FTO genetic variants, dietary intake and body mass index: insights from 177,330 individuals.

FTO is the strongest known genetic susceptibility locus for obesity. Experimental studies in animals suggest the potential roles of FTO in regulating food intake. The interactive relation among FTO variants, dietary intake and body mass index (BMI) is complex and results from previous often small-scale studies in humans are highly inconsistent. We performed large-scale analyses based on data from 177,330 adults (154 439 Whites, 5776 African Americans and 17 115 Asians) from 40 studies to examine: (i) the association between the FTO-rs9939609 variant (or a proxy single-nucleotide polymorphism) and total energy and macronutrient intake and (ii) the interaction between the FTO variant and dietary intake on BMI. The minor allele (A-allele) of the FTO-rs9939609 variant was associated with higher BMI in Whites (effect per allele = 0.34 [0.31, 0.37] kg/m(2), P = 1.9 × 10(-105)), and all participants (0.30 [0.30, 0.35] kg/m(2), P = 3.6 × 10(-107)). The BMI-increasing allele of the FTO variant showed a significant association with higher dietary protein intake (effect per allele = 0.08 [0.06, 0.10] %, P = 2.4 × 10(-16)), and relative weak associations with lower total energy intake (-6.4 [-10.1, -2.6] kcal/day, P = 0.001) and lower dietary carbohydrate intake (-0.07 [-0.11, -0.02] %, P = 0.004). The associations with protein (P = 7.5 × 10(-9)) and total energy (P = 0.002) were attenuated but remained significant after adjustment for BMI. We did not find significant interactions between the FTO variant and dietary intake of total energy, protein, carbohydrate or fat on BMI. Our findings suggest a positive association between the BMI-increasing allele of FTO variant and higher dietary protein intake and offer insight into potential link between FTO, dietary protein intake and adiposity

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries1,2. However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world3 and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health4,5. However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol—which is a marker of cardiovascular risk—changed from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95% credible interval 3.7 million–4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world.</p

Muscle growth and changes in chemical composition of spotted wolffish juveniles (Anarhichas minor) fed diets with and without microalgae (Scenedesmus obliquus)

Spotted wolffish (Anarhichas minor) is a promising new candidate for cold-water fish farming, but knowledge is needed about its physiology and its capacity to utilize alternative feed ingredients. The aim of the study was to investigate fast muscle growth dynamics, changes in chemical composition as well as growth performance of spotted wolffish when fed diets with or without the microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus incorporated. Juvenile spotted wolffish were fed four diets containing fishmeal as the primary source of protein (CTR diet) or microalgae (Scenedesmus obliquus) replacing 4% (AL4 diet), 8% (AL8 diet) or 12% (AL12 diet) of the fishmeal. During the 12 week experiment, fish grew from an average weight of 140 g to 250 g. The results showed indications of fast muscle cellularity of spotted wolffish being affected by dietary algae inclusion as the control and AL4 groups appeared to be more strongly favored by hypertrophic growth compared to the AL8 and AL12 groups. The CTR and AL4 groups tended towards increased muscle fiber diameters and higher proportions of larger muscle fibers, while the AL8 and AL12 group tended towards similar or increased proportions of smaller muscle fibers at the end of the trial. Probability density functions showed no difference in fast muscle fiber size distributions between dietary groups. Muscle crude protein and fat content tended to increase with growth in all treatment groups and muscle mineral content was reduced in all groups fed diets containing Scenedesmus. At the end of the trial, hepatosomatic index was reduced in all treatment groups. Dietary replacement of fishmeal with Scenedesmus also affected skin coloration, with increasing yellowness observed with increasing microalgae replacement. This study indicates that spotted wolffish has the potential to use microalgae as an alternative to fishmeal in the diet. Keywords: nutrition, sustainable aquafeed, muscle fiber cellularity, muscle growth, proximate composition, histology, alternative feed ingredient