new paper from our team

During my BSc studies in the Univ of Athens, one of my teachers was Prof Constantinos Demopoulos. He taught me Biochemistry and his lectures made me wanting to combine Food Sci with Biochemistry.
When I got my lectureship in Leeds in 1998, we started collaborating on food lipids and PAF. We published our first paper in 2000, almost 20 years ago. Since then, we worked together in many projects all PAF-related, published many papers and a couple of patents and here we are today...
40 years after Constantinos' work on PAF.

The rest is in our paper below. The interesting links on the authorship of this paper are: Alexandros was a PhD student of Constantinos and Ronan did his PhD with me... A team with a combined PAF experience of 3/4 of a century...

Ioannis
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Representative optic micrographs ×100 of aortic wall sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin obtained from the two rabbit experimental groups. Atherosclerotic lesions appear as foam cells between the arrows. Each tissue sample was approximately 5 µm thick. (a) Group A (atherogenic diet) and (b) group B (atherogenic diet enriched with seabream polar lipids). Reproduced with permission from Nasopoulou et al. [220].

 

Forty Years Since the Structural Elucidation of Platelet-Activating Factor (PAF): Historical, Current, and Future Research Perspectives 

by Ronan Lordan ^1,2,*, Alexandros Tsoupras ¹, Ioannis Zabetakis ^1,2 and Constantinos A. Demopoulos ³

¹

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland

²

Health Research Institute (HRI), University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland

³

Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupolis, 15771 Athens, Greece

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Academic Editor: Ferdinando Nicoletti

Molecules 2019, 24(23), 4414; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24234414 (registering DOI)

 
In the late 1960s, Barbaro and Zvaifler described a substance that caused antigen induced histamine release from rabbit platelets producing antibodies in passive cutaneous anaphylaxis. Henson described a ‘soluble factor’ released from leukocytes that induced vasoactive amine release in platelets. Later observations by Siraganuan and Osler observed the existence of a diluted substance that had the capacity to cause platelet activation. In 1972, the term platelet-activating factor (PAF) was coined by Benveniste, Henson, and Cochrane. The structure of PAF was later elucidated by Demopoulos, Pinckard, and Hanahan in 1979. These studies introduced the research world to PAF, which is now recognised as a potent phospholipid mediator. Since its introduction to the literature, research on PAF has grown due to interest in its vital cell signalling functions and more sinisterly its role as a pro-inflammatory molecule in several chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease and cancer. As it is forty years since the structural elucidation of PAF, the aim of this review is to provide a historical account of the discovery of PAF and to provide a general overview of current and future perspectives on PAF research in physiology and pathophysiology. View Full-Text

new paper: Phospholipids of Animal and Marine Origin: Structure, Function, and Anti-Inflammatory Properties

In this review paper, the latest literature on the functional properties of phospholipids in relation to inflammation and inflammation-related disorders has been critically appraised and evaluated. The paper is divided into three sections: Section one addresses the relationship between the anti-inflammatory bioactivities of different phospholipids in relation to their structures and compositions. Sections two and three are dedicated to the structures, functions and anti-inflammatory properties of dietary phospholipids from animal and marine sources. Most of the dietary phospholipids of animal origin come from meat, egg and dairy products. To date, there is very limited work published on meat phospholipids, undoubtedly due to the negative perception that meat consumption is an unhealthy option due to its putative associations with several chronic diseases. These assumptions are addressed with respect to the phospholipid composition of meat products. Recent research trends indicate that dairy phospholipids possess anti-inflammatory properties, which has led to an increased interest into their molecular structures and reputed health benefits. Finally, the structural composition of phospholipids of marine origin is discussed. Extensive research has been published in relation to ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and inflammation, however this research has recently come under scrutiny and has proved to be unreliable and controversial in terms of the therapeutic effects of ω-3 PUFA, which are generally in the form of triglycerides and esters. Therefore, this review focuses on recent publications concerning marine phospholipids and their structural composition and related health benefits. Finally, the strong nutritional value of dietary phospholipids are highlighted with respect to marine and animal origin and avenues for future research are discussed.

Lordan, R.; Tsoupras, A.; Zabetakis, I. Phospholipids of Animal and Marine Origin: Structure, Function, and Anti-Inflammatory Properties. Preprints 2017, 2017110038 (doi: 10.20944/preprints201711.0038.v1).