| 1. |
- Frezza, Claudio, et al.
(author)
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Phytochemical Analysis and Trypanocidal Activity of Marrubium incanum Desr.
- 2020
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In: Molecules. - : MDPI. - 1431-5157 .- 1420-3049. ; 25:14
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The rationale inspiring the discovery of lead compounds for the treatment of human parasitic protozoan diseases from natural sources is the well-established use of medicinal plants in various systems of traditional medicine. On this basis, we decided to select an overlooked medicinal plant growing in central Italy, Marrubium incanum Desr. (Lamiaceae), which has been used as a traditional remedy against protozoan diseases, and to investigate its potential against Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT). For this purpose, we assayed three extracts of different polarities obtained from the aerial parts of M. incanum—namely, water (MarrInc-H2O), ethanol (MarrInc-EtOH) and dichloromethane (MarrInc-CH2Cl2)—against Trypanosoma brucei (TC221), with the aim to discover lead compounds for the development of antitrypanosomal drugs. Their selectivity index (SI) was determined on mammalian cells (BALB/3T3 mouse fibroblasts) as a counter-screen for toxicity. The preliminary screening selected the MarrInc-CH2Cl2 extract as the most promising candidate against HAT, showing an IC50 value of 28 μg/mL. On this basis, column chromatography coupled with the NMR spectroscopy of a MarrInc-CH2Cl2 extract led to the isolation and identification of five compounds i.e. 1-α-linolenoyl-2-palmitoyl-3-stearoyl-sn- glycerol (1), 1-linoleoyl-2-palmitoyl-3-stearoyl-sn-glycerol (2), stigmasterol (3), palmitic acid (4), and salvigenin (5). Notably, compounds 3 and 5 were tested on T. brucei, with the latter being five-fold more active than the MarrInc-CH2Cl2 extract (IC50 = 5.41 ± 0.85 and 28 ± 1.4 μg/mL, respectively). Furthermore, the SI for salvigenin was >18.5, showing a preferential effect on target cells compared with the dichloromethane extract (>3.6). Conversely, stigmasterol was found to be inactive. To complete the work, also the more polar MarrInc-EtOH extract was analyzed, giving evidence for the presence of 2″-O-allopyranosyl-cosmosiin (6), verbascoside (7), and samioside (8). Our findings shed light on the phytochemistry of this overlooked species and its antiprotozoal potential, providing evidence for the promising role of flavonoids such as salvigenin for the treatment of protozoal diseases.
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| 2. |
- Hantikainen, Essi, et al.
(author)
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Dietary non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity and risk of stroke : The Swedish Women's Lifestyle and Health Cohort
- 2020
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In: Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.). - : Elsevier BV. - 0899-9007 .- 1873-1244. ; 73
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: Consumption of antioxidant-rich foods has been associated with a reduced risk for stroke. However, antioxidant supplementation is not recommended owing to controversial findings reported in clinical trials. The aim of this study was to better understand the effect of dietary antioxidants by investigating the effect of dietary non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity (NEAC), reflecting the antioxidant potential of the whole diet, on the risk for stroke. Methods: In the Women's Lifestyle and Health Cohort, 45 882 women 30 to 49 y of age and free from cardiovascular diseases were followed through record linkages from 1991 to 2012. Dietary NEAC was assessed by a validated food frequency questionnaire collected at baseline and categorized into quintiles. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression models were fitted to estimate hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals for overall stroke and ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke separately. Results: During a mean follow-up time of 20.2 y, we detected 871 incidence cases of stroke (516 ischemic, 296 hemorrhagic, and 59 unspecified strokes). After adjusting for potential confounders, we did not find any association between dietary NEAC and stroke, either overall, or ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke (P-trend > 0.05). Conclusion: Higher dietary NEAC was not associated with any type of stroke in young and middle-aged Swedish women.
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| 3. |
- Hantikainen, Essi, et al.
(author)
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Dietary non enzymatic antioxidant capacity and the risk of myocardial infarction in the Swedish women's lifestyle and health cohort
- 2018
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In: European Journal of Epidemiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0393-2990 .- 1573-7284. ; 33:2, s. 213-221
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Foods rich in antioxidants have been associated with a reduced risk of myocardial infarction. However, findings from randomized clinical trials on the role of antioxidant supplementation remain controversial. It has been suggested that antioxidants interact with each other to promote cardiovascular health. We therefore investigated the association between dietary Non Enzymatic Antioxidant Capacity (NEAC), measuring the total antioxidant potential of the whole diet, and the risk of myocardial infarction. We followed 45,882 women aged 30-49 years and free from cardiovascular diseases through record linkages from 1991 until 2012. Dietary NEAC was assessed by a validated food frequency questionnaire collected at baseline. Total dietary NEAC was categorized into quintiles and multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression models were fitted to estimate hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). During a mean follow-up time of 20.3 years we detected 657 incident cases of myocardial infarction. After adjusting for potential confounders, we found a significant 28% lower risk of myocardial infarction among women in the fourth (HR: 0.72; 95% CI 0.55-0.95) and a 40% lower risk among women in the fifth quintile (HR: 0.60, 95% CI 0.45-0.81) of dietary NEAC compared to women in the first quintile, with a significant trend (p-value < 0.001). Higher dietary NEAC is associated with a lower risk of myocardial infarction in young to middle-aged women. These findings support the hypothesis that dietary antioxidants protect from myocardial infarction and that this effect might be exerted through interactions between antioxidants.
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| 4. |
- Hantikainen, Essi, et al.
(author)
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Prospective study of dietary Non Enzymatic Antioxidant Capacity on the risk of hip fracture in the elderly
- 2016
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In: Bone. - : Elsevier BV. - 8756-3282 .- 1873-2763. ; 90, s. 31-36
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Dietary antioxidants may play an important role in the prevention of bone loss and associated fractures by reducing levels of oxidative stress. We prospectively investigated the association between dietary Non Enzymatic Antioxidant Capacity (NEAC) and the risk of hip fracture and whether this effect was modified by smoking. Method: In the Swedish National March Cohort 13,409 men and women over the age of 55 who had not experienced cancer, cardiovascular disease or hip fracture, were followed through record-linkages from 1997 through 2010. NEAC was assessed by a validated food frequency questionnaire collected at baseline. We categorized the distribution of NEAC into sex-specific quartiles and used multivariable adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression models to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results: During a mean follow-up time of 12.4 years, we identified 491 incident cases of first hip fracture. Subjects in the highest quartile of dietary NEAC had a 39% lower risk of incident hip fracture compared to those in the lowest quartile (HR: 0.61; 95% CI: 0.44-0.85). The association was non-linear (p for non-linearity: 0.004) with a potential threshold between the first and the second quartile and no further risk reduction at higher levels of dietary NEAC. Due to a low smoking prevalence in our study population, we had limited power to detect effect modification between dietary NEAC and smoking on a multiplicative or additive scale. Conclusion: Higher dietary NEAC intake is associated with lower risk of hip fracture in the elderly.
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| 5. |
- Rautiainen, Susanne, et al.
(author)
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The validity and reproducibility of food-frequency questionnaire-based total antioxidant capacity estimates in Swedish women
- 2008
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In: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. - : Elsevier BV. - 0002-9165 .- 1938-3207. ; 87:5, s. 1247-53
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) provides an assessment of antioxidant activity and synergistic interactions of redox molecules in foods and plasma.OBJECTIVE: We investigated the validity and reproducibility of food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ)-based TAC estimates assessed by oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), total radical-trapping antioxidant parameters (TRAP), and ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) food values.DESIGN: Validity and reproducibility were evaluated in 2 random samples from the Swedish Mammography Cohort. Validity was studied by comparing FFQ-based TAC estimates with one measurement of plasma TAC in 108 women (54-73-y-old dietary supplement nonusers). Reproducibility was studied in 300 women (56-75 y old, 50.7% dietary supplement nonusers) who completed 2 FFQs 1 y apart.RESULTS: Fruit and vegetables (mainly apples, pears, oranges, and berries) were the major contributors to FFQ-based ORAC (56.5%), TRAP (41.7%), and FRAP (38.0%) estimates. In the validity study, whole plasma ORAC was correlated (Pearson) with FFQ-based ORAC (r = 0.35), TRAP (r = 0.31), and FRAP (r = 0.28) estimates from fruit and vegetables. Correlations between lipophilic plasma ORAC and FFQ-based ORAC, TRAP, and FRAP estimates from fruit and vegetables were 0.41, 0.31, and 0.28, and correlations with plasma TRAP estimates were 0.31, 0.30, and 0.28, respectively. Hydrophilic plasma ORAC and plasma FRAP values did not correlate with FFQ-based TAC estimates. Reproducibility, assessed by intraclass correlations, was 0.60, 0.61, and 0.61 for FFQ-based ORAC, TRAP, and FRAP estimates, respectively, from fruit and vegetables.CONCLUSIONS: FFQ-based TAC values represent valid and reproducible estimates that may be used in nutritional epidemiology to assess antioxidant intake from foods. Further studies in other populations to confirm these results are needed.
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| 6. |
- Serafini, Mauro, et al.
(author)
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Dietary total antioxidant capacity and gastric cancer risk in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition study
- 2012
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In: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 131:4, s. 544-554
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A high intake of dietary antioxidant compounds has been hypothesized to be an appropriate strategy to reduce gastric cancer (GC) development. We investigated the effect of dietary total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in relation to GC in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) study including 23 centers in 10 European countries. A total of 521,457 subjects (153,447 men) aged mostly 3570 years old, were recruited largely between 1992 and 1998. Ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) and total radical-trapping antioxidant parameter (TRAP), measuring reducing and chain-breaking antioxidant capacity were used to measure dietary TAC from plant foods. Dietary antioxidant intake is associated with a reduction in the risk of GC for both FRAP (adjusted HR 0.66; 95%CI (0.460.95) and TRAP (adjusted HR 0.61; 95%CI (0.430.87) (highest vs. lowest quintile). The association was observed for both cardia and noncardia cancers. A clear effect was observed in smokers with a significant reduction in GC risk for the fifth quintile of intake for both assays (highest vs. lowest quintile: adjusted HR 0.41; 95%CI (0.220.76) p for trend <0.001 for FRAP; adjusted HR 0.52; 95%CI (0.280.97) p for trend <0.001 for TRAP) but not in nonsmokers. In former smokers, the association with FRAP intake was statistically significant (highest vs. lowest quintile: adjusted HR 0.4; 95%CI (0.210.75) p < 0.05); no association was observed for TRAP. Dietary antioxidant capacity intake from different sources of plant foods is associated with a reduction in the risk of GC.
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| 7. |
- Zamora-Ros, Raul, et al.
(author)
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Dietary flavonoid, lignan and antioxidant capacity and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition study
- 2013
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In: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 133:10, s. 2429-2443
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Limited epidemiological evidence suggests a protective role for plant foods rich in flavonoids and antioxidants in hepatocellular cancer (HCC) etiology. Our aim was to prospectively investigate the association between dietary intake of flavonoids, lignans and nonenzymatic antioxidant capacity (NEAC) and HCC risk. Data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort including 477,206 subjects (29.8% male) recruited from ten Western European countries, was analyzed. Flavonoid, lignan and NEAC intakes were calculated using a compilation of existing food composition databases linked to dietary information from validated dietary questionnaires. Dietary NEAC was based on ferric reducing antioxidant capacity (FRAP) and total radical-trapping antioxidant parameter (TRAP). Hepatitis B/C status was measured in a nested case-control subset. During a mean follow-up of 11-years, 191 incident HCC cases (66.5% men) were identified. Using Cox regression, multivariable adjusted models showed a borderline nonsignificant association of HCC with total flavonoid intake (highest versus lowest tertile, HR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.40-1.04; ptrend = 0.065), but not with lignans. Among flavonoid subclasses, flavanols were inversely associated with HCC risk (HR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.39-0.99; ptrend = 0.06). Dietary NEAC was inversely associated with HCC (FRAP: HR 0.50, 95% CI: 0.31-0.81; ptrend = 0.001; TRAP: HR 0.49, 95% CI: 0.31-0.79; ptrend = 0.002), but statistical significance was lost after exclusion of the first 2 years of follow-up. This study suggests that higher intake of dietary flavanols and antioxidants may be associated with a reduced HCC risk.
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