Background: Diets rich in dairy and/or calcium (Ca) have been associated with reductions in adiposity and inflammation, but the mechanisms underlying this remain to be fully elucidated. Oxylipins and endocannabinoids are bioactive lipids, which influence energy homeostasis, adipose function, insulin signaling, and inflammation. Our objective was to determine if these metabolites associate with metabolic and inflammatory phenotypes stemming from dietary Ca and dairy in diet induced obese mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChronic low grade inflammation is closely linked to obesity-associated insulin resistance. To examine how administration of the anti-inflammatory compound indomethacin, a general cyclooxygenase inhibitor, affected obesity development and insulin sensitivity, we fed obesity-prone male C57BL/6J mice a high fat/high sucrose (HF/HS) diet or a regular diet supplemented or not with indomethacin (±INDO) for 7 weeks. Development of obesity, insulin resistance, and glucose intolerance was monitored, and the effect of indomethacin on glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) was measured in vivo and in vitro using MIN6 β-cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHigh-protein diets induce alterations in metabolism that may prevent diet-induced obesity. However, little is known as to whether different protein sources consumed at normal levels may affect diet-induced obesity and associated co-morbidities. We fed obesity-prone male C57BL/6J mice high-fat, high-sucrose diets with protein sources of increasing endogenous taurine content, i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease of aging with unknown causative factors. Accumulating evidence suggests that inflammation and neurovascular dysfunction play important roles in AD. The postprandial period following a moderately high-fat meal is associated with vascular inflammation in young, healthy individuals; however, this relationship has not been investigated in Alzheimer's patients despite their exaggerated inflammatory state.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA deficit in zinc (Zn) availability can increase cell oxidant production, affect the antioxidant defense system, and trigger oxidant-sensitive signals in neuronal cells. This work tested the hypothesis that a decreased Zn availability can affect glutathione (GSH) metabolism in the developing rat brain and in neuronal cells in culture, as well as the capacity of human neuroblastoma IMR-32 cells to upregulate GSH when challenged with dopamine (DA). GSH levels were low in the brain of gestation day 19 (GD19) fetuses from dams fed marginal Zn diets throughout gestation and in Zn-deficient IMR-32 cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe assessed the effect of daily consumption of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP), with or without added fat, on the vitamin A (VA) status of Bangladeshi women with low initial VA status. Women (n = 30/group) received one of the following for 6 d/wk over 10 wk: 1) 0 μg retinol activity equivalents (RAE)/d as boiled white-fleshed sweet potatoes (WFSP) and a corn oil capsule, 2) 600 μg RAE/d as boiled OFSP and a corn oil capsule, 3) fried OFSP and a corn oil capsule, or 4) boiled WFSP and a retinyl palmitate capsule in addition to their home diets. Plasma concentrations of retinol and β-carotene and total body VA pool size were assessed before and after the 60-d intervention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA subject's baseline FA composition may influence the ability of dietary highly unsaturated omega-3 FAs (n3-HUFA) to change circulating profiles of esterified FAs and their oxygenated metabolites. This study evaluates the influence of basal n3-HUFA and n3-oxylipin status on the magnitude of response to n3-HUFA consumption. Blood was collected from fasting subjects (n = 30) before and after treatment (4 weeks; 11 ± 2 mg/kg/day n3-HUFA ethyl esters).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTranscription factors AP-1, nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) and NFAT are central to brain development by regulating the expression of genes that modulate cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and synaptic plasticity. This work investigated the consequences of feeding zinc-deficient and marginal zinc diets to rat dams during gestation on the modulation of AP-1, NF-κB and NFAT in fetal brain. Sprague-Dawley rats were fed from gestation day (GD) 0 a control diet ad libitum (25 μg zinc/g diet, C), a zinc-deficient diet ad libitum (0.
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