Publications by authors named "Maret Traber"

Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA) was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the revision of the tolerable upper intake level (UL) for vitamin E. As -tocopherol is recognised as the only essential form of vitamin E, the Panel restricted its evaluation to -tocopherol. Systematic reviews of the literature were conducted to assess evidence on priority adverse health effects of excess intake of vitamin E, namely risk of impaired coagulation and bleeding, cardiovascular disease and prostate cancer.

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In recent years there has been increased interest in identifying biological signatures of food consumption for use as biomarkers. Traditional metabolomics-based biomarker discovery approaches rely on multivariate statistics which cannot differentiate between host- and food-derived compounds, thus novel approaches to biomarker discovery are required to advance the field. To this aim, we have developed a new method that combines global untargeted stable isotope traced metabolomics and a machine learning approach to identify biological signatures of cruciferous vegetable consumption.

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α-Tocopherol (α-T) is a vitamin, but the reasons for the α-T requirement are controversial. Given that α-T deficiency was first identified in embryos, we studied to the premier model of vertebrate embryo development, the zebrafish embryo. We developed an α-T-deficient diet for zebrafish and used fish consuming this diet to produce α-T deficient (E-) embryos.

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Article Synopsis
  • Muscle wasting in aging zebrafish may be linked to oxidative stress from vitamin E deficiency, impacting their skeletal muscle health.
  • A study lasted from 55 days to 18 months, comparing zebrafish on diets with and without vitamin E, using advanced metabolomics techniques for analysis.
  • Results indicated that both aging and vitamin E deficiency uniquely affect metabolic pathways, with some overlaps, while highlighting the need for further research to confirm these findings.
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Protection from oxygen, a diradical, became a necessity with the evolution of photosynthetic organisms about 2.7 billion years. α-Tocopherol plays an essential, protective role in organisms from plants to people.

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The Abetalipoproteinemia and Related Disorders Foundation was established in 2019 to provide guidance and support for the life-long management of inherited hypocholesterolemia disorders. Our mission is "to improve the lives of individuals and families affected by abetalipoproteinemia and related disorders". This review explains the molecular mechanisms behind the monogenic hypobetalipoproteinemia disorders and details their specific pathophysiology, clinical presentation and management throughout the lifespan.

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Background: Numerous abnormalities in cystic fibrosis (CF) could influence tocopherol absorption, transportation, storage, metabolism and excretion. We hypothesized that the oxidative distress due to inflammation in CF increases vitamin E utilization, which could be positively influenced by supplemental vitamin C administration.

Methods: Immediately before and after receiving vitamin C (500 mg) twice daily for 3.

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Although vitamin E acetate (VEA) is suspected to play a causal role in the development of electronic-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI), the underlying biological mechanisms of pulmonary injury are yet to be determined. In addition, no study has replicated the systemic inflammation observed in humans in a murine EVALI model, nor investigated potential additive toxicity of viral infection in the setting of exposure to vaping products. To identify the mechanisms driving VEA-related lung injury and test the hypothesis that viral infection causes additive lung injury in the presence of aerosolized VEA, we exposed mice to aerosolized VEA for extended times, followed by influenza infection in some experiments.

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α-Tocopherol (α-T) is a required dietary nutrient for humans and thus is a vitamin. This narrative review focuses on vitamin E structures, functions, biological determinants and its deficiency symptoms in humans. The mechanisms for the preferential α-T tissue enrichment in the human body include the α-T transfer protein (TTPA) and the preferential metabolism of non-α-T forms.

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This review discusses why the embryo requires vitamin E (VitE) and shows that its lack causes metabolic dysregulation and impacts morphological changes at very early stages in development, which occur prior to when a woman knows she is pregnant. VitE halts the chain reactions of lipid peroxidation (LPO). Metabolomic analyses indicate that thiols become depleted in E- embryos because LPO generates products that require compensation using limited amino acids and methyl donors that are also developmentally relevant.

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Article Synopsis
  • The alpha-tocopherol transfer protein (Ttpa) is crucial for the development of zebrafish embryos, and researchers created a transgenic zebrafish line using CRISPR-Cas9 to study its function.
  • The transgenic zebrafish, named RedEfish, was developed by injecting a fluorescent mScarlet coding sequence into one-cell stage embryos and confirmed through genotyping.
  • Fluorescence was observed at various developmental stages (1, 7, and 14 days post-fertilization) without any negative effects on growth, indicating the model's potential for studying Ttpa's role in embryo development.
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  • - The study examined how vitamin E deficiency affects the expression of alpha-tocopherol transfer protein and related genes in zebrafish livers, based on the idea that low vitamin E would lead to higher lipid peroxidation.
  • - Fish were divided into two groups: one received a diet sufficient in vitamin E and the other a deficient diet for 9 months, leading to a significant increase in α-tocopherol and a decrease in malondialdehyde in the E+ group compared to the E- group.
  • - While the gene expression of ttpa remained unchanged, two other genes, ptpn9a and chka, were significantly upregulated in E- livers, indicating that vitamin E deficiency can
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  • Vitamin A, through its active form all--retinoic acid, influences the expression of many genes but is often mistakenly labeled as an antioxidant like vitamins C and E.
  • The review highlights the confusion surrounding vitamin A's role in the body and also examines the claims about vitamin E being a transcriptional regulator.
  • The authors conclude that vitamin A acts mainly as an indirect antioxidant by regulating genes related to antioxidant responses, while vitamin E is a direct antioxidant but lacks strong evidence for direct transcriptional regulation.
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Vitamin E, discovered in 1922, is essential for pregnant rats to carry their babies to term. However, 100 years later, the molecular mechanisms for the vitamin E requirement during embryogenesis remain unknown. Vitamin E's role during pregnancy has been difficult to study and thus, a vitamin E-deficient (E-) zebrafish embryo model was developed.

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The beneficial effects of moderate red wine consumption on cardiovascular health are well known. The composition of red wine includes several compounds, such as the phytoestrogen resveratrol, that exert these beneficial effects, although not all the mechanisms by which they act are known. Our aim was to study the effect of red wine consumption on longevity-related genes in controlled human populations, such as cloistered nuns.

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Vitamin E (VitE) is essential for vertebrate embryogenesis, but the mechanisms involved remain unknown. To study embryonic development, we fed zebrafish adults (>55 days) either VitE sufficient (E+) or deficient (E-) diets for >80 days, then the fish were spawned to generate E+ and E- embryos. To evaluate the transcriptional basis of the metabolic and phenotypic outcomes, E+ and E- embryos at 12, 18 and 24 h post-fertilization (hpf) were subjected to gene expression profiling by RNASeq.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Vitamin E (VitE) is essential for fetal development, and its deficiency leads to increased lipid peroxidation and disrupts biochemical pathways necessary for maintaining glutathione (GSH) levels during embryogenesis.
  • - In a study comparing embryos with sufficient (E+) and deficient (E-) VitE, researchers found that betaine levels were significantly higher in E- embryos, and various amino acids and thiol compounds showed notable changes at different developmental stages.
  • - The results highlight the complex interplay between methyl donors and the methionine cycle in supporting thiol homeostasis, indicating potential dysregulation in the metabolic processes affecting embryo development due to VitE deficiency.
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  • Vitamin E catabolism, specifically α-tocopherol, is essential for regulating body levels of this nutrient.
  • A study with healthy women used two labeled forms of α-tocopherol to examine how fat intake or fasting impacts its breakdown in the intestine and liver.
  • Results showed that the liver plays a major role in catabolism during fat intake, while fasting reduces liver contribution to α-tocopherol breakdown, indicating that both the intestine and liver are involved in this process.
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  • Vitamin E deficiency leads to embryo death in zebrafish, highlighting its critical role in development.
  • Research shows that while the ttpa gene is expressed early in development, Vitamin E is essential for proper nervous system formation and not merely the presence of α-TTP.
  • Embryos lacking Vitamin E exhibit significant developmental defects in brain and nervous system structure, indicating that Vitamin E is necessary for proper patterning and growth during embryogenesis.
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  • EVALI (Electronic-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury) is characterized by severe lung inflammation and is linked to vitamin E acetate (VEA), though the direct toxicity of VEA remains uncertain.
  • Research involved exposing mice and human alveolar epithelial cells to aerosolized VEA to investigate its effects on lung injury and cell health, comparing it with the nicotine-containing JUUL aerosol.
  • The findings indicated that VEA exposure led to significant lung damage, increased inflammatory responses, and cell death in both mice and human cells, suggesting that VEA is a significant contributor to the development of EVALI.
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Background: α-Lipoic acid (LA) is a dietary supplement for maintaining energy balance, but well-controlled clinical trials in otherwise healthy, overweight adults using LA supplementation are lacking.

Objectives: The primary objective was to evaluate whether LA supplementation decreases elevated plasma triglycerides in overweight or obese adults. Secondary aims examined if LA promotes weight loss and improves oxidative stress and inflammation.

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is a lethal pathogen that causes high mortality and morbidity in immunocompromised and critically ill patients. The type III secretion system (T3SS) of mediates many of the adverse effects of infection with this pathogen, including increased lung permeability in a Toll-like receptor 4/RhoA/PAI-1 (plasminogen activator inhibitor-1)-dependent manner. α-Tocopherol has antiinflammatory properties that may make it a useful adjunct in treatment of this moribund infection.

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