Scope
The aim of the study is to examine whether lean fish (LF), fatty fish (FF), and camelina sativa oil (CSO), a plant‐based source of alpha‐linolenic acid (ALA), differ in their metabolic effects ...in subjects with impaired glucose metabolism.
Methods and results
Altogether 79 volunteers with impaired fasting glucose, BMI 25–36 kg m–2, age 43–72 years, participated in a 12‐week randomized controlled trial with four parallel groups, that is, the FF (four fish meals/week), LF (four fish meals/week), CSO (10 g d–1 ALA), and control (limited intakes of fish and sources of ALA) groups. The proportions of eicosapentaenoic acid and DHA increase in plasma lipids in the FF group, and the proportion of ALA increase in the CSO group (p < 0.0001 for all). In the CSO group, total and LDL‐cholesterol (C) concentrations decrease compared with the FF and LF groups; LDL‐C/HDL‐C and ApoB/ApoA‐I ratios decrease compared with the LF group. There are no significant changes in glucose metabolism or markers of low‐grade inflammation.
Conclusions
A diet enriched in CSO improves serum lipid profile as compared with a diet enriched in FF or LF in subjects with impaired fasting glucose, with no differences in glucose metabolism or concentrations of inflammatory markers.
In subjects with impaired glucose metabolism (n = 79), a 12‐week ingestion of camelina sativa oil decreased serum total and LDL‐cholesterol concentrations compared with the ingestion of both fatty fish and lean fish. LDL‐C/HDL‐C and ApoB/ApoA‐I ratios decreased compared with the ingestion of lean fish. There were no significant changes among the diet groups in glucose metabolism assessed by both oral and intravenous glucose tolerance tests, or markers of low‐grade inflammation.
Saturated fatty acids (SFAs) of different chain lengths have unique metabolic and biological effects, and a small number of recent studies suggest that higher circulating concentrations of the ...very-long-chain SFAs (VLSFAs) arachidic acid (20:0), behenic acid (22:0), and lignoceric acid (24:0) are associated with a lower risk of diabetes. Confirmation of these findings in a large and diverse population is needed.
We investigated the associations of circulating VLSFAs 20:0, 22:0, and 24:0 with incident type 2 diabetes in prospective studies.
Twelve studies that are part of the Fatty Acids and Outcomes Research Consortium participated in the analysis. Using Cox or logistic regression within studies and an inverse-variance-weighted meta-analysis across studies, we examined the associations of VLSFAs 20:0, 22:0, and 24:0 with incident diabetes among 51,431 participants.
There were 14,276 cases of incident diabetes across participating studies. Higher circulating concentrations of 20:0, 22:0, and 24:0 were each associated with a lower risk of incident diabetes. Pooling across cohorts, the RR (95% CI) for incident diabetes comparing the 90th percentile to the 10th percentile was 0.78 (0.70, 0.87) for 20:0, 0.84 (0.77, 0.91) for 22:0, and 0.75 (0.69, 0.83) for 24:0 after adjustment for demographic, lifestyle, adiposity, and other health factors. Results were fully attenuated in exploratory models that adjusted for circulating 16:0 and triglycerides.
Results from this pooled analysis indicate that higher concentrations of circulating VLSFAs 20:0, 22:0, and 24:0 are each associated with a lower risk of diabetes.
Background and aims Oral health could potentially be a modifiable risk factor for adverse outcomes in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients transitioning from predialysis treatment to maintenance ...dialysis and transplantation. We aimed to study the association between an index of radiographically assessed oral health, Panoramic Tomographic Index (PTI), and cardiovascular and all-cause mortality, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) and episodes of bacteremia and laboratory measurements during a three-year prospective follow-up in CKD stage 4-5 patients not on maintenance dialysis at baseline. Methods Altogether 190 CKD stage 4-5 patients without maintenance dialysis attended panoramic dental radiographs in the beginning of the study. The patients were followed up for three years or until death. MACEs and episodes of bacteremia were recorded during follow-up. Laboratory sampling for C-reactive protein and leukocytes was repeated tri-monthly. Results PTI was not associated with baseline laboratory parameters or C-reactive protein or leukocytes examined as repeated measures through the 3-year follow-up. During follow-up, 22 patients had at least one episode of bacteremia, but only 2 of the bacteremias were considered to be of oral origin. PTI was not associated with incident bacteremia during follow-up. Thirty-six patients died during follow-up including 17 patients due to cardiovascular causes. During follow-up 42 patients were observed with a MACE. PTI was independently associated with all-cause (HR 1.074 95% CI 1.029-1.122, p = 0.001) and cardiovascular (HR 1.105, 95% CI 1.057-1.157, p<0.0001) mortality, as well as, incident MACEs (HR 1.071 95% CI 1.031-1.113, p = 0.0004) in the multivariable Cox models adjusted for age and kidney transplantation or CKD treatment modality during follow-up. Conclusions Radiographically assessed dental health is independently associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality and MACEs but not with the incidence of bacteremia in CKD stage 4-5 patients transitioning to maintenance dialysis and renal transplantation during follow-up.
Nuts and vegetable oils are important sources of fat and of a wide variety of micronutrients and phytochemicals. Following their intake, several of their constituents, as well as their derived ...metabolites, are found in blood circulation and in urine. As a consequence, these could be used to assess the compliance to a dietary intervention or to determine habitual intake of nuts and vegetable oils. However, before these metabolites can be widely used as biomarkers of food intake (BFIs), several characteristics have to be considered, including specificity, dose response, time response, stability, and analytical performance. We have, therefore, conducted an extensive literature search to evaluate current knowledge about potential BFIs of nuts and vegetable oils. Once identified, the strengths and weaknesses of the most promising candidate BFIs have been summarized. Results from selected studies have provided a variety of compounds mainly derived from the fatty fraction of these foods, but also other components and derived metabolites related to their nutritional composition. In particular, α-linolenic acid, urolithins, and 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid seem to be the most plausible candidate BFIs for walnuts, whereas for almonds they could be α-tocopherol and some catechin-derived metabolites. Similarly, several studies have reported a strong association between selenium levels and consumption of Brazil nuts. Intake of vegetable oils has been mainly assessed through the measurement of specific fatty acids in different blood fractions, such as oleic acid for olive oil, α-linolenic acid for flaxseed (linseed) and rapeseed (canola) oils, and linoleic acid for sunflower oil. Additionally, hydroxytyrosol and its metabolites were the most promising distinctive BFIs for (extra) virgin olive oil. However, most of these components lack sufficient specificity to serve as BFIs. Therefore, additional studies are necessary to discover new candidate BFIs, as well as to further evaluate the specificity, sensitivity, dose-response relationships, and reproducibility of these candidate biomarkers and to eventually validate them in other populations. For the discovery of new candidate BFIs, an untargeted metabolomics approach may be the most effective strategy, whereas for increasing the specificity of the evaluation of food consumption, this could be a combination of different metabolites.
We studied the combined effects of wholegrain, fish and bilberries on serum metabolic profile and lipid transfer protein activities in subjects with the metabolic syndrome.
Altogether 131 subjects ...(40-70 y, BMI 26-39 kg/m(2)) with impaired glucose metabolism and features of the metabolic syndrome were randomized into three groups with 12-week periods according to a parallel study design. They consumed either: a) wholegrain and low postprandial insulin response grain products, fatty fish 3 times a week, and bilberries 3 portions per day (HealthyDiet), b) wholegrain and low postprandial insulin response grain products (WGED), or c) refined wheat breads as cereal products (Control). Altogether 106 subjects completed the study. Serum metabolic profile was studied using an NMR-based platform providing information on lipoprotein subclasses and lipids as well as low-molecular-weight metabolites.
There were no significant differences in clinical characteristics between the groups at baseline or at the end of the intervention. Mixed model analyses revealed significant changes in lipid metabolites in the HealthyDiet group during the intervention compared to the Control group. All changes reflected increased polyunsaturation in plasma fatty acids, especially in n-3 PUFAs, while n-6 and n-7 fatty acids decreased. According to tertiles of changes in fish intake, a greater increase of fish intake was associated with increased concentration of large HDL particles, larger average diameter of HDL particles, and increased concentrations of large HDL lipid components, even though total levels of HDL cholesterol remained stable.
The results suggest that consumption of diet rich in whole grain, bilberries and especially fatty fish causes changes in HDL particles shifting their subclass distribution toward larger particles. These changes may be related to known protective functions of HDL such as reverse cholesterol transport and could partly explain the known protective effects of fish consumption against atherosclerosis.
The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00573781.
We evaluated oomycete presence and abundance in the rhizosphere of wild perennial Solanum species to investigate the presence of plant pathogenic or mycoparasitic species. Furthermore, we ...investigated whether these plant species could function as hosts, or associated plants, for off-season survival of economically important pathogens. We collected soil samples in Sweden from Solanum dulcamara and as a control from Vitis vinifera over all four seasons of a year, and in New Zealand from Solanum nigrum and Solanum laciniatum in the summer. Species identification, confirmed by ITS and Cox2 sequencing, and root infection assays on the crop plant Solanum tuberosum and on S. dulcamara, suggested the presence of mainly Pythiales species. In Sweden, we also found evidence for the presence of Phytophthora infestans, the causal agent of potato late blight, in the rhizosphere of S. dulcamara. These Ph. infestans isolates had no negative effects on root growth of S. dulcamara in Sweden, but were more pathogenic on potato leaves than a common lab strain. Oomycete diversity measures indicated a high similarity between seasons and countries. In conclusion, our study suggests a previously unknown overwintering strategy for the pathogen Ph. infestans, indicating a possible influence of the wild species S. dulcamara on the epidemiology of potato late blight in Sweden.
•Evidence for previously unknown overwintering strategy for the pathogen, Phytophthora infestans.•Plant pathogenic Pythiales species are the most abundant oomycetes in the rhizosphere of wild solanum plants in both Sweden and New Zealand.•Oomycete diversity measures indicated a high similarity between seasons and countries.
Background and Aims: Abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) is common in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients and associated with increased mortality. Comparative data on the AAC score progression in ...CKD patients transitioning from conservative treatment to different modalities of renal replacement therapy (RRT) are lacking and were examined. Methods: 150 study patients underwent lateral lumbar radiograph to study AAC in the beginning of the study before commencing RRT (AAC1) and at 3 years of follow-up (AAC2). We examined the associations between repeated laboratory tests taken every 3 months, echocardiographic and clinical variables and AAC increment per year (ΔAAC), and the association between ΔAAC and outcomes during follow-up. Results: At the time of AAC2 measurement, 39 patients were on hemodialysis, 39 on peritoneal dialysis, 39 had a transplant, and 33 were on conservative treatment. Median AAC1 was 4.8 (0.5–9.0) and median AAC2 8.0 (1.5–12.0) (p < 0.0001). ΔAAC was similar across the treatment groups (p = 0.19). ΔAAC was independently associated with mean left ventricular mass index (LVMI) (log LVMI: β = 0.97, p = 0.02) and mean phosphorus through follow-up (log phosphorus: β = 1.19, p = 0.02) in the multivariable model. Time to transplantation was associated with ΔAAC in transplant recipients (per month on the waiting list: β = 0.04, p = 0.001). ΔAAC was associated with mortality (HR 1.427, 95% confidence interval 1.044–1.950, p = 0.03). Conclusion: AAC progresses rapidly in patients with CKD, and ΔAAC is similar across the CKD treatment groups including transplant recipients. The increment rate is associated with mortality and in transplant recipients with the time on the transplant waiting list.