Impact of acute consumption of beverages containing plant-based or alternative sweetener blends on postprandial appetite, food intake, metabolism, and gastro-intestinal symptoms: Results of the SWEET beverages trial

Project SWEET examined the barriers and facilitators to the use of non-nutritive sweeteners and sweetness enhancers (hereafter "S&SE") alongside potential risks/benefits for health and sustainability. The Beverages trial was a double-blind multi-centre, randomised crossover trial within SWEET evaluating the acute impact of three S&SE blends (plant-based and alternatives) vs. a sucrose control on glycaemic response, food intake, appetite sensations and safety after a carbohydrate-rich breakfast meal. The blends were: mogroside V and stevia RebM; stevia RebA and thaumatin; and sucralose and acesulfame-potassium (ace-K). At each 4 h visit, 60 healthy volunteers (53% male; all with overweight/obesity) consumed a 330 mL beverage with either an S&SE blend (0 kJ) or 8% sucrose (26 g, 442 kJ), shortly followed by a standardised breakfast (∼2600 or 1800 kJ with 77 or 51 g carbohydrates, depending on sex). All blends reduced the 2-h incremental area-under-the-curve (iAUC) for blood insulin (p 0.05 for all). Compared with sucrose, there was a 3% increase in LDL-cholesterol after stevia RebA-thaumatin (p < 0.001 in adjusted models); and a 2% decrease in HDL-cholesterol after sucralose-ace-K (p < 0.01). There was an impact of blend on fullness and desire to eat ratings (both p < 0.05) and sucralose-acesulfame K induced higher prospective intake vs sucrose (p < 0.001 in adjusted models), but changes were of a small magnitude and did not translate into energy intake differences over the next 24 h. Gastro-intestinal symptoms for all beverages were mostly mild. In general, responses to a carbohydrate-rich meal following consumption of S&SE blends with stevia or sucralose were similar to sucrose

A study of a group of genes involved in the hair growth cycle

Summary Individual hairs grow from follicles which go through a cycle of different stages. During ‘anagen’ the hair is actively growing, in ‘catagen’ the follicle shrinks, while ‘telogen’ is the resting phase when the hair sheds before the next anagen. Abnormal hair growth usually reflects an abnormal hair cycle. For example, failure to re‐enter anagen from telogen, or short duration of anagen, cause poor hair growth, while excessive switching from telogen back to anagen causes excessive hair. If we could understand what controls these stages, it might be possible to develop effective treatments. Previously, scientists have managed to grow individual human anagen hair follicles in the laboratory but could only study the switch from anagen to catagen. The authors of this latest study, from the UK, Spain, Germany and the USA, managed for the first time to isolate human telogen and early anagen hairs. They used scalp samples from five men undergoing hair transplantation and dissected out the relevant hairs under the microscope. Using specific antibodies (a type of protein in the body) to examine telogen follicles they discovered that a group of genes called the WNT pathway induce anagen by prompting certain cells in the hair germ (part of the follicle) to multiply. By studying a whole range of proteins that switch WNT processes on or off they were able to build up a picture of events occurring at the start of anagen which will help future scientists to develop targeted treatments for hair disorders. This is a summary of the study: Deciphering the molecular morphology of the human hair cycle: Wnt signalling during the telogen–anagen transformation. Linked Article: Hawkshaw et al. Br J Dermatol 2020; 182:1184–119

Degradation of millimolar concentration of the herbicide dalapon (2,2-Dichloropropionic Acid) by rhizobium Sp isolated from soil

The herbicide Dalapon is widely used in agricultural areas and is persistent in ground water. A Rhizobium sp. was able to grow at 0.2 mM 2,2-dichloropropionic acid (2,2DCP), which was 100-fold lower than the concentration of the substrate routinely used. Apparently, no new dehalogenases are required to allow growth on this low concentration of 2,2DCP as judged by electrophoretic mobility of dehalogenase proteins in native-PAGE analysis and protein separation by anion-exchange column chromatography. The kinetic analysis suggested that the known dehalogenases were able to act efficiently on low concentrations of haloalkanoic acids. The amount of each dehalogenase, from cells grown on low substrate concentration was different compared to that seen at 20 mM 2,2DCP due to complex regulatory controls, which respond to the growth environment

Identifying novel strategies for treating human hair loss disorders: Cyclosporine A suppresses the Wnt inhibitor, SFRP1, in the dermal papilla of human scalp hair follicles

10.1371/journal.pbio.2003705PLoS Biology165e200370