Supplementation of chestnut tannins in diets can improve meat quality and antioxidative capability in Hu lambs

Chestnut tannins (CNT), as a source of hydrolyzable tannins, positively affect the antioxidant status of livestock. In the current study, 90 male Hu lambs were used to investigate the effect of dietary CNT intake on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, meat quality and oxidative stability, rumen microbial, and the transcriptomes of muscle and liver. A completely randomized design with three CNT intake levels (0, 0.3%, and 0.6%) was used. Rumen microbial and nutrient digestibility were not significantly altered by CNT intake. Diets with 0.3% CNT intake significantly reduced the shear force, yellowness at 24 h, and C20:2 polyunsaturated fatty acids of lamb meat and malondialdehyde in serum and longissimus thoracis (LT) muscle. Meanwhile, the 0.3% CNT diet significantly increased average daily gain during the 1- 21 days and 64- 90 days, dry matter intake during the 1- 21 days, the slaughter weight, and liver index of lambs. The 0.3% CNT diet significantly increased C26:0 saturated fatty acids, total antioxidant capacity, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase in LT muscle. The meat shelf life of 0.3% CNT and 0.6% CNT groups was prolonged by 8.7 h and 5.4 h, respectively. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that CNT supplementation can induce the expression of antioxidant enzyme gene (CAT, SOD1), and the differentially expressed genes were mainly involved in antioxidant activity, transferase activity, and adenosine triphosphate binding. These results suggest that 0.3% CNT intake can relieve the oxidative stress of lambs, and improve the stability of meat color and meat tenderness, due to the enhanced antioxidative capacity.

HPLC-DAD optimization of quantification of vescalagin, gallic and ellagic acid in chestnut tannins

The quantification of hydrolysable polyphenols such as gallic, ellagic acid and vescalagin by HPLC-DAD is classically run after methanol extraction as a reference solvent. Water extraction is usually discarded because of a lower obtention of total polyphenol content compared to methanol extraction. In our study, methanol was compared to water extraction in both the total polyphenol content method and the HPLC-DAD analysis. Total polyphenol content in water extraction was lower than in methanol extraction, but water extraction gave better results on HPLC-DAD. In conclusion, total polyphenol content cannot be used as reference to choose the solvent of extraction to quantify some polyphenols by HPLC-DAD because of the specific properties of each polyphenol. Indeed, recovery results obtained on hydrolysable polyphenols with water extraction were better and with a lower variability than following methanol extraction.

Natural tannin extracts supplementation for COVID-19 patients (TanCOVID): a structured summary of a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Objectives

This research aims to study the efficacy of tannins co-supplementation on disease duration, severity and clinical symptoms, microbiota composition and inflammatory mediators in SARS-CoV2 patients.

Trial design

This is a prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial to evaluate the efficacy of the administration of the dietary supplement ARBOX, a molecular blend of quebracho and chestnut tannins extract and Vit B12, in patients affected by COVID-19.

Participants

18 years of age or older, admitted to Hospital de Clinicas Jose de San Martin, Buenos Aires University (Argentina), meeting the definition of "COVID-19 confirmed case" (https://www.argentina.gob.ar/salud/coronavirus-COVID-19/definicion-de-caso).

Inclusion Criteria

Participants are eligible to be included in the study if the following criteria apply:

Any gender

≥18 years old

Informed consent for participation in the study

Virological diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection (real-time PCR)

Exclusion Criteria

Participants are excluded from the study if any of the following criteria apply:

Pregnant and lactating patients

Patients who cannot take oral therapy (with severe cognitive decline, assisted ventilation, or impaired consciousness)

Hypersensitivity to polyphenols

Patients already in ICU or requiring mechanical ventilation

Patients already enrolled in other clinical trials

Decline of consent

Intervention and comparator

Experimental: TREATED ARM

Participants will receive a supply of 28 -- 390 mg ARBOX capsules for 14 days. Patients will be supplemented with 2 capsules of ARBOX per day.

Placebo Comparator: CONTROL ARM

Participants will receive placebo supply for 14 days. The placebo will be administered with the identical dose as described for the test product.

All trial participants will receive standard therapy, which includes: Antipyretics or Lopinavir / Ritonavir, Azithromycin and Hydroxychloroquine, as appropriate (treatment currently recommended by the department of Infectious Diseases of the Hospital de Clínicas that could undergo to modifications). In addition, if necessary: supplemental O2, non-invasive ventilation, antibiotic therapy.

Main outcomes

Primary Outcome Measures:

Time to hospital discharge, defined as the time from first dose of ARBOX to hospital discharge [ Time Frame: Throughout the Study (Day 0 to Day 28) ]

Secondary Outcome Measures:

28-day all-cause mortality [ Time Frame: Throughout the Study (Day 0 to Day 28) ]-proportion

Invasive ventilation on day 28 [ Time Frame: Throughout the Study (Day 0 to Day 28) ]-proportion

Level of inflammation parameters and cytokines [ Time Frame: day 1-14 ] -mean difference

Difference in fecal intestinal microbiota composition and intestinal permeability [ Time Frame: day 1-14 ]

Negativization of COVID-PCR at day 14 [ Time Frame: day 14 ]-proportion

Randomization

Potential study participants were screened for eligibility 24 hours prior to study randomization. Patients were randomly assigned via computer-generated random numbering (1:1) to receive standard treatment coupled with tannin or standard treatment plus placebo (control group).

Blinding (masking)

Study personnel and participants are blinded to the treatment allocation, as both ARBOX and placebo were packed in identical containers. Thus, all the used capsules had identical appearance.

Numbers to be randomized (sample size)

Considering an alpha error of 5%, a power of 80% a sample size of 70 patients per branch was estimated. 140 patients in total.

Trial Status

The protocol version is number V2, dated May 23, 2020.

The first patient, first visit was on June 12, 2020; the recruitment end date was October 6, 2020.

The protocol was not submitted earlier because the enrollment of some patients took place after the closure of the recruitment on the clinicaltrials platform. In fact, due to the epidemiological conditions, due to the decrease of the cases in Argentina during the summer period, the recruitment stopped t before reaching the number of 140 patients (as indicated in the webpage). However, since there was a new increase in cases, the enrolment was resumed in order to reach the number of patients initially planned in the protocol. The final participant was recruited on February 14, 2021.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov, number: NCT04403646, registered on May 27th, 2020.

Full protocol

The full protocol is attached as an additional file, accessible from the Trials website (Additional file 1). In the interest in expediting dissemination of this material, the familiar formatting has been eliminated; this Letter serves as a summary of the key elements of the full protocol.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13063-021-05281-x.

Oral administration of chestnut tannins to reduce the duration of neonatal calf diarrhea

BACKGROUND

Neonatal calf diarrhea is generally caused by infectious agents and is a very common disease in bovine practice, leading to substantial economic losses. Tannins are known for their astringent and anti-inflammatory properties in the gastro-enteric tract. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the oral administration of chestnut tannins (Castanea sativa Mill.) in order to reduce the duration of calf neonatal diarrhea. Twenty-four Italian Friesian calves affected by neonatal diarrhea were included. The duration of the diarrheic episode (DDE) was recorded and the animals were divided into a control group (C), which received Effydral® in 2 l of warm water, and a tannin-treated group (T), which received Effydral® in 2 l of warm water plus 10 g of extract of chestnut tannins powder. A Mann-Whitney test was performed to verify differences for the DDE values between the two groups.

RESULTS

The DDE was significantly higher in group C than in group T (p = 0.02), resulting in 10.1 ± 3.2 and 6.6 ± 3.8 days, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Phytotherapic treatments for various diseases have become more common both in human and in veterinary medicine, in order to reduce the presence of antibiotic molecules in the food chain and in the environment. Administration of tannins in calves with diarrhea seemed to shorten the DDE in T by almost 4 days compared to C, suggesting an effective astringent action of chestnut tannins in the calf, as already reported in humans. The use of chestnut tannins in calves could represent an effective, low-impact treatment for neonatal diarrhea.