Background and AimFree radicals are implicated in the aetiology of gastrointestinal disorders such as gastric ulcer, colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. Strawberries are common and important fruit due to their high content of essential nutrient and beneficial phytochemicals which seem to have relevant biological activity on human health. In the present study we investigated the antioxidant and protective effects of three strawberry extracts against ethanol-induced gastric mucosa damage in an experimental in vivo model and to test whether strawberry extracts affect antioxidant enzyme activities in gastric mucosa.Methods/Principal FindingsStrawberry extracts were obtained from Adria, Sveva and Alba cultivars. Total antioxidant capacity and radical scavenging capacity were performed by TEAC, ORAC and electron paramagnetic resonance assays. Identification and quantification of anthocyanins was carried out by HPLC-DAD-MS analyses. Different groups of animals received 40 mg/day/kg body weight of strawberry crude extracts for 10 days. Gastric damage was induced by ethanol. The ulcer index was calculated together with the determination of catalase and SOD activities and MDA contents. Strawberry extracts are rich in anthocyanins and present important antioxidant capacity. Ethanol caused severe gastric damage and strawberry consumption protected against its deleterious role. Antioxidant enzyme activities increased significantly after strawberry extract intake and a concomitantly decrease in gastric lipid peroxidation was found. A significant correlation between total anthocyanin content and percent of inhibition of ulcer index was also found.ConclusionsStrawberry extracts prevented exogenous ethanol-induced damage to rats' gastric mucosa. These effects seem to be associated with the antioxidant activity and phenolic content in the extract as well as with the capacity of promoting the action of antioxidant enzymes. A diet rich in strawberries might exert a beneficial effect in the prevention of gastric diseases related to generation of reactive oxygen species.

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Apple pomace flour (APF) obtained at industrial scale level by the application of innovative technological process (dehydration (5 h, T ≤ 55 °C), grinding (300 µm)) was evaluated as a source of bioactive compounds with antioxidative, antiobesity and antidiabetic effects. Proximate composition, individual (HPLC–DAD–MS/MS) and total phenols (TPC) as well as flavonoids content (TFC), antioxidant (AO) activity (DPPH, ABTS, HPMC), water and oil holding capacity (WHC and OHC) of APFs obtained from apple pomace from mixed and individual apple cultivars grown conventionally and organically were compared. The effect of APF supplementation on the glycaemic status and glucose tolerance (oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)) of C57BL/6J mice exposed to high-fat and sucrose diet was examined. High K content (4.2–6.4 g/kg), dietary fibres (35–45 g/100 g), TPC (4.6–8.1 mg GAE/g), TFC (18.6–34.6 mg QE/g), high water and oil holding capacity (4.7–6.4 and 1.3–1.6 g/g) were observed in the APFs. Content of major phenols (phlorizin, chlorogenic acid, quercetin), TPC and TFC correlated highly with prominent AO activity. APF supplementation lowered the increase of body weight gain and blood glucose, and improved glucose tolerance significantly. Health-promoting biomolecules, AO activity, functional properties and prevention of diet-driven glucose metabolism disorders pave the way to APF exploitation in human nutrition.

Recently, the beneficial effects of different single doses of standardized dry olive (Olea europaea L.) leaf extract (OLE) in cold restraint stress (CRS)-induced gastric lesions in rats and its influence on oxidative parameters in gastric mucosa were demonstrated. The present study was undertaken to investigate the long-term pretreatment efficacy of OLE and its potential in the modulation of CRSinduced oxidative changes at the liver level. The experimental animals were divided into four groups, i.e., control, OLE-treated, CRS non-treated and CRS treated with OLE (CRS+OLE) groups. CRS caused severe gastric lesions in all non-pretreated animals and two-week pretreatment with OLE (80 mg per kg of body weight) attenuated stress-induced gastric lesions significantly. The malondialdehyde (MDA) level as an index of lipid peroxidation, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities were measured spectrophotometrically in liver tissue homogenates. The MDA level was increased in the CRS group and significantly decreased in the CRS+OLE group. The SOD and CAT activities were significantly decreased in the CRS group. In the CRS+OLE group, the activities of these two enzymes were significantly increased in comparison with the CRS group. The results obtained indicate that long-term supplementation with OLE provides oxidant/antioxidant balance in liver during stress condition.

gastric lesions induced. Furthermore, OLE was effective in the prevention of an increase in gastric lipid peroxidation and in the prevention of a decrease in antioxidative enzyme activity. The results obtained indicate that OLE has gastroprotective activity against ethanol-induced gastric lesions in rats, possibly related to its antioxidative properties.

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In 2012, alcohol liver disease resulted in 3.3 million—5.9% of global deaths. This study introduced whey protection capacity against chronic alcohol-induced liver injury. Rats were orally administered to 12% ethanol solution in water (ad libitum, average 8.14 g of ethanol/kg body weight (b.w.)/day) alone or combined with whey ( per os, 2 g/kg b.w./day). After 6-week treatment, chronic ethanol consumption induced significant histopathological liver changes: congestion, central vein dilation, hepatic portal vein branch dilation, Kupffer cells hyperplasia, fatty liver changes, and hepatocytes focal necrosis. Ethanol significantly increased liver catalase activity and glutathione reductase protein expression without significant effects on antioxidative enzymes: glutathione peroxidase (GPx), copper–zinc-containing superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) and manganese-containing superoxide dismutase (MnSOD). Co-treatment with whey significantly attenuated pathohistological changes induced by ethanol ingestion and increased GSH-Px and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) protein expression. Our results showed positive effects of whey on liver chronically exposed to ethanol, which seem to be associated with NF-κB-GPx signaling.

Clinically-related basic studies on the behavioral effects of ribavirin treatment are still lacking despite its wide use as an antiviral medication. This paper considers the effects of low ribavirin doses (10, 20 and 30 mg/kg/day) on psychomotor activity (novelty-induced exploratory behavior, d-amphetamine (AMPH, 1.5 mg/kg, intraperitoneal)-induced motor activity), and body weight gain in socially undisturbed adult male Wistar rats 24 h after the first, seventh and fourteenth once-a-day injection. Low doses of ribavirin were tested in an attempt to avoid the recognized systemic side effects related to high-dose usage. None of the singly applied ribavirin doses affected exploratory/spontaneous and AMPH-induced motor behavior (locomotion, stereotypy-like and vertical activity), however, body weight gain was significantly lower after treatment with 30 mg/kg of ribavirin. The 7-and 14-day treatments with 10 and 30 mg/kg/day of ribavirin significantly suppressed novelty-induced locomotion and body weight gain; the 14-day treatment with ribavirin at a dose of 30 mg/kg/ day decreased AMPH-induced stereotypy. These findings indicate that repeated application (up to 14 days) of low ribavirin doses results in low novelty-induced locomotion along with reduced weight gain, accentuating the existence of a U-shaped dose-response relationship with a prolonged duration of ribavirin treatment.