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Attempts have been made to use non-compositional parameters, such as total antioxidant capacity (TAC), determined by assays such as oxygen radical absorbance capacity, ferric-reducing ability of plasma, and trolox-equivalent antioxidant capacity, as surrogate markers for food quality and for monitoring food-related changes in human plasma in dietary intervention studies. Increased TAC of plasma is often indiscriminately, and therefore incorrectly, interpreted as being favorable to human health. Whether or not dietary compounds may indeed exert health effects depends on factors other than mere presence in food or body fluids. Many phytochemicals, for example, are poorly absorbed and rapidly metabolized into molecules with altered physicochemical, and therefore biological, properties. Consequently, the use of TAC assays for the in vitro assessment of antioxidant quality of food, which often is employed as a marketing argument or for the assessment of the "wholesomeness" of food, is to be discouraged.

Metabolism is essential to understand human health. To characterize human metabolism, a high-resolution read-out of the metabolic status under various physiological conditions, either in health or disease, is needed. Metabolomics offers an unprecedented approach for generating system-specific biochemical definitions of a human phenotype through the capture of a variety of metabolites in a single measurement. The emergence of large cohorts in clinical studies increases the demand of technologies able to analyze a large number of measurements, in an automated fashion, in the most robust way. NMR is an established metabolomics tool for obtaining metabolic phenotypes.

Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton leaves are used as food and in traditional medicine. A Perilla leaf special extract was used to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects and mode of immune-modulatory properties in the following ex vivo experiments addressing different immune cells. After stimulation, pattern of cytokines were determined and thus information about mode of action derived. As a result, anti-inflammatory effects were seen on the monocytic level with significant reduction of TNF-s production whereas on the T-helper cellular level, reactions were less pronounced but a shift towards a TH2-helper response was identified. Both effects were dose dependent. Results underline the anti-inflammatory and other immune-modulatory properties which might impact the beneficial effects in different indications, like for example irritable bowel syndrome.

Der Nutzen einer Mikronährstoffsupplementation wird in der Wissenschaft kontrovers diskutiert. Dennoch gibt es Hinweise darauf, dass verschiedene Erkrankungen durch geringe Mikronährstoffdefizite begünstigt werden. In einer randomisierten, placebokontrollierten, doppelblinden Studie wurde der Einfluss einer Nahrungsergänzung mit einer breiten Kombination von aufeinander abgestimmten Mikronährstoffen bei 48 gesunden Probanden über 3 Monate untersucht. Ziel war es, Informationen sowohl zur extra- als auch intrazellulären Versorgungslage zu erhalten. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass eine solche Supplementation den Versorgungsstatus auch in gesunden Personen unterstützen und dabei einzelne Stoffwechselparameter positiv beeinflussen kann.

The use of antioxidants in cosmetics has a long history. Two different modes of application can be distinguished. They are used either to stability the cosmetic formulation or to protect the skin. As a formulation stabilizer, they serve as a "technical antioxidant." Here they are being used to prevent the oxidative deterioration of labile ingredietns such as unsaturated fatty acids or oxidation-prone active ingredeitns. Both synthetic compounds like butylated hydroxytoluene and natural antioxidants like alpha-tocopherol are frequently used for this purpose. The synergistic antioxidative effect of ascorbyl 2-phosphate and alpha-tocopheryl acetate was investigated in vitro using a human keratinocyte cell line and a fluorescence-based assay system.

Genotoxicity tests are essential to identify compounds that have a potential to compromise not only the environment but also human and animal health, including compounds that increase the risk of cancer. At present, no single test is capable of detecting all types of genotoxic effects; therefore a battery of in vitro and, if positive, in vivo tests is necessary to determine the genotoxicity of a substance. However, the respective specificities of current assays have been criticized for their high percentage of false positive results. We recently published an automated version of the "Fluorimetric detection of Alkaline DNA Unwinding" (FADU) assay for measuring DNA strand breaks in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells or in cell lines.