Peptides derived from dietary proteins, have been reported to display significant antioxidant activity, which may exert notably beneficial effects in promoting human health and in food processing. Recently, much research has focused on the generation, separation, purification and identification of novel peptides from various protein sources. Some researchers have tried to discover the structural characteristics of antioxidant peptides in order to lessen or avoid the tedious and aimless work involving the ongoing generated peptide preparation schemes. This review aims to summarize the current knowledge on the relationship between the structural features of peptides and their antioxidant activities. The relationship between the structure of the precursor proteins and their abilities to release antioxidant fragments will also be summarized and inferred. The preparation methods and antioxidant capacity evaluation assays of peptides and a prediction scheme of quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) will also be pointed out and discussed.

Anthocyanins have multiple biological activities of benefit to human health. While a few studies have been conducted to evaluate the bioavailability of anthocyanins, the mechanisms of their absorption mechanism remain ill-defined. In the present study, we investigated the absorption mechanism of cyanidin-3-O-β-glucoside (Cy-3-G) in human intestinal epithelial (Caco-2) cells. Cy-3-G transport was assessed by measuring the absorptive and efflux direction. Inhibition studies were conducted using the pharmacological agents, phloridzin, an inhibitor of sodium-dependent glucose transporter 1 (SGLT1), or phloretin, an inhibitor of glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2). The results showed that phloridzin and phloretin significantly inhibited the absorption of Cy-3-G. In addition, Caco-2 cells transfected with small interfering RNA (siRNA) specific for SGLT1 or GLUT2 showed significantly decreased Cy-3-G absorption. These siRNA transfected cells also showed a significantly decreased rate of transport of Cy-3-G compared with the control group. These findings suggest that Cy-3-G absorption is dependent on the activities of SGLT1 and GLUT2 in the small intestine and that SGLT1 and GLUT2 could be a limiting step for the bioavailability of Cy-3-G.

Objectives In China, there have been an increasing number of migrant workers from rural to urban areas, and migrant workers have the highest incidence of occupational diseases. However, few studies have examined the impact of occupational stress on job burnout in these migrant workers. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between occupational stress and job burnout among migrant workers. Design This study used a cross-sectional survey. Setting This investigation was conducted in Dongguan city, Guangdong Province, China. Participants 3806 migrant workers, aged 18–60 years, were randomly selected using multistage sampling procedures. Primary and secondary outcome measures Multistage sampling procedures were used to examine demographic characteristics, behaviour customs and job-related data. Hierarchical linear regression and logistic regression models were constructed to explore the relationship between occupational stress and burnout. Results Demographics, behaviour customs and job-related characteristics significantly affected on burnout. After adjusting for the control variable, a high level of emotional exhaustion was associated with high role overload, high role insufficiency, high role boundary, high physical environment, high psychological strain, high physical strain, low role ambiguity, low responsibility and low vocational strain. A high level of depersonalisation was associated with high role overload, high role ambiguity, high role boundary, high interpersonal strain, high recreation, low physical environment and low social support. A low level of personal accomplishment was associated with high role boundary, high role insufficiency, low responsibility, low social support, low physical environment, low self-care and low interpersonal strain. Compared to the personal resources, the job strain and personal strain were more likely to explain the burnout of rural-to-urban migrant workers in our study. Conclusions The migrant workers have increased job burnouts in relation to occupational stress. Relieving occupational stress and maintaining an appropriate quantity and quality of work could be important measures for preventing job burnout among these workers.