DTA

Digital Theses Archive

 

Tesi etd-05182022-221505

Type of thesis
Corso Ordinario Secondo Livello
Author
VULLO, CAMILLA
URN
etd-05182022-221505
Title
Application of microbial biostimulants and Selenium biofortification for the production of nutraceutical foods: the study of the effect of a functional diet on NAFLD patients microbiota
Structure
Cl. Sc. Sperimentali - Agraria
Course
SCIENZE AGRARIE E BIOTECNOLOGIE - SCIENZE AGRARIE E BIOTECNOLOGIE
Committee
Tutor Prof.ssa MENSUALI, ANNA
Presidente Prof. TONUTTI, PIETRO
Membro Prof.ssa ERCOLI, LAURA
Membro Dott. ZUCCOLO, ANDREA
Relatore Dott.ssa PELLEGRINO, ELISA
Keywords
  • agronomic biofortification
  • arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
  • gut microbiota
  • microbial biostimulants
  • micronutrients
  • non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
Exam session start date
15/06/2022;
Availability
parziale
Abstract
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is recognized as the most common chronic liver disease and its global prevalence among human beings over 15 years of age is estimated to be 33.5% in 2030. NAFLD can be histologically divided into progressively severe forms: non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), liver cirrhosis (LC) and also hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Among the risk factors for NAFLD progression, two: diet and dysbiosis in the gut microbiota (GM), are receiving increasing attention. Indeed, excessive intake of specific macronutrients, such as saturated fatty acids (SFA), trans fats, simple sugars (sucrose and fructose) and animal proteins, has been associated to liver damage and NAFLD progression. On the other side, the serum levels of specific micronutrients, such as Zinc and Selenium, have been shown to inversely correlate with disease severity. Since currently there are no approved therapies for NAFLD, the most effective strategies to treat this disease are lifestyle changes, including diet modification. In this picture, finding solutions to increase Zinc and Selenium concentrations in the edible portions of crop plants is gaining increasing interest. This work focuses on the use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and biofortification techniques to produce functional food with the aim to alleviate micronutrient deficiency and to restore GM physiological composition in patients affected by NAFLD.
Files