Predictive equation derived from 6,497 doubly labelled water measurements enables the detection of erroneous self-reported energy intake.

Nutritional epidemiology aims to link dietary exposures to chronic disease, but the instruments for evaluating dietary intake are inaccurate. One way to identify unreliable data and the sources of errors is to compare estimated intakes with the total energy expenditure (TEE). In this study, we used the International Atomic Energy Agency Doubly Labeled Water Database to derive a predictive equation for TEE using 6,497 measures of TEE in individuals aged 4 to 96 years.

Dietary Blueberry before and/or after Exposure to High Energy and Charge Particle Radiation Attenuates Neuroinflammation, Oxidative Stress, Glial Cell Activation, and Memory Deficits in Rats.

Background: Acute neuroinflammatory and oxidative-stress (OS)-inducing stressors, such as high energy and charge (HZE) particle irradiation, produce accelerated aging in the brain. Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant foods, such as blueberries (BB), attenuate neuronal and cognitive deficits when administered to rodents before or both before and after HZE particle exposure. However, the effects of poststressor treatments are unknown and may be important to repair initial damage and prevent progressive neurodegeneration.

Galactic Cosmic Ray Particle Exposure Does Not Increase Protein Levels of Inflammation or Oxidative Stress Markers in Rat Microglial Cells In Vitro.

Astronauts on exploratory missions will be exposed to galactic cosmic rays (GCR), which can induce neuroinflammation and oxidative stress (OS) and may increase the risk of neurodegenerative disease. As key regulators of inflammation and OS in the CNS, microglial cells may be involved in GCR-induced deficits, and therefore could be a target for neuroprotection. This study assessed the effects of exposure to helium (He) and iron (Fe) particles on inflammation and OS in microglia in vitro, to establish a model for testing countermeasure efficacy.

Effects of HZE-Particle Exposure Location and Energy on Brain Inflammation and Oxidative Stress in Rats.

Astronauts on exploratory missions will be exposed to particle radiation of high energy and charge (HZE particles), which have been shown to produce neurochemical and performance deficits in animal models. Exposure to HZE particles can produce both targeted effects, resulting from direct ionization of atoms along the particle track, and non-targeted effects (NTEs) in cells that are distant from the track, extending the range of potential damage beyond the site of irradiation. While recent work suggests that NTEs are primarily responsible for changes in cognitive function after HZE exposures, the relative contributions of targeted and non-targeted effects to neurochemical changes after HZE exposures are unclear.

Total daily energy expenditure has declined over the past three decades due to declining basal expenditure, not reduced activity expenditure.

Obesity is caused by a prolonged positive energy balance. Whether reduced energy expenditure stemming from reduced activity levels contributes is debated. Here we show that in both sexes, total energy expenditure (TEE) adjusted for body composition and age declined since the late 1980s, while adjusted activity energy expenditure increased over time.

The impact of alcoholic drinks and dietary factors on epigenetic markers associated with triglyceride levels.

Many epigenetic loci have been associated with plasma triglyceride (TG) levels, but epigenetic connections between those loci and dietary exposures are largely unknown. This study aimed to characterize the epigenetic links between diet, lifestyle, and TG. We first conducted an epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) for TG in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring population (FHS, = 2,264).

Blueberry treatment administered before and/or after lipopolysaccharide stimulation attenuates inflammation and oxidative stress in rat microglial cells.

Microglia are key regulators of inflammation and oxidative stress (OS) in the CNS. Microglia activation can lead to chronic inflammation, OS, and neurodegeneration. Blueberries (BB) reduce inflammation and OS when administered to microglia before stressors such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS), but the therapeutic value of BBs administered after activation by stressors has not been examined.

Using Machine Learning to Predict Obesity Based on Genome-Wide and Epigenome-Wide Gene-Gene and Gene-Diet Interactions.

Obesity is associated with many chronic diseases that impair healthy aging and is governed by genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors and their complex interactions. This study aimed to develop a model that predicts an individual's risk of obesity by better characterizing these complex relations and interactions focusing on dietary factors. For this purpose, we conducted a combined genome-wide and epigenome-wide scan for body mass index (BMI) and up to three-way interactions among 402,793 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), 415,202 DNA methylation sites (DMSs), and 397 dietary and lifestyle factors using the generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction (GMDR) method.

Daily energy expenditure through the human life course.

Total daily energy expenditure ("total expenditure") reflects daily energy needs and is a critical variable in human health and physiology, but its trajectory over the life course is poorly studied. We analyzed a large, diverse database of total expenditure measured by the doubly labeled water method for males and females aged 8 days to 95 years. Total expenditure increased with fat-free mass in a power-law manner, with four distinct life stages.

Blueberry phenolics are associated with cognitive enhancement in supplemented healthy older adults.

Blueberries (BB) contain an array of bioactive phenolic compounds that may play a protective role against various age-related diseases. Here we explored the metabolic fate of BB phenolics and their relationship to cognitive function after chronic (90 days) supplementation of freeze-dried BB (24 g d, equivalent to 1 cup of fresh BB) or control in a randomized, double-blind, parallel study with 38 healthy older adults (60-75 years). Blood samples were collected at fasting (t = 0 h) and 2 h after a breakfast meal on days 0 (no treatment), 45, and 90, and a battery of cognitive tests was also conducted on these days.

Mendelian randomization analysis does not support causal associations of birth weight with hypertension risk and blood pressure in adulthood.

Epidemiology studies suggested that low birthweight was associated with a higher risk of hypertension in later life. However, little is known about the causality of such associations. In our study, we evaluated the causal association of low birthweight with adulthood hypertension following a standard analytic protocol using the study-level data of 183,433 participants from 60 studies (CHARGE-BIG consortium), as well as that with blood pressure using publicly available summary-level genome-wide association data from EGG consortium of 153,781 participants, ICBP consortium and UK Biobank cohort together of 757,601 participants.

Salivary AMY1 Copy Number Variation Modifies Age-Related Type 2 Diabetes Risk.

Background: Copy number variation (CNV) in the salivary amylase gene (AMY1) modulates salivary α-amylase levels and is associated with postprandial glycemic traits. Whether AMY1-CNV plays a role in age-mediated change in insulin resistance (IR) is uncertain.

Methods: We measured AMY1-CNV using duplex quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in two studies, the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study (BPRHS, n = 749) and the Genetics of Lipid-Lowering Drug and Diet Network study (GOLDN, n = 980), and plasma metabolomic profiles in the BPRHS.

Influence of the ACTN3 R577X genotype on the injury epidemiology of marathon runners.

A common single nucleotide polymorphism in the ACTN3 gene might result in the complete deficiency of α-actinin-3 (i.e., XX genotype).

Curcumin supplementation improves heat-stress-induced cardiac injury of mice: physiological and molecular mechanisms.

Heat stress (HS) causes serious physiological dysfunction associated with cardiovascular diseases. Curcumin (CUR) may increase animal survival and lifespan under HS. However, its effects and mechanism on mammal are underexplored.

Time course of tolerance to adverse effects associated with the ingestion of a moderate dose of caffeine.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify and describe the time course of tolerance to the most common caffeine-induced side effects.

Methods: Eleven participants took part in a crossover, double-blind placebo-controlled experimental design. In one phase, participants ingested 3 mg/kg/day of caffeine for 20 days, while in another phase, they ingested a placebo.

The effects of blueberry and strawberry serum metabolites on age-related oxidative and inflammatory signaling in vitro.

Berry fruits contain a variety of bioactive polyphenolic compounds that exhibit potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. We have shown that consumption of freeze-dried whole berry powder, equivalent to 1 cup per day of blueberry (BB) or 2 cups per day of strawberry (SB), can differentially improve some aspects of cognition in healthy, older adults, compared to placebo-supplemented controls. We investigated whether fasting and postprandial serum from BB- or SB-supplemented older adults (60-75 years), taken at baseline or after 45 or 90 days of supplementation, would reduce the production of inflammatory and oxidative stress markers compared to serum from a placebo group, in LPS-stressed HAPI rat microglial cells, in vitro.

Anti-senescence effect and molecular mechanism of the major royal jelly proteins on human embryonic lung fibroblast (HFL-I) cell line.

Royal jelly (RJ) from honeybee has been widely used as a health promotion supplement. The major royal jelly proteins (MRJPs) have been identified as the functional component of RJ. However, the question of whether MRJPs have anti-senescence activity for human cells remains.

Identification of Enzymatic Cleavage Products of -Carotene-Rich Extracts of Kale and Biofortified Maize.

Provitamin A carotenoids in plant foods provide more than 80% of vitamin A intake for people in developing countries. Therefore, the conversion efficiency of -carotene to vitamin A is important, as it determines the effectiveness of plant foods as sources of vitamin A in humans. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of plant food antioxidants such as -tocopherol, -tocopherol, -tocotrienol, -tocotrienol and total -oryzanol on the cleavage of -carotene in vitro.

Curcumin supplementation increases survival and lifespan in Drosophila under heat stress conditions.

Harsh climate induces physiological stress thus compromising organismal survival. Our previous studies demonstrated that curcumin (CUR) supplementation increased survival of turtle under heat stress (HS). Here, we span this work to investigate the survival and lifespan of HS Drosophila fed a diet supplemented with CUR.

Weight gain prevention buffers the impact of CETP rs3764261 on high density lipoprotein cholesterol in young adulthood: The Study of Novel Approaches to Weight Gain Prevention (SNAP).

Background And Aims: Two weight gain prevention strategies, one targeting small changes to diet and physical activity and a second targeting large changes, significantly reduced weight gain in young adulthood. We examined whether weight gain prevention blunts genetic risk for body weight increase and/or high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) lowering over two years.

Methods And Results: Participants were 524 male and female young adults (mean age = 28.

A diet high in carotenoid-rich vegetables and fruits favorably impacts inflammation status by increasing plasma concentrations of IFN-α2 and decreasing MIP-1β and TNF-α in healthy individuals during a controlled feeding trial.

The health benefits of vegetable and fruit (VF) intake include benefits for diseases that have an inflammatory component, although the relationship between VF intake and systemic inflammatory status is unclear due to the lack of comprehensive analysis of inflammatory markers in most studies. Therefore, our hypothesis was that the consumption of carotenoid-rich vegetables and fruits in the diet would have a beneficial effect on systemic inflammation status. In this study, we determined the association between varying doses of carotenoid-rich VF intake, plasma carotenoids, and a broad array of markers including 26 cytokines and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein.