Transfer of blood urea nitrogen to cecal microbes and nitrogen retention in mature rabbits are increased by dietary fructooligosaccharides

Dietary Fermentable Fibers Attenuate Chronic Kidney Disease in Mice by Protecting the Intestinal Barrier

Background

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide health problem. Although the pathogenesis of CKD is still unclear, recent studies suggest that systemic inflammation caused by a dysregulated microflora and an impaired intestinal barrier is involved in CKD development.

Objective

We investigated the effects of the fermentable dietary fibers (DFs), unmodified guar gum (GG), and partially hydrolyzed GG (PHGG) (i.e., substances with distinct viscosity characteristics) on CKD development, with a particular focus on colonic tight junction (TJ) barriers in mice.

Methods

Male 7-wk-old ICR mice were fed an AIN-93G diet that contained 0.25% adenine for 2 wk to induce CKD. Mice fed adenine were then divided into 3 groups and fed the unsupplemented diet (CKD) or a diet containing 10% PHGG (CKD+PHGG) or GG (CKD+GG) for 3 wk. Control (CON) mice were fed an AIN-93G diet without adenine throughout the 5-wk experiment. Plasma urea concentration; the colonic TJ proteins zonula occludens (ZO) 1, ZO2, occludin, junctional adhesion molecule A (JAMA), and claudin isoforms; renal inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor α (Tnfa), interleukin (Il ) 1β (Il1b), and Il6; and cecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and microflora were analyzed.

Results

Compared with the CON, CKD+PHGG, and CKD+GG groups, the CKD group had a 2.2- to 4.4-fold higher plasma urea concentration and greater expression of inflammatory cytokine genes in the kidney, including Tnfa (4.4- to 48-fold), Il1b (4.6- to 56-fold), and Il6 (8.8- to 115-fold). The CON, CKD+PHGG, and CKD+GG groups had greater expression of colonic TJ proteins including ZO1 (2.9- to 3.7-fold), ZO2 (3.4- to 4.3-fold), occludin (3.0- to 3.3-fold), JAMA (4.4- to 5.4-fold), and claudin 7 (2.1- to 2.6-fold) and higher cecal SCFA (1.8- to 3.5-fold) and Lactobacillus (2.7- to 4.0-fold) concentrations than the CKD group.

Conclusion

Supplemental feeding with fermentable DFs, such as GG and PHGG, might be effective for the prevention or management of CKD by restoring colonic barrier integrity and microflora composition, as shown in mice.

Effects of glucose and gibberellic acid on glucosinolate content and antioxidant properties of Chinese kale sprouts

Glucosinolates, anthocyanins, total phenols, and vitamin C, as well as antioxidant capacity, were investigated in Chinese kale sprouts treated with both glucose and gibberellic acid (GA3). The combination of 3% (0.03 g/ml) glucose and 5 μmol/L GA3 treatment was effective in increasing glucosinolate content while glucose or GA3 treatment alone did not influence significantly almost all individual glucosinolates or total glucosinolates. The total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of Chinese kale sprouts were enhanced by combined treatment with glucose and GA3, which could be useful in improving the main health-promoting compounds and antioxidant activity in Chinese kale sprouts.

Effects of dietary fresh fermented soybean meal on growth performance, ammonia and particulate matter emissions, and nitrogen excretion in nursery piglets

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of fresh fermented soybean meal (FSM) on the growth performance of nursery piglets, nitrogen excretion in feces, and the concentrations of ammonia (NH3) and particulate matter (PM) in the piggery. A total of 472 nursery piglets (Landrace×Yorkshire, (16.3±0.36) kg body weight) were randomly allocated into two treatments with 236 pigs in each treatment. The pigs were fed the basal diet without fresh FSM (control) or diet containing 10% (100 g/kg) fresh FSM (FSM group), and the crude protein content of the two groups was consistent. The feeding trial lasted for 28 d. The results showed that the pigs fed fresh FSM had increased (P<0.05) average daily gain (ADG) compared with the control. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) in feed to gain ratio (F:G) between the two groups. During the whole experiment, the concentration of NH3 in the piggery decreased (P<0.05) by 19.0%, and the concentrations of PM (PM10 and PM2.5) in the piggery decreased (P<0.05) by 19.9% and 11.6%, respectively, in the FSM group, compared with the control. The ammonia nitrogen and nitrite content in feces increased (P<0.05) by 32.9% and 28.4%, respectively, in the FSM group. The fecal pH declined (P<0.05) significantly in the FSM group compared with the control. At the end of experiment, total protein (TP) concentration was increased (P<0.05) significantly and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) concentration was decreased (P<0.05) for pigs fed the diet with fresh FSM. The results indicated that dietary fresh FSM not only improved the growth performance of nursery piglets, but also reduced the NH3 concentration in the piggery due to nitrogen conversion, and decreased the concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 in the piggery.

Apoptosis induction of colorectal cancer cells HTL-9 in vitro by the transformed products of soybean isoflavones by Ganoderma lucidum

Soybean isoflavones have been one of the potential preventive candidates for antitumor research in recent years. In this paper, we first studied the transformation of soybean isoflavones with the homogenized slurry of Ganoderma lucidum. The resultant transformed products (TSI) contained (703.21±4.35) mg/g of genistein, with transformed rates of 96.63% and 87.82% of daidzein and genistein, respectively, and TSI also could enrich the bioactive metabolites of G. lucidum. The antitumor effects of TSI on human colorectal cancer cell line HTL-9, human breast cancer cell line MCF-7, and human immortalized gastric epithelial cell line GES-1 were also studied. The 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay showed that TSI could dramatically reduce the viability rates of HTL-9 cells and MCF-7 cells without detectable cytotoxicity on GES-1 normal cells when the TSI concentration was lower than 100 μg/ml. With 100 μg/ml of TSI, HTL-9 cells were arrested in the G1 phase, and late-apoptosis was primarily induced, accompanied with partial early-apoptosis. TSI could induce primarily early-apoptosis by arresting cells in the G1 phase of MCF-7 cells. For HTL-9 cells, Western-blot and reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis showed that TSI (100 μg/ml) can up-regulate the expression of Bax, Caspase-3, Caspase-8, and cytochrome c (Cyto-c), indicating that TSI could induce cell apoptosis mainly through the mitochondrial pathway. In addition, the expression of p53 was up-regulated, while the expression of Survivin and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) was down-regulated. All these results showed that TSI could induce apoptosis of HTL-9 cells by the regulation of multiple apoptosis-related genes.