Animals
It's not just a grunt: Pigs really do have something to say
Of course pigs have something to say to each other! Otherwise, why bother vocalizing? But scientists are finally figuring it out now, and discovering that pigs actually have personalities. Imagine that!
Monkeys in Brazil 'have used stone tools for hundreds of years at least': Was early human behavior influenced by their observations of monkeys using stone tools? -- ScienceDaily
Capuchins in Brazil have been using stone tools to crack nuts for hundreds and maybe thousands of years. In fact, humans moving into their territory might have learned from the monkeys - either about the edibility of cashews or the use of stone tools to crack their shells, or both.
Research
Blueberry Phytochemicals Inhibit Growth and Metastatic Potential of MDA-MB-231 Breast Cancer Cells Through Modulation of the Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase Pathway
This study investigated the chemopreventive activity of blueberry extract in triple negative breast cancer cell lines in vitro and in vivo. Blueberry decreased cell proliferation in HCC38, HCC1937 and MDA-MB-231 cells with no effect on the non-tumorigenic MCF-10A cell line. Decreased metastatic potential of MDA-MB-231 cells by blueberry was shown
Blueberry Anthocyanins-Enriched Extracts Attenuate Cyclophosphamide-Induced Cardiac Injury
Four weeks 20mg/kg and 80mg/kg dose of BAE treatment following CTX exposure attenuated mean arterial blood pressure, heart rate and activities of heart enzymes, improved cardiac dysfunction, left ventricular hypertrophy and fibrosis. Importantly, BAE also attenuated CTX-induced LV leukocyte infiltration and inflammatory cytokines expression, ameliorated oxidative stress as well as cardiomyocyte apoptosis. In conclusion, BAE attenuated the CTX-induced cardiac injury and the protective mechanisms were related closely to the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory characteristics of BAE.
Dietary blueberry supplementation affects growth but not vascularization of neural transplants
One such dietary substance that has been shown to have direct effects on the central nervous system is blueberry extract (Joseph et al, 2005). Dietary supplementation with blueberry extract has been shown to prevent and reverse memory loss in aged rats and mice (Joseph et al, 1999, 2005; Andres-Lacueva et al, 2005), to improve functional recovery after experimentally induced Parkinson’s disease (Stromberg et al, 2005), to prevent behavioral deficits in an animal model of Alzheimer’s disease (Joseph et al, 2003), and to improve behavioral recovery and cellular survival after stroke (Sweeney et al, 2002; Wang et al, 2005).
The effects of dietary blueberry supplementation on neuronal survival after stroke have been attributed to the antioxidant or anti-inflammatory actions of blueberry compounds. However, the influence of dietary blueberry supplementation on angiogenesis or vascularization of neural tissue has not been fully explored. Other nutritional substances such as resveratrol, green tea, and the spice curcumin have been shown to have differential effects on angiogenesis, depending on the type of tissue studied (Dulak, 2005). Dietary administration of resveratrol, for example, will inhibit angiogenesis and retard the growth of ovarian cancer cells (Cao et al, 2004), but will also enhance neovascularization in the injured heart (Kaga et al, 2005). Dietary blueberry supplementation has also been shown to inhibit angiogenesis in a human skin cell line (Roy et al., 2002; Bagchi et al, 2004), but the effects of dietary blueberry supplementation on vascularization of the central nervous system is not known.
Effect of New Zealand blueberry consumption on recovery from eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage
This study demonstrates that the ingestion of a blueberry smoothie prior to and after EIMD accelerates recovery of muscle peak isometric strength. This effect, although independent of the beverage’s inherent antioxidant capacity, appears to involve an up-regulation of adaptive processes, i.e. endogenous antioxidant processes, activated by the combined actions of the eccentric exercise and blueberry consumption.
Bioactives in Blueberries Improve Insulin Sensitivity in Obese, Insulin-Resistant Men and Women
Dietary supplementation with whole blueberries in a preclinical study resulted in a reduction in glucose concentrations over time. We sought to evaluate the effect of daily dietary supplementation with bioactives from blueberries on whole-body insulin sensitivity in men and women. Insulin sensitivity was enhanced in the blueberry group at the end of the study without significant changes in adiposity, energy intake, and inflammatory biomarkers. In conclusion, daily dietary supplementation with bioactives from whole blueberries improved insulin sensitivity in obese, nondiabetic, and insulin-resistant participants.
The combination of blueberry juice and probiotics reduces apoptosis of alcoholic fatty liver of mice by affecting SIRT1 pathway
The combination of blueberry juice and probiotics reduces apoptosis in AFLD by suppressing FOXO1, phosphorylated FOXO1, acetylated FOXO1, FasL, caspase-3, BAX, and Bcl-2 via the upregulation of SIRT1.
Effect of blueberry juice on clearance of buspirone and flurbiprofen in human volunteers
The studies provide no evidence for concern about clinically important pharmacokinetic drug interactions of BBJ with substrate drugs metabolized by CYP3A or CYP2C9.
The Change of Total Anthocyanins in Blueberries and Their Antioxidant Effect After Drying and Freezing
There were two drying treatments, one including osmotic pretreatment followed by cabinet drying and the other involving only cabinet drying.. Osmotic treatment followed by a thermal treatment had a greater effect on anthocyanin loss than the thermal treatment alone. In contrast, the frozen samples did not show any significant decrease in anthocyanin level during three months of storage. Measurement of the antioxidant activity of anthocyanin extracts from blueberries showed there was no significant difference between fresh, dried, and frozen blueberries.