Skeletal muscle protein turnover is modulated by intracellular signaling pathways involved in protein synthesis, degradation, and inflammation. The proinflammatory status of muscle cells, observed in pathological conditions such as cancer, aging, and sepsis, can directly modulate protein translation initiation and muscle proteolysis, contributing to negative protein turnover. In this context, branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), especially leucine, have been described as a strong nutritional stimulus able to enhance protein translation initiation and attenuate proteolysis. Furthermore, under inflammatory conditions, BCAA can be transaminated to glutamate in order to increase glutamine synthesis, which is a substrate highly consumed by inflammatory cells such as macrophages. The present paper describes the role of inflammation on muscle remodeling and the possible metabolic and cellular effects of BCAA supplementation in the modulation of inflammatory status of skeletal muscle and the consequences on protein synthesis and degradation.

Resistance exercise but not LEU supplementation promoted fiber type transition and improved glucose homeostasis in DEXA-treated rats.

Orange juice is considered an excellent dietary source of several bioactive compounds with beneficial properties for human health. Citrus sinensis Osbeck cv. 'Cara Cara' is a bud mutation originated from 'Washington' navel orange, also known as 'Bahia' navel orange. The ascorbic acid, flavonoid, and carotenoid contents in pasteurized and nonpasteurized Bahia and Cara Cara juices using two LC-MS/MS platforms were investigated. Higher ascorbic acid content was observed in Bahia compared to Cara Cara in both pasteurized and nonpasteurized juices. Total flavanones content as well as hesperidin levels were higher in Cara Cara with respect to Bahia pasteurized juice. Cara Cara was also characterized by a significantly higher and diversified carotenoid content compared to Bahia juice with a mixture of (Z)-isomers of lycopene, all-E-β-carotene, phytoene, and phytofluene isomers accounting for the highest carotenoid proportion. The exceptionally high carotenoid content of Cara Cara may be particularly interesting for nutritional or functional studies of uncommon carotenes in a citrus food matrix.

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Phytochemical-rich foods consumption may be a valid nutritional strategy to reduce the risk of weight gain and obesity. The phytochemical index (PI) is a simple and nonspecific method to evaluate the phytochemical intake, defined as the percentage of dietary calories derived from foods rich in phytochemicals. We aimed to conduct a systematic review to evaluate whether high consumption of phytochemical-rich foods evaluated by the PI is associated with lower values of anthropometric measurements. The available literature suggests that the PI seems to be inversely associated with body weight and waist circumference. Analyzing the longitudinal changes in anthropometric variables, individuals with high intake of phytochemicals gained less weight and fat mass when compared to those with lower PI. Our findings suggest that higher PI is associated with lower body mass index, waist circumference and adiposity. Whether the results are a reflex of a lower calorie intake or the anti-obesity properties of phytochemicals remains to be elucidated.

The participation of thiol-oxidoreductases such as thioredoxin during implantation, embryogenesis and fetal development has been extensively studied. Here, we analyzed the expression of the thioredoxin superfamily enzyme quiescin Q6/sulfhydryl oxidase (QSOX) during development. Results show that QSOX is present in fetal bovine serum (4 months' gestation), but its levels decrease with time after birth (from P1 to P60). We also demonstrate that a sulfhydryl oxidase activity correlates with QSOX expression in such sera, suggesting a putative role in the redox modulation of developmental programs.

Oxidative stress and inflammation play a role in the physiopathology of insulin resistance, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. A single high-fat, high-carbohydrate (HFHC) meal induces an increase in inflammatory and oxidative stress markers in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Previous studies have shown that orange juice is able to prevent this response by inhibiting toll like receptors (TLR) expression and endotoxemia. Our goal was to study the proteome response in PBMC after the consumption of a HFHC meal consumed with water, orange juice or an isocaloric beverage (water with glucose). Twelve healthy individuals completed the protocol in a crossover design, and blood samples were obtained before and 1, 3, and 5 h after consumption. Proteomic profile, glucose, insulin, lipid and cytokines levels were investigated. The glycemic and insulinemic response was higher when the meal was consumed with glucose, while there was no difference in the response between water and orange juice. Proteome analysis in PBMC was carried out using TMT ten-plex. A total of 3813 proteins, originating from 15 662 peptides were identified. Three proteins showed significantly altered expression in the three treatments: apolipoprotein A-II, ceruloplasmin and hemopexin. When the HFHC meal was consumed with water there was an increase in some inflammatory pathways such as the Fc-gamma receptor dependent phagocytosis and the complement cascade, but the immune system as a whole was not significantly altered. However, when the meal was consumed with glucose, the immune system was up regulated. Among the pathways induced after 3 h were those of the adaptive immune system and cytokine signaling. Five hours after the meal, pathways of the complement cascade and classical antibody mediated complement activation were up regulated. When the meal was consumed with orange juice there was an up regulation of proteins involved in signal transduction, DNA replication and cell cycle. The promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML) showed a 28.2-fold increase. This protein was down regulated when the meal was consumed with water. Regarding the immune system, several of the pathways induced by glucose were down regulated when the meal was consumed with orange juice: proteins involved with the adaptive immune system and cytokine signaling. Therefore, we have shown that orange juice can not only suppress diet induced inflammation, but also regulate the expression of proteins such as PML, which may play a key role in the regulation of metabolism.

This study aimed to develop an equipment and system of resistance exercise (RE), based on squat-type exercise for rodents, with control of training variables. We developed an operant conditioning system composed of sound, light and feeding devices that allowed optimized RE performance by the animal. With this system, it is not necessary to impose fasting or electric shock for the animal to perform the task proposed (muscle contraction). Furthermore, it is possible to perform muscle function tests in vivo within the context of the exercise proposed and control variables such as intensity, volume (sets and repetitions), and exercise session length, rest interval between sets and repetitions, and concentric strength. Based on the experiments conducted, we demonstrated that the model proposed is able to perform more specific control of other RE variables, especially rest interval between sets and repetitions, and encourages the animal to exercise through short-term energy restriction and “disturbing” stimulus that do not promote alterations in body weight. Therefore, despite experimental limitations, we believe that this RE apparatus is closer to the physiological context observed in humans.