M. Emília Juan

• Doctor of Pharmacy
• University of Barcelona

trans-Resveratrol, a natural occurring polyphenol, has been described as an antiproliferative and proapoptotic agent in vitro. Here, we studied the effect of trans-resveratrol administered orally at a dose of 60 mg/kg for 49 days on early preneoplastic markers induced by the intraperitoneal injection of 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (20 mg/kg). We measured...

trans-Resveratrol (trans-3,4',5-trihydroxystilbene) is a natural phytoalexin present in grapes, red wine, berries and peanuts with health protecting properties. The low oral bioavailability indicated for this polyphenol, with the intestine as a bottleneck to its absorption, has promoted the large intestine as a potential target site for its chemopr...

Scope: Maslinic acid, the main pentacyclic triterpene of the cuticle of Olea europaea L. fruit, has multiple beneficial effects on health, most notably antitumor and hypoglycemic properties. Notwithstanding the biological activities, there is a lack of knowledge about its safety. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate whether high do...

The Mediterranean Diet is associated with antihypertensive properties and prevention of cardiovascular disease. This dietary pattern includes the intake of Olea europaea L. derivatives such as extra virgin olive oil and table olives, characterized by a high content of bioactive compounds. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the supplementation...

The pharmacokinetics (PK) of hydroxytyrosol and its metabolites were characterized following oral administration to Sprague-Dawley rats of 3.85 and 7.70 g of destoned Arbequina table olives/kg. Plasma samples were analyzed using a fully validated method consisting of liquid extraction followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-M...

Arbequina table olive (AO) consumption lowers blood pressure (BP) in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). This study evaluates whether dietary supplementation with AO induced changes in the gut microbiota that are consistent with the purported antihypertensive effects. Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY-c) and SHR-c received water, while SHR-o were supplemen...

BACKGROUND Table olives are a food with a high content of bioactive compounds with cardioprotective properties, such as oleic acid, polyphenols, and pentacyclic triterpenes. Here, we investigate the effect of the intake of table olives on blood pressure (BP) and body weight in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and their normotensive controls, W...

Maslinic acid is a pentacyclic triterpene widely distributed in the plant kingdom and found in several edible vegetables and fruits, being table olives a rich source of this compound. Maslinic acid is being recognized as a nutraceutical due to its lack of harmful effects and numerous health-protecting properties. The present chapter reviews the cur...

The role attributed to polyphenols on human-health need to be correlated with their plasmatic concentrations after food consumption. Then, a method based on liquid-liquid extraction followed by highly sensitive LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis was developed to determinate 16 phenolic compounds in plasma. Validation gave appropriate recovery, matrix effect (80...

Pentacyclic triterpenes (PT) and polyphenols from two varieties of table olives, Arbequina and Empeltre, were determined using a unique extraction from the same olive samples prior to their analysis by LC-APCI-MS and LC-ESI-MS/MS, respectively. Validation provided linear correlation and high sensitivity, as well as adequate precision and accuracy (...

Table olives contain a wide range of polyphenols responsible for protective effects on health that have been associated with a lower prevalence of chronic diseases. A new method to identify and quantify these compounds in table olives, by means of methanol:ethanol (1:1; v/v) extraction followed by LC-ESI-MS/MS, has been developed and validated. The...

Maslinic acid triggers compelling antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic effects in different human cancer cell lines. Hence, the chemopreventive activity was investigated on early stages of carcinogenesis induced by 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) which is a model that mimics human sporadic colorectal cancer. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were orally administ...

Table olives are especially rich in pentacyclic triterpenic compounds, which exert several biological activities. A crucial step in order to know if these compounds could contribute to the beneficial and healthy properties of this food is their measurement in blood. Therefore, the present study describes a simple and accurate liquid-liquid extracti...

Scope: Maslinic acid has been described to exert a chemopreventive activity in colon cancer. Hereby, we determined maslinic acid and its metabolites in the rat intestine previous oral administration as a first step in elucidating whether this triterpene might be used as a nutraceutical. Methods and results: Maslinic acid was orally administered...

Pentacyclic triterpenes are gaining interest due to their beneficial health effects, as anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic and anti-tumoral, among others. In this study, an analytical LC-MS method was developed for the simultaneous determination of maslinic, oleanolic and ursolic acids along with erythrodiol and uvaol, which are the main triterpenic...

Maslinic acid is a natural pentacyclic triterpenoid widely distributed in edible and medicinal plants with health-promoting activities. The identification and quantification of its metabolites is a requirement for a better understanding of the biological effects of this triterpene. Therefore, maslinic acid was orally administered to Sprague-Dawley...

ScopeMaslinic acid is a bioactive minor component of Olea europaea L. with health-enhancing activities and no harmful effects. A pharmacokinetic (PK) study was conducted to determine its bioavailability for future studies of maslinic acid in humans.Methods and ResultsIntravenous (1 mg/kg) and oral (50 mg/kg) administrations to Sprague-Dawley rats w...

Maslinic acid is a pentacyclic triterpene found in a variety of natural sources, ranging from herbal remedies used in traditional Asian medicine to edible vegetables and fruits present in the Mediterranean diet. In recent years, several studies have proved that maslinic acid exerts a wide range of biological activities, i.e. antitumor, antidiabetic...

Maslinic acid, a pentacyclic triterpene from Olea europaea L., exerts hypoglycemic, antioxidant, cardioprotective and antitumoral activities. Here, an LC-APCI-MS method to determine this compound in plasma is presented as a first step in pharmacokinetic studies. Maslinic acid was extracted from plasma with ethyl acetate and separated on a C18 colum...

Maslinic acid, a pentacyclic triterpene from olives, has been reported to exert beneficial effects on health, including anticarcinogenic activity. Despite its importance, little is known about its bioavailability in both humans and animals. A fundamental step for this evaluation consisted of measuring this compound in blood. Therefore, a simple hig...

D-Fagomine is an iminosugar originally isolated from seeds of buckwheat (Fagopyrum sculentum Moench), present in the human diet and now available as a pure crystalline product. We tested D-fagomine for activities connected to a reduction in the risk of developing insulin resistance, becoming overweight and suffering from an excess of potentially pa...

Numerous steatotic livers are discarded for transplantation because of their poor tolerance of ischemia-reperfusion (I/R). The injurious effects of retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) in various pathologies are well documented. RBP4 levels are reduced by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) agonists. Strategies aimed at increasing PPAR...

To develop a population pharmacokinetic (PK) model which allowed the simultaneous modeling of trans-resveratrol and its glucuronide and sulfate conjugates. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were administered i.v. and p.o. with 2, 10 and 20 mg·kg(-1) of trans-resveratrol. Blood was collected at different times during 24 h. An integrated PK model was develope...

Several aspects of the Mediterranean diet have been associated with a reduced risk not only of cardiovascular disease, but also of several cancers, and it has been suggested that up to 25% of colorectal, 15% of breast and 10% of prostate, pancreas, and endometrial cancers could be prevented by shifting to a Mediterranean lifestyle. Olive oil, a cen...

Colorectal cancer is the third most common form of cancer in both men and women, and the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the Western world, being usually lethal when diagnosed at later stages of progression. Diet and lifestyle are most likely related to colon cancer etiology through overconsumption of energy, coupled with inadequate...

Dihydroresveratrol is a metabolite of trans-resveratrol formed in the intestine by the hydrogenation of the double bond by microflora. The aim of the present study was to validate a method to measure dihydroresveratrol in rat plasma and then to quantify its plasmatic concentration after the oral administration of 60 mg/kg to Sprague-Dawley rats. Di...

trans-Resveratrol, a natural antioxidant, has been described as a nutraceutic compound with important beneficial effects on health, but its low oral bioavailability hinders its therapeutic activity. Here, we studied the mechanisms of apical transport of trans-resveratrol in enterocytes and the role of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters in the...

trans-Resveratrol undergoes extensive metabolism in the intestinal cells, which leads to the formation of glucuronide and sulfate conjugates. Given the important role of the breast cancer resistance protein (ABCG2/BCRP) in the efflux of conjugated forms, the present study investigates the bioavailability and tissue distribution of trans-resveratrol...

trans-Resveratrol, a polyphenol from grapes, is being recognized as a bioactive agent with potential beneficial effects on health. However, little is known about its distribution in the organism mainly because of the lack of accurate and precise detection methods. Consequently the aim of the present study was to develop a methodology of extraction...

We have previously reported the anticarcinogenic effects of an olive fruit extract composed of pentacyclic triterpenes, the main components of which are maslinic acid (73.25%) and oleanolic acid (25.75%). Here we examined the effects of the individual components on proliferation, necrosis and apoptosis rates by fluorescence-based techniques in huma...

trans-Resveratrol is a polyphenol found in blueberries, grapes, and wine with cancer chemopreventive properties. The low bioavailability of this compound enhances its concentration in the luminal content and becomes a potential chemopreventive agent against colon cancer. In the present study, the antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic effects on the h...

Erythrodiol is the precursor of pentacyclic triterpenic acids present in Olea Europaea. Although olive oil and some of its constituents are reported to have anticarcinogenic activities, erythrodiol has not been assessed in its cell biological functions in detail. We therefore determined its effects on cell growth and apoptosis in human colorectal c...

Olives and their derivatives represent an important component of the Mediterranean diet that has been considered to be protective against cancer. We investigated the effect on cell proliferation and apoptosis in HT-29 cells of an extract from the skin of olives composed of pentacyclic triterpenes with the main components maslinic acid (73.25%) and...

trans-Resveratrol was reported to have health benefits including anticarcinogenic effects and protection against cardiovascular disease. One of the mechanisms by which it exerts its action is through modulating the estrogen response systems. Because estrogen is involved in male reproductive biology, we investigated the effect of trans-resveratrol o...

Several beneficial effects on health have been reported for resveratrol (trans-3,4',5-trihidroxystilbene), naturally present in grapes and in a variety of medicinal plants. The aim of this study is to determine the effects on the intestinal enzymatic activities of the oral administration of 20 mg/kg of trans-resveratrol in Sprague-Dawley rats durin...

trans-3,5,4'-Trihydroxystilbene (trans-resveratrol) is a phytochemical present in peanuts, grapes and wine with beneficial effects such as protection against cardiovascular disease and cancer prevention. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether high doses of trans-resveratrol have harmful effects on Sprague-Dawley rats. trans-Resveratrol w...

Hydroxytyrosol (2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)ethanol), a phenolic compound present in extravirgin olive oil, has been reported to contribute to the prevention of cardiovascular disease. The present study describes an accurate and reproducible reversed-phase HPLC method to measure hydroxytyrosol in plasma. This compound was extracted from acidified plasma...

trans-Resveratrol (trans-3,5,4'-trihydroxystilbene), a phenolic compound present in grapes, wines, and peanuts, has been reported to have health benefits including anticarcinogenic effects and protection against cardiovascular diseases. Despite its importance, little is known about its bioavailability in both humans and animals. A fundamental step...

Regional brush-border uptakes of alpha-methyl-D-glucose and L-proline as well as morphometric parameters were studied from birth until adulthood in guinea pig small intestine. Intestinal weight, length, and area were fitted to two-segmented straight lines: from birth until the 2nd wk there was a sharp rise, whereas from day 14 to the adult stage th...