Fatty acids linked to cardiovascular mortality are associated with risk factors

Background. Although saturated fatty acids (FAs) have been linked to cardiovascular mortality, it is not clear whether this outcome is attributable solely to their effects on low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) or whether other risk factors are also associated with FAs. The Western Alaskan Native population, with its rapidly changing lifestyles, shift in diet from unsaturated to saturated fatty acids and dramatic increase in cardiovascular disease (CVD), presents an opportunity to elucidate any associations between specific FAs and known CVD risk factors. Objective. We tested the hypothesis that the specific FAs previously identified as related to CVD mortality are also associated with individual CVD risk factors. Methods. In this community-based, cross-sectional study, relative proportions of FAs in plasma and red blood cell membranes were compared with CVD risk factors in a sample of 758 men and women aged ]35 years. Linear regression analyses were used to analyze relations between specific FAs and CVD risk factors (LDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, C-reactive protein, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, body mass index, fasting glucose and fasting insulin, 2-hour glucose and 2-hour insulin). Results. The specific saturated FAs previously identified as related to CVD mortality, the palmitic and myristic acids, were adversely associated with most CVD risk factors, whereas unsaturated linoleic acid (18:2n-6) and the marine n-3 FAs were not associated or were beneficially associated with CVD risk factors. Conclusions. The results suggest that CVD risk factors are more extensively affected by individual FAs than hitherto recognized, and that risk for CVD,MI and stroke can be reduced by reducing the intake of palmitate, myristic acid and simple carbohydrates and improved by greater intake of linoleic acid and marine n-3 FAs

The case for strategic international alliances to harness nutritional genomics for public and personal health

Nutrigenomics is the study of how constituents of the diet interact with genes, and their products, to alter phenotype and, conversely, how genes and their products metabolise these constituents into nutrients, antinutrients, and bioactive compounds. Results from molecular and genetic epidemiological studies indicate that dietary unbalance can alter gene-nutrient interactions in ways that increase the risk of developing chronic disease. The interplay of human genetic variation and environmental factors will make identifying causative genes and nutrients a formidable, but not intractable, challenge. We provide specific recommendations for how to best meet this challenge and discuss the need for new methodologies and the use of comprehensive analyses of nutrient-genotype interactions involving large and diverse populations. The objective of the present paper is to stimulate discourse and collaboration among nutrigenomic researchers and stakeholders, a process that will lead to an increase in global health and wellness by reducing health disparities in developed and developing countrie

The left habenular nucleus contains a discrete serotonin-immunoreactive subnucleus in the coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)

By use of antibodies against serotonin, a discrete subnucleus of putatively serotoninergic neurons was observed in the dorsal subdivision of the left habenular nucleus in the brain of the coho salmon. The subnucleus was observed in salmon of different life-stages: in fingerlings, during smolt transformation, after smolt transformation (in seawater), and after spawning. This finding further emphasizes the close relationship between the pineal organ and the habenular nuclei not only in terms of topographical proximity but also in terms of cytological similarities: cells of the habenular nucleus and the pineal complex have previously been shown to be immunoreactive also with antibodies directed against retinal phototransduction proteins [5]. It also underlines the asymmetric organization of the epithalamic region

Exposure to continuous light disrupts retinal innervation of the preoptic nucleus during parr-smolt transformation in Atlantic salmon

High quality salmon smolts are essential for aquaculture, enhancement programs and wild populations. However, intensification of aquaculture smolt production and changes in natural habitats can cause sub-optimal environmental conditions, which may result in poor smolt quality. The salmon brain, as the integrator of environmental information, plays a focal role in relaying this information through the light-brain-pituitary axis, which includes retinal and pineal innervation of the hypothalamus. Here we investigated the effect of rearing juvenile Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, under constant light (LL) on optic nerve fiber growth into the hypothalamus. This was compared with the normal increased fiber growth in fish reared under a simulated-natural photoperiod (LDN). Parr were sampled from the LDN group in February and from the LDN and LL groups in May (peak smolt status for the LDN group). Retinohypothalamic projections to the preoptic area were traced using 1, 1'-dioctadecyl-3,3, 3,3-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate (DiI) and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Data showed that parr exposed to LL did not develop the same extensive retinal innervation to the preoptic nucleus (NPO) observed in control salmon smolts raised under LDN. Since the cells in NPO are central pituitary regulatory neurones, the increased retinohypothalamic innervation during normal smoltification may be responsible for the increased endocrine response to photoperiod information. The deprivation of photoperiod information, during continuous light exposure, may inhibit the natural developmental program to proceed during the parr-smolt transformation. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Postsmolt change in numbers of acetylcholinesterase-positive cells in the pineal organ of the Pacific coho salmon

We have examined the occurrence of acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-positive cells in the pineal organ of different developmental stages of the Pacific coho salmon. Large numbers of AChE cells were present in fresh-water living alevins, in all stages of presmolts (n=307-544), and in adult spawners (n=696-1774) whereas seawater-living postmolts displayed a total lack of labeled cells. The AChE-reactive cells were evently distributed within the pineal end-vesicle and stalk of the presmolts and adults. However, the AChE-positive cells that occurred in the pineal stalk were of a smaller type and more uniform in shape than the cells of the pineal endvesicle. The dense populations of AChE-stained cells in the alevins, were all situated in the caudal part of the pineal end-vesicle. We conclude that changes in pineal metabolism occur in postsmolt salmon that liver in saltwater. It is not clear whether the observed change in pineal AChE expression is an "unspecific" change caused by life in the sea, reflecting alterations that are related to aspects of osmoregulation, and/or is involved in the visual function of the pineal organ resulting from changes in the environmental lighting conditions, e.g., photoperiod, light-intensity, or spectral composition. This study adds to our previous findings of changes that occur in the central nervous system of the salmon during the time of the parr-smolt transformation and migration between limnic and marine environments and indicates a possible central role of the pineal organ in the control of these events

Prevalence of Obesity and Its Metabolic Correlates Among the Circumpolar Inuit in 3 Countries

Objectives. We investigated the prevalence of obesity and the metabolic correlates of different levels of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference among the Inuit in 3 countries. Methods. Data from 4 surveys of Inuit in Canada, Greenland, and Alaska conducted during 1990–2001 were pooled, with a total sample size of 2545 participants. These data were compared with data from a Canadian population of predominantly European origin. Results. Using the World Health Organization criteria for overweight and obesity, we found that the crude prevalence of overweight among Inuit men and women was 36.6% and 32.5%, respectively, and obesity was 15.8% and 25.5%, respectively. Inuit prevalences were similar to those of the highly developed countries of Europe and North America. As levels of obesity increased, as measured by BMI or waist circumference, the mean values of various metabolic indicators—lipid, glucose, and insulin levels and blood pressure—also increased. However, at each level of BMI or waist circumference, the Inuit had lower blood pressure and lipid levels than did Euro-Canadians. Conclusions. Our data indicate that universal criteria for obesity may not reflect the same degree of metabolic risk for populations such as the Inuit and suggest that ethnic-specific criteria are needed