Use of in vitro bioassays to facilitate read-across assessment of nitrogen substituted heterocycle analogues of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Nitrogen-containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PANHs or azaarenes) are compounds structurally similar to PAHs (carbon substituted by a nitrogen) reported to occur at low levels in food. Although limited, literature may suggest possible higher toxicity than for PAHs. Using a battery of in vitro assays, the toxicological properties of uncharacterized PANHs of increasing ring number were compared to those of characterized structural PAH analogues.

Differing structural properties of foods affect the development of mandibular control and muscle coordination in infants and young children.

The development of chewing is an essential motor skill that is continually refined throughout early childhood. From a motor control perspective, the advancement of textures is dependent upon the fit between a child's oral anatomic and motor system and food properties. The purpose of this exploratory study is to identify age-related changes in chewing motor coordination and control and to determine if these changes are associated with the differing structural properties of solid foods, as well as to explore the role of explanatory variables such as the emergence of teeth and bite force.

Adaptation of mastication mechanics and eating behaviour to small differences in food texture.

Eating behaviour is significantly modified with the consumption of soft or hard textures. However, it is of interest to describe how adaptive is mastication to a narrow range of texture. ElectroMyoGraphy (EMG) and Kinematics of Jaw Movements (KJM) techniques were used simultaneously to follow mastication muscle activity and jaw motion during mastication of seven cereal products.

Natural carbon isotope abundance of plasma metabolites and liver tissue differs between diabetic and non-diabetic Zucker diabetic fatty rats.

Background: 'You are what you eat' is an accurate summary for humans and animals when it comes to carbon isotope abundance. In biological material, natural(13)C/(12)C ratio is subject to minute variations due to diet composition (mainly from ingestion of C3 and C4 metabolism plants) and to the discrimination between 'light' and 'heavy' isotopes during biochemical reactions (isotope effects and isotopic fractionation).

Methodology/principal Findings: Carbon isotopic abundance was measured in ZDF (fa/+) and ZDF (fa/fa), (lean and obese-diabetic rats respectively) fed the same diet.

Consequences of exchanging carbohydrates for proteins in the cholesterol metabolism of mice fed a high-fat diet.

Consumption of low-carbohydrate, high-protein, high-fat diets lead to rapid weight loss but the cardioprotective effects of these diets have been questioned. We examined the impact of high-protein and high-fat diets on cholesterol metabolism by comparing the plasma cholesterol and the expression of cholesterol biosynthesis genes in the liver of mice fed a high-fat (HF) diet that has a high (H) or a low (L) protein-to-carbohydrate (P/C) ratio. H-P/C-HF feeding, compared with L-P/C-HF feeding, decreased plasma total cholesterol and increased HDL cholesterol concentrations at 4-wk.

Nigella sativa (black cumin) seed extract alleviates symptoms of allergic diarrhea in mice, involving opioid receptors.

The incidence of food hypersensitivity and food allergies is on the rise and new treatment approaches are needed. We investigated whether N. sativa, one of its components, thymoquinone, or synthetic opioid receptor (OR)-agonists can alleviate food allergy.

Lactococcus lactis NCC 2287 alleviates food allergic manifestations in sensitized mice by reducing IL-13 expression specifically in the ileum.

Objective: Utilizing a food allergy murine model, we have investigated the intrinsic antiallergic potential of the Lactococcus lactis NCC 2287 strain.

Methods: BALB/c mice were sensitized at weekly intervals with ovalbumin (OVA) plus cholera toxin (CT) by the oral route for 7 weeks. In this model, an oral challenge with a high dose of OVA at the end of the sensitization period leads to clinical symptoms.

Germ-free C57BL/6J mice are resistant to high-fat-diet-induced insulin resistance and have altered cholesterol metabolism.

Recent studies showed that germ-free (GF) mice are resistant to obesity when consuming a high-fat, high-carbohydrate Western diet. However, it remains unclear what mechanisms are involved in the antiobesity phenotype and whether GF mice develop insulin resistance and dyslipidemia with high-fat (HF) feeding. In the present study, we compared the metabolic consequences of HF feeding on GF and conventional (conv) C57BL/6J mice.

Intake of a milk-based wolfberry formulation enhances the immune response of young-adult and aged mice.

Aging is associated with alterations of immune responses. Wolfberry, a popular Chinese functional ingredient, is prized for its anti-aging properties; however, little is known about the immunological effect of wolfberry intake. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of dietary intake of a milk-based formulation of wolfberry, named Lacto-Wolfberry, on in vivo and ex vivo parameters of adaptive immunity in young-adult and aged mice.

Validation of a new hand-held electronic appetite rating system against the pen and paper method.

This study describes the validation of a new electronic appetite rating system, and a statistical variance model for visual analogue scale (VAS) research. Thirty volunteers rated hunger, fullness, desire to eat, prospective intake, thirst and liking on 100mm paper VAS and on 70 mm electronic VAS presented on a Dell Pocket PC, after consuming breakfast, in a repeated trial. The electronic method was comparable in relative accuracy and reproducibility to the paper method, with weak differences between tests (within-subject SD < or =14 mm).

Effect of Lactobacillus paracasei NCC2461 on antigen-specific T-cell mediated immune responses in aged mice.

Aging is associated with a reduced capacity to mount proper immune responses, in particular to vaccines. Probiotic lactic acid bacteria may improve the immune status of the elderly; however, there is little evidence showing an effect of these bacteria on humoral and cellular immune responses. In the present study, the immunomodulatory capacity of the probiotic Lactobacillus paracasei NCC2461 combined or not with a prebiotic composition, FOS/inulin, was examined in aged mice.