Fetuses with congenital heart disease (CHD) have circulatory changes that may lead to predictable blood flow disturbances that may affect normal brain development. Hypoxemia and hypoperfusion may alter the redox balance leading to oxidative stress (OS), that can be assessed measuring stable end-products. OS biomarkers (OSB) were measured in amniotic fluid in fetuses with (n = 41) and without CHD (n = 44) and analyzed according to aortic flow, expected cyanosis after birth, and a CHD classification derived from this. Birth head circumference (HC) was used as a neurodevelopment biomarker. CHD fetuses had higher levels of ortho-Tyrosine (o-Tyr) than controls (p = 0.0003). There were no differences in o-Tyr levels considering aortic flow obstruction (p = 0.617). Fetuses with expected extreme cyanosis presented the highest levels of o-Tyr (p = 0.003). Among groups of CHD, fetuses without aortic obstruction and extreme cyanosis had the highest levels of o-Tyr (p = 0.005). CHD patients had lower HC than controls (p = 0.023), without correlation with OSB. Patients with HC < 10th percentile, presented high levels of o-Tyr (p = 0.024). Fetuses with CHD showed increased OSB and lower HC when compared to controls, especially those with expected extreme cyanosis. Our results suggest that increased levels of OSB are more influenced by the effect of low oxygenation than by aortic flow obstruction. Future studies with larger sample size are needed to further investigate the role of OSB as an early predictor of neurodevelopmental problems in CHD survivors.

Human milk (HM) is a complex biofluid containing a wide cell variety including epithelial cells and leukocytes. However, the cellular compositions and their phenotypic properties over the course of lactation are poorly understood. The aim of this preliminary study was to characterize the cellular metabolome of HM over the course of lactation. Cells were isolated via centrifugation and the cellular fraction was characterized via cytomorphology and immunocytochemical staining. Cell metabolites were extracted and analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC–QqTOF-MS) in the positive and negative electrospray ionization modes. Immunocytochemical analysis revealed a high variability of the number of detected cells with relative median abundances of 98% of glandular epithelial cells, 1% of leukocytes, and 1% of keratinocytes. Significant correlations between the milk postnatal age with percentage of epithelial cells and leukocytes, and with total cell count were observed. Results from the Hierarchical Cluster Analysis of immunocytochemical profiles were very similar to those observed in the analysis of the metabolomic profiles. In addition, metabolic pathway analysis showed alterations in seven metabolic pathways correlating with postnatal age. This work paves the way for future investigations on changes in the metabolomic fraction of the cellular compartment of HM.

Wheat is critical for food security, and is challenged by biotic stresses, chiefly aphids and the viruses they transmit. The objective of this study was to determine whether aphids feeding on wheat could trigger a defensive plant reaction to oxidative stress that involved plant oxylipins. Plants were grown in chambers with a factorial combination of two nitrogen rates (100% N vs. 20% N in Hoagland solution), and two concentrations of CO₂ (400 vs. 700 ppm). The seedlings were challenged with Rhopalosiphum padi or Sitobion avenae for 8 h. Wheat leaves produced phytoprostanes (PhytoPs) of the F₁ series, and three types of phytofurans (PhytoFs): ent-16(RS)-13-epi-ST-Δ¹⁴-9-PhytoF, ent-16(RS)-9-epi-ST-Δ¹⁴-10-PhytoF and ent-9(RS)-12-epi-ST-Δ¹⁰-13-PhytoF. The oxylipin levels varied with aphids, but not with other experimental sources of variation. Both Rhopalosiphum padi and Sitobion avenae reduced the concentrations of ent-16(RS)-13-epi-ST-Δ¹⁴-9-PhytoF and ent-16(RS)-9-epi-ST-Δ¹⁴-10-PhytoF in relation to controls, but had little or no effect on PhytoPs. Our results are consistent with aphids affecting the levels of PUFAs (oxylipin precursors), which decreased the levels of PhytoFs in wheat leaves. Therefore, PhytoFs could be postulated as an early indicator of aphid hosting for this plant species. This is the first report on the quantification of non-enzymatic PhytoFs and PhytoPs in wheat leaves in response to aphids.

The present study aimed to discover the effects of exogenously foliar-applied salicylic acid (SA) in concentrations of 0, 1 and 15 mM (applied 7 and 21 days after heading) on oxidative stress. The effects were monitored through the concentrations of phytoprostanes (PhytoPs) and phytofurans (PhytoFs) in immature and mature grains of three genotypes of rice (‘R52’, ‘R45’ and ‘Yerua’), and their influence on grains per panicle and chalkiness. Chromatographic separation of PhytoPs and PhytoFs was performed using a UHPLC coupled to triple quadrupole-MS/MS (Agilent Technologies, Germany). The concentrations of oxylipins showed differences in both harvest times (immature and mature) for each genotype. The advanced lines, ‘R52’ and ‘R45’, showed concentrations that were 24.0 and 79.0% lower than those of the immature grains, respectively. The PhytoFs concentration in “R45” was 46.0% lower in the mature grains. In unripe grains, SA reduced a single oxylipin of all those analyzed, while in mature grains, a significant decrease in six of the ten monitored biomarkers was observed. The SA produced an increase in grains per panicle, and a decrease in chalkiness. Therefore, salicylic acid-mediated antioxidant regulatory capacities due to oxylipin down-regulation could favor grain filling and, hence, rice production.