Research Notes
Balancing antioxidants
Further research should be conducted
to fully explore the role of oxidative stress
in health and disease. Although oxidative
stress is involved in the pathogenesis of
many diseases, its complete annihilation
may lead to even worse clinical effects.
We have evolved and adapted to
symbiotically live with mitochondria
and mitochondria-related persistent, yet
low-grade, oxidative stress, which in
turn may contribute to the physiological functioning of the cell. Thus, reducing oxidative stress to levels below the
physiological threshold may trigger intracellular signaling pathways further
damaging cellular machinery.
This could represent a critical area
for future scientific investigations, with
tremendous social implications. Indeed,
vitamin supplements are regularly taken
all over the world because their prescription is just based on the media-driven
assumption that oxidative stress is harmful for health and supplements are beneficial.
Source: Laviano, A, 2007. Never underestimate the power of ROS. Current
Nutr Food Sci, Vol 4, 2, p. 183.
Key
Concepts
➤ Balancing antioxidants
(Laviano, 2007): When considering antioxidant therapy, it
should be remembered that more is not necessarily better.
➤ Dog model remains essential
(Swanson, 2006): For the benefit of dogs and other animals,
this paper aims to reiterate the importance of the dog model in
gastrointestinal research.
increase the experimental power of the
dog model.
While anatomical and physiological
similarities have deemed the dog a useful model for gastrointestinal research
for decades, economical and ethical
concerns have recently decreased their
use in this research field. This paper
aims to reiterate the importance of the
dog model in gastrointestinal research,
including the study of prebiotics and
aging on intestinal health, analyzing
gene expression profiles and performing whole genome association studies.
Source: Swanson, K.S., et al., 2006.
Canine nutritional model: influence of
age, diet and genetics on health and
well-being. Current Nutr Food Sci, Vol
2, 2, pp. 115-126.
Dog model remains
essential
As a whole, biological research has
recently shifted its focus from reductionism to holistic approaches to study
complex systems, a strategy often
termed “systems biology.”
Given the importance of livestock
and companion animals as animal models for humans, many of these genomes
have been sequenced or are being sequenced by the National Institutes of
Health.
There are ongoing projects to sequence the canine genome and create
a single nucleotide polymorphisms
map. Furtermore, the phenotypic and
genotypic similarities and unique breed
structure of domestic dogs continue to
