Research Publications (Nutrition)

Background
The food environment in which people exercise food choices significantly impacts their dietary patterns. Policies that limit the availability, affordability, and access to unhealthy food while increasing that of healthier alternatives help build healthy food environments, which are required to address the double burden of malnutrition. This study aimed to assess the availability of food environment policies in Zambia.

The prevalence and mortality of heart disease have a persistent existence, and it is important to develop active substances with cardioprotective properties. It has been reported that peptides from animal heart hydrolysates possess cardioprotective activity, but those mechanisms and the sequence of peptides are still unrevealed. In the present study, the extracts of bovine myocardium were prepared by enzymatic hydrolysis (BHH-A) and water extraction (BHH-W).

The nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat containing receptors (NLRs) are components of the innate immune system, important to coordinate the inflammatory response. Among them, the NLRP3 could form inflammasomes, a multiprotein complex activating the inflammatory caspase-1 and leading, through a cell death-mediated signaling cascade, to the release of several proinflammatory cytokines.

Meat adulteration is a major global concern that poses a threat to public health and consumer rights. However, current detection techniques, such as quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, are time-consuming and require sophisticated equipment.

Obesity and related metabolic syndromes pose a serious threat to human health and quality of life. A proper diet is a safe and effective strategy to prevent and control obesity, thus maintaining overall health. However, no consensus exists on the connotations of proper diet, and it is attributed to various factors, including “nutritional dark matter” and the “matrix effect” of food.

Endemic Se deficiency is a major worldwide nutritional challenge. This review summarizes the functional improvement of Se‐enriched probiotics, and discuss their Se enrichment mechanisms. Moreover, a brief summary and the development of Se‐enriched probiotics, particularly their potential applications in the field of nutritional additives in food, have been provided. Abstract Selenium (Se) is a momentous metallic element that plays an irreplaceable role in biochemical activities.

Obesity is associated with accumulation of inflammatory immune cells in white adipose tissue, whereas thermogenic browning adipose tissue is inhibited. Dietary fatty acids are important nutritional components and several clinical and experimental studies have reported beneficial effects of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on obesity-related metabolic changes.

Objective
Determine the development of sarcopenia in a COVID-ICU population by sequential quadriceps and diaphragm ultrasound and its relationship with hospital outcomes.

Research Methods & Procedures
We assessed muscle thickness (MT), cross-sectional area (CSA), fascicle length (Lf), pennation angle (PA) and echo-intensity (EI) within 48h after intubation, at day 5, day 10 and ICU discharge in thirty critically ill patients with confirmed COVID-19.

Background
Diets with a low glycaemic index (GI) and high protein intake suggest being favourable in aiding weight loss and improving weight maintenance, however, methods to measure dietary intake are comprehensive both for the participant and the study staff. We aimed to validate the accuracy of the dietary GI and protein intake assessed through a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) against a 4-d weighed food record in Danish pregnant women with obesity.

Despite development in cancer treatment and prevention options during the past few years, cancer of the pancreas remains a diagnosis associated with poor prognosis and limited options for prevention. Diet has proven to be an important risk factor for development of many types of cancer, particularly for cancers of the digestive system. Still, evidence regarding its relation to pancreatic cancer remains ambiguous.

Red cabbage anthocyanins may provide health benefits that may be associated with antiaging. The protection of red cabbage anthocyanin-rich extract (ARE) and cyanidin-3-diglucoside-5-glucoside-rich extract (CY3D5G) against age-related cognitive dysfunction was investigated in normal aging mice (male C57BL/6J, 12 months old) administered orally for 12 weeks.

Background: Corn peptides, a novel food prepared from corn gluten meal (CGM) by enzymatic hydrolysis or microbial fermentation, have attracted considerable interest owing to their various bioactive properties. However, the underlying mechanism of corn peptides attenuate non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remains unclear.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of corn peptides in NAFLD and to decipher the underlying mechanisms.

Background: Hypertension is closely associated with excessive sodium intake, and low-sodium salt has been shown to lower blood pressure. However, whether low-sodium salt interacts with genetic variation related to salt sensitivity of blood pressure is unclear. Methods: A total of 259 hypertensive patients who completed the previous 3 years of a low-sodium salt vs. normal salt intervention were included in our study.

Background
Patients receiving home parenteral nutrition (HPN) frequently report disrupted sleep. However, there are often inconsistencies between objectively measured and questionnaire-derived sleep measures. We compared sleep measures estimated from wrist actigraphy and self-report in adults receiving HPN.

Diet is an important source of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposure, and the dietary inflammatory index (DII) is a tool used to assess the inflammatory potential of an individual's diet. However, limited research has explored the association between the DII and PFAS exposure in humans. This study is the first to analyze the association between the five PFASs and DII using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007–2018 database.

The green tea polyphenol, (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), has been studied for its potential positive health effects but human and animal model studies have reported potential toxicity at high oral bolus doses.

Vasoactive intrinsic peptide receptor (VIPR2), a circadian gene, is involved in metabolic homeostasis and metabolic syndrome (MetS). Seaweeds contain polysaccharides that regulate metabolic homeostasis, possibly by altering the effects of VIPR2 variants. We examined the relationship between VIPR2 expression and the incidence of MetS based on seaweed consumption.

The relationship between trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), betaine, and choline with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) end point remains unclear. We analyzed plasma TMAO, betaine, and choline concentrations in AMI cases and non-AMI community-dwelling controls by LC-MS/MS to understand how the balance between these metabolites helps to reduce AMI risk.

Unclear taste mechanisms of peptides limit rapid screening of taste peptides with high intensity. In this study, the taste mechanisms of umami and bitter peptides from Chouguiyu was compared.

Evidence of the pharmacological activity of oleanolic acid (OA) suggests its potential therapeutic application. However, its use in functional foods, dietary supplements, or nutraceuticals is hindered by limited human bioavailability studies. The BIO-OLTRAD trial is a double-blind, randomized controlled study with 22 participants that received a single dose of 30 mg OA formulated as a functional olive oil.

Background

Background: Dietary and lifestyle indices are composite tools that are used to estimate risk of health outcomes.

Objective: We aimed to develop a diet and a lifestyle index assessing adherence to the national guidelines in Norway, and to investigate adherence in a nationwide survey of healthy subjects (Norkost3).

By formulating a breakfast meal from quinoa and tigernuts that is organically sweetened, this study aimed to synergistically utilize the natural bioactive compounds embedded in both foods. When compared to commercial sample, all formulations had higher protein and fat contents. The meals contained little starch, and most significantly, over 35% of this starch was non-digestible.

Diets high in fruit and vegetable are perceived to be beneficial for intestinal homeostasis, in health as well as in the context of inflammatory bowel diseases.

A metabolomic study was performed on the kidneys and skeletal muscles of rats fed diets containing varying contents of Mg for 4 weeks. The kidneys are divided into two parts, the aerobic cortex and the anaerobic medulla, that differ in metabolism. The relative contents of 3-phosphoglyceric acid, 2-phosphoglyceric acid, and phosphoenolpyruvic acid increased with Mg restriction in both renal regions.