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Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus have increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Epidemiological studies have shown a correlation between diet and incidence of coronary heart disease. The aim of the study is to determine the effect of a traditional Greek Mediterranean diet on platelet aggregation induced by ADP, arachidonic acid (AA), and especially platelet-activating factor (PAF) on patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus as well as on healthy volunteers. The patients were randomized into two subgroups, A and B. The lipid extracts from traditional Greek Mediterranean-type meals were tested in in vivo for their ability to reduce PAF- or thrombin-induced platelet aggregation. The meals with the most potent anti-aggregating activity were chosen for the diet of both subgroup A and healthy subjects and consumed for a period of 28 days, whereas subgroup B kept to their regular diet that was followed before entering the study. Platelet-rich plasma was isolated before and after the diet, and the ability of platelets to aggregate under the aggregating factors was tested. One-month consumption of diet resulted in a significant reduction in PAF- and ADP-induced aggregation of platelets in both groups of healthy volunteers (PAF and ADP, P < .05) and subgroup A (PAF, P < .001; ADP, P < .05), whereas the AA-induced aggregation was not affected. No effect was observed in subgroup B, which followed the standard diet. Thus the consumption of a traditional Greek Mediterranean diet even for a short period can reduce platelet activity in patients suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus and in healthy subjects.

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Scomber scombrus has been implicated in the disease known as scombroid food poisoning (histamine intoxication). However, some investigators claim that scombroid food poisoning is not caused by histamine only. Gangliosides have been found in different type fishes, but in all cases the sources are brain, melanoma, retina, and optic nerve. These complex lipids as well as their derivatives, exhibit important biological activities. In this study, gangliosides (8 × 10 -4 % w/w in muscle) were isolated from S. scombrus muscle for the first time, and the major one was found to be monosialoganglioside. Gangliosides existed as a proteolipid type complex combined with a protein consisting of high amounts of iron and copper and which seemed to be the red protein. After fractionation of gangliosides onto cation exchange, silica, and C 18 HPLC columns, we detected two compounds which induced aggregation through platelet-activating factor (PAF) way. Both of them were eluted onto HPLC in the region of gangliosides and from the results of the biological experiments as well as from chemical determinations, they seemed to be O-acetyl derivatives of gangliosides. These molecules could partly contribute to scombroid food poisoning since the main symptoms of this disease are well-known actions of PAF.

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A polyphasic taxonomic approach was used to identify a major atypical group of gas-forming, arginine-negative lactic acid bacteria associated with spoilage of whole (nonsliced) refrigerated (4 degrees C) cooked hams produced in two Greek industrial meat plants. Biochemical characterization revealed that the ham isolates shared their phenotypic properties with Leuconostoc carnosum, Weissella viridescens, and Weissella hellenica. However, gas chromatographic analysis of cellular fatty acids clearly differentiated the ham isolates from the Weissella spp. None of the isolates contained eicosenoic acid (n-C20:1), which is typically synthesized by W. viridescens, but all strains contained high amounts of C 19cycl acid, which is absent in W. hellenica and has been found in trace amounts in W. viridescens. All strains had similar cellular fatty acid profiles, which were qualitatively similar to those of the cellular fatty acids of L. carnosum. In addition to the phenotypic and chemotaxonomic tests, three representative isolates were studied using a lactic acid bacteria database, which employs 16S and 23S HindIII restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns as operational taxonomic units in a numerical analysis. The isolate patterns were identical to those of the L. carnosum type strain, NCFB 2776T. Based on the polyphasic taxonomic approach, the dominating lactic acid bacteria group was identified as L. carnosum.

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