Publications

Natural bioactive compounds present a better alternative to prevent and treat chronic diseases owing to their lower toxicity and abundant resources. (+)‐Dihydromyricetin (DMY) is a flavanonol, possessing numerous interesting bioactivities with abundant resources. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the recent advances in DMY natural resources, stereoisomerism, physicochemical properties, extraction, biosynthesis, pharmacokinetics, and biotransformation. Stereoisomerism of DMY should be considered for better indication of its efficacy. Biotechnological approach presents a potential tool for the production of DMY using microbial cell factories. DMY high instability is related to its powerful antioxidant capacity due to pyrogallol moiety in ring B, and whether preparation of other analogues could demonstrate improved properties. DMY demonstrates poor bioavailability based on its low solubility and permeability with several attempts to improve its pharmacokinetics and efficacy. DMY possesses various pharmacological effects, which have been proven by many in vitro and in vivo experiments, while clinical trials are rather scarce, with underlying action mechanisms remaining unclear. Consequently, to maximize the usefulness of DMY in nutraceuticals, improvement in bioavailability, and better understanding of its actions mechanisms and drug interactions ought to be examined in the future along with more clinical evidence.

Abstract We carried out a simulation study to compare the efficiency of three alternative programs ( dfdist , detseld and bayescan ) to detect loci under directional selection from genome‐wide scans using dominant markers. We also evaluated the efficiency of correcting for multiple testing those methods that use a classical probability approach. Under a wide range of scenarios, we conclude that bayescan appears to be more efficient than the other methods, detecting a usually high percentage of true selective loci as well as less than 1% of outliers (false positives) under a fully neutral model. In addition, the percentage of outliers detected by this software is always correlated with the true percentage of selective loci in the genome. Our results show, nevertheless, that false positives are common even with a combination of methods and multitest correction, suggesting that conclusions obtained from this approach should be taken with extreme caution.

The consumption of macroalgae has increased in occidental countries, favored by the excellent nutritional properties of their food products and the bioactive properties attributed to them. The present work aims to analyze the nutritional values, the composition in fatty acids, organic acids and carotenoids of several macroalgae species: Codium tomentosum; Himanthalia elongata; Laminaria ochroleuca.; Saccharina latissima; Undaria pinnatifida; Porphyra sp. and Palmaria palmata. Furthermore, the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties were assessed. Regarding the composition of the macroalgae, the levels of proteins (which ranged between 6 and 30 g/100 g of dry weight (DW)) and the low levels of lipids (below 1 g/100 g DW for all the species) stand out. In the case of carotenoids, lycopene and chlorophyll a were detected in all samples. Regarding antioxidant activity, OxHLIA assay was employed. EC50 values varied between 1.7 and 650 µg/mL for L. ochroleuca and P. palmata. H. elongata presented the greatest antibacterial potential (0.5–2 mg/mL) while L. ochroleuca showed the best antifungal effects (2–4 mg/mL). These species have good nutritional values and present interesting bioactivities. Thus, the incorporation of this macroalgae into the daily diet could provide nutritional and health benefits to the consumers. In addition, they could be used as a source of compounds for the nutraceutical, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.

Summary The aim of this study was to investigate the inhibitory mechanism of oenothein B (OeB), a unique oligomer ellagitannin with a rigid structure, on porcine trypsin using fluorescence spectroscopy, isothermal titration calorimetry ( ITC ), circular dichroism ( CD ) and molecular docking. Trypsin activity was strongly inhibited by OeB in a competitive way. Fluorescence quenching of trypsin by OeB was a static quenching. The CD spectra showed that binding of OeB to trypsin altered trypsin's conformation. The ITC and docking studies revealed that the inhibitory mechanism of OeB occurred via binding to the interior hydrophobic groups of trypsin and the formation of hydrogen bonds with trypsin through binding to the amino acid residues Asn97, His573, Ser195 and Gln192. This study provides a theoretical and computational basis for the precise control of trypsin in food industry. Based on the results, OeB may be used in food technology research as novel bioactive trypsin inhibitor.

Abstract Dietary polyphenols have been widely investigated as antidiabetic agents in cell, animals, human study, and clinical trial. The number of publication (Indexed by Web of Science) on “polyphenols and diabetes” significantly increased since 2010. This review highlights the advances and opportunities of dietary polyphenols as antidiabetic agents. Dietary polyphenols prevent and manage Type 2 diabetes mellitus via the insulin‐dependent approaches, for instance, protection of pancreatic islet β‐cell, reduction of β‐cell apoptosis, promotion of β‐cell proliferation, attenuation of oxidative stress, activation of insulin signaling, and stimulation of pancreas to secrete insulin, as well as the insulin‐independent approaches including inhibition of glucose absorption, inhibition of digestive enzymes, regulation of intestinal microbiota, modification of inflammation response, and inhibition of the formation of advanced glycation end products. Moreover, dietary polyphenols ameliorate diabetic complications, such as vascular dysfunction, nephropathy, retinopathy, neuropathy, cardiomyopathy, coronary diseases, renal failure, and so on. The structure–activity relationship of polyphenols as antidiabetic agents is still not clear. The individual flavonoid or isoflavone has no therapeutic effect on diabetic patients, although the clinical data are very limited. Resveratrol, curcumin, and anthocyanins showed antidiabetic activity in human study. How hyperglycemia influences the bioavailability and bioactivity of dietary polyphenols is not well understood. An understanding of how diabetes alters the bioavailability and bioactivity of dietary polyphenols will lead to an improvement in their benefits and clinical outcomes.