Publications by authors named "Jyrki Agren"

Fatty acid desaturase (FADS1) variant-rs174550 strongly regulates polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) biosynthesis. Additionally, the FADS1 is related to mitochondrial function. Thus, we investigated whether changes in mitochondrial function are associated with the genetic variation in FADS1 (rs174550) in human adipocytes isolated from individuals consuming diets enriched with either dietary alpha-linolenic (ALA) or linoleic acid (LA).

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Article Synopsis
  • * Researchers found significant associations between liver SFA content and 3,169 specific DNA methylation sites, with many linked to pathways related to hunger and satiety.
  • * The results showed that DNA methylation changes at specific CpG sites correlated with mRNA expression of nearby genes and metabolism indicators such as plasma glucose and insulin levels, particularly in individuals with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
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Scope: The fatty acid composition of plasma lipids, which is associated with biomarkers and risk of non-communicable diseases, is regulated by dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and variants of fatty acid desaturase (FADS). We investigated the interactions between dietary PUFAs and FADS1 rs174550 variant.

Methods And Results: Participants (n = 118), homozygous for FADS1 rs174550 variant (TT and CC) followed a high alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, 5 percent of energy (E-%)) or a high linoleic acid (LA, 10 E-%) diet during an 8-week randomized controlled intervention.

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Purpose: Fatty acid desaturase (FADS) variants associate with fatty acid (FA) and adipose tissue (AT) metabolism and inflammation. Thus, the role of FADS1 variants in the regulation of dietary linoleic acid (LA)-induced effects on AT inflammation was investigated.

Methods: Subjects homozygotes for the TT and CC genotypes of the FADS1-rs174550 (TT, n = 25 and CC, n = 28) or -rs174547 (TT, n = 42 and CC, n = 28), were either recruited from the METabolic Syndrome In Men cohort to participate in an intervention with LA-enriched diet (FADSDIET) or from the Kuopio Obesity Surgery (KOBS) study.

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Scope: The article investigates the FADS1 rs174550 genotype interaction with dietary intakes of high linoleic acid (LA) and high alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) on the response of fatty acid composition of plasma phospholipids (PLs), and of markers of low-grade inflammation and glucose-insulin homeostasis.

Methods And Results: One-hundred thirty homozygotes men for FADS1 rs174550 SNP (TT and CC genotypes) were randomized to an 8-week intervention with either LA- or ALA-enriched diet (13 E% PUFA). The source of LA and ALA are 30-50 mL of sunflower oil (SFO, 62-63% LA) and Camelina sativa oil (CSO, 30- are randomized to an 35% ALA), respectively.

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Purpose: We studied the effects of a physical activity and dietary intervention on plasma lipids in a general population of children. We also investigated how lifestyle changes contributed to the intervention effects.

Methods: We carried out a 2-year controlled, non-randomized lifestyle intervention study among 504 mainly prepubertal children aged 6-9 years at baseline.

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Background: The health benefits of substituting dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for saturated fatty acids are well known. However, limited information exists on how the response to dietary intake of linoleic acid (LA; 18:2n-6) is modified by polymorphisms in the fatty acid desaturase (FADS) gene cluster.

Objectives: The aim of the current study was to test the hypothesis that the FADS1 rs174550 genotype modifies the effect of dietary LA intake on the fatty acid composition of plasma lipids, fasting glucose, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP).

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Context: Premature adrenarche (PA) has been associated with overweight and insulin resistance, but the associations of serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) concentration with other cardiometabolic risk factors are uncertain.

Objective: To examine the associations of serum DHEAS concentration with several cardiometabolic risk factors in children.

Design: Cross-sectional data from the Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children Study.

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Objective: Fatty acid (FA) composition affects obesity-associated low-grade inflammation. It has been shown that the fatty acid desaturase (FADS) 2 gene polymorphism associates with FA metabolism and adipose tissue (AT) inflammation. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between FA metabolism and inflammation in different tissues and the possible interorgan cross talk.

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Background: Evidence on the effects of lifestyle interventions on plasma fatty acid composition in children is limited.

Objective: We investigated the effects of a dietary and physical activity intervention on plasma fatty acid composition of cholesteryl esters (CEs) and phospholipids and estimated desaturase and elongase activities in children.

Design: We conducted a 2-y controlled dietary and physical activity intervention based on Finnish nutrition and physical activity recommendations in a population sample of 506 children aged 6-8 y.

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Background: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is associated with changes in fatty acid (FA) metabolism. However, specific changes in metabolism and hepatic mRNA expression related to NASH independent of simple steatosis, obesity and diet are unknown.

Methods: Liver histology, serum and liver FA composition and estimated enzyme activities based on the FA ratios in cholesteryl esters and triglycerides were assessed in 92 obese participants of the Kuopio Obesity Surgery Study (KOBS) divided to those with normal liver, steatosis or NASH (30 men and 62 women, age 46.

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Background: Knowledge on the association of plasma fatty acid (FA) composition in triacylglycerol (TG) and phospholipid (PL) fractions with cardiometabolic risk in population-based samples of children is lacking.

Objective: We investigated the associations of proportions of FA in plasma TG and PL fractions as well as estimated desaturase and elongase activities with cardiometabolic risk in a population sample of 384 children aged 6-8 years.

Methods: Plasma FA composition was analyzed by gas chromatography.

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Obesity is associated with disturbed lipid metabolism and low-grade inflammation in tissues. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between FA metabolism and adipose tissue (AT) inflammation in the Kuopio Obesity Surgery study. We investigated the association of surgery-induced weight loss and FA desaturase (FADS)1/2 genotypes with serum and AT FA profile and with AT inflammation, measured as interleukin (IL)-1β and NFκB pathway gene expression, in order to find potential gene-environment interactions.

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Scope: Limited information exists on how the relationship between dietary intake of fat and fatty acids in erythrocytes and plasma is modulated by polymorphisms in the FADS gene cluster. We examined gene-diet interaction of total marine PUFA intake with a known gene encoding Δ-5 desaturase enzyme (FADS1) variant (rs174550) for fatty acids in erythrocyte membranes and plasma phospholipids (PL), cholesteryl esters (CE), and triglycerides (TG).

Methods And Results: In this cross-sectional study, fatty acid compositions were measured using GC, and total intake of polyunsaturated fat from fish and fish oil was estimated using a food frequency questionnaire in a subsample (n = 962) of the Metabolic Syndrome in Men Study.

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Human and animal studies suggest an interaction between the Pro12Ala polymorphism of PPARG and dietary fat. In this randomized crossover clinical trial, we investigated whether subjects with the Pro12Pro and Ala12Ala genotypes of PPARG respond differently to a diet supplemented with high saturated (SAFA) or polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA).We recruited non-diabetic men from a population-based METSIM study (including 10,197 men) to obtain men with the Ala12Ala and the Pro12Pro genotypes matched for age and body mass index.

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Aims/hypothesis: Our aim was to investigate the fasting proportions of fatty acids and estimated desaturase and elongase activities in three different lipid fractions in plasma, phospholipids (PLs), cholesteryl esters (CEs) and triacylglycerols (TGs), as predictors for the worsening of glycaemia (area under the glucose curve in an OGTT [glucose AUC]) and incident type 2 diabetes in a 5.9 year follow-up of the Metabolic Syndrome in Men population-based cohort.

Methods: Fatty acid proportions were measured in plasma PL, CE and TG fractions in 1,364 Finnish men aged 45-68 years at baseline.

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Background: Lower levels of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) have been associated with increased cardiometabolic risk among children. However, little is known about the independent and combined associations of PA and SB as well as different types of these behaviours with cardiometabolic risk in children. We therefore investigated these relationships among children.

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Plasma fatty acid (FA) composition is known to be an indicator of dietary fat quality, but the associations of other dietary factors with plasma FA composition remain unknown in children. We investigated the cross-sectional associations of food consumption with the proportions of FA and estimated desaturase activities in plasma cholesteryl esters (CE) and phospholipids (PL) among children. The subjects were a population sample of 423 children aged 6–8 years examined at baseline of The Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) Study.

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Background: The significance of erythrocyte membrane fatty acids (EMFAs) and their ratios to predict hyperglycemia and incident type 2 diabetes is unclear.

Objective: We investigated EMFAs as predictors of the worsening of hyperglycemia and incident type 2 diabetes in a 5-y follow-up of a population-based study.

Design: We measured EMFAs in 1346 Finnish men aged 45-73 y at baseline [mean ± SD age: 55 ± 6 y; body mass index (in kg/m(2)): 26.

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Erythrocyte membrane fatty acid (EMFA) composition is used in the validation of food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) and the evaluation of dietary fat quality. In this cross-sectional study we aimed to investigate associations of diet with EMFA. Altogether, 1,033 randomly selected Finnish men, aged from 47 to 75 years filled in a FFQ and their EMFA composition was analyzed.

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Background: The effect of weight loss on different plasma lipid subclasses at the molecular level is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine whether a diet-induced weight reduction result in changes in the extended plasma lipid profiles (lipidome) in subjects with features of metabolic syndrome in a 33-week intervention.

Methodology/principal Findings: Plasma samples of 9 subjects in the weight reduction group and 10 subjects in the control group were analyzed using mass spectrometry based lipidomic and fatty acid analyses.

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The objective of this study was to investigate cholesterol metabolism and its association with glucose metabolism and genetic regulation in metabolic syndrome. Overall, 74 subjects with clinically defined metabolic syndrome and sex and age-matched controls (n=74) were recruited. Cholesterol metabolism was assayed with serum non-cholesterol sterols, surrogate markers of synthesis, and fractional absorption of cholesterol and was related to variables of glucose and insulin action and to the common polymorphisms of the ABCG5 and ABCG8 genes.

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Background: Carbohydrate modification based on rye bread and pasta enhances early insulin secretion in subjects with the metabolic syndrome.

Objective: Because the actions of insulin and cholesterol metabolism are interrelated, the question is raised of whether it is possible to alter cholesterol metabolism by means of dietary carbohydrate modification.

Design: We investigated the 12-wk effects of dietary carbohydrate modification on cholesterol synthesis and absorption by measuring the ratios of surrogate markers of precursor (cholestenol, desmosterol, and lathosterol) and absorption (cholestanol and plant sterols) sterols to cholesterol and their association to glucose metabolism in 74 subjects with the metabolic syndrome.

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We investigated the effects of stanol (STAEST) and sterol esters (STEEST) on endothelial function in hypercholesterolemic subjects. In addition, associations of variables of cholesterol metabolism with endothelial function were investigated. In a double-blind randomized cross-over study (n=39) with age-matched parallel control group (n=37) the subjects consumed STAEST or STEEST spread (total plant sterols and stanols 1.

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