. We hypothesize that PRSS3 is specifically expressed and secreted in the intestinal lumen to form a complex with BBI, thereby limiting its inhibitory effects on PRSS2 and chymotrypsinogen 2-like proteases. These data clearly demonstrate that in chickens, feedstuff containing active pea BBI affects intestinal proteolytic activities. Further studies on the effects of BBI on the expression of PRSS3 by digestive segments will be useful to better appreciate the impact of pea on intestine physiology and function. From these results, we suggest that PRSS3 protease may represent an interesting biomarker of digestive disorders in chickens, similar to human PRSS3 that has been associated with gut pathologies.

Effects of Marine Oils, Digested with Human Fluids, on Cellular Viability and Stress Protein Expression in Human Intestinal Caco-2 Cells

In vitro digestion of marine oils has been reported to promote lipid oxidation, including the formation of reactive aldehydes (e.g., malondialdehyde (MDA) and 4-hydroxy-2-hexenal (HHE)). We aimed to investigate if human in vitro digestion of supplemental levels of oils from algae, cod liver, and krill, in addition to pure MDA and HHE, affect intestinal Caco-2 cell survival and oxidative stress. Cell viability was not significantly affected by the digests of marine oils or by pure MDA and HHE (0-90 μM). Cellular levels of HSP-70, a chaperone involved in the prevention of stress-induced protein unfolding was significantly decreased (14%, 28%, and 14% of control for algae, cod and krill oil, respectively; p ≤ 0.05). The oxidoreductase thioredoxin-1 (Trx-1) involved in reducing oxidative stress was also lower after incubation with the digested oils (26%, 53%, and 22% of control for algae, cod, and krill oil, respectively; p ≤ 0.001). The aldehydes MDA and HHE did not affect HSP-70 or Trx-1 at low levels (8.3 and 1.4 μM, respectively), whilst a mixture of MDA and HHE lowered Trx-1 at high levels (45 μM), indicating less exposure to oxidative stress. We conclude that human digests of the investigated marine oils and their content of MDA and HHE did not cause a stress response in human intestinal Caco-2 cells.

Formation of reactive aldehydes (MDA, HHE, HNE) during the digestion of cod liver oil: comparison of human and porcine in vitro digestion models

In this work, we investigated lipid oxidation of cod liver oil during gastrointestinal (GI) digestion using two types of in vitro digestion models. In the first type of model, we used human GI juices, while we used digestive enzymes and bile from porcine origin in the second type of model. Human and porcine models were matched with respect to factors important for lipolysis, using a standardized digestion protocol. The digests were analysed for reactive oxidation products: malondialdehyde (MDA), 4-hydroxy-trans-2-nonenal (HNE), and 4-hydroxy-trans-2-hexenal (HHE) by liquid chromatography/atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-mass spectrometry (LC/APCI-MS), and for free fatty acids (FFA) obtained during the digestion by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The formation of the oxidation products MDA, HHE, and HNE was low during the gastric digestion, however, it increased during the duodenal digestion. The formation of the oxidation products reached higher levels when digestive juices of human origin were used (60 μM of MDA, 9.8 μM of HHE, and 0.36 μM of HNE) [corrected] compared to when using enzymes and bile of porcine origin (0.96, and 1.6 μM of MDA; 0.16, and 0.23 μM of HHE; 0.026, [corrected] and 0.005 μM of HNE, respectively, in porcine models I and II). In all models, FFA release was only detected during the intestinal step, and reached up to 31% of total fatty acids (FA). The findings in this work may be of importance when designing oxidation oriented lipid digestion studies.

Effect of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate on growth and disease resistance of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus juveniles

The growth promoting effect of the bacterial storage compound poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) has been studied for young fish of high trophic level (European sea bass) and intermediate trophic level (Siberian sturgeon). Here, the effect of PHB on growth, digestive enzyme activities, body composition and diseases resistance of juvenile Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) of low trophic level was investigated. Although dietary PHB supplementation (5, 25 and 50 g PHB kg(-1) formulated semi-purified diet) during 28 days resulted in a trend of increased weight gain, there was no significant difference in the mean final body weight (258-284 mg) when compared to the fish from the control group (on average 218 mg). Lipase activity increased significantly with about 20-40% by the supplementation of PHB in the diet, which may have led to the significant increase in total lipid content with about 10% in the PHB treatment groups. However, the profile of total (n-6) fatty acids (FAs), total monounsaturated FAs and total saturated FAs relative to the total lipid was similar among various PHB treatments. An additional challenge test on gnotobiotic Nile tilapia larvae using the pathogen Edwardsiella ictaluri gly09R showed that feeding challenged larvae with PHB-enriched Artemia nauplii resulted in a 20% higher survival as compared to the challenged control larvae. Overall, it is suggested that the trend of increased body weight gain resulted from intestinal lipid digestion, absorption and deposition and that PHB is effective as an antimicrobial agent for application in Nile tilapia larviculture.

Release of EPA and DHA from salmon oil – a comparison of in vitro digestion with human and porcine gastrointestinal enzymes

In the present study, we hypothesised whether in vitro digestion of salmon oil would release different amounts of PUFA depending on the origin of the lipolytic enzymes used. For this purpose, in vitro digestion of salmon oil (SO) was performed using human duodenal juice (HDJ) or a commercial enzyme preparation consisting of porcine pancreatin and bile (PB). The lipolytic effect was determined by measuring the release of fatty acids (FA) using solid-phase extraction and GC–flame ionisation detection, withdrawing samples every 20 min during digestion. The amount of FA released indicated that a plateau was reached after 80 min with approximately similar amounts of FA detected using both HDJ and PB (379 (sd 18) and 352 (sd 23) mg/g SO, respectively). However, the release of 18 : 2, EPA (20 : 5) and DHA (22 : 6) was significantly different during in vitro digestion. At 80 min, HDJ and PB released 43 and 33 % of 18 : 2, 14 and 9 % of EPA and 11 and 9 % of DHA, respectively. Both enzyme preparations released approximately the same amounts of the other FA analysed. The effect of the addition of bile salts (BS) was significantly different in the two enzyme systems, where porcine pancreatin highly responded to the increase in BS concentration, in contrast to HDJ.

Human Gastrointestinal Juices Intended for Use in In Vitro Digestion Models

The aim of this study was to characterise the individual human gastric and duodenal juices to be used in in vitro model digestion and to examine the storage stability of the enzymes. Gastroduodenal juices were aspirated, and individual variations in enzymatic activities as well as total volumes, pH, bile acids, protein and bilirubin concentrations were recorded. Individual pepsin activity in the gastric juice varied by a factor of 10, while individual total proteolytic activity in the duodenal juice varied by a factor of 5. The duodenal amylase activity varied from 0 to 52.6 U/ml, and the bile acid concentration varied from 0.9 to 4.5 mM. Pooled gastric and duodenal juices from 18 volunteers were characterised according to pepsin activity (26.7 U/ml), total proteolytic activity (14.8 U/ml), lipase activity (951.0 U/ml), amylase activity (26.8 U/ml) and bile acids (4.5 mM). Stability of the main enzymes in two frozen batches of either gastric or duodenal juice was studied for 6 months. Pepsin activity decreased rapidly and adjusting the pH of gastric juice to 4 did not protect the pepsin from degradation. Lipase activity remained stable for 4 months, however decreased rapidly thereafter even after the addition of protease inhibitors. Glycerol only marginally stabilised the survival of the enzymatic activities. These results of compositional variations in the individual gastrointestinal juices and the effect of storage conditions on enzyme activities are useful for the design of in vitro models enabling human digestive juices to simulate physiological digestion.

A note on plasma cholecystokinin concentration in dairy cows

Changes in plasma cholecystokinin (CCK) levels after feeding were investigated in dairy cows. Three HolsteinFriesian lactating cows given concentrates at 06.00 and 13.00 h and hay at 16.30 h were used. Blood samples were taken from the jugular vein from 0 (before feeding, 13.00 h) to 6 h at 1-h intervals. The immunoreactivity of CCK was expressed in terms of the CCK-8 equivalent. The plasma concentration of CCK was not changed over the experimental period. This result might be reflected by the continuous flow of digesta from the rumen.

Different digestion of caprine whey proteins by human and porcine gastrointestinal enzymes

The objective of the present study was twofold: first to compare the degradation patterns of caprine whey proteins digested with either human digestive juices (gastric or duodenal) or commercial porcine enzymes (pepsin or pancreatic enzymes) and second to observe the effect of gastric pH on digestion. An in vitro two-step assay was performed at 37 degrees C to simulate digestion in the stomach (pH 2, 4 or 6) and the duodenum (pH 8). The whey proteins were degraded more efficiently by porcine pepsin than by human gastric juice at all pH values. Irrespective of the enzyme source, gastric digestion at pH 2 followed by duodenal digestion resulted in the most efficient degradation. Lactoferrin, serum albumin and the Ig heavy chains were highly degraded with less than 6 % remaining after digestion. About 15, 56 and 50 % Ig light chains, beta-lactoglobulin (beta-LG) and alpha-lactalbumin remained intact, respectively, when digested with porcine enzymes compared with 25, 74 and 81 % with human digestive juices. For comparison, purified bovine beta-LG was digested and the peptide profiles obtained were compared with those of the caprine beta-LG in the digested whey. The bovine beta-LG seemed to be more extensively cleaved than the caprine beta-LG in the whey. Commercial enzymes appear to digest whey proteins more efficiently compared with human digestive juices when used at similar enzyme activities. This could lead to conflicting results when comparing human in vivo protein digestion with digestion using purified enzymes of non-human species. Consequently the use of human digestive juices might be preferred.

Characterization of major midgut proteinase cDNAs from Helicoverpa armigera larvae and changes in gene expression in response to four proteinase inhibitors in the diet

A Helicoverpa armigera larval midgut cDNA library from larvae raised on an artificial, protein-rich, inhibitor-free diet contained very large numbers of serine proteinase positive clones. DNA sequencing of six random positive cDNAs and 12 PCR derived products identified trypsin genes classifiable into three families, and chymotrypsin and elastase genes classifiable into a single family each. Genomic blots established that the most highly expressed of the trypsin families contained about 18 genes, and that the chymotrypsin and elastase families contained about 14 and 2 genes respectively. The levels of mRNA corresponding to the highly expressed trypsin and chymotrypsin families were determined following chronic ingestion of four proteinase inhibitors. Compared to insects on an inhibitor-free diet, chymotrypsin mRNA was increased by all inhibitors, and trypsin mRNA levels decreased. This occurred independent of whether the inhibitor was solely a trypsin inhibitor (aprotinin), an inhibitor of both trypsin and chymotrypsin (proteinase inhibitor II, soybean trypsin inhibitor) or predominantly a chymotrypsin inhibitor (proteinase inhibitor I). Changing the protein level of the diet did not affect trypsin mRNA levels, but chymotrypsin mRNA levels decreased with increasing dietary protein.

The adaptation of insects to plant protease inhibitors

Plants and herbivores have been co-evolving for thousands of years, and as a result, plants have defence mechanisms that offer protection against many herbivores such as nematodes, insects, birds and mammals. Only when a herbivore has managed to adapt to these defence mechanisms does it have the potential to become a pest. One such method of plant defence involves the production of protease inhibitors (PIs). These inhibitors are proteins that may be found constitutively in various parts of the plant, or may be induced in response to herbivore attack. PIs work at the gut level, by inhibiting the digestion of plant protein. This review focuses on insect herbivores and looks at the mechanisms involved in the role and function of PIs in plant defense against insects, as well as at the ability of well adapted species to overcome the effects of these plant PIs.

Dietary regulation of serine proteinases that are resistant to serine proteinase inhibitors

Ingestion of Kunitz soybean trypsin inhibitor (STI) by larval Helicoverpa zea, Agrotis ipsilon, and Trichoplusia ni extended the retention time of food in the digestive tract and increased the level of activity of proteolytic enzymes that were not susceptible to inhibition by STI. The level of enhancement of activity of STI-resistant (STI-R) enzyme(s) was directly influenced by the dosage and timing of exposure to STI. However, not all proteinase inhibitors (PIs) enhanced the level of proteinase inhibitor resistant (PI-R) enzymes, even if those PIs inhibited a significant proportion of enzyme activity. These findings suggest that a complex system may be responsible for the regulation of proteolytic enzymes in the midgut of larval Lepidoptera, and one hypothesis for this regulation is proposed.

Disruption of the serine proteinase gene (sep) in Aspergillus flavus leads to a compensatory increase in the expression of a metalloproteinase gene (mep20)

The serine proteinase gene (sep) in Aspergillus flavus was disrupted by homologous recombination with a hygromycin resistance gene as the marker. The gene-disrupted mutant GR-2 contained a single-copy insertion of the marker gene and did not express the sep gene. Serine proteinase activity, 36-kDa protein labeled by 3H-diisopropylfluorophosphate, and immunologically detectable proteinase were not detected in the culture fluid of GR-2. Despite the absence of the serine proteinase, the total elastinolytic activity levels in the mutant and the wild-type A.flavus were comparable. Immunoblots revealed that the mutant secreted greater amounts of an elastinolytic metalloproteinase gene (mep20) product than did the wild type. Furthermore, mep20 mRNA levels, measured by RNase protection assay, in the mutant were higher than those in the wild type. Inhibition of the serine proteinase by Streptomyces subtilisin inhibitor (SSI) in the culture medium of wild-type A.flavus also resulted in an elevation of mep20 gene products. Although no serine proteinase activity could be detected, the level of elastinolytic activity of the SSI-treated culture was comparable to that of the control. Immunoblots revealed that the addition of SSI caused an elevation in the levels of metalloproteinase and its mRNA. These results suggest that the expression of the genes encoding serine and metalloproteinases are controlled by a common regulatory system and the fungus has a mechanism to sense the status of extracellular proteolytic activities.

Adaptation of Spodoptera exigua larvae to plant proteinase inhibitors by induction of gut proteinase activity insensitive to inhibition

Tobacco plants were transformed with a cDNA clone of chymotrypsin/trypsin-specific potato proteinase inhibitor II (PI2) under the control of a constitutive promoter. Although considerable levels of transgene expression could be demonstrated, the growth of Spodoptera exigua larvae fed with detached leaves of PI2-expressing plants was not affected. Analysis of the composition of tryptic gut activity demonstrated that only 18% of the proteinase activity of insects reared on these transgenic plants was sensitive to inhibition by PI2, whereas 78% was sensitive in insects reared on control plants. Larvae had compensated for this loss of tryptic activity by a 2.5-fold induction of new activity that was insensitive to inhibition by PI2. PI2-insensitive proteolytic activity was also induced in response to endogenous proteinase inhibitors of tobacco; therefore, induction of such proteinase activity may represent the mechanism by which insects that feed on plants overcome plant proteinase inhibitor defense.

Raw soybeans stimulate human pancreatic proteinase secretion

Intraduodenal instillation of raw soybeans stimulated pancreatic proteinase secretion in humans. Raw soybeans almost abolished the activity of chymotrypsin and severely reduced (50%) the tryptic activity. Immunoreactive tryptic and chymotryptic material simultaneously appeared in amounts 2 to 4 times basal concentrations. This increase, demonstrated with rocket immunoelectrophoresis, was begun within the first 10 min of soybean instillation. The enhanced secretion also persisted throughout the succeeding saline instillation, and it is suggested that the presence of Kunitz trypsin inhibitor contributed to this postprandial stimulation. An amidase that hydrolyzes low-molecular-weight substrates (i.e., benzoyl-arginine p-nitroanilide) was found in raw soybeans. Its low activity was not assumed to substantially bias standard trypsin assays. The increased proteinase secretion was, as previously published, not preceded by an elevated plasma cholecystokinin concentration. The raw soybeans also caused a nonparallel secretion of amylase and proteinases. Nervous, perhaps cholinergic, regulation mediates the inhibitor-stimulated proteinase secretion in humans. This stimulation yields both a general increase of proteinases and also a specific inhibitor-resistant trypsin. This is consistent with the physiologic need for proenzyme-activation in the presence of inhibitors and for restoration of the proteolytic capacity of the duodenal juice.

Influence of dietary protein concentrations or of duodenal amino acid infusion on cholecystokinin release in goats

1. Whether dietary protein levels or duodenal infusion of amino acids alters the release of cholecystokinin (CCK) in blood plasma of goats was investigated in three experiments. The CCK determination was done by radioimmunoassay with specific CCK-8 antibody. The male adult Shiba goat, a miniature Japanese native goat, was used. 2. In Experiment 1, four goats were offered a diet containing 4.94 g crude protein (CP)/kg BW0.75 for the first 7 days. They were then given a diet containing 5.86 g CP/kg BW0.75 for 7 days and thereafter 6.79 g CP/kg BW0.75 for the following 7 days. On the last day of each experimental period, blood samples were taken from the jugular vein at zero (before feeding), 30, 60, 120, 240 or 360 min after the feeding of the diet. Plasma CCK levels were not affected by dietary protein levels and time after feeding. 3. Influence of phenylalanine or tryptophan (2 mmol/20 ml) infusion into the duodenum was investigated by a 3 x 3 latin square in Experiment 2. Plasma CCK level was determined at 15 min intervals for 1 hr. Both phenylalanine and tryptophan gradually enhanced plasma CCK concentrations with time after infusion. 4. Branched-chain amino acids such as leucine and isoleucine were supplemented intraduodenally in Experiment 3 as in Experiment 2. No significant change in plasma CCK levels was observed.

Characterization of a human trypsin resistant to Kunitz soybean trypsin inhibitor. Studies of duodenal juices after tube instillation of raw soybean extract

Human duodenal juices collected during tube instillation of raw soybean extract into the duodenum contained free trypsin and free Kuntiz soybean trypsin inhibitor (KTI) in the simultaneous presence of trypsin-KTI complexes. It has previously been suggested that this KTI-non-inhibitable trypsin has a general resistance to serine protease inhibitors. Four different trypsin forms have been found and partly characterized by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing followed by Western immunoblotting or enzyme staining. In addition, crossed immunoelectrophoresis and affinity chromatography with antibody-coupled gels have been used for identification of free and inhibitor-complexed trypsin.

Raw soy and purified proteinase inhibitors induce the appearance of inhibitor-resistant trypsin and chymotrypsin activities in Wistar rat duodenal juice

Rats were fed raw soybeans or purified soybean proteinase inhibitors by tube to see whether they were able to produce inhibitor-resistant trypsin, as previously demonstrated in humans. Their duodenal chyme contained only 20-50% of the enzymatic activities of animals fed bovine serum albumin (BSA) as test protein. However, both tryptic and chymotryptic activities had considerable resistance to low- and high-molecular-weight inhibitors of serine proteinases. In particular, the tryptic activity demonstrated a high degree of inhibitor resistance. Human alpha 1-antitrypsin and lima bean inhibitor in amounts that inhibited bovine serum albumin-induced trypsin completely caused only 2-12% inhibition of the raw soybean-induced tryptic activity. The inhibitor-resistant tryptic and chymotryptic activities after raw soybean instillation might be caused by the Bowman-Birk and Kunitz trypsin inhibitors. The physiologic significance of an inhibitor-resistant trypsin might be to assure activation of other pancreatic proenzymes. The results of the present rat experiments confirm the previous findings of inhibitor-resistant trypsin in humans.

Enhanced release of cholecystokinin by soya-bean trypsin inhibitor in chickens

Whether ingestion of soya-bean trypsin inhibitor (SBTI) alters the release of cholecystokinin (CCK) was investigated in chickens. A meal of an adequate diet supplemented with SBTI (0, 100, or 1000 mg/kg) was given through a stomach tube, followed by CCK determination with specific CCK-8 antibody. The plasma CCK level increased from a basal level (control diet) of 9.6 +/- 0.6 to 13.4 +/- 0.6 and 18.1 +/- 0.8 fmol/ml plasma at 90 min after feeding the diet supplemented with 100 and 1000 mg SBTI, respectively. Since the SBTI supplementation did not affect crop emptying rates significantly, it was concluded that SBTI by itself enhanced CCK release into circulation in a dose-dependent fashion.

High and low inhibitor soybean meals affect human duodenal proteinase activity differently: in vivo comparison with bovine serum albumin

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of high and low inhibitor soybean meals on the duodenal enzyme activities and on the possible regulatory role of gastrointestinal hormones in the pancreatic response. After an overnight fast, 11 healthy volunteers received an intraduodenal infusion of saline for 60 min. This was followed by infusion of either of three test meals: extract of raw soybeans (RS), a low inhibitor soy protein isolate (SPI) or bovine serum albumin (BSA), 10 g/h for 60 min. Then saline was again given intraduodenally for 30 min. Gastric juice was collected continuously and duodenal juice and peripheral blood samples were collected every 10 min. Duodenal chymotryptic activity was severely inhibited by RS, whereas SPI and BSA increased the chymotryptic activity. Tryptic activity showed a transient reduction (55%) during RS infusion, whereas BSA and in particular SPI increased the tryptic activity. No change was seen in amylase activity. The lack of total inhibition of tryptic activity has been studied further and is the subject of the accompanying paper. The peripheral plasma levels of cholecystokinin (CCK) increased significantly during BSA but not during SPI or RS infusions. Thus, CCK levels were not increased by the inhibition of the proteolytic activity by RS in duodenal juice.