Higher doses of ascorbic acid may have the potential to promote nutrient delivery via intestinal paracellular absorption

Effect of dietary antioxidants on excretion of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) via regulating uptake transporters expression and intestinal permeability in mice

Dietary antioxidants, including 2,6-di-tert-butyl-hydroxytoluene (BHT), α-tocopherol (αT) and tea polyphenol (TP), have been widely used in food. However, no data about the effect of food antioxidants on PFOA excretion were available. In this study, excretion of PFOA toward mice (four mice in each group) under the influence of co-ingested food antioxidants (i.e., BHT, αT, and TP) were investigated, and mechanism involved in excretion of PFOA, including RNA expression of uptake and efflux transporters in kidneys and liver involved in PFOA transport and intestinal permeability were also investigated. Chronic exposure to BHT (1.56 mg/kg) increased urinary PFOA excretion from 1795 ± 340 ng/mL (control) to 3340 ± 29.9 ng/mL (BHT treatment). TP treatment (12.5 mg/kg) decreased urinary excretion of PFOA, i.e., with a decrease percentage of 70% compared to the control. Organic anion transporting polypeptides (Oatps) act as uptake transporter mediate renal elimination or reabsorption of PFOA in the kidney. The decrease in urinary excretion of PFOA under TP treatment was associated with significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced expression of Oatp1a1 in the kidney (1.78 ± 0.58 vs 1.00 ± 0.18 in control), which facilitated renal reabsorption of PFOA and in turn decreased urinary excretion of PFOA. αT treatment (12.5 mg/kg) increased fecal PFOA excretion with a value of 228 ± 95.8 ng/g vs control (96.8 ± 22.7 ng/g). Mechanistic investigation revealed that αT treatment reduced intestinal permeability, resulting in increased fecal PFOA excretion.

Acetylsalicylic Acid-Primus Inter Pares in Pharmacology

Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) is one of the first drugs to be obtained by synthesis while being the most used. It has experienced the longest lasting commercial success and is considered the most popular drug of the modern era. ASA, originally used as an anti-inflammatory medication, nowadays is predominantly used as an antiplatelet agent for prophylaxis in cardiac patients. Many studies show that the benefits of using ASA far outweigh the potential risk of side effects. With particular emphasis on the possibility of ASA repositioning for new therapies, extending the indications for use beyond the diseases from the spectrum of atherosclerotic diseases, such as cancer, requires shifting the benefit-risk ratio, although very good, even more towards safety. Interesting activities consisting not only of changing the formulation but also modifying the drug molecule seem to be an important goal of the 21st century. ASA has become a milestone in two important fields: pharmacy and medicine. For a pharmacist, ASA is a long-used drug for which individual indications are practically maintained. For a doctor, acetylsalicylic acid is primarily an antiplatelet drug that saves millions of lives of patients with coronary heart disease or after a stroke. These facts do not exempt us from improving therapeutic methods based on ASA, the main goal of which is to reduce the risk of side effects, as well as to extend effectiveness. Modified acetylsalicylic acid molecules already seem to be a promising therapeutic option.

The Effects of Vitamins and Micronutrients on Helicobacter pylori Pathogenicity, Survival, and Eradication: A Crosstalk between Micronutrients and Immune System

Helicobacter pylori as a class I carcinogen is correlated with a variety of severe gastroduodenal diseases; therefore, H. pylori eradication has become a priority to prevent gastric carcinogenesis. However, due to the emergence and spread of multidrug and single drug resistance mechanisms in H. pylori, as well as serious side effects of currently used antibiotic interventions, achieving successful H. pylori eradication has become exceedingly difficult. Recent studies expressed the intention of seeking novel strategies to improve H. pylori management and reduce the risk of H. pylori-associated intestinal and extragastrointestinal disorders. For which, vitamin supplementation has been demonstrated in many studies to have a tight interaction with H. pylori infection, either directly through the regulation of the host inflammatory pathways or indirectly by promoting the host immune response. On the other hand, H. pylori infection is reported to result in micronutrient malabsorption or deficiency. Furthermore, serum levels of particular micronutrients, especially vitamin D, are inversely correlated to the risk of H. pylori infection and eradication failure. Accordingly, vitamin supplementation might increase the efficiency of H. pylori eradication and reduce the risk of drug-related adverse effects. Therefore, this review aims at highlighting the regulatory role of micronutrients in H. pylori-induced host immune response and their potential capacity, as intrinsic antioxidants, for reducing oxidative stress and inflammation. We also discuss the uncovered mechanisms underlying the molecular and serological interactions between micronutrients and H. pylori infection to present a perspective for innovative in vitro investigations, as well as novel clinical implications.