Comparison of the effects of three different (-)-hydroxycitric acid preparations on food intake in rats

BACKGROUND: Studies on the effects of (-)-hydroxycitric acid (HCA) in humans are controversial. As differences in the HCA preparations may contribute to this apparent discrepancy, the aim of the current study is to compare different HCA-containing preparations in adult Wistar rats. DESIGN: The effects of 3 different HCA-containing preparations (Regulator, Citrin K, Super CitriMax HCA-600-SXS, all used at an effective HCA dose of 150 and 300 mg/kg, administered intragastrically) on food intake and body weight were studied in adult male Wistar rats. The efficacy was tested under 2 different experimental conditions: 1) after a single dose administration and 2) during repeated administration for 4 subsequent days. RESULTS: Regulator and Citrin K significantly reduced food intake in both experimental setups, while Super CitriMax HCA-600-SXS was less effective. When administered for 4 subsequent days Regulator and Citrin K diminished body weight gain. CONCLUSION: Regulator and Citrin K were shown to be potent inhibitors of food intake in rats, whereas Super CitriMax HCA-600-SXS showed only small and more inconsistent effects. The striking differences in efficacy between these 3 preparations indicate that low doses of a relatively low-effective HCA preparation may have contributed to the lack of efficacy as found in several human studies

Metabolic effects of the dietary monosaccharides fructose, fructose-glucose, or glucose in mice fed a starch-containing moderate high-fat diet

Fructose consumption has been linked to obesity and increased hepatic de novo lipogenesis (DNL). Excessive caloric intake often confounds the results of fructose studies, and experimental diets are generally low-fat diets, not representative for westernized diets. Here, we compared the effects of dietary fructose with those of dietary glucose, in adult male and female mice on a starch-containing moderate high-fat (HF) diet. After 5 weeks fattening on a HF high-glucose (HF-G) diet, mice were stratified per sex and assigned to one of the three intervention diets for 6 weeks: HF high fructose (HF-F), HF with equimolar glucose and fructose (HF-GF), or HF-G. Bodyweight (BW) and food intake were measured weekly. Indirect calorimetry was performed on week 5; animals were sacrificed in food-deprived state on week 6. Data were analyzed within sex. BW gain was similar among animals on the HF-G, HF-GF, and HF-F diets. Cumulative food intake was slightly lower in HF-F animals (both sexes). However, energy expenditure was not affected, or were circulating insulin and glucose concentrations, and hepatic triglyceride levels at endpoint. Hepatic gene expression analysis showed only minor alterations in hexokinase and glycolysis-related expression in males, and no alterations in sugar transporters, or DNL-related enzymes. In females, no consistent alterations in hepatic or small intestine gene expression were seen. Concluding, partial or complete replacement of dietary glucose with fructose does not increase caloric intake, and does not affect BW, hepatic triglyceride levels, or insulin concentrations in male and female mice on a moderate high-fat diet.</p

The SysteMHC Atlas project.

Mass spectrometry (MS)-based immunopeptidomics investigates the repertoire of peptides presented at the cell surface by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. The broad clinical relevance of MHC-associated peptides, e.g. in precision medicine, provides a strong rationale for the large-scale generation of immunopeptidomic datasets and recent developments in MS-based peptide analysis technologies now support the generation of the required data. Importantly, the availability of diverse immunopeptidomic datasets has resulted in an increasing need to standardize, store and exchange this type of data to enable better collaborations among researchers, to advance the field more efficiently and to establish quality measures required for the meaningful comparison of datasets. Here we present the SysteMHC Atlas (https://systemhcatlas.org), a public database that aims at collecting, organizing, sharing, visualizing and exploring immunopeptidomic data generated by MS. The Atlas includes raw mass spectrometer output files collected from several laboratories around the globe, a catalog of context-specific datasets of MHC class I and class II peptides, standardized MHC allele-specific peptide spectral libraries consisting of consensus spectra calculated from repeat measurements of the same peptide sequence, and links to other proteomics and immunology databases. The SysteMHC Atlas project was created and will be further expanded using a uniform and open computational pipeline that controls the quality of peptide identifications and peptide annotations. Thus, the SysteMHC Atlas disseminates quality controlled immunopeptidomic information to the public domain and serves as a community resource toward the generation of a high-quality comprehensive map of the human immunopeptidome and the support of consistent measurement of immunopeptidomic sample cohorts

Evidence-based guidelines in the evaluation of work disability: an international survey and a comparison of quality of development

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In social insurance, the evaluation of work disability is becoming stricter as priority is given to the resumption of work, which calls for a guarantee of quality for these evaluations. Evidence-based guidelines have become a major instrument in the quality control of health care, and the quality of these guidelines' development can be assessed using the AGREE instrument. In social insurance medicine, such guidelines are relatively new. We were interested to know what guidelines have been developed to support the medical evaluation of work disability and the quality of these guidelines.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Five European countries that were reported to use guidelines were approached, using a recent inventory of evaluations of work disability in Europe. We focused on guidelines that are disease-oriented and formally prescribed in social insurance medicine. Using the AGREE instrument, these guidelines were appraised by two researchers. We asked two experts involved in guideline development to indicate if they agreed with our results and to provide explanations for insufficient scores.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found six German and sixteen Dutch sets of disease-oriented guidelines in official use. The AGREE instrument was applicable, requiring minor adaptations. The appraisers reached consensus on all items. Each guideline scored well on 'scope and purpose' and 'clarity and presentation'. The guidelines scored moderately on 'stakeholder involvement' in the Netherlands, but insufficiently in Germany, due mainly to the limited involvement of patients' representatives in this country. All guidelines had low scores on 'rigour of development', which was due partly to a lack of documentation and of existing evidence. 'Editorial independence' and 'applicability' had low scores in both countries as a result of how the production was organised.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Disease-oriented guidelines in social insurance medicine for the evaluation of work disability are a recent phenomenon, so far restricted to Germany and the Netherlands. The AGREE instrument is suitably applicable to assess the quality of guideline development in social insurance medicine, but some of the scoring rules need to be adapted to the context of social insurance. Existing guidelines do not meet the AGREE criteria to a sufficient level. The way patients' representatives can be involved needs further discussion. The guidelines would profit from more specific recommendations and, for providing evidence, more research is needed on the functional capacity of people with disabilities.</p

Energy Metabolism and Diet

Energy metabolism at whole body and cellular, and even organelle (i [...

DARE TO ASK! Suicidal patients’ experiences of nurses’ treatment

Introduktion Varje år begås ca 1500 självmord och 20000 självmordsförsök. Som sjuksköterska kommer man med stor sannolikhet att vårda självmordsnära patienter. Patienterna kan reagera på olika sätt och att som sjuksköterska bemöta dem på ett bra sätt är många gånger svårt. Travelbees teorier kan då vara ett gott stöd för sjuksköterskan. Syfte Att belysa hur patienter upplever att de har blivit bemötta av sjuksköterskan efter ett självmordsförsök för att få vägledning i vad som är ett gott bemötande. Metod Litteraturstudie av artiklar sökta och funna via databasen Cinahl med sökorden suicide attempt, patients´ perspective och nursing care. Resultat Det huvudtema som framträdde var bemötande. Därtill hörde underrubrikerna lyhördhet, stöd, kommunikation och bekräftelse med ytterligare tillhörande begrepp. De var väl överrensstämmande med Travelbees begreppsvärld. Sjuksköterskan fyller en viktig funktion och kan med sitt bemötande avgöra om patientens behandling ska lyckas eller inte. Diskussion Det är bara patienten som kan avgöra om sjuksköterskans bemötande är gott eller inte, men är man som sjuksköterska professionell i sitt bemötande blir de allra flesta patienter nöjda. Tyvärr verkar det dock som om mången sjuksköterska räds att närma sig en självmordsnära patient. Göteborgs Universitet bör utbilda sjuksköterskestudenterna mer i att inte vara rädda för att närma sig det som är svårt. Liksom Travelbee anser vi att sjuksköterskans människosyn avspeglas i hur patienterna tas omhand. Konklusion Det är viktigt att våga vara nära självmordsnära patienter – att våga fråga. Att ha en teori/modell att utgå ifrån i sin sjuksköterskeroll underlättar

Comparison of bovine milk fat and vegetable fat for infant formula : Implications for infant health

Fat is an important component of human milk and infant formula (IF), delivering half of the energy a baby needs. Nowadays, mostly vegetable fats are used in IFs; however, the use of bovine milk fat in formulas is currently increasing. Bovine milk fat contains a composition of fatty acids and lipid components different from those of vegetable fats. We have compared the lipid profile of human and bovine milk with infant formulas with different fat sources. Furthermore, current knowledge of how infant digestion, absorption, metabolic responses, gut immunity, microbiota and/or cognition is affected by dietary fat is reviewed. The possible opportunities and drawbacks of the application of bovine milk fat in infant nutrition are described. Future perspectives for the development of IF containing bovine milk fat and future research directions are highlighted.</p

In vivo assessment of muscle mitochondrial function in healthy, young males in relation to parameters of aerobic fitness

Purpose: The recovery of muscle oxygen consumption (mV˙ O2) after exercise provides a measure of skeletal muscle mitochondrial capacity, as more and better-functioning mitochondria will be able to restore mV˙ O2 faster to the pre-exercise state. The aim was to measure muscle mitochondrial capacity using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) within a healthy, normally active population and relate this to parameters of aerobic fitness, investigating the applicability and relevance of using NIRS to assess muscle mitochondrial capacity non-invasively. Methods: Mitochondrial capacity was analysed in the gastrocnemius and flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS) muscles of eight relatively high-aerobic fitness (V˙ O2peak ≥ 57 mL/kg/min) and eight relatively low-aerobic fitness male subjects (V˙ O2peak ≤ 47 mL/kg/min). Recovery of whole body V˙ O2, i.e. excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) was analysed after a cycling protocol. Results: Mitochondrial capacity, as analysed using NIRS, was significantly higher in high-fitness individuals compared to low-fitness individuals in the gastrocnemius, but not in the FDS (p = 0.0036 and p = 0.20, respectively). Mitochondrial capacity in the gastrocnemius was significantly correlated with V˙ O2peak (R2 = 0.57, p = 0.0019). Whole body V˙ O2 recovery was significantly faster in the high-fitness individuals (p = 0.0048), and correlated significantly with mitochondrial capacity in the gastrocnemius (R2 = 0.34, p = 0.028). Conclusion: NIRS measurements can be used to assess differences in mitochondrial muscle oxygen consumption within a relatively normal, healthy population. Furthermore, mitochondrial capacity correlated with parameters of aerobic fitness (V˙ O2peak and EPOC), emphasising the physiological relevance of the NIRS measurements

Corrigendum to: “Comparison of bovine milk fat and vegetable fat for infant formula: Implications for infant health”

The authors regret that the cholesterol levels in current infant formulas quoted from Claumarchirant et al. (2015) on page 41, and additional calculations, were reported incorrectly. The average concentration of cholesterol in infant formulas based on vegetable fats should be 17.3 mg L−1, ranging from 14.6 to 22.2 mg L−1 (IFs 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, and 13 from Table 2 of Claumarchirant et al., 2015). The average concentration of cholesterol in infant formulas containing a fat blend of vegetable fats and bovine milk lipids should be 36.9 mg L−1, ranging from 20.3 to 51.0 mg L−1 (IFs 1, 5, 6, 9, and 10 from Table 2 of Claumarchirant et al., 2015). This has no consequences for the conclusions of the manuscript. Page 41 should read: “A recent study investigating sterol content of IFs showed that those based on vegetable fats contained, on average, 17.3 mg L−1 of cholesterol (Claumarchirant, Matencio, Sanchez-Siles, Alegría, & Lagarda, 2015). In line with the findings on phospholipids, the cholesterol present in IFs based on vegetable fats also mostly originates from the small amount of milk fat present in skimmed milk (Berger et al., 2000). Newer types of IF, containing a blend of vegetable fats and bovine milk fat, contain higher levels of cholesterol, on average 36.9 mg L−1 (Claumarchirant et al., 2015). Calculations based on literature values (NEVO online; RIVM, 2016) indicate that by replacing every 10% of vegetable fat by bovine milk fat in a fat blend for infant formula, about 10 mg L−1 of cholesterol could be added. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.</p