Oroboros Instruments (Austria)

Background: Pasta is a key component of Mediterranean diet, is a cereal-based food ideal for affordability, palatability, and nutritional quality. Also, wheat germ is one of the most important by-products of the milling industry. We compared several properties of 5 types of pasta looking for an ideal functional food.
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\nMethods: Batches of pasta consisted of (1) control (water and semolina dough with the addition of integral-like colouring agent) (CP) and dried pastas with addition of (2) 30% de-oiled durum wheat “germ” (EP1); (3) 30% “bran” de-oiled wheat (EP2); (4) 27% de-oiled wheat “germ” plus 6% microencapsulated durum wheat “oil” (EP3); and (5) 27% de-oiled wheat “bran” plus 6% microencapsulated durum wheat “oil” (EP4).
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\nWe performed chemical characterization, assay of total phenols and antioxidant activity, simulated digestion prior to faecal microbiota fermentation, and in vivo palatability cooking test.
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\nResults: Carbohydrates and protein content was similar, while fibre content was higher across all EPs, compared to CP. EPs had significantly higher concentration of total phenols and an improved scavenging activity than CPs. EP1 and EP3 had the highest (p < 0.05) values of both phenols and scavenging activity with a trend for EP3 for highest values. In vitro, EP1 and EP3 showed an increased viability and density of various gut microbial patterns, in particular lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria. The palatability study showed that 9 min cooking time was ideal to disclose the highest score in EP1 and EP3.
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\nConclusions: We explored the health promoting properties featuring the innovative pasta containing de-oiled wheat “germ”. Starting from the promising outcomes from in vitro assays, especially EP1 and EP3 deserve further studies in vivo as novel functional foods supporting healthy properties.

Ubiquinol cytochrome c reductase hinge protein (UQCRH) is required for the electron transfer between cytochrome c1 and c of the mitochondrial cytochrome bc1 Complex (CIII). A two-exon deletion in the human UQCRH gene has recently been identified as the cause for a rare familial mitochondrial disorder. Deletion of the corresponding gene in the mouse (Uqcrh-KO) resulted in striking biochemical and clinical similarities including impairment of CIII, failure to thrive, elevated blood glucose levels, and early death. Here, we set out to test how global ablation of the murine Uqcrh affects cardiac morphology and contractility, and bioenergetics. Hearts from Uqcrh-KO mutant mice appeared macroscopically considerably smaller compared to wildtype littermate controls despite similar geometries as confirmed by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). Relating TTE-assessed heart to body mass revealed the development of subtle cardiac enlargement, but histopathological analysis showed no excess collagen deposition. Nonetheless, Uqcrh-KO hearts developed pronounced contractile dysfunction. To assess mitochondrial functions, we used the high-resolution respirometer NextGen-O2k allowing measurement of mitochondrial respiratory capacity through the electron transfer system (ETS) simultaneously with the redox state of ETS-reactive coenzyme Q (Q), or production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Compared to wildtype littermate controls, we found decreased mitochondrial respiratory capacity and more reduced Q in Uqcrh-KO, indicative for an impaired ETS. Yet, mitochondrial ROS production was not generally increased. Taken together, our data suggest that Uqcrh-KO leads to cardiac contractile dysfunction at 9 weeks of age, which is associated with impaired bioenergetics but not with mitochondrial ROS production.Graphical abstractGlobal ablation of the Uqcrh gene results in functional impairment of CIII associated with metabolic dysfunction and postnatal developmental arrest immediately after weaning from the mother. Uqcrh-KO mice show dramatically elevated blood glucose levels and decreased ability of isolated cardiac mitochondria to consume oxygen (O2). Impaired development (failure to thrive) after weaning manifests as a deficiency in the gain of body mass and growth of internal organ including the heart. The relative heart mass seemingly increases when organ mass calculated from transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is normalized to body mass. Notably, the heart shows no signs of collagen deposition, yet does develop a contractile dysfunction reflected by a decrease in ejection fraction and fractional shortening.

<p>Baglivo E, Cardoso LHD, Cecatto C, Gnaiger E (2022) Statistical analysis of instrumental reproducibility as internal quality control in high-resolution respirometry. MitoFit Preprints 2022.18.<a href="https://doi.org/10.26124/mitofit:2022-0018.v1"> </a><a href="https://doi.org/10.26124/mitofit:2022-0018.v2">https://doi.org/10.26124/mitofit:2022-0018.v2</a></p> <p> </p>