Evaluation of Potential Health Effects of Biostimulated Lettuce for Human Population

The aim of the project is to study the influence of biostimulated crops on a healthy population in order to assess influence on hematological parameters and specific metabolism (glucose, lipid, iron, bone) and gut and lipid hormones. Secondary outcome will be to find out micronutrient presence in urine and serum in order to evaluate vegetables as carrier. The use of biostimulation in modern agriculture has rapidly expanded in recent years, owing to their beneficial effects on crop yield and product quality, which have come under the scope of intensive research.

The present project aims to investigate the benefits of biostimulated lettuce in a cohort of healthy individuals. For biostimulation are used organic and inorganic compounds or microorganisms that when applied to plants can enhance plants' growth, yield, and tolerance to stress. Participants will be fed with differently biostimulated lettuces to study the influence on hematological parameters.

The healthy group will eat 100 gr of Lettuce and 100 gr of biostimulated lettuce and will be collect plasma and urine samples after 15 days. Each subject will be subjected to two venous blood samples taken at the beginning of the observation and at the end. The samples obtained will be transported in certified containers for the safe transport of biological samples, and, subsequently, processed by the experimenters at the laboratories of the Molecular Biology section of the University of Palermo. Serum and plasma will be obtained from each blood sample. All information thus obtained will be recorded in a database in which each person will be identified with a numerical code, in order to comply with current privacy regulations. Body weight, Barefoot standing height, Body mass index, Body composition will be measured in the different groups of study. Samples will be analyzed and compared for glucose, albumin, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, creatinine, AST, ALT, γ-GT, ALP, bilirubin, Ferritin, free Iron, transferrin, total proteins, Magnesium, Calcium, insulin, osteocalcin, hematocrit, hs-CRP, TSH, FT3, FT4. Bone metabolism (Osteocalcin, parathyroid hormone, CTX, Calcitonin), Vitamin D Calcium, Phosphate, Potassium, gastric hormones ( GIP, GLP1, GLP2, ghrelin, glucagon, PYY, CCK, leptin, resistin).