1,721,277 research outputs found
LEGUME PROTEINS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF CHRONIC DISEASES:HYPERLIPIDEMIA AND DIABETES
Full text linkFood proteins can be considered as source of bioactive peptides that can exert physiological functions to promote health and prevent chronic diseases, such as lipid disorders diabetes, hypertension cancer and obesity which are typical of industrialized societies. Soybean (Glycine max) and white lupin (Lupinus angustifolium) comprise the most widely grown legume crops in the world. In addition to being an invaluable source of oil and proteins for food and feed, many papers from our group pointed out the positive effect of soybean and white lupin proteins on lipid and glucose metabolism. The aim of the present work has been to evaluate in “in vitro” and “in vivo” experiments the ability of soybean and white lupin polypeptides to interact with the molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of plasma and tissue lipids as well as on the glucose homeostasis. Soybean proteins: the α’ subunit of the soybean 7S globulin, the so called β-conglycinin, was shown to play a key role in the up-regulation of liver high affinity-LDL receptors, in “in vivo” and “in vitro” systems suggesting that biologically active peptides, capable of modulating lipid homeostasis, are likely to be produced by cell and gastrointestinal enzymes. Our research group has been following two different approaches to identify the active peptide/s involved in the lipid regulation. The first one has been to reduce the length of the polypeptide chain of α’ by a biotechnological process obtaining an extension form of α’ chain, roughly covering one third of the full-length polypeptide from N-terminus, which has proved active in the LDL-R up-regulation of Hep G2 cells. The second approach has been to make a screening of peptides with amino acid sequences occurring in α’, α and β subunits of soy β-conglycinin, and test their biological effect “in vitro”. These peptides have been evaluated for their effect on the expression of LDL-receptor, SREBP-2 and HMGCoA red mRNAs in HepG2 cells. Moreover, the peptide that proved more promising among the different compounds under study, has been tested in a rat model of human hypercholesterolemia in order to evaluate its potential on lipid homeostasis. gamma-Conglutin, a lupin seed glycoprotein, plays a key role on the glucose metabolism. Since the “in vitro” interaction of gamma -conglutin with mammalian insulin has been described, in the present study the effect of an oral dose of this protein was studied in an animal model of diabetes in order to evaluate its potential in the fine regulation of glucose homeostasis. Moreover in “in vitro” experiments the ability of gamma-conglutin to interact with cell compartment and to interfere in the insulin pathway has been followed in order to ascertain whether the protein was characterized by insulin-like property. Although the data obtained in this study should be confirmed by human studies, the potential of peptides from α’ subunit of soybean as well as that of lupin seed g-conglutin to control plasma lipids and glycaemia could be considered before developing new therapeutic strategies for the prevention or treatment of lipid/ glucose metabolism disorders
Paraplegia because of hemostatic agents in the costovertebral space : this occurs even in thoracic aorta surgery
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Abdominal aortic aneurysm in chronic thoracic dissection. Report of two cases
No full textTwo cases of lower abdominal aortic aneurysm in association with chronic thoracic dissections are reported. These infra-renal aortic aneurysms, superimposed on an abdominal extension of the dissection, always require surgical treatment because of their well known tendency to enlarge and rupture. The authors report their experience and discuss the management of this complication in chronic dissections treated surgically
y-conglutin, the lupin seed-glucose lowering glycoprotein, interferes on insulin pathway in HepG2 cells
No full textGamma-conglutin (γ-C), a Lupinus albus, seed glycoprotein, has been shown to lower blood glucose in hyperglycaemic rats and increase glucose consumption in HepG2 cells. Aim of the present work was to assess the modalities of interaction of this protein with the target cells, so as to contribute unveiling its mechanism of action. γ-Conglutin internalization: HepG2 cells, pretreated for 30’ w/wo inhibitors of caveolae mediated endocytosis [filipin (5 μg/ml) and genistein (200 μM)], clathrin-mediated pathway [chlorpromazine (25 μM), methyl-β-cyclodextrin (5 mM)], and macropinocytosis [amiloride (5 mM)], were incubated with FICT-γ-conglutin (50 μg/ml) for 4 h at 37°C, followed by FACS analysis. The macropinocitosis pathway was the mechanism of γ-conglutin internalization (69% inhibition). 2D-electrophoresis of cell lysates and antibody reaction of the blotted maps showed that γ-conglutin is internalized in intact form. Moreover, the protein is modified inside the cell by multiple phosphorylation. Insulin pathway: reduced effect on AMPK activity (-50% vs controls) and increased expression of phosphorylated AKT form (+ 25% vs controls) were recorded in HepG2 cells, following western-blot analysis, exposed to 10 mM γ-conglutin and/or 100 nM insulin, or metformin 10 mM
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