Substituting honey for refined carbohydrates protects rats from hypertriglyceridemic and prooxidative effects of fructose.
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Recent findings indicate that a high fructose diet has a prooxidant effect in rats compared with a starch diet. Because honey is rich in fructose, the aim of this study was to assess the effect of substituting honey for refined carbohydrates on lipid metabolism and oxidative stress. Rats were fed for 2 wk purified diets containing 65 g/100 g carbohydrates as wheat starch or a combination of fructose and glucose or a honey-based diet prepared by substituting honey for refined carbohydrates (n = 9/group). The same amount of fructose was provided by the honey and fructose diets. The hypertriglyceridemic effect of fructose was not observed when fructose was provided by honey. Compared with those fed starch, fructose-fed rats had a lower plasma alpha-tocopherol level, higher plasma nitrite and nitrate (NOx) levels and were less protected from lipid peroxidation as indicated by heart homogenate TBARS concentration. Compared with those fed fructose, honey-fed rats had a higher plasma alpha-tocopherol level, a higher alpha-tocopherol/triacylglycerol ratio, lower plasma NOx concentrations and a lower susceptibility of heart to lipid peroxidation. Further studies are required to identify the mechanism underlying the antioxidant effect of honey but the data suggest a potential nutritional benefit of substituting honey for fructose in the diet. (+info)
Development and evaluation of PCR assays for the detection of Paenibacillus larvae in honey samples: comparison with isolation and biochemical characterization.
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PCR assays were developed for the direct detection of Paenibacillus larvae in honey samples and compared with isolation and biochemical characterization procedures. Different primer pairs, designed from the 16S rRNA and the metalloproteinase precursor gene regions, and different DNA extraction methods were tested and compared. The sensitivity of the reactions was evaluated by serial dilutions of DNA extracts obtained from P. larvae cultures. The specificity of the primers was assessed by analyzing related Paenibacillus and Bacillus strains isolated from honey. The PCR assays also amplified these related bacteria, but at lower sensitivity. In the next step, the PCR assays were applied to contaminated honey and other bee products originating from 15 countries. Lysozyme treatment followed by proteinase K digestion was determined to be the best DNA extraction method for P. larvae spores. The most sensitive primer pair detected P. larvae in 18 of 23 contaminated honey samples, as well as in pollen, wax, and brood. Honey specimens containing saprophyte bacilli and paenibacilli, but not P. larvae, were PCR negative. Although the isolation and biochemical identification method (BioLog) showed higher sensitivity and specificity, PCR proved to be a valuable technique for large-scale screening of honey samples for American foulbrood, especially considering its rapidity and moderate costs. (+info)
Bioactive natural compounds for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders.
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Many healthy subjects and patients are taking natural bioactive products for the prevention and treatment of multiple conditions, including gastrointestinal disorders. Based on current evidence, the scientific validity of the use of many of these commercial compounds by the general public is severely limited, with quality control and regulatory issues continuing to be a concern. Nevertheless, there is sufficient preliminary data to warrant further research of these products in order to identify novel compounds for potential clinical use in addition to performing formal randomized controlled clinical trials of the commercial preparations. (+info)
Pollen spectrum of honey produced in cerrado areas of Minas Gerais State (Brazil).
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The pollen spectra of honey samples collected in five apiaries situated near cerrado areas in Minas Gerais State, Brazil, were studied from April 1996 to April 1998 in order to establish the contribution of different plant species in pollen or nectar production The honey samples were characterized by the following native species: Astronium sp., Alternanthera sp., Schinus sp., and Serjanea sp. The pollinic participation percentage of those species was related to the degree of preservation in the areas. (+info)
Candida bombiphila sp. nov., a new asexual yeast species in the Wickerhamiella clade.
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Two yeast strains were isolated from a bumblebee and bumblebee honey. The strains were almost identical in their D1/D2 domain of the large-subunit rDNA and their physiological abilities. In both respects the strains resembled Wickerhamiella domercqiae. On the basis of these data, it is proposed that the strains represent a novel species with the name Candida bombiphila sp. nov. The type strain is CBS 9712T (= NRRL Y-27640T = MH268T). (+info)
ESTIMA, a tool for EST management in a multi-project environment.
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BACKGROUND: Single-pass, partial sequencing of complementary DNA (cDNA) libraries generates thousands of chromatograms that are processed into high quality expressed sequence tags (ESTs), and then assembled into contigs representative of putative genes. Usually, to be of value, ESTs and contigs must be associated with meaningful annotations, and made available to end-users. RESULTS: A web application, Expressed Sequence Tag Information Management and Annotation (ESTIMA), has been created to meet the EST annotation and data management requirements of multiple high-throughput EST sequencing projects. It is anchored on individual ESTs and organized around different properties of ESTs including chromatograms, base-calling quality scores, structure of assembled transcripts, and multiple sources of comparison to infer functional annotation, Gene Ontology associations, and cDNA library information. ESTIMA consists of a relational database schema and a set of interactive query interfaces. These are integrated with a suite of web-based tools that allow a user to query and retrieve information. Further, query results are interconnected among the various EST properties. ESTIMA has several unique features. Users may run their own EST processing pipeline, search against preferred reference genomes, and use any clustering and assembly algorithm. The ESTIMA database schema is very flexible and accepts output from any EST processing and assembly pipeline. ESTIMA has been used for the management of EST projects of many species, including honeybee (Apis mellifera), cattle (Bos taurus), songbird (Taeniopygia guttata), corn rootworm (Diabrotica vergifera), catfish (Ictalurus punctatus, Ictalurus furcatus), and apple (Malus x domestica). The entire resource may be downloaded and used as is, or readily adapted to fit the unique needs of other cDNA sequencing projects. CONCLUSIONS: The scripts used to create the ESTIMA interface are freely available to academic users in an archived format from http://titan.biotec.uiuc.edu/ESTIMA/. The entity-relationship (E-R) diagrams and the programs used to generate the Oracle database tables are also available. We have also provided detailed installation instructions and a tutorial at the same website. Presently the chromatograms, EST databases and their annotations have been made available for cattle and honeybee brain EST projects. Non-academic users need to contact the W.M. Keck Center for Functional and Comparative Genomics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, for licensing information. (+info)
Localization of alpha-glucosidases I, II, and III in organs of European honeybees, Apis mellifera L., and the origin of alpha-glucosidase in honey.
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Three kinds of alpha-glucosidases, I, II, and III, were purified from European honeybees, Apis mellifera L. In addition, an alpha-glucosidase was also purified from honey. Some properties, including the substrate specificity of honey alpha-glucosidase, were almost the same as those of alpha-glucosidase III. Specific antisera against the alpha-glucosidases were prepared to examine the localization of alpha-glucosidases in the organs of honeybees. It was immunologically confirmed for the first time that alpha-glucosidase I was present in ventriculus, and alpha-glucosidase II, in ventriculus and haemolymph. alpha-Glucosidase III, which became apparent to be honey alpha-glucosidase, was present in the hypopharyngeal gland, from which the enzyme may be secreted into nectar gathered by honeybees. Honey may be finally made up through the process whereby sucrose in nectar, in which glucose and fructose also are naturally contained, is hydrolyzed by secreted alpha-glucosidase III. (+info)
Effect of Nigerian citrus (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) honey on ethanol metabolism.
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The effect of Nigerian citrus (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) honey on ethanol metabolism was tested using 45 consenting individuals in apparent good health and between the ages of 25 and 35 years. The subjects were moderate social drinkers matched in terms of body weight and build. The results obtained showed that on average, honey significantly (p < 0.05) increased the blood ethanol clearance rate by 68% and decreased the intoxication period by 43%, but insignificantly (p > 0.05) reduced the degree of intoxication by 9%. Honey could be a promising anti-intoxicating agent, but its long-term biochemical evaluation, possibly as a complement in the management of alcohol intoxication, deserves further study. (+info)