Fac-simile Scheda Linee di Ricerca - Federalimentare

4) Montedoro GF., Esposto S., Taticchi A., Selvaggini R, Urbani S., Servili M. (2006) Chemicalcostituents of olive products and their biological activity. Proceeding of the Second internationalseminar Olivebioteq 2006 “Recent advances in olive industry”, Mazara del Vallo, 5-10November 2006, Casusi T., Montisi A., Sebastiani L. ED., pp 237-244.The chemical composition of virgin olive oil (VOO) is characterised by a saponifiable fraction and minor components.The saponifiable fraction includes triglycerides, which constitute over 98% of the entire composition ofthe oil. Fatty acids, which represent the most important compounds in this fraction, are the fundamental reasonfor the “historic” nutritional value of virgin olive oil. In the past, the nutritional quality of olive oil was attributedto the high level of oleic acid, which was present almost exclusively in this vegetable fat. Today, the high concentrationof oleic acid is no longer an exclusive characteristic of virgin olive oil, since a number of new varietiesof sunflower and rape oils have a fatty acid composition that is similar to the one found in olive oil. Nevertheless,virgin olive oil must still be considered an exclusive product because of its minor components. Thesecompounds, which are present in limited quantities and represent only about 2% of the weight of the oil, includeover 230 chemical substances belonging to different classes, such as aliphatic and triterpenic alcohols, sterols,hydrocarbons and volatile compounds. Antioxidants are represented by carotenes, tocopherols and hydrophilicand lipophilic phenolic substances.The natural antioxidants in virgin olive oil are the compounds that are most closely correlated to oil quality froma nutritional standpoint. However, it must be noted that while tocopherols and carotenes can be found in otherplant and animal fats, the simple polyphenols, such as phenyl acids and phenyl alcohols, and above all severaloleuropein derivatives are compounds found exclusively in the fruit of the olive tree and thus in the oils extractedmechanically from olives.5) Crescimanno M., Boscarino B., Flandina C., Leto G., Tumminello F.T., Tripoli E., GinmancoM:; Servili M., DiCristina A., Grimaudo S., Tolomeo M. (2006) Induction of differentiationby phenols crude extract od virgin olive oil on tumor cell lines sensitive and resistent to cancerdrugs. Proceeding of the Second international seminar Olivebioteq 2006 “Biotehnologyand quality of olive tree products around the mediterranean basin”. Mazara del Vallo, 5-10November 2006, Casusi T., Montisi A., Sebastiani L. ED., pp. 451-455.Several experimental studies have shown that phenols fractions induce “in vitro” citotoxic effects on tumor cells.However few investigation have been carried out on human cell lines resistant to antineoplastic drugs. The aimof our study was to evaluate the ability of a crude extract of phenols from extra virgin olive oil of Moraiolo cultivarto induce apoptosis and/or differentiation in sensitive and resistant HL60 cell lines to anticancer drugs(Typical Multidrug Resistance). In the experimental model the resistance index was 27 when the cells weretreated with doxorubicin and 1.8 when the cells were treated with the crude extract of phenols. The crude extractwas able to induce apoptosis on both sensitive and resistant cells, whereas the exposure to a number of anticancerdrugs did not induce apoptosis in resistant cells. In the differentiation experiments we investigated the capabilityof crude extract of phenols to induce expression of CD11 granulocytic or CD14 monocytic cell surface antigenin sensitive and resistant cell lines. At IC50 dose level (17ug/ml and 32 ug/ml respectively for sensitive andresistance cell lines), the crude extract induced differentiation associated with the expression of CD14 monocyticcell surface antigen. Current studies are in progress to assess the role of XIAP protein in the modulation of CD14surface antigen expression during monocytic differentiation.SISTAL - SOCIETA’ ITALIANA DI SCIENZE E TECNOLOGIE ALIMENTARIDipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agroalimentari, Università degli Studi della TusciaVia San Camillo de Lellis, 01100 ViterboTel.: 0761- 35 74 94/7 , Fax: 0761- 35 74 98, e-mail: mmoresi@unitus.it359