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Purpose: In previous studies, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) have been found to regulate gut microbiota and change gut barrier status, and the potential positive effects of SCFAs on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D), and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have also been found, but the role of SCFAs in these three diseases is not clear. This review aims to summarize existing evidence on the effects of SCFAs on IBD, T1D, and NHFLD, and correlates them with gut barrier and gut microbiota (gut microbiota barrier). Methods: A literature search in PubMed, Web of Science, Springer, and Wiley Online Library up to October 2020 was conducted for all relevant studies published. Results: This is a retrospective review of 150 applied research articles or reviews. The destruction of gut barrier may promote the development of IBD, T1D, and NAFLD. SCFAs seem to maintain the gut barrier by promoting the growth of intestinal epithelial cells, strengthening the intestinal tight connection, and regulating the activities of gut microbiota and immune cells, which might result possible beneficial effects on the above three diseases at a certain dose. Conclusions: Influencing gut barrier health may be a bridge for SCFAs (especially butyrate) to have positive effects on IBD, T1D, and NAFLD. It is expected that this article can provide new ideas for the subsequent research on the treatment of diseases by SCFAs and help SCFAs be better applied to precise and personalized treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies reveal that glycerol monolaurate (GML) is regarded as an effective feed supplement in the production of broilers; however, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. The current study aimed to investigate how GML affected production performance and meat quality in yellow-feathered broilers. A total of 528 chicks were randomly assigned into four groups for a 56-day feeding trial. The control group received a basal diet, and the treated groups fed basal diet containing 300 (GML300), 450 (GML450), and 600 (GML600) mg/kg GML. Results revealed that dietary GML notably increased the average daily feed intake (p < 0.05) and body weight in broilers during 28–56 days of age and improved the duodenum and jejunum morphology. Dietary GML increased the total cholesterol in broilers (p < 0.05), but the hepatic, abdominal, and muscular fat deposition, as well as muscle fatty acids, were not affected. The flavor amino acids and total amino acids in muscle of GML300 and GML 450 groups were notably (p < 0.05) increased. GML supplementation selectively increased the colonization of an unclassified genus of Lachnospiraceae family and Bifidobacteriaceae, which were significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with the increase of muscle amino acids. Meanwhile, dietary GML notably increased short chain fatty acids content and the microbial DNA abundance of carbohydrate, amino acids and lipid metabolism pathway in cecum. These findings demonstrated that dietary GML improved performance, intestinal morphology, and muscle amino acids in broilers mainly by manipulating community, function and metabolites of gut microbiota. Key points: • GML improves performance, muscle composition, and feed efficiency in broilers. • GML alters gut microbiota community, function, and microbial metabolites in broilers. • Improvements of broilers by GML closely associated with gut microbiota alteration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 88 lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains were isolated from Chinese traditional sourdough and five of them were selected based on their bile resistance. All the five strains were identified as Lactobacillus plantarum by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. In vitro probiotic properties of the L. plantarum strains including tolerance to simulated gastrointestinal conditions, aggregation activity, and cholesterol removal ability were assessed. Two representatives, L. plantarum ZJUFT34 and L. plantarum ZJUFT17, were intragastrically administered to male C57BL/6J mice of 4-week age for 6 weeks to evaluate their in vivo health-promoting effects. The results indicated that L. plantarum ZJUFT34, L. plantarum ZJUFHN9, and L. plantarum ZJUFAH5 could survive the 3-h incubation in simulated gastric juice with a pH value of 2.0, while L. plantarum ZJUFT32 and L. plantarum ZJUFT17 exhibited better autoaggregation activities and coaggregation activities with pathogens. All the strains showed a cholesterol removal ability in vitro. However, L. plantarum ZJUFT34 or L. plantarum ZJUFT17 administration did not significantly change the serum total cholesterol in vivo. But the ratio of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol to low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was significantly increased by the L. plantarum administration. Besides, L. plantarum ZJUFT17 significantly lowered serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α concentrations. Furthermore, the administration of the LAB strains showed significant influences on lipid metabolism-related gut microbiota. These findings suggested that the L. plantarum strains may benefit the prevention of metabolic syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imidacloprid [1-(6-chloro-3-pyridylmethyl)- N-nitro-imidazolidin-2-ylideneamine] is among the most extensively used pesticide in Pakistan. The aim of this investigation was to report the changes in concentration of different elements and amino acid in the muscle of Labeo rohita upon imidacloprid exposure. Juvenile Labeo rohita ( N = 480) were treated with 120mgL imidacloprid under short and long-term experimental conditions. At the end of each experiment, fish muscle was used for elemental concentration (determination by an atomic absorption spectrophotometer) and amino acid estimation (by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)). Our results indicated that sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, aluminum, and lead concentrations were significantly different ( P < 0.05) when compared between imidacloprid-treated and untreated L. rohita and changes were more pronounced in short-term experimental groups. HPLC-generated data analysis showed that proline, isoleucine, and glycine concentrations increased while the levels of phenylalanine, alanine, and leucine decreased significantly ( P < 0.05) in muscles of fish exposed to imidacloprid under short-term conditions. On the other hand, serine, arginine, and glycine increased significantly and alanine decreased significantly in L. rohita exposed to pesticide under long-term experimental conditions. It is concluded that imidacloprid (120 mg L) exposure to L. rohita for a variable duration has significantly changed the elemental composition and studied amino acid concentrations in fish muscles making it unsuitable for human consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six synthetic phosphopeptides (SPP) and casein phosphopeptides (CPP) were obtained to investigate the relationship between the molecular structure of phosphopeptides and their calcium-binding property. SPP1, SPP2, SPP3, SPP4, SPP5, and SPP6 were synthesized with 0-3 continuous or discontinuous phosphorylated serines based on a core structure of casein phosphopeptides, respectively. CPP were acquired by pancreatin hydrolysis of casein and subsequent purification. The ranking of calcium-binding ability of the six synthetic phosphopeptides was SPP5 > SPP6 > SPP4 > SPP3 > SPP1 ~ SPP2. SPP4 was found to release calcium more easily in a simulated intestinal environment. CPP, contained various fragments ranged from 1 to 4 Ser(P)s, bound calcium slightly weaker than SPP6 that contained same amount of phosphorus with the CPP solution. The number and the position of phosphoserine residue are important factors for calcium-binding activities. SPP4, the phosphopeptide with two discontinuous phosphorylated serines, has the best calcium adsorption efficiency in a simulated intestinal environment among all the tested phosphopeptides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydrolysate of silkworm protein produced by acid protease ( Asperqiius usamii NO. 537) contains angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitory activity. Four kinds of protein components were identified in silkworm pupae protein, albumin, globulin, prolamin and glutelin, and the albumin was in the highest quantity. The four component proteins were then further hydrolyzed by acid protease under the same conditions, and the hydrolysate of albumin was determined with the highest ACE inhibiting effect, followed by globulin. Albumin could be easily hydrolyzed under the aqueous conditions, and the overall albumin protein content was higher than the other three protein components. The peptide sequence 'APPPKK' was determined by LC-MS/MS separation and X!Tandem software identification. The peptide inhibitory activity was 0.047 mg/mL in IC. The peptide was bonded to Asp, Asp, Thr, His , Glu in hydrogen bond to ACE active pocket by flexible docking calculations. This study indicates that silkworm pupae protein may be a suitable candidate to explore functional foods with anti-hypertension bioactivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical feature based pharmacophore models were generated for an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptide using the Discovery Studio 2.0 pharmacophore modeling approach. The pharmacophore hypothesis selected has five features (one negative ionizable region, one hydrogen bond donor, one hydrogen bond acceptor and two hydrophobic functional groups). Additionally, ACE inhibitory hexapeptide previously obtained from silkworm pupae protein was optimized to target the ACE based on the selected pharmacophore. The results suggest that tri-peptide (thr-val-phe) may be structural determinant of ACE activity. Docking studies further provided confidence for the validity of the selected pharmacophore model to perform structure optimization of the ACE inhibitory peptide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]