It is not known whether the protective effects of antioxidants on cataract observed in experimental animals are relevant to age-related opacities in humans.
The relations of serum carotenoids and ...tocopherols to the incidence of age-related nuclear cataract were investigated in a random sample of 400 adults, 50-86 y of age, in the Beaver Dam Eye Study.
Nuclear opacity was assessed by using lens photographs taken at baseline (in 1988-1990) and follow-up (in 1993-1995). Nonfasting concentrations of individual carotenoids and alpha- and gamma-tocopherol, were determined from serum obtained at baseline. A total of 252 persons were eligible for incident cataract, of whom 57 developed nuclear cataract in at least one eye. Results were adjusted for age, smoking, serum cholesterol, heavy drinking, adiposity, and, in the tocopherol models, dietary linoleic acid intake.
Only serum tocopherol (the sum of alpha- and gamma-tocopherol, in micromol/mmol cholesterol) was associated with cataract. For total serum tocopherol, persons in tertile 3 had a lower risk of cataract than persons in tertile 1 odds ratio (OR): 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2, 0.9; P = 0.03 for linear trend. Although serum carotenoids were not significantly associated with nuclear cataract, marginal inverse associations with lutein (OR: 0.3; 95% CI: 0.1, 1.2; P = 0.13 for linear trend) and cryptoxanthin (OR: 0.3; 95% CI: 0.1, 1.3; P = 0.11 for linear trend) were suggested in people < or = 65 y of age.
Findings were compatible with the possibility that nuclear cataract may be linked inversely to vitamin E status, but neither strongly supported nor negated the hypothesized inverse association of nuclear cataract with serum carotenoids.
The relation of antioxidant nutrients to the incidence of nuclear cataracts was investigated in a cohort of adults aged 43–84 years in the Beaver Darn Eye Study (Beaver Dam, Wisconsin). Nuclear ...opacity was assessed on a five-point ordinal scale using lens photographs taken at baseline (1988–1990) and at follow-up (1993–1995). Of the 1,354 persons eligible, 246 developed a nuclear cataract (level 4 or 5 opacity) in at least one eye. Antioxidant intakes were assessed using a food frequency questionnaire administered at baseline for time points corresponding to intake during the year preceding baseline and 10 years before baseline (the distant past). Lutein-zeaxanthin was the only carotenoid, out of five examined, that was associated with nuclear cataracts. Persons in the highest quintile of lutein intake in the distant past were half as likely to have an incident cataract as persons in the lowest quintile of intake (95% confidence interval 0.3–0.8). In the overall group, nuclear cataracts were not significantly related to intake of vitamin C or vitamin E. However, vitamins C and E were inversely associated with opacities in persons who had some other risk factors for cataracts. While results of this short term follow-up study are consistent with a possible protective influence of lutein and vitamins E and C on the development of nuclear cataracts, the evidence in the present study provides weak support for these associations. Am J Epidemiol 1999;149:801–9.
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The term dietary fiber captures a broad category of compounds, from intrinsic fiber in plants defined as non‐digestible carbohydrate and lignin to isolated non‐digestible carbohydrates ...(functional fibers) added to foods. Functional fibers must have a physiological benefit on health to receive a fiber classification. Our objective is to present the rationale and approach taken to develop a comprehensive, publicly available, searchable database linking dietary fibers to health outcomes.
To build this database, we conducted a systematic literature search for human intervention studies published in English from 1946 to September 2013. Our search strategy included a broad definition of fiber terms, as well as search terms for nine physiological health outcomes. These nine health outcomes include total and LDL cholesterol; post‐prandial glucose and insulin; blood pressure; increased fecal bulk and laxation; transit time; colonic fermentation and short‐chain‐fatty‐acid production; modulation of colonic microflora; weight loss, weight maintenance, and reduction in adiposity; and increased satiety. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were developed a priori, and publications were first screened at the abstract level and, later, at the full text level to determine database eligibility. The database was built and published in the Systematic Review Data Repository (SRDR™), a web‐based, publicly available application.
The final database contains 821 unique publications. The majority of studies were randomized controlled crossover (63.0%) or parallel (32.1%) designs. Guar gum was the most frequently studied exposure (9.1%), and total/LDL cholesterol was the most frequently studied outcome (17.6%). This resource will reduce the unnecessary replication of effort in conducting systematic reviews by serving as both a central database archiving PICO (population, intervention, comparator, outcome) data on published studies and as a searchable tool through which data can be extracted and updated annually. The database will both help scientists and policy‐makers in evaluating evidence linking specific fibers with health outcomes and identifying missing information in published systematic reviews.
Support or Funding Information
This project was supported by a grant from the International Life Science Institute ‐ North America Branch, Technical Committee on Carbohydrates
This study delineates demographic, lifestyle, dietary and health factors associated with the use of supplements at varying levels. Data are from a population-based cohort of 2,152 middle- to ...older-age adults living in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Information was collected by in-person interviews between 1988-1990. Associations were adjusted for gender and age. Use of supplements was more prevalent among women, persons with more than 12 years of education, those with relatively low body mass indices, persons with active lifestyles, and persons who never smoked as compared to current smokers (P </= 0.05). Supplement users had higher intakes of most of the micronutrients from food that were examined in this study, including the antioxidant vitamins C and E and certain carotenoids (P </= 0.05). Intakes of dairy products and also foods that are important sources of vitamin C and carotenoids were higher among users of supplements, but relationships differed by gender and by the type and level of supplement intake. These findings suggest that several factors need to be considered potential confounders in observational studies that examine the etiologic role of supplements in the occurrence of chronic disease.
Strategic translational research is designed to address research gaps that answer specific guidance questions. It provides translational value with respect to nutrition guidance and regulatory and ...public policy. The relevance and the quality of evidence both matter in translational research. For example, design decisions regarding population, intervention, comparator, and outcome criteria affect whether or not high-quality studies are considered relevant to specific guidance questions and are therefore included as evidence within the context of systematic review frameworks used by authoritative food and health organizations. The process used in systematic reviews, developed by the USDA for its Nutrition Evidence Library, is described. An eating pattern and cardiovascular disease (CVD) evidence review is provided as an example, and factors that differentiated the studies considered relevant and included in that evidence base from those that were excluded are noted. Case studies on ω-3 (n–3) fatty acids (FAs) and industrial
trans
-FAs illustrate key factors vital to relevance and translational impact, including choice of a relevant population (e.g., healthy, at risk, or diseased subjects; general population or high-performance soldiers); dose and form of the intervention (e.g., food or supplement); use of relevant comparators (e.g., technically feasible and realistic); and measures for both exposure and outcomes (e.g., inflammatory markers or CVD endpoints). Specific recommendations are provided to help increase the impact of nutrition research on future dietary guidance, policy, and regulatory issues, particularly in the area of lipids.
Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is the most common etiology of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the industrialized world and accounts for much of the excess mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus. ...Approximately 45% of U.S. patients with incident end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) have DKD. Independent of glycemic control, DKD aggregates in families and has higher incidence rates in African, Mexican, and American Indian ancestral groups relative to European populations. The Family Investigation of Nephropathy and Diabetes (FIND) performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) contrasting 6,197 unrelated individuals with advanced DKD with healthy and diabetic individuals lacking nephropathy of European American, African American, Mexican American, or American Indian ancestry. A large-scale replication and trans-ethnic meta-analysis included 7,539 additional European American, African American and American Indian DKD cases and non-nephropathy controls. Within ethnic group meta-analysis of discovery GWAS and replication set results identified genome-wide significant evidence for association between DKD and rs12523822 on chromosome 6q25.2 in American Indians (P = 5.74x10-9). The strongest signal of association in the trans-ethnic meta-analysis was with a SNP in strong linkage disequilibrium with rs12523822 (rs955333; P = 1.31x10-8), with directionally consistent results across ethnic groups. These 6q25.2 SNPs are located between the SCAF8 and CNKSR3 genes, a region with DKD relevant changes in gene expression and an eQTL with IPCEF1, a gene co-translated with CNKSR3. Several other SNPs demonstrated suggestive evidence of association with DKD, within and across populations. These data identify a novel DKD susceptibility locus with consistent directions of effect across diverse ancestral groups and provide insight into the genetic architecture of DKD.
BACKGROUND.More data on the efficacy and safety of ciprofloxacin in pediatric cystic fibrosis patients are needed.
METHODS.One hundred eight pediatric cystic fibrosis patients (ages 5 to 17 years) ...with acute bronchopulmonary exacerbations entered a randomized multicenter trial designed to compare the safety and efficacy of antipseudomonas therapy with oral ciprofloxacin (15 mg/kg twice daily; maximum dosage 750 mg twice daily) or intravenous ceftazidime plus tobramycin (CAZ/TM) for 14 days.
RESULTS.Clinical improvement was observed in 93% of patients treated with oral ciprofloxacin and in 96% of those receiving parenteral therapy. Transient suppression of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was achieved in 63% of patients at the end of the course of iv CAZ/TM therapy and in 24% receiving ciprofloxacin. Ultrasound examination and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging scans showed no evidence of cartilage toxicity in any of the ciprofloxacin-treated patients. Musculoskeletal adverse events were reported with similar frequency in the two groups of patients (7% in the group receiving ciprofloxacin therapy and 11% in the IV CAZ/TM group). The only sustained musculoskeletal symptom was a case of synovitis in a patient receiving parenteral CAZ/TM.
CONCLUSION.Ciprofloxacin thus appears to be safe and effective for use in young patients with bronchopulmonary exacerbation of cystic fibrosis.
The role of specific gut microbes in shaping body composition remains unclear. We transplanted fecal microbiota from adult female twin pairs discordant for obesity into germ-free mice fed low-fat ...mouse chow, as well as diets representing different levels of saturated fat and fruit and vegetable consumption typical of the USA. Increased total body and fat mass, as well as obesity-associated metabolic phenotypes were transmissible with uncultured fecal communities, and with their corresponding fecal bacterial culture collections. Co-housing mice harboring an obese twin’s microbiota (Ob) with mice containing the lean co-twin’s microbiota (Ln) prevented the development of increased body mass and obesity-associated metabolic phenotypes in Ob cagemates. Rescue correlated with invasion of specific members of Bacteroidetes from the Ln microbiota into Ob microbiota, and was diet-dependent. These findings reveal transmissible, rapid and modifiable effects of diet-by-microbiota interactions.
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