Nitro-fatty acid formation and metabolism

Nitro-fatty acids (NO 2 -FA) are pleiotropic modulators of redox signaling pathways. Their effects on inflammatory signaling have been studied in great detail in cell, animal and clinical models primarily using exogenously administered nitro-oleic acid. While we know a considerable amount regarding NO 2 -FA signaling, endogenous formation and metabolism is relatively unexplored. This review will cover what is currently known regarding the proposed mechanisms of NO 2 -FA formation, dietary modulation of endogenous NO 2 -FA levels, pathways of NO 2 -FA metabolism and the detection of NO 2 -FA and corresponding metabolites.Fil: Buchan, Gregory J.. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Bonacci, Gustavo Roberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Fazzari, Marco. University of Pittsburgh; Estados Unidos. Fondazione Ri.Med; ItaliaFil: Salvatore, Sonia Rosana. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Gelhaus Wendell, Stacy. University of Pittsburgh; Estados Unido

Biothiols, taurine, and lipid-soluble antioxidants in the edible pulp of Sicilian cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) fruits and changes of bioactive juice components upon industrial processing

Biothiols, taurine, and flavonols, as well as tocopherols and carotenoids have been assessed in the edible pulp of Sicilian red (Sanguigna), yellow (Surfarina), and white (Muscaredda) cultivars of cactus pear. The yellow cultivar has the highest level of reduced glutathione (GSH, 8.1 ( 0.78 mg/100 g pulp), whereas the white cultivar showed the highest amount of cysteine (1.21 ( 0.12 mg/100 g pulp). Taurine accounted for 11.7 ( 1.0 mg/100 g in the yellow pulp, while lower levels were measured in the others. With the exception of kaempferol in the yellow cultivar (2.7 ( 0.2 íg/100 g pulp), the edible pulp of cactus pear was not a source of flavonols. Very low amounts of lipid-soluble antioxidant vitamins such as vitamin E and carotenoids were measured in all cultivars. As a consequence of industrial processing, a total loss of GSH and â-carotene and a net decrease of vitamin C and cysteine were revealed in the fruit juice, whereas betalains, taurine, and vitamin E appeared to be less susceptible to degradation

Distribution of betalain pigments in red blood cells after consuption of cactus pear fruits and increased resistance of the cells to ex vivo induced oxidative hemolysis in humans

Betalain pigments are bioavailable phytochemicals recently acknowledged as natural radical scavengers. This work, which extends previous research on the postabsorbitive fate of dietary betalains, investigated the distribution of betanin and indicaxanthin in red blood cells (RBCs) isolated from healthy volunteers (n ) 8), before and during the 1-8 h interval after a cactus pear fruit meal, and the potential antioxidative activity of the pigments in these cells. A peak concentration of indicaxanthin (1.03 ( 0.2 íM) was observed in RBCs isolated at 3 h after fruit feeding, whereas the concentration at 5 h was about half, and even smaller amounts were measured at 8 h. Indicaxanthin was not detected at 1 h. Betanin (30.0 ( 5.2 nM) was found only in RBCs isolated at 3 h from fruit feeding. In comparison with homologous RBCs before fruit ingestion, a significant delay (P < 0.05) of the onset of an ex vivo cumene hydroperoxide (cumOOH)-induced hemolysis was evident in the RBCs isolated at 3 h (33.0 ( 4.5 min) and at 5 h (16.0 ( 2.0 min). Neither vitamins C and E nor GSH was modified in the RBCs at any time point. Blood collected from the same volunteers after a 12-h fasting was incubated with the purified betalains in the range of 5-25 íM, to enrich the erythrocytes with either betanin or indicaxanthin, and then the cells were exposed to cumOOH. When compared to the relevant nonenriched cells, the betalain-enriched erythrocytes exhibited an enhanced resistance to the cumOOH-induced hemolysis, which was positively correlated (r 2 ) 0.99) to the amount of the incorporated compound. On a micromolar basis, betanin and indicaxanthin showed a comparable effectiveness. Taken together, these findings provide evidence that human RBCs incorporate dietary betalains and support the concept that these phytochemicals may offer antioxidative protection to the cells

Antioxidant activity of Sicilian Pistachio (Pistacia vera, L. var. Bronte) nut extracts and its bioactive components

Pistacia vera L. is the only species of Pistacia genus producing edible nuts. This paper investigates the antioxidant potential of a Sicilian variety of pistachio nut by chemical as well as biological assays and measured antioxidant vitamins and a number of antioxidant polyphenols in either the hydrophilic and/or the lipophilic nut extract. In accordance with the majority of foods, the total antioxidant activity, measured as a TAA test, was much higher (50-fold) in the hydrophilic than in the lipophilic extract. Substantial amounts of total phenols were measured. The hydrophilic extract inhibited dose- dependently both the metal-dependent and -independent lipid oxidation of bovine liver microsomes, and the Cu+2-induced oxidation of human low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Peroxyl radical-scavenging as well as chelating activity of nut components may be suggested to explain the observed inhibition patterns. Among tocopherols, γ-tocopherol was the only vitamin E isomer found in the lipophilic extract that did not contain any carotenoid. Vitamin C was found only in a modest amount. The hydrophilic extract was a source of polyphenol compounds among which trans-resveratrol, proanthocyanidins, and a remarkable amount of the isoflavones daidzein and genistein, 3.68 and 3.40 mg per 100 g of edible nut, respectively, were evaluated. With the exception of isoflavones that appeared unmodified, the amounts of other bioactive molecules were remarkably reduced in the pistachio nut after roasting, and the total antioxidant activity decreased by about 60%. Collectively, our findings provide evidence that the Sicilian pistachio nut may be considered for its bioactive components and can effectively contribute to a healthy status

Gender Differences in Russian Colour Naming

In the present study we explored Russian colour naming in a web-based psycholinguistic experiment (http://www.colournaming.com). Colour singletons representing the Munsell Color Solid (N=600 in total) were presented on a computer monitor and named using an unconstrained colour-naming method. Respondents were Russian speakers (N=713). For gender-split equal-size samples (NF=333, NM=333) we estimated and compared (i) location of centroids of 12 Russian basic colour terms (BCTs); (ii) the number of words in colour descriptors; (iii) occurrences of BCTs most frequent non-BCTs. We found a close correspondence between females’ and males’ BCT centroids. Among individual BCTs, the highest inter-gender agreement was for seryj ‘grey’ and goluboj ‘light blue’, while the lowest was for sinij ‘dark blue’ and krasnyj ‘red’. Females revealed a significantly richer repertory of distinct colour descriptors, with great variety of monolexemic non-BCTs and “fancy” colour names; in comparison, males offered relatively more BCTs or their compounds. Along with these measures, we gauged denotata of most frequent CTs, reflected by linguistic segmentation of colour space, by employing a synthetic observer trained by gender-specific responses. This psycholinguistic representation revealed females’ more refined linguistic segmentation, compared to males, with higher linguistic density predominantly along the redgreen axis of colour space

Endovascular Low-Pass Filter: Performing Mitral Edge-to-Edge Repair With PASCAL Through an Inferior Vena Cava Filter

We present the case of an 82-year-old man with a history of inferior vena cava filter implantation and concomitant severe mitral regurgitation requiring transcatheter edge-to-edge repair. Despite being deemed ineligible for transfemoral access as technically challenging, he successfully underwent mitral transcatheter edge-to-edge repair after crossing and dilatation of the inferior vena cava filter. (Level of Difficulty: Intermediate.)

Olives and olive oil are sources of electrophilic fatty acid nitroalkenes

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and olives, key sources of unsaturated fatty acids in the Mediterranean diet, provide health benefits to humans. Nitric oxide (•NO) and nitrite (NO2-)-dependent reactions of unsaturated fatty acids yield electrophilic nitroalkene derivatives (NO 2-FA) that manifest salutary pleiotropic cell signaling responses in mammals. Herein, the endogenous presence of NO2-FA in both EVOO and fresh olives was demonstrated by mass spectrometry. The electrophilic nature of these species was affirmed by the detection of significant levels of protein cysteine adducts of nitro-oleic acid (NO2-OA-cysteine) in fresh olives, especially in the peel. Further nitration of EVOO by NO2- under acidic gastric digestive conditions revealed that human consumption of olive lipids will produce additional nitro-conjugated linoleic acid (NO2-cLA) and nitro-oleic acid (NO2-OA). The presence of free and protein-adducted NO2-FA in both mammalian and plant lipids further affirm a role for these species as signaling mediators. Since NO2-FA instigate adaptive anti-inflammatory gene expression and metabolic responses, these redox-derived metabolites may contribute to the cardiovascular benefits associated with the Mediterranean diet. © 2014 Fazzari et al

Assessment and management of heart failure in patients with chronic kidney disease

Heart failure (HF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are two pathological conditions with a high prevalence in the general population. When they coexist in the same patient, a strict interplay between them is observed, such that patients affected require a clinical multidisciplinary and personalized management. The diagnosis of HF and CKD relies on signs and symptoms of the patient but several additional tools, such as blood-based biomarkers and imaging techniques, are needed to clarify and discriminate the main characteristics of these diseases. Improved survival due to new recommended drugs in HF has increasingly challenged physicians to manage patients with multiple diseases, especially in case of CKD. However, the safe administration of these drugs in patients with HF and CKD is often challenging. Knowing up to which values ​​of creatinine or renal clearance each drug can be administered is fundamental. With this review we sought to give an insight on this sizable and complex topic, in order to get clearer ideas and a more precise reference about the diagnostic assessment and therapeutic management of HF and CKD

Valve type and post-dilation impact on transprosthetic gradients in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve-in-valve procedure

Aims Valve-in-Valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement (ViV-TAVR) is an appealing treatment option for patients with degenerated aortic bioprosthetic valves. However, higher post-procedural transprosthetic gradients are more common after ViV-TAVR than after TAVR for native aortic valve stenosis. We sought to evaluate the impact of type of implanted valve and balloon post-dilation on echocardiographic results and mortality in ViV-TAVR patients. Methods and results One hundred and eleven consecutive patients were enrolled. A balloon-expandable valve, a self-expandable valve without balloon post-dilation, and a self-expandable valve with balloon post-dilation were performed in 35 (Group 1), 39 (Group 2), and 37 (Group 3) patients, respectively. All patients underwent comprehensive transthoracic echocardiography at baseline, discharge, and 6–12 months follow-up. Successful ViV-TAVR was performed in 110 patients (99%). Baseline transprosthetic gradients, left ventricular volumes, ejection fraction, and pulmonary artery systolic pressure were similar among groups. All groups experienced a significant reduction in post-procedural gradients at discharge and during the 6–12 months follow-up compared with baseline. At discharge, the lowest mean gradient was observed in Group 3 (12 ± 7 mmHg) compared with both Group 1 (20 ± 9 mmHg) and Group 2 (17 ± 8 mmHg, P = 0.001). This result was confirmed at 6–12 months follow-up (P = 0.012). Similar 5-year all-cause mortality was observed among groups (34%, 36%, 14%, respectively, P = 0.056). Conclusion In patients with failed surgical aortic prosthesis, ViV-TAVR is an effective treatment option associated with sustained improved haemodynamics regardless of transcatheter valve type and use of balloon post-dilation. However, self-expandable valves with balloon post-dilation showed lower transprosthetic gradients

Cardiac computed tomography: from anatomy to function

Ischaemic heart disease (IHD) is one of the world's leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Likewise, the diagnosis and risk stratification of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) have always been based on the detection of the presence and extent of ischaemia by physical or pharmacological stress tests with or without the aid of imaging methods (e.g. exercise stress, test, stress echocardiography, single-photon emission computed tomography, or stress cardiac magnetic resonance). These methods show high performance to assess obstructive CAD, whilst they do not show accurate power to detect non-obstructive CAD. The introduction into clinical practice of coronary computed tomography angiography, the only non-invasive method capable of analyzing the coronary anatomy, allowed to add a crucial piece in the puzzle of the assessment of patients with suspected or chronic IHD. The current review evaluates the technical aspects and clinical experience of coronary computed tomography in the evaluation of atherosclerotic burden with a special focus about the new emerging application such as functional relevance of CAD with fractional flow reserve computed tomography (CT)-derived (FFRct), stress CT perfusion, and imaging inflammatory makers discussing the strength and weakness of each approach