Using ethanol as postharvest treatment to increase polyphenols and anthocyanins in wine grape

Red wine grapes are qualitatively evaluated for their content in polyphenols and anthocyanins. Due to certain conditions (weather, latitude, temperature), the concentration of these compounds may be not at the right level for reaching a high-quality wine, thus postharvest technologies can be operated as a remediation strategy. Ethanol is a secondary volatile metabolite and its application has been demonstrated to delay fruit ripening, to reduce decay, and to increase secondary metabolites. The present study investigates the effects of ethanol post-harvest application on wine grapes' metabolism and composition. Red wine grapes (Vitis Vinifera L. cv Aglianico) were exposed to different ethanol doses (0.25, 0.5, or 1 mL L-1) for 12, 24, or 36 h. Ethanol increased sugar concentration, malic acid, free amino nitrogen, polyphenols, and anthocyanins. Particularly, anthocyanins reached an average value of 1820 mg/L in treated samples versus the 1200 mg/L of control grapes already after 12 h whatever the concentration was. Moreover, the highest concentration of ethanol modified berry metabolism shifting from aerobic to anaerobic one. Obtained results suggest that 12 h of ethanol postharvest treatment could be an interesting solution to improve anthocyanins in wine grapes, especially when the quality is not as good as expected.

Abstract P6-15-03: Outcome after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in elderly breast cancer patients – a pooled analysis of individual patient data from eight prospectively randomized controlled trials

Introduction: Recent studies showed the high and independent impact of age (<40 years) on pathologic complete remission (pCR) and prognosis for patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). Some physicians might not consider elderly patients (>65 years) for NACT due to poor prognosis or higher toxicity. The aim of this analysis is to help selecting appropriately elderly women who would benefit from NACT. Secondly, survival parameters will be investigated in several clinical and histological subgroups.

Methods: From 1998 to 2010, eight prospectively randomized German Breast Group (GBG) trials of anthracycline- and taxane-based NACT were performed and analyzed in this study.

Results: Compared to the overall average, women older than 65 years had significant larger tumors and more overall lymph node involvement. Also, compared to patients younger than 51 years, they had more lobular invasive tumors. Histologically, they had more G2 tumors, more estrogen-receptor positive tumors. PCR (ypT0 ypN0) was strongly associated with age: >65y: 11.7%; 51-65y: 14.1%; 40-50y: 17.3%; <40y: 20.9%. The multivariable logistic regression analysis of clinical parameters showed that young age, clinical stage T4, invasive ductal cancer and poor differentiated breast cancer are predictive for high pCR. The multivariate analyses of molecular subgroups also showed that age >65years is a predictor of significant (p<0.05) lower pCR in TNBC and HR positive/HER2- breast cancers. Nonetheless, in this cohort, HER2+ patients showed pCR rates as high - and for HR+/HER2+ even higher - pCR rates compared to younger patients.

Discussion: This study underlines the unfavorable impact of higher age on pCR, but it shows nevertheless a realistic chance for pCR if NACT is applied - especially for HER2+ patients. Furthermore, elderly patients in this analysis with non-TNBC have a good prognosis (comparable to younger patients) regarding OS, even if they do not have pCR.

Citation Format: von Waldenfels G, Loibl S, Furlanetto J, Anna M, Lederer B, Denkert C, Hanusch C, Huober J, Jackisch C, Kümmel S, von Minckwitz G, Schneeweiss A, Untch M, Rhiem K, Fasching PA, Blohmer JU. Outcome after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in elderly breast cancer patients – a pooled analysis of individual patient data from eight prospectively randomized controlled trials [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2017 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P6-15-03.

Abstract P6-17-06: Relevance of the hyaluronidase-1 (HYAL1) in brain metastasis formation of breast cancer patients

The incidence of brain metastases in breast cancer (BMBC) patients has increased in the last years and represents the major life-limiting problem for metastatic breast cancer (BC) patients. However, the knowledge about tumor cell invasion in the brain is still very limited and new markers for brain metastasis incidence are urgently needed in order to early detect high risk patients.

In a recent study based on cDNA microarray data of primary breast tumors, we could show that mRNA expression of certain glycosylation enzymes significantly correlates with an organ-specific metastatic spread. Interestingly, hyaluronan synthase 2 (HAS2) and hyaluronidase-1 (HYAL1), both genes involved in hyaluronan (HA) metabolism, showed an independent prognostic value and a significant correlation with brain metastasis formation.

In order to corroborate the role of these enzymes at protein level, we examined the expression of HYAL1 and HAS2 on a tissue microarray including 200 primary BC samples. Here, the prognostic impact of HAS2 could not be validated, whereas for HYAL1 shorter disease free survival (DFS) was observed for patients with high HYAL1-expression levels. This trend could be additionally verified in a second cohort of 107 BC samples, using western blot analysis. Moreover, significantly higher HYAL1 expression was detected among primary tumors with subsequent brain metastases compared with those without brain metastases using immunohistochemistry (IHC).

No impact of HYAL1 expression on disease progression of BCBM patients could be observed after analysis of 87 brain metastasis samples. Here, quantification of tumor-associated HA revealed a significant positive correlation with triple negative tumors and a trend towards shorter progression-free survival.

Taken together, our data suggest a role of the enzyme HYAL1 for progression and especially for the development of brain metastases in breast cancer patients.

Citation Format: Oliveira-Ferrer L, Anna M, Wickman H, Matschke J, Schumacher U, Milde-Langosch K, Müller V, Witzel I. Relevance of the hyaluronidase-1 (HYAL1) in brain metastasis formation of breast cancer patients. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P6-17-06.

Prediction of enzyme inhibition and mode of inhibitory action based on calculation of distances between hydrogen bond donor/acceptor groups of the molecule and docking analysis: An application on the discovery of novel effective PTP1B inhibitors

PTP1B is a protein tyrosine phosphatase involved in insulin receptor desensitization. PTP1B inhibition prolongs the activated state of the receptor, practically enhancing the effect of insulin. Thus PTP1B has become a drug target for the treatment of type II diabetes. PTP1b is an enzyme with multiple binding sites for competitive and allosteric inhibitors. Prediction of inhibitory action using docking analysis has limited success in case of enzymes with multiple binding sites, since the selection of the right crystal structure depends on the kind of inhibitor. In the present study, a two-step strategy for the prediction of PTP1b inhibitory action was applied to 12 compounds. Based on the study of known inhibitors, we isolated the structural characteristics required for binding to each binding site. As a first step, 3D-structures of the molecules were produced and their structural parameters were measured and used for prediction of the binding site of the compound. These results were used for the selection of the appropriate crystal structure for docking analysis of each compound, and the final prediction was based on the estimated binding energies. This strategy effectively predicted the activity of all compounds. A linear correlation was found between estimated binding energy and inhibition measured in vitro (r = -0.894).

Ursodeoxycholic acid administration in patients with cholestasis of pregnancy: effects on primary bile acids in babies and mothers

Little is known about the effects on the fetus of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) treatment for intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP). Twenty ICP patients were given UDCA at 1.5 to 2 g/d, to our knowledge the highest dosage yet reported. Effects were evaluated on conjugated bile acids (BA) in amniotic fluid (15 of 20 patients) and umbilical cord serum obtained at delivery (20 of 22 newborns), as compared with 10 untreated patients (amniotic fluid, 9 of 10 patients; cord serum, 9 of 10 newborns). Liver function tests, serum BA and UDCA were evaluated on enrollment and then weekly until 1 week after delivery. Maternal serum conjugated cholic (CCA) and chenodeoxycholic (CCDCA) acids levels fell (18.5 +/- 1.9 to 10.5 +/- 1.9 micromol/L, and 5.8 +/- 0.8 to 2.97 +/- 0.7 micromol/L, respectively [P <.01]) in treated patients, and remained unaffected (20.0 +/- 3.1 vs. 20.3 +/- 2.3, and 5.6 +/- 0.6 vs. 5.4 +/- 0.5, respectively [P = not significant]) in untreated ones. Serum conjugated UDCA levels rose to 16.5 +/- 1.8 micromol/L (P<.001). Median values of CCA and CCDCA in amniotic fluid around delivery were 4.9 +/- 12.4 and 4.8 +/- 7.7 micromol/L, respectively, in treated patients, as against 17.9 +/- 27.5 and 18.5 +/- 20.9 micromol/L in untreated ones. In treated mothers, CCA and CCDCA concentrations in cord blood were 6.0 +/- 0.9 and 5.2 +/- 0.95 micromol/L, respectively, as against 21.9 +/- 5.6 and 18.9 +/- 2.1 micromol/L in untreated ones. In treated patients, median UDCA values in amniotic fluid and cord blood were 0.8 +/- 2.4 and 0.9 +/- 0.14 micromol/L, respectively. We conclude that increasing the dose of UDCA more effectively controls ICP and improves maternal clinical outcome after delivery.