Consumers of organic products in France: first results of the Nutrinet-Santé cohort

Lifestyle, dietary patterns and nutritional status of organic food consumers have rarely been described, while interest for a sustainable diet is markedly increasing. Consumer attitude and frequency of use of 18 organic products were assessed in 54,311 adult participants in the Nutrinet-Santé cohort. Cluster analysis was performed to identify behaviors associated with organic product consumption. Cross-sectional association with overweight/obesity was estimated using polytomous logistic regression. Five clusters were identified: 3 clusters of non-consumers (35%) whose reasons differed, occasional (OCOP, 51%) and regular (RCOP, 14%) organic product consumers. RCOP were more highly educated and physically active than others. They exhibited dietary patterns with more plant foods and less sweet and alcoholic beverages, processed meat or milk. Their nutrient intake profiles (fatty acids, most minerals and vitamins, fibers) were healthier and closer to dietary guidelines. In multivariate models (after accounting for confounders, including level of adherence to nutritional guidelines), compared to those not interested in organic products, RCOP participants showed a markedly lower probability of overweight (excluding obesity) and obesity :-36% and -62% in men and -42% and -48% in women, respectively (P<0.0001). OCOP participants generally showed intermediate figures. In conclusion, regular consumers of organic products exhibit specific socio-demographic characteristics, and an overall healthy profile

Two Novel Methods For The Determination Of The Number Of Components In Independent Components Analysis Models

Independent Components Analysis is a Blind Source Separation method that aims to find the pure source signals mixed together in unknown proportions in the observed signals under study. It does this by searching for factors which are mutually statistically independent. It can thus be classified among the latent-variable based methods. Like other methods based on latent variables, a careful investigation has to be carried out to find out which factors are significant and which are not. Therefore, it is important to dispose of a validation procedure to decide on the optimal number of independent components to include in the final model. This can be made complicated by the fact that two consecutive models may differ in the order and signs of similarly-indexed ICs. As well, the structure of the extracted sources can change as a function of the number of factors calculated. Two methods for determining the optimal number of ICs are proposed in this article and applied to simulated and real datasets to demonstrate their performance

The Effect of ACACB cis-Variants on Gene Expression and Metabolic Traits

Acetyl Coenzyme A carboxylase β (ACACB) is the rate-limiting enzyme in fatty acid oxidation, and continuous fatty acid oxidation in Acacb knock-out mice increases insulin sensitivity. Systematic human studies have not been performed to evaluate whether ACACB variants regulate gene expression and insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle and adipose tissues. We sought to determine whether ACACB transcribed variants were associated with ACACB gene expression and insulin sensitivity in non-diabetic African American (AA) and European American (EA) adults.ACACB transcribed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped in 105 EAs and 46 AAs whose body mass index (BMI), lipid profiles and ACACB gene expression in subcutaneous adipose and skeletal muscle had been measured. Allelic expression imbalance (AEI) was assessed in lymphoblast cell lines from heterozygous subjects in an additional EA sample (n = 95). Selected SNPs were further examined for association with insulin sensitivity in a cohort of 417 EAs and 153 AAs.ACACB transcribed SNP rs2075260 (A/G) was associated with adipose ACACB messenger RNA expression in EAs and AAs (p = 3.8×10(-5), dominant model in meta-analysis, Stouffer method), with the (A) allele representing lower gene expression in adipose and higher insulin sensitivity in EAs (p = 0.04). In EAs, adipose ACACB expression was negatively associated with age and sex-adjusted BMI (r = -0.35, p = 0.0002).Common variants within the ACACB locus appear to regulate adipose gene expression in humans. Body fat (represented by BMI) may further regulate adipose ACACB gene expression in the EA population

Application of independent component analysis to H-1 MR spectroscopic imaging exams of brain tumours

Item does not contain fulltextThe low spatial resolution of clinical H-1 MRSI leads to partial volume effects. To overcome this problem, we applied independent component analysis (ICA) on a set of H-1 MRSI exams of brain turnours. With this method, tissue types that yield statistically independent spectra can be separated. Up to three components, corresponding to necrosis, tumoral tissue and healthy tissue have been detected inside turnours. In nonagressive turnours, the "necrotic" component was absent, confirming that only agressive turnours exhibit high levels of lipids. In conclusion, the ICA algorithm allows to find useful hidden components in turnours. The reliability and robustness of the results have also been investigated by means of bootstrapping combined with unsupervised clustering. A comparison of ICA with a method of curve resolution, MCR-ALS, has also been performed. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Nitrites and nitrates dietary exposure from natural sources and additives and type-2 diabetes risk

International audienc

Nitrites and nitrates from additives and natural sources and risk of cardiovascular outcomes

Nitrates and nitrites are used as food additives in processed meats. They are also commonly ingested from water and several foods. Evidence suggests a beneficial role of dietary nitrites and nitrates in lowering blood pressure. However, associations between exposure to nitrites and nitrates from natural sources and food additives, separately, and risks of hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD) have not been investigated. We aimed to study these associations in the French population based prospective cohort NutriNet-Santé. Overall, 104,817 adults were included. Associations between exposure to nitrites and nitrates (evaluated using repeated dietary records, linked to a food composition database accounting for commercial brands of industrial products) and risks of hypertension and cardiovascular disease were assessed using multivariable Cox proportional hazard models. During follow-up, 3810 incident cases of hypertension were ascertained, and 2075 cases of CVD, 1004 of cerebrovascular diseases and 1079 or coronary heart diseases were diagnosed. Participants with higher exposure to nitrites from food additives and specifically those highly exposed to sodium nitrite (e250) had a higher hypertension risk compared with those who are not exposed to nitrites from food additives (HR = 1.19 (95% CI 1.08-1.31), P = 0.002, and 1.19 (95% CI 1.07-1.31), P = 0.002, P &lt; 0.001), respectively). There was no evidence for an association between total nitrites or nitrites from natural sources, or dietary nitrates with hypertension risk (all P-values&gt;0.3). There was no evidence for associations between dietary nitrites, or nitrates with risks of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular or coronary heart diseases (all P-values&gt;0.2). In conclusion, we found that higher exposure to nitrites from food additives was associated with higher risk of hypertension. Our results do not support a potential protective association between dietary nitrites or nitrates and cardiovascular outcomes. Key messages • These results provide additional evidence in the context of current discussions about updating regulations on the use of nitrites as food additives. • Our findings do not support any protective impact of nitrites and nitrates on cardiovascular health

Supplementary Material for: Starchy Food Consumption in French Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Profile of Consumers and Contribution to Nutritional Intake in a Web-Based Prospective Cohort

<b><i>Background:</i></b> French Nutritional Guidelines recommend eating starchy foods at each meal, according to appetite, and advise to vary sources. However, the proportion of energy from carbohydrates is currently too low in many Western European countries. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Consumption of the different types of starchy foods was assessed among 80,209 adult participants in the French NutriNet-Santé cohort (78% women, mean age 42.9 ± 14.5). Description of starchy food consumption according to sociodemographics was provided as well as the contribution of starchy food to nutritional intake. Determinants of adherence to starchy food nutritional guidelines were estimated using multivariable polytomous logistic regression. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Starchy foods contributed approximately 22% of the energy intake, 75% of the complex carbohydrate intake and 36.1% of the fibre intake. About 43% of the subjects had intakes in line with the French Nutritional Guidelines concerning starchy foods. Men met the recommendation more frequently (55 vs. 33% for women), but were also more likely to exceed the recommendation (9.5 vs. 1.3%), even after adjustment for energy intake. According to our multivariable model, starchy food consumption increased also with age. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> A higher consumption of starchy foods should be promoted in the French population in order to increase the part of the energy intake coming from complex carbohydrates

Polymorphisms in the CD36/FAT gene are associated with plasma vitamin E concentrations in humans

International audienceBackground: Blood vitamin E concentrations are modulated by dietary, metabolic, and genetic factors. CD36 (cluster of differentiation 36), a class B scavenger receptor, might be involved in tissue vitamin E uptake and thus would influence blood vitamin E concentrations. Objective: The goal of the study was to assess the association between CD36 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and plasma α-tocopherol concentrations in humans. Design: A subsample from the adult SU.VI.MAX (SUpplementation en VItamines et Minéraux AntioXydants) cohort (n = 621) and the adolescent cross-sectional HELENA (Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence) Study (n = 993) were genotyped for CD36 SNPs (4 and 10 SNPs, respectively). Fasting plasma α-tocopherol concentrations were assayed by using HPLC. Associations were determined by haplotype analyses and by general linear regression models. Results: In the SU.VI.MAX subsample, haplotype analyses showed that some haplotypes of SNPs rs1984112, rs1527479, rs7755, and rs1527483 tended to be associated with plasma α-tocopherol concentrations (P = 0.08 and P = 0.09 for haplotypes 1222 and 1122, respectively). We then investigated the whole known common genetic variability (10 SNPs) of CD36 in the HELENA Study. Three SNPs were associated with lower plasma α-tocopherol concentrations (rs1984112: −3.2%, P = 0.053; rs1761667: −2.9%, P = 0.046; rs1527479: −3.7%, P = 0.0061). After correction for multiple testing, the association between rs1527479 and α-tocopherol concentrations remained significant. This association was modulated by concentrations of fasting serum triglycerides (P for interaction = 0.006) and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (P for interaction = 0.005). Conclusion: Our results suggest that CD36 can modulate blood α-tocopherol concentrations and may therefore be involved in the intestinal absorption or tissue uptake of vitamin