Red wine and wine pomace reduced the development of insulin resistance and liver steatosis in HFD-fed mice

In vivo Differential Effects of Extractable and Non-Extractable Phenolic Compounds from Grape Pomace on the Regulation of Obesity and Associated Metabolic Alterations

Grape pomace (GP) is a by-product rich in phytochemicals, including extractable polyphenols (EPPs) and non-extractable polyphenols (NEPPs), which have distinct metabolic fates that may affect their biological activities. The benefits of GP have been reported in relation to obesity and its comorbidities, particularly when administered preventively focusing on EPPs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of EPPs and NEPPs from GP as a treatment for obesity and its associated metabolic alterations. A previous comprehensive characterization of the selected GP revealed the most relevant individual compounds in the EPPs fraction (malvidin hexoside, (-)-epicatechin, quercetin, and procyanidin dimer B2 isomer II), as well as in the NEPPs fraction (hydroxybenzoic acid isomers I-II). The experiment was performed in obese rats with insulin resistance, treated for 8 weeks with EPPs or NEPPs grape pomace fractions (100 mg/kg). After the intervention, the HFFD + EPP group showed a significantly lower weight gain (9.6%) and body mass index (9.7%) compared to the HFFD group. While liver triglyceride levels were only significantly reduced in the HFFD + NEPP group (47%) compared to the HFFD group. Neither treatment resulted in a reduction of insulin resistance. Therefore, the supplementation with grape pomace phenolic fractions to an animal model of obesity exerted differential beneficial effects on body weight and liver lipid accumulation, overall contributing to an amelioration of some the metabolic alterations present in obesity, although not to aspects such as glycemic homeostasis.

Effect of blended fermented beverages from blood fruit and aonla with two types of organic sweetener

Fermented beverages from blood fruit (Haematocarpus validus Bakh.f.exForman) and aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) were prepared to find out the interactive effect between blending of different proportion of blood fruit and aonla along with two types of organic sugar (palm and cane sugar) to add the diversity to the drinks, preserve the nutrition, antioxidative and functional properties of the fruits and reduced the post harvest losses. The beverages have the following proximate compositions viz. a significantly highest TSS (8.36 °Brix), total sugar (2.29%), reducing sugar (1.92%), alcohol (9.02%) were recorded treatment combinations T3S1 (Blood fruit 90% + aonla 10% +palm sugar 20%). T2 (100% aonla) recorded highest β-carotene (172.95 IU), titratable acidity (0.61%) and ascorbic acid (61.95 mg/100ml) while highest anthocyanin (12.98 mg/100 ml) were recorded in T1 (100% blood fruit). Similarly, the sensory evaluation shows that most of treatments (T1S1, T3S1, T3S2, and T4S2) were accepted by the panellists. Considering the findings of investigation and highest net monitory returns (5.84 B: C ratio) obtained, it can be conclude that blending of blood fruit and aonla at different proportion with different types of sugar has a good prospect for commercialization.

Three Varieties of Grape Pomace, with Distinctive Extractable:Non-Extractable Polyphenol Ratios, Differentially Reduce Obesity and Its Complications in Rats Fed a High-Fat High-Fructose Diet

Grape pomace is a commonly discarded by-product characterized by high extractable (EPP) and non-extractable (NEPP) polyphenol contents which exhibits anti-obesogenic effects. However, the relevance of each fraction needs to be elucidated. In this work, we examined the effects of three pomaces with different concentrations of EPPs and NEPPs on metabolic alterations associated with obesity. The NEPP:EPP ratio of the grape pomaces was 1.48 for Malbec, 1.10 for Garnacha, and 5.76 for Syrah grape varieties. Rats fed a high-fat high-fructose diet supplemented with Malbec grape pomace (HFFD + MAL) Syrah grape pomace (HFFD + SYR) or Garnacha grape pomace (HFFD + GAR) showed significantly less weight gain: 20%, 15%, and 12% less, respectively, compared to HFFD controls. The adiposity index was also significantly decreased by 20% in the HFFD + MAL and HFFD + SYR groups, and by 13% in the HFFD + GAR group. Serum triglycerides were significantly decreased by 46% in the HFFD + MAL group and by 31% in the HFFD + GAR group, compared to the HFFD group, but not in the HFFD + SYR group. All pomace supplementations regulated postprandial glucose in an oral glucose tolerance test. Therefore, grape pomaces containing both EPPs and NEPPs exert beneficial effects on body weight and glucose homeostasis, while EPPs seem to control triglyceride levels more effectively.

The effects of moderate alcohol consumption on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is accepted as a counterpart to alcohol-related liver disease because it is defined as hepatic steatosis without excessive use of alcohol. However, the definition of moderate alcohol consumption, as well as whether moderate alcohol consumption is beneficial or detrimental, remains controversial. In this review, the findings of clinical studies to date with high-quality evidence regarding the effects of moderate alcohol consumption in NAFLD patients were compared and summarized.

The Effect of Irrigation-Initiation Timing on the Phenolic Composition and Overall Quality of Cabernet Sauvignon Wines Grown in a Semi-Arid Climate

In semi-arid areas, vineyards grown for winemaking are usually mildly irrigated by drip irrigation systems in a manner maintaining drought stress. This practice ensures the proper development of vegetative and reproductive organs on the one hand, and on the other, the development of high-quality grapes which can be hampered by overly abundant water application. In previous work, we have developed and demonstrated an irrigation model suitable for high-quality grape production in semi-arid areas. Here, we tackle the question of proper irrigation initiation dates—should one wait for vines to develop drought stress before the initiation of irrigation, or rather commence irrigation earlier? Our results show that vines which undergo initial irrigation late in the growing season tend to develop a lower midday stem water potential even after irrigation initiation. In addition, these vines tend to produce a lower number of bunches per vine and smaller berry size, leading to lower yields. The wine produced from the late-irrigated treatments had a higher phenolic content, primarily due to higher levels of catechin and epicatechin. Their levels increased as irrigation initiation dates were delayed, while caffeic acid levels showed an opposite trend. Late irrigation also led to higher color intensities compared to those of irrigation at earlier stages, due to higher levels of most anthocyanins. Finally, we show that the overall wine sensory score, representing its overall quality, was approximately five points higher for wines made from delayed irrigation treatments compared to wines made from early season irrigation treatments.

Ecogeographic Conditions Dramatically Affect Trans-Resveratrol and Other Major Phenolics’ Levels in Wine at a Semi-Arid Area

Grapevines are susceptible and responsive to their surrounding environment. Factors such as climate region and terroir are known to affect polyphenolic compounds in wine and therefore, its quality. The uniqueness of the terroir in Israel is the variety of soil types and the climatic conditions, ranging from Mediterranean to arid climates. Thus, understanding the effects of climate on grapevine performance in Israel may be a test case for the effect of climate change on grapevine at other areas in the future. First, we present a preliminary survey (2012–2014) in different climate zones and terroirs, which showed that trans-resveratrol concentrations in Merlot and Shiraz were high, while those of Cabernet Sauvignon were significantly lower. A further comprehensive countrywide survey (2016) of Merlot wines from 62 vineyards (53 wineries) compared several phenolic compounds’ concentrations between five areas of different climate and terroir. Results show a connection between trans-resveratrol concentrations, variety, and terroir properties. Furthermore, we show that trans-resveratrol concentrations are strongly correlated to humidity levels at springtime, precipitation, and soil permeability. This work can be considered a glimpse into the possible alterations of wine composition in currently moderate-climate wine-growing areas.

Bifidobacterium bifidum Shows More Diversified Ways of Relieving Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Compared with Bifidobacterium adolescentis

The occurrence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is closely related to intestinal microbiota disturbance, and probiotics has become a new strategy to assist in alleviating NAFLD. In order to investigate the effect of Bifidobacterium on NAFLD and the possible pathway, a NAFLD model was established by using a high-fat diet (HFD) for 18 weeks. Fourteen strains of Bifidobacterium were selected (seven Bifidobacterium adolescentis and seven Bifidobacterium bifidum) for intervention. The effects of different bifidobacteria on NAFLD were evaluated from liver cell injury, liver fat deposition, liver inflammatory state and liver histopathology, and were taken as entry points to explore the mitigation approaches of bifidobacteria through energy intake, lipid metabolism, glucose metabolism and intestinal permeability. The results showed that Bifidobacterium exerts species-specific effects on NAFLD. B. bifidum exerted these effects mainly through regulating the intestinal microbiota, increasing the relative abundance of Faecalibaculum and Lactobacillus, decreasing the relative abundance of Tyzzerella, Escherichia-Shigella, Intestinimonas, Osillibacter and Ruminiclostridium, and further increasing the contents of propionic acid and butyric acid, regulating lipid metabolism and intestinal permeability, and ultimately inhibiting liver inflammation and fat accumulation to alleviate NAFLD. B. adolescentis exerted its effects mainly through changing the intestinal microbiota, increasing the content of propionic acid, regulating lipid metabolism and ultimately inhibiting liver inflammation to alleviate NAFLD.

Grape pomace reduces the severity of non-alcoholic hepatic steatosis and the development of steatohepatitis by improving insulin sensitivity and reducing ectopic fat deposition in mice

While non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents the common cause of chronic liver disease, specific therapies are currently unavailable. The wine industry produces millions of tons of residue (pomace), which contains high levels of bioactive phytochemicals. The aim of this study was to clarify the potential benefits of grape pomace for the treatment of NAFLD at different levels of severity, and to clarify the mechanism of action. C57Bl/6 mice were given high fat diet (HFD) or western diet (WD) as models of obesity and hepatic steatosis or steatohepatitis, respectively, with or without pomace supplementation (50-250 mg/day). Pomace inhibited food intake, and reduced serum leptin and body weight gain. Ectopic fat deposition was reduced, while white adipose tissue mass was preserved. In addition, pomace improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, prevented the development of adipose tissue inflammation, and reduced hepatic steatosis. Higher expression of genes involved in fatty acids transport and oxidation was observed in adipose tissue, while lipogenic genes were attenuated in the liver of pomace-treated mice. In WD-fed mice, pomace reduced the severity of hepatic steatosis and inflammation and improved blood lipid profile, but was ineffective in reversing hepatic damage of advanced NASH. In conclusion, pomace improved insulin sensitivity and reduced ectopic fat deposition, leading to a healthier metabolic profile. Pomace may hold the potential as a supplement with beneficial health outcomes for the prevention and treatment of hepatic steatosis and other obesity-related pathologies.

Bifidobacterium adolescentis and Lactobacillus rhamnosus alleviate non-alcoholic fatty liver disease induced by a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet through modulation of different gut microbiota-dependent pathways

The incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has increased year on year, and the increasing appreciation of the importance of gut microbiota provides novel therapeutic avenues for the treatment of NAFLD. To explore the similarities and differences between lactic acid bacteria (LAB) known to alleviate NAFLD, we selected three strains of Bifidobacterium adolescentis and three strains of Lactobacillus rhamnosus to administer to C57BL/6J mice on a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet (HFHCD) for 23 weeks. Subsequently, the effects of the LAB were evaluated through various measures. The six LAB strains were found to have varying degrees of efficacy in the prevention of NAFLD. We found that there were interspecific and intraspecific differences in the beneficial effects, mainly with respect to energy metabolism, lipid metabolism and short-chain fatty acid concentration. Three strains of B. adolescentis and one strain of L. rhamnosus were found to relieve NAFLD by increasing the concentration of short-chain fatty acids in the intestine of NAFLD mice. The other two strains of L. rhamnosus, LGG and L10-1, relieved NAFLD through different ways, LGG modulated energy metabolism and lipid metabolism, and L10-1 reduced liver inflammation. Examination of gut microbiota indicated that the six LAB strains could block the HFHCD-induced elevation of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes and alter the dominant species within the gut. These results suggest that B. adolescentis and L. rhamnosus can inhibit the development of NAFLD by regulating gut microbiota, and their use is thus a promising therapeutic strategy.

Ginsenosides reduce body weight and ameliorate hepatic steatosis in high fat diet‑induced obese mice via endoplasmic reticulum stress and p‑STAT3/STAT3 signaling

Obesity has been increasing globally for over three decades. According to previous studies, dietary obesity is usually associated with endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) and STAT3 signaling, which result in interference with the homeostatic control of energy and lipid metabolism. Ginsenosides (GS) administered to mice will modulate adiposity and food intake; however, the mechanism of food inhibition is unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether GS may inhibit ERS and regulate STAT3 phosphorylation in GT1‑7 cells (a mouse hypothalamus gonadotropin‑releasing hormone neuron cell line) and the hypothalamus in order to reduce the body weight and ameliorate hepatic steatosis in high fat diet (HFD)‑induced obese mice. In the present study, GS inhibited the appetite, reduced the body weight, visceral fat, body fat content and blood glucose, and ameliorated the glucose tolerance of the obese mice compared with HFD mice. In addition, the levels of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase, triglyceride (TG), leptin and insulin in the serum were reduced compared with HFD mice. There was less TG in the liver, but more in the feces compared with HFD mice. Using hematoxylin and eosin staining of HepG2 cells and liver tissues, GS were demonstrated to improve the non‑alcoholic fatty liver of the HFD‑induced obese mice and reduce the diameter of the fat cells compared with HFD mice. GS also increased oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in the metabolic cage data compared with HFD mice. In the GT1‑7 cells, GS alleviated the ERS induced by tunicamycin and enhanced the activation of the STAT3 phosphorylation pathway. Furthermore the ERS of the liver was relieved to achieve the aforementioned pharmacological effects. GS were used in the homeostatic control of the energy and lipid metabolism of a diet‑induced obesity model. In conclusion, present studies suggest that GS exert these effects by increasing STAT3 phosphorylation expression and reducing the ERS. Thus, GS reduce body weight and ameliorate hepatic steatosis in HFD‑induced obese mice.

Nutritional Knowledge and Health Consciousness: Do They Affect Consumer Wine Choices? Evidence from a Survey in Italy

Wine is one of the few food products not subject to mandatory nutritional labelling, except for alcohol content. As such, health-related characteristics might be inferred by attributes related to production methods and alcohol content. This research focuses on the set of information currently reported on wine bottle labels, investigates the consumer’s use of such labels, and their preferences for information associated with ’naturalness’ such as clean labels and alcohol content. We conducted a survey on Italian consumers of red wine, which included a choice experiment. Results showed that health consciousness is an important driver in the use of wine labels. Estimates from a latent class model suggest that health consciousness, along with age, plays a significant role in defining consumer preference segments: the majority of our sample tended to prefer red wine characterized by ‘clean labels’, but younger and more health-conscious consumers showed a significant disutility for higher alcohol content. More traditional consumers revealed disutility for more unconventional ‘clean labels’, which were instead appreciated by a third group of consumers, called here ‘new clean trend lovers’. Preference for nutritional information such as lower alcohol content and clean labels distinguished the more health-conscious consumers, who belonged to the most likely preference class. Together, the results may suggest that nutritional information currently not mandatory for wine would be appreciated by a significant share of wine consumers.

Dynamic effects of fermentation on phytochemical composition and antioxidant properties of wampee (Clausena lansium (Lour.) Skeel) leaves

Variations in the phytochemical composition and antioxidant properties were studied in the wine of wampee leaves obtained at different stages of fermentation process. The highest concentrations of total phenolic and flavonoid contents were attained at Day 12 and Day 21 of fermentation, respectively. In addition, five phytochemical compounds including vanillic acid, p-coumaric acid, rutin, ferulic acid, and 7-hydroxycoumarin were identified and quantified by HPLC in fermented wampee products. The strongest antioxidant activity in wine was monitored on Day 12. Furthermore, total antioxidant activity was significantly correlated with vanillic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, and 7-hydroxycoumarin compared with rutin. The obtained results suggested that 12-day fermentation could be an optimal process for excavation of applying wampee leaves into food and wine industries.

The Oxygen Paradox, the French Paradox, and age-related diseases

A paradox is a seemingly absurd or impossible concept, proposition, or theory that is often difficult to understand or explain, sometimes apparently self-contradictory, and yet ultimately correct or true. How is it possible, for example, that oxygen "a toxic environmental poison" could be also indispensable for life (Beckman and Ames Physiol Rev 78(2):547-81, 1998; Stadtman and Berlett Chem Res Toxicol 10(5):485-94, 1997)?: the so-called Oxygen Paradox (Davies and Ursini 1995; Davies Biochem Soc Symp 61:1-31, 1995). How can French people apparently disregard the rule that high dietary intakes of cholesterol and saturated fats (e.g., cheese and paté) will result in an early death from cardiovascular diseases (Renaud and de Lorgeril Lancet 339(8808):1523-6, 1992; Catalgol et al. Front Pharmacol 3:141, 2012; Eisenberg et al. Nat Med 22(12):1428-1438, 2016)?: the so-called, French Paradox. Doubtless, the truth is not a duality and epistemological bias probably generates apparently self-contradictory conclusions. Perhaps nowhere in biology are there so many apparently contradictory views, and even experimental results, affecting human physiology and pathology as in the fields of free radicals and oxidative stress, antioxidants, foods and drinks, and dietary recommendations; this is particularly true when issues such as disease-susceptibility or avoidance, "healthspan," "lifespan," and ageing are involved. Consider, for example, the apparently paradoxical observation that treatment with low doses of a substance that is toxic at high concentrations may actually induce transient adaptations that protect against a subsequent exposure to the same (or similar) toxin. This particular paradox is now mechanistically explained as "Adaptive Homeostasis" (Davies Mol Asp Med 49:1-7, 2016; Pomatto et al. 2017a; Lomeli et al. Clin Sci (Lond) 131(21):2573-2599, 2017; Pomatto and Davies 2017); the non-damaging process by which an apparent toxicant can activate biological signal transduction pathways to increase expression of protective genes, by mechanisms that are completely different from those by which the same agent induces toxicity at high concentrations. In this review, we explore the influences and effects of paradoxes such as the Oxygen Paradox and the French Paradox on the etiology, progression, and outcomes of many of the major human age-related diseases, as well as the basic biological phenomenon of ageing itself.