Low-grade inflammation, diet composition and health: current research evidence and its translation

The importance of chronic low-grade inflammation in the pathology of numerous age-related chronic conditions is now clear. An unresolved inflammatory response is likely to be involved from the early stages of disease development. The present position paper is the most recent in a series produced by the International Life Sciences Institute's European Branch (ILSI Europe). It is co-authored by the speakers from a 2013 workshop led by the Obesity and Diabetes Task Force entitled ‘Low-grade inflammation, a high-grade challenge: biomarkers and modulation by dietary strategies’. The latest research in the areas of acute and chronic inflammation and cardiometabolic, gut and cognitive health is presented along with the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying inflammation–health/disease associations. The evidence relating diet composition and early-life nutrition to inflammatory status is reviewed. Human epidemiological and intervention data are thus far heavily reliant on the measurement of inflammatory markers in the circulation, and in particular cytokines in the fasting state, which are recognised as an insensitive and highly variable index of tissue inflammation. Potential novel kinetic and integrated approaches to capture inflammatory status in humans are discussed. Such approaches are likely to provide a more discriminating means of quantifying inflammation–health/disease associations, and the ability of diet to positively modulate inflammation and provide the much needed evidence to develop research portfolios that will inform new product development and associated health claims.

Does milk consumption contribute to cardiometabolic health and overall diet quality?

Although milk consumption is recommended in most dietary guidelines around the world, its contribution to overall diet quality remains a matter of debate in the scientific community as well as in the public. This paper summarizes the discussion among experts in the field on the place of milk in a balanced, healthy diet. The evidence to date suggests at least a neutral effect of milk intake on health outcomes. The possibility that milk intake is simply a marker of higher nutritional quality diets cannot be ruled out. This review also identifies a number of key research gaps pertaining to the impact of milk consumption on health. These need to be addressed to better inform future dietary guidelines.

Population structure and associated phenotypes of Salmonella enterica serovars Derby and Mbandaka overlap with host range

BACKGROUND:The Salmonella enterica serovar Derby is frequently isolated from pigs and turkeys whereas serovar Mbandaka is frequently isolated from cattle, chickens and animal feed in the UK. Through comparative genomics, phenomics and mutant construction we previously suggested possible mechanistic reasons why these serovars demonstrate apparently distinct host ranges. Here, we investigate the genetic and phenotypic diversity of these two serovars in the UK. We produce a phylogenetic reconstruction and perform several biochemical assays on isolates of S. Derby and S. Mbandaka acquired from sites across the UK between the years 2000 and 2010. RESULTS:We show that UK isolates of S. Mbandaka comprise of one clonal lineage which is adapted to proficient utilisation of metabolites found in soya beans under ambient conditions. We also show that this clonal lineage forms a biofilm at 25 °C, suggesting that this serovar maybe well adapted to survival ex vivo, growing in animal feed. Conversely, we show that S. Derby is made of two distinct lineages, L1 and L2. These lineages differ genotypically and phenotypically, being divided by the presence and absence of SPI-23 and the ability to more proficiently invade porcine jejunum derived cell line IPEC-J2. CONCLUSION:The results of this study lend support to the hypothesis that the differences in host ranges of S. Derby and S. Mbandaka are adaptations to pathogenesis, environmental persistence, as well as utilisation of metabolites abundant in their respective host environments.

Urinary metabolomic profiling to identify biomarkers of a flavonoid-rich and flavonoid-poor fruits and vegetables diet: the FLAVURS trial in adults: the FLAVURS trial

The present study aims to investigate the dose dependent effects of consuming diets enriched in flavonoid-rich and flavonoid-poor fruits and vegetables on the urine metabolome of adults who had a C1.5 fold increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. A single-blind, dose-dependent, parallel randomized controlled dietary intervention was conducted where volunteers (n = 126) were randomly assigned to one of three diets: high flavonoid diet, low flavonoid diet or habitual diet as a control for 18 weeks. High resolution LC– MS untargeted metabolomics with minimal sample cleanup was performed using an Orbitrap mass spectrometer. Putative biomarkers which characterize diets with high and low flavonoid content were selected by state-of-the-art data analysis strategies and identified by HR-MS and HR-MS/MS assays. Discrimination between diets was observed by application of two linear mixedmodels: one including a diet-time interaction effect and the second containing only a time effect. Valerolactones, phenolic acids and their derivatives were among sixteen biomarkers related to the high flavonoid dietary exposure. Four biomarkers related to the low flavonoid diet belonged to the family of phenolic acids. For the first time abscisic acid glucuronide was reported as a biomarker after a dietary intake, however its origins have to be examined by future hypothesis driven experiments using a more targeted approach. This metabolomic analysis has identified a number of dose dependent urinary biomarkers (i.e. proline betaine or iberin-N-acetyl cysteine), which can be used in future observation and intervention studies to assess flavonoids and nonflavonoid phenolic intakes and compliance to fruit and vegetable intervention.

Chronic Diseases: Chronic Diseases and Development 2 Health, agricultural, and economic effects of adoption of healthy diet recommendations

Transition to diets that are high in saturated fat and sugar has caused a global public health concern as the pattern of food consumption is a mayor modifiable risk factor for chronic non-communicable diseases Although agri food systems are intimately associated with this transition, agriculture and health sectors are largely disconnected in their priorities policy, and analysis with neither side considering the complex inter relation between agri trade patterns of food consumption health, and development We show the importance of connection of these perspectives through estimation of the effect of adopting a healthy diet on population health, agricultural production trade the economy and livelihoods, with a computable general equilibrium approach On the basis of case studies from the UK and Brazil we suggest that benefits of a healthy diet policy will vary substantially between different populations, not only because of population dietary intake but also because of agricultural production trade and other economic factors

Diet and serum micronutrients in relation to cervical neoplasia and cancer among low-income Brazilian women

Cervical cancer is a leading cancer among women in developing countries. Infection with oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) types has been recognized as a necessary cause of this disease. Serum carotenoids and tocopherols have also been associated with risk for cervical neoplasia, but results from previous studies were not consistent. We evaluated the association of serum total carotene and tocopherols, and dietary intakes with the risk of newly diagnosed, histologically confirmed cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grades 1, 2, 3 and invasive cancer in a hospital-based case-control study in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The investigation included 453 controls and 4 groups of cases (CIN1, n = 140; CIN2, n = 126; CIN3, n = 231; invasive cancer, n = 108) recruited from two major public clinics between 2003 and 2005. Increasing concentrations of serum lycopene were negatively associated with CIN1, CIN3 and cancer, with odds ratios (OR) (95% CI) for the highest compared to the lowest tertile of 0.53 (0.27-1.00, p for trend = 0.05), 0.48 (0.22-1.04, p for trend = 0.05) and 0.18 (0.06-0.52, p for trend = 0.002), respectively, after adjusting for confounding variables and HPV status. Increasing concentrations of serum alpha- and gamma-tocopherols, and higher dietary intakes of dark green and deep yellow vegetables/fruit were associated with nearly 50% decreased risk of CIN3. These results support the evidence that a healthy and balanced diet leading to provide high serum levels of antioxidants may reduce cervical neoplasia risk in low-income women.

Mate Tea Inhibits In Vitro Pancreatic Lipase Activity and Has Hypolipidemic Effect on High-fat Diet-induced Obese Mice

The inhibitory effects of mate tea (MT), a beverage produced with leaves from Ilex paraguariensis, in vitro lipase activity and on obesity in obese mice models were examined. For the in vitro experiment, porcine and human pancreatic lipase (PL) activities were determined by measuring the rate of release of oleic acid from hydrolysis of olive oil emulsified with taurocholate, phospholipids, gum arabic, or polyvinyl alcohol. For the in vivo experiments, animals were fed with a standard diet (SD, n = 10) or high-fat diet (HFD, n = 30) for 16 weeks. After the first 8 weeks on the HFD, the animals were treated with 1 and 2 g/kg of body weight of MT. The time course of the body weight and obesity-related biochemical parameters were evaluated. The results showed that MT inhibited both porcine and human PL (half-maximal inhibitory concentration = 1.5 mg MT/ml) and induced a strong inhibition of the porcine lipase activity in the hydrolysis of substrate emulsified with taurocholate + phosphatidylcholine (PC) (83 +/- 3.8%) or PC alone (62 +/- 4.3%). MT suppressed the increases in body weight (P < 0.05) and decreased the serum triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol concentrations at both doses (from 190.3 +/- 5.7 to 135.0 +/- 8.9 mg/dl, from 189.1 +/- 7.3 to 129.3 +/- 17.6 mg/dl; P < 0.05, respectively) after they had been increased by the HFD. The liver lipid content was also decreased by the diet containing MT (from 132.6 +/- 3.9 to 95.6 +/- 6.1 mg/g of tissue; P < 0.05). These results suggest that MT could be a potentially therapeutic alternative in the treatment of obesity caused by a HFD.

Antiobesity Effects of yerba mate Extract (Ilex paraguariensis) in High-fat Diet-induced Obese Mice

Because the potential of yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) has been suggested in the management of obesity, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of yerba mate extract on weight loss, obesity-related biochemical parameters, and the regulation of adipose tissue gene expression in high-fat diet-induced obesity in mice. Thirty animals were randomly assigned to three groups. The mice were introduced to standard or high-fat diets. After 12 weeks on a high-fat diet, mice were randomly assigned according to the treatment (water or yerba mate extract 1.0 g/-kg). After treatment intervention, plasma concentrations of total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and glucose were evaluated. Adipose tissue was examined to determine the mRNA levels of several genes such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), leptin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-C motif chemokine ligand-2 (CCL2), CCL receptor-2 (CCR2), angiotensinogen, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), adiponectin, resistin, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma(2) (PPAR-gamma(2)), uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1), and PPAR-gamma coactivator-1 alpha (PGC-1 alpha). The F4/80 levels were determined by immunoblotting. We found that obese mice treated with yerba mate exhibited marked attenuation of weight gain, adiposity, a decrease in epididymal fat-pad weight, and restoration of the serum levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, and glucose. The gene and protein expression levels were directly regulated by the high-fat diet. After treatment with yerba mate extract, we observed a recovery of the expression levels. In conclusion, our data show that yerba mate extract has potent antiobesity activity in vivo. Additionally, we observed that the treatment had a modulatory effect on the expression of several genes related to obesity.

Diet quality of persons living with HIV/AIDS on highly active antiretroviral therapy

Background This study sought to assess the diet quality of individuals living with HIV/AIDS who were receiving antiretroviral therapy in Sao Paulo Brazil,. Methods This cross-sectional study involved 56 HIV-infected adults. Demographic and anthropometric data were collected, and diet quality was measured using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), modified for Brazilians, which included ten components: adequacy of intake of six different food groups, total fat, cholesterol, dietary fibre and dietary variety. Results Among the individuals assessed, 64.3% of the participants had a diet needing improvement, while 8.7% had a poor diet. The overall HEI score was 68.3 points (SD = 14.9). Mean scores were low for fruits, vegetables, dairy products and dietary fibre; and high for meats and eggs, total fat and cholesterol. The overall HEI score was higher among individuals who were not overweight (P = 0.003), who were also more likely to achieve dietary goals for dairy products (P = 0.039) and grains (P = 0.005). Conclusion Most of these adults living with HIV/AIDS had diets that required improvement, and being overweight was associated with poorer diet quality. Nutritional interventions aimed at maintaining healthy body weight and diet should be taken into account in caring for HIV-infected people.

Investigating Environmental Determinants of Diet, Physical Activity, and Overweight among Adults in Sao Paulo, Brazil

There is worldwide recognition that the burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and obesity-related health problems is rapidly increasing in low- and middle-income countries. Environmental determinants of obesity are likely to differ between countries, particularly in those undergoing rapid socioeconomic and nutrition transitions such as Brazil. This study aims to describe some built environment and local food environment variables and to explore their association with the overweight rate and diet and physical activity area-level aggregated indicators of adults living in the city of Sao Paulo, the largest city in Brazil. This formative study includes an ecological analysis of environmental factors associated with overweight across 31 submunicipalities of the city of Sao Paulo using statistical and spatial analyses. Average prevalence of overweight was 41.69% (95% confidence interval 38.74, 44.64), ranging from 27.14% to 60.75% across the submunicipalities. There was a wide geographical variation of both individual diet and physical activity, and indicators of food and built environments, favoring wealthier areas. After controlling for area socioeconomic status, there was a positive correlation between regular fruits and vegetables (FV) intake and density of FV specialized food markets (r = 0.497; p < 0.001), but no relationship between fast-food restaurant density and overweight prevalence was found. A negative association between overweight prevalence and density of parks and public sport facilities was seen (r = -0.527; p < 0.05). Understanding the relationship between local neighborhood environments and increasing rates of poor diet, physical activity, and obesity is essential in countries undergoing rapid economic and urban development, such as Brazil, in order to provide insights for policies to reduce increasing rates of NCDs and food access and health inequalities.

The role of predator overlap in the robustness and extinction of a four species predator-prey network

Predators and preys often form species networks with asymmetric patterns of interaction. We study the dynamics of a four species network consisting of two weakly connected predator-prey pairs. We focus our analysis on the effects of the cross interaction between the predator of the first pair and the prey of the second pair. This is an example where the predator overlap, which is the proportion of predators that a given prey shares with other preys, is not uniform across the network due to asymmetries in patterns of interaction. We explore the behavior of the system under different interaction strengths and study the dynamics of survival and extinction. In particular, we consider situations in which the four species have initial populations lower than their long-term equilibrium, simulating catastrophic situations in which their abundances are reduced due to human action or environmental change. We show that, under these reduced initial conditions, and depending on the strength of the cross interaction, the populations tend to oscillate before re-equilibrating, disturbing the community equilibrium and sometimes reaching values that are only a small fraction of the equilibrium population, potentially leading to their extinction. We predict that, contrary to one`s intuition, the most likely scenario is the extinction of the less predated preys. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Diet and food selection by small mammals in an old-growth Atlantic forest of south-eastern Brazil

Here we describe the stomach contents of nine small mammal species (seven rodents and two didelphid marsupials) co-occurring in an old-growth Atlantic forest area. For four terrestrial rodents, we also compared the importance of arthropods in the diet and the selection of arthropod groups by comparing consumption with availability. Small mammals and arthropods were sampled in a 36-ha grid containing 25 sampling stations spaced every 150 m, and 47 stomach contents were analysed. While plant matter was the predominant item in the stomach contents of two rodents (Oligoryzomys nigripes and Rhipidomys mastacalis), four species presented arthropods as the main food item (the rodents Brucepattersonius soricinus and Oxymycterus dasytrichus, and the marsupials Monodelphis n. sp. and Marmosops incanus) and three consumed more plant matter than arthropods, but had significant amounts of both items (the rodents Delomys sublineatus, Euryoryzomys russatus and Thaptomys nigrita). Our results suggest that differences in diet, coupled with differences in habit and microhabitat preferences, are important factors allowing resource partition among species of the diverse group of co-occurring terrestrial small mammals in Atlantic forest areas. Moreover, arthropods were not preyed opportunistically by any of the four terrestrial rodents, since consumption was not proportional to availability. Rather, selection or rejection of arthropod groups seems to be determined by aspects other than availability, such as nutritional value, easiness of capture and handling or palatability.

Head shape evolution in Tropidurinae lizards: does locomotion constrain diet?

Different components of complex integrated systems may be specialized for different functions, and thus the selective pressures acting on the system as a whole may be conflicting and can ultimately constrain organismal performance and evolution. The vertebrate cranial system is one of the most striking examples of a complex system with several possible functions, being associated to activities as different as locomotion, prey capture, display and defensive behaviours. Therefore, selective pressures on the cranial system as a whole are possibly complex and may be conflicting. The present study focuses on the influence of potentially conflicting selective pressures (diet vs. locomotion) on the evolution of head shape in Tropidurinae lizards. For example, the expected adaptations leading to flat heads and bodies in species living on vertical structures may conflict with the need for improved bite performance associated with the inclusion of hard or tough prey into the diet, a common phenomenon in Tropidurinae lizards. Body size and six variables describing head shape were quantified in preserved specimens of 23 species, and information on diet and substrate usage was obtained from the literature. No phylogenetic signal was observed in the morphological data at any branch length tested, suggesting adaptive evolution of head shape in Tropidurinae. This pattern was confirmed by both factor analysis and independent contrast analysis, which suggested adaptive co-variation between the head shape and the inclusion of hard prey into the diet. In contrast to our expectations, habitat use did not constrain or drive head shape evolution in the group.