"Health effects of bioactive peptides in milk"
Marie Paulsson (project leader)
Summary of results with list of publications from Food Technology, Lund University
Email: marie.paulsson@food.lth.se
One glass a day saves the stomach
Cancer is one of the most common causes of death at the present time. The disease causes seven million deaths every year and is very expensive for society. In spite of research over many years, mortality in several forms of cancer is high and there is an urgent need for new forms of treatment.
All cells in the body divide, even though this occurs at different rates in different organs. Normally, this is a strictly regulated process, but in cancer the regulatory mechanism is distorted and cell division occurs unchecked. Cancer is initiated by damage to genes which control normal cell growth and cell death. Since DNA damage only occurs in cells during division, every cell division is associated with a small risk of mutations that may cause cancer.
A large number of studies have demonstrated the health promoting effects of milk and dairy products which, inter alia, reduce the risk of different forms of cancer. The mechanisms underlying this have not been clarified, but the project's hypothesis is that some of the answer is to be found in peptides, small pieces of proteins, which have been found to have a positive effect on e.g. the immune defence system. These bioactive peptides can be found in the free state in milk or can be liberated in food processing or when a protein is broken down in the gastrointestinal tract.
The results show that bioactive peptides in milk reduce the rate of growth of colorectal cancer cells and normal intestinal cells. Because of the lower rate of growth, the cell has more time to repair damage to DNA which can, in turn, result in a lower risk of developing cancer. The differences are hardly noticeable over one of two cell divisions, but can have great significance over a long time. The daily choice of healthy food and drink may determine health over a lifetime. A glass of milk every day may be enough to reduce the risk of contracting cancer.
"Factors that affect the availability of iron in fermented foods"
Ann-Sofie Sandberg (project leader)
Summary of results with list of publications from Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology
Email: ann-sofie.sandberg@chalmers.se
Iron deficiency is absolutely the most common nutrient deficiency disorder in the world, with children and women of childbearing age especially vulnerable. One good way of preventing iron deficiency is to develop foods in which the bioavailability of iron is optimal, i.e. where iron can be taken up and utilised in the body. Suitable foods for this purpose may be vegetables that contain a lot of iron and other essential nutrients. The drawback is that the bioavailability of iron is relatively low.
It has been found that fermentation (lactic acid fermentation) of vegetables increases the availability of iron. During lactic acid fermentation other components are also broken down, and in addition the bacteria produce their own metabolites that may affect iron uptake in the gut. The objective of this PhD project was therefore to study and evaluate specific factors in fermented vegetables and to find the cause of the elevated availability of iron, and the mechanisms underlying this.
"New strategies for the development of foods for gluten-intolerant persons"
Ann-Sofie Sandberg (project leader)
Summary of results with list of publications from Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology
Email: ann-sofie.sandberg@chalmers.se
Gluten intolerance, or celiac disease, is a common autoimmune disease in Europe and Sweden. The most common symptom is weight loss, abdominal pain and chronic diarrhoea. The allergy is characterised by chronic inflammation of the small intestine mucosa that results in mineral and vitamin deficiency. The symptom is manifested when a person with a genetic predisposition eats gluten protein from wheat, rye or barley. Since the body cannot break down gluten into amino acids, gluten peptides pass through the walls of the mucous membrane and activate the cells of the immune system.
As soon as a gluten free diet is introduced, the mucous membrane heals and the symptom disappears, but this diet must be followed throughout life. It is quite difficult to adhere to a gluten free diet since gluten is found in many food products, gluten free products are quite expensive and have a short shelf life. It is therefore of interest to find new ways of making gluten protein less toxic. In this project, blocking peptides were found in laboratory tests to bind to gluten, survive passage through the stomach and provide some immunomodulary effect.
"The significance of cadmium for diabetes mellitus, its complications and osteoporotic fractures"
Ingvar Bergdahl (project leader)
Summary of results with list of publications from Umeå University
Email: ingvar.bergdahl@envemed.umu.se
Everybody is exposed to some cadmium. The main source is food such as root vegetables, flour, rice and meat. Smokers are particularly exposed. The uptake of cadmium in the body is affected by iron status – if a person has iron deficiency, the body takes up more cadmium in an endeavour to take up iron. How much cadmium is absorbed in the body is reflected by cadmium concentration in the urine and blood.
The health effects of cadmium which have received most study are kidney effects and osteoporosis, but there are also studies which indicate other health effects. There are suspicions concerning an association with diabetes mellitus, but since these studies have been made on people who already had diabetes it is not clear whether cadmium is the cause. Further studies should focus either on men or the use of urine instead of blood.
"The occurrence and fate of antimycotics in the environment"
Mats Tysklind (project leader)
Summary of results with list of publications from Chemistry, Umeå University
Email: mats.tysklind@chem.umu.se
Pharmaceutical substances in the group antimycotics are used in treating fungal infections. In Sweden, about one tonne of these substances is used annually in the health service. The objective of this project was to investigate the occurrence and concentrations of antimycotics in the environment, with the focus on effluent and sludge from municipal sewage treatment plants.
In future environmental risk assessments, effects should be studied in organisms in both aquatic and terrestrial environments that had been exposed to sludge fertilisers, since sludge will be the dominant route into the environment for these food substances.
"Healthy ingredients from sea buckthorn"
Patrick Adlercreutz (project leader)
Summary of results with list of publications from Lund University
Email: Patrick.Adlercreutz@biotek.lu.se
Sea buckthorn has been used for a long time as a medicinal plant. Its positive health effects can be partly attributed to its high content of polyunsaturated fats, vitamins and antioxidants, but it is probable that it also contains several other bioactive substances. Since sea buckthorn is used in foods, it is important to retain the positive effects during production and storage. The polyunsaturated fats are of particular interest since they are very susceptible to oxidation and the substances then formed are in many cases harmful.
The objective of this project was to study the content of lipids, lipid oxidation products and antioxidants at different harvest times and after processing into finished food products. This project has added interesting effects to the previously known positive health effects of sea buckthorn, concerning its antiproliferative effect on cancer cells.