UK Food Standards Agency Workshop Report: Diet and Immune Function

The UK Food Standards Agency convened a workshop on 13 May 2009 to discuss recently completed research on diet and immune function. The objective of the workshop was to review this research and to establish priorities for future research. Several of the trials presented at the workshop showed some effect of nutritional interventions (e.g. vitamin D, Zn, Se) on immune parameters. One trial found that increased fruit and vegetable intake may improve the antibody response to pneumococcal vaccination in older people. The workshop highlighted the need to further clarify the potential public health relevance of observed nutrition-related changes in immune function, e.g. susceptibility to infections and infectious morbidity.

UK Food Standards Agency Workshop Report: carbohydrate and cardiovascular risk

This report summarises a workshop convened by the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) on 14 October 2008 to discuss current FSA-funded research on carbohydrates and cardiovascular health. The objective of this workshop was to discuss the results of recent research and to identify any areas which could inform future FSA research calls. This workshop highlighted that the FSA is currently funding some of the largest, well-powered intervention trials investigating the type of fat and carbohydrate, whole grains and fruit and vegetables, on various CVD risk factors. Results of these trials will make a substantive contribution to the evidence on diet and cardiovascular risk.

Inherited defects in pedigree dogs. Part 2: Disorders that are not related to breed standards

Recent debate concerning health problems in pedigree animals has highlighted gaps in current knowledge of the prevalence, severity and welfare implications of deleterious inherited traits within the pedigree dog population. In this second part of a two-part review, inherited disorders in the top 50 UK Kennel Club registered breeds were researched using systematic searches of existing databases. A set of inclusion and exclusion criteria, including an evidence strength scale (SEHB), were applied to search results. A total of 312 non-conformation linked inherited disorders was identified, with German shepherd dogs and Golden retrievers associated with the greatest number of disorders. The most commonly reported mode of inheritance was autosomal recessive (71%; 57 breed-disorder combinations), and the most common primarily affected body system was the nervous sensory system. To provide a true assessment of the scale of inherited disorders in the pedigree dogs studied more effort is required to collect accurate prevalence data.

Inherited defects in pedigree dogs. Part 1: Disorders related to breed standards

The United Kingdom pedigree-dog industry has faced criticism because certain aspects of dog conformation Stipulated in the UK Kennel Club breed standards have a detrimental impact oil dog welfare. A review of conformation-related disorders was carried out in the top 50 UK Kennel Club registered breeds using systematic searches of existing information A novel index to score severity of disorders along a single-scale was also developed and used to conduct statistical analyses to determine the factors affecting reported breed predisposition to defects According to the literature searched, each of the top 50 breeds was found to have at least one aspect of its conformation predisposing it to a disorder. and 84 disorders were either directly or indirectly associated with conformation. The Miniature poodle, Bulldog. Pug and Basset hound had most associations with conformation-related disorders. Further research oil prevalence and severity is required to assess the impact of different disorders oil the welfare of affected breeds (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved