Polyamines (PAs) are involved in a variety of fundamental physio-pathologic processes. The concentration of these polycations in organs and tissues depends on their endogenous production and oxidation rates, and on their intake from foods. Besides being largely accepted as markers for the progress of several pathologies, PAs may exert themselves different effects on humans, ranging from being positive to be drastically detrimental depending on the organism conditions. Thus, if the determination of polyamines content in tissue samples is of great importance as they could be indicators of several diseases, their quantification in food is fundamental for modulating the diet to respond to a specific human health status. Thus, the determination of PA content in food is increasingly urgent. Standard analytical methods for polyamine quantification are mainly based on chromatography, where high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography are the most often used, involving pre-column or post-column derivatization techniques. Driven by the growing need for rapid in situ analyses, electrochemical biosensors, comprising various combinations of different enzymes or nanomaterials for the selective bio-recognition and detection, are emerging as competitors of standard detection systems. The present review is aimed at providing an up-to-date overview on the recent progresses in the development of sensors and biosensors for the detection of polyamines in human tissues and food samples. Basic principles of different electrochemical (bio)sensor formats are reported and the applications in human tissues and in foods was evidenced.
- MeSH
- Food Analysis * MeSH
- Biosensing Techniques instrumentation methods MeSH
- Electrochemical Techniques instrumentation methods MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Oxidation-Reduction MeSH
- Polyamines chemistry MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Review MeSH
- MeSH
- Biogenic Amines analysis standards MeSH
- Financing, Organized MeSH
- Beer analysis standards MeSH
- Polyamines analysis standards MeSH
- Geographicals
- Czech Republic MeSH
The ubiquitous polyamines putrescine, spermidine and spermine fulfil an array of physiological roles in man. In particular, their participation in cell growth and proliferation has been of great interest in relation to their roles in tumour growth and in wound healing. Both endogenous and dietary polyamines take part in such processes. The deprivation of exogenous polyamines emerges as a promising strategy in tumour therapy. Thus, reliable information on their content in foods is needed for dieticians. This review continues our previous comprehensive review on the topic,summarising data on the polyamine content in foods published from 2005 to April 2009. Some new data has appeared. Bovine, porcine and chicken liver, kidney, spleen and heart all have a high content of spermine; bovine liver also of spermidine. Losses of spermidine and spermine up to one half of their original levels occur during both cold and frozen storage and during various thermal treatments. Cultivated mushrooms were reported to contain very high levels of spermidine. Recent results have proved that polyamine content varies widely within a food item, and this complicates the application of available data for the controlled nutrition of patients.
- MeSH
- Food Analysis methods statistics & numerical data MeSH
- Antioxidants isolation & purification metabolism MeSH
- Biomedical Research methods trends MeSH
- Cell Growth Processes immunology drug effects MeSH
- Dietetics methods trends MeSH
- Financing, Organized MeSH
- Gastrointestinal Tract metabolism drug effects MeSH
- Wound Healing immunology drug effects MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Neoplasms diet therapy prevention & control MeSH
- Polyamines isolation & purification metabolism toxicity MeSH
- Putrescine isolation & purification metabolism MeSH
- Spermidine isolation & purification metabolism MeSH
- Spermine isolation & purification metabolism MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Review MeSH
- Tables MeSH
