Macroalgae, commonly known as seaweeds, are a valuable source of polysaccharides known to modulate gut microbiota. In this work, the impact of polysaccharide structural features on gut microbiota was explored. The low molecular weight algae polysaccharides showed better degradation by gut bacteria. Moreover, the content of sulfate and carboxylic groups seem to promote high fermentation, triggering an increase in gut microbiota health. The effect of ramification degree of algae polysaccharides on fermentability is still unclear. Agar polysaccharides with low molecular weight and a higher degree of sulfation have been shown to produce higher amounts of SCFA, and decrease in Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio. An increase of sulfation degree of porphyran showed to increase the total SCFA production and a decrease on the ratio of butyric to propionic acid. Carrageenan's molecular weight does not seem to affect SCFA production, and the effect of sulfation degree is not clear. The consumption of these polysaccharides was shown to decrease the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio. Fucoidans of low molecular weight seem to promote a lower Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio. Alginate consumption both of high and low molecular weight has been shown to increase Bacteroidetes. Low molecular weight laminarans are highly fermented and significantly increase the production of SCFA. Ulvan and sulfated rhamnan polysaccharides have been shown to increase the production of SCFA, although microbiota modulation data are still undisclosed. Overall, seaweed polysaccharides have shown several health benefits, which have been related with gut microbiota modulation.

Objectives: Health professionals’ food-drug interaction knowledge level is related with efficiency of treatment. Given that, it’s important to measure the knowledge level. This study aims to develop a scale that can measure food-drug interaction knowledge level of health care professionals and increase awareness on this issue.Methods: A total of 200 individuals (50 from each profession: medical doctor, nurse, dietician and pharmacist) working in Ankara were selected. The scale consists of 25 items and three options for each: “True”, “False” and “I do not know”. In the evaluation, each correct answer equals to 1 (one) point, while the others (wrong and absent) equal to 0 (zero). Content validity and item analysis were conducted for the validity, and Cronbach alpha coefficient was measured. Results: Consequently, 4 items whose total correlation with the total score less than 0.15 were removed from the scale. Item difficulties in the scale vary between 0.20 and 0.96, and average item difficulty of the scale was found to be 0.61±0.18. The scale was evaluated on the basis of quarter points of 21 items. Accordingly, 25th percentile of 21 items was 5.25, 50th percentile was 10.25, and 75th percentile was 15.75. Score classification less than 5 means “low” knowledge level, between 6 and 11 “intermediate”, between 11 and 15 “good” and between 16 and 21 “very good”.Conclusions: Hereby, this scale was found to be highly valid and quite reliable to be used in order to determine the food-drug interaction knowledge levels of health care professionals.

Bread is an important source of energy and is ubiquitous in human diets. As a carbohydrate-rich food, it is often considered to impair glycaemic homeostasis; however, clinical and molecular evidence suggests that its effects may vary depending on characteristics of bread consumed. In particular, sourdough-fermented bread has been proposed to exert potentially beneficial effects on glycemia via a shift in the metabolites present in the food matrix as well as chemical and physical changes that take place during fermentation. However, evidence from human interventional studies on this topic is inconsistent due to differing experimental design, heterogeneous populations or focusing exclusively on sourdough fermentation not considering the effect of yeast fermentation. Our objective was to evaluate the evidence for a positive effect of fermented bread consumption on glycaemia and insulinaemia in healthy adults. To this end, we conducted a systematic review to identify and analyse relevant human studies, complemented by a characterisation of the breads investigated and a discussion of possible mechanisms of action, following the framework required for an EFSA dossier. We identified 27 studies that met our inclusion criteria. Taking into account the risk of bias in these studies, the consistency of the reported effects, and the biological plausibility based on food characteristics and potential mechanisms of action, we conclude that the available evidence for a beneficial effect of sourdough compared to yeast-fermented bread on glycaemic and insulinaemic homeostasis in healthy individuals is neither sufficient nor convincing. For the general effect of fermentation on glycaemic and insulinaemic homeostasis in healthy individuals, evidence is considered very low.

Alzheimer hastalığı ilerleyici hafıza kaybı tablosuyla karakterize nörodejeneratif bir hastalıktır. Öz bakım becerilerinde, bilişsel işlevlerinde yetersizlikler görülmektedir. Patolojik olarak amiloid plaklarla özdeşleşmiş olsalar da tau proteininin aşırı fosforillenmesi ve buna bağlı nörofibriler yumak oluşumu, nöron kaybı Alzheimer hastalığı ile birlikte görülebilmektedir. Amiloid plakların, tau proteinlerinin olumsuz etkisi, oksidatif strese yol açması, glukoz homeostazının bozulması gibi birçok nedenden kaynaklanabilmektedir. Patolojilere karşı geliştirilen tedavi yöntemleri de çeşitli olabilmektedir. Oksidatif strese karşı antioksidanlardan zengin beslenme, glukoz metabolizmasının bozulmasına karşı ketojenik diyet uygulamaları Alzheimer hastalığının diyet tedavisi içinde yer almaktadır. Orta zincirli yağ asitlerinin portal dolaşımdan hızlıca emilmeleri, β-oksidasyona ihtiyaç duymaksızın alternatif enerji kaynağı olarak kullanılabilmesini sağlamaktadır. Ayrıca uzun zincirli n-3 grubu yağ asitlerinden eikosapentaenoik asit (EPA) ve dekozahekzoenoik asit (DHA) antiinflamatuvar etkilerinden dolayı bilişsel işlevleri geliştirici etkide bulunmaktadır. Bu derlemede Alzheimer hastalığından korunmada, ilerlemesinin geciktirilmesinde ve hastalığın tedavisinde yağ asitlerinin metabolik süreçlerdeki etkileri irdelenmiştir.