Two groups of researchers have allegedly provided evidence that sodium induces the differentiation of CD4 T cells responsible for immune responses, thereby raising concerns about the role of salt intake in autoimmune disorders. Both published in Nature, the two studies in question suggested that “a high-salt diet can enhance the differentiation of a class of immune cells called TH17 cells, and exacerbate disease in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis called experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE),” according to a concurrent news item. In addition, the authors apparently found that mice lacking serum glucocorticoid kinase 1 (SGK1), which plays a role in EAE, had reduced neuropathy and some protection from a high-salt diet. In particular, the first study examined how increased sodium chloride concentrations in vivo “markedly boost the induction of murine and human TH17 cells,” purportedly showing that the TH17 cells generated under these conditions “display a highly pathogenic and stable phenotype characterized by…
Category Archives Scientific/Technical Items
A recent study has purportedly linked increased sugar availability to the prevalence of type 2 diabetes among overall populations. Sanjay Basu, et al., “The Relationship of Sugar to Population-Level Diabetes Prevalence: An Econometric Analysis of Repeated Cross-Sectional Data,” PLOS One, February 2013. Researchers with Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and University of California, San Francisco, apparently used nutritional and economic data provided by the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization, International Diabetes Federation and World Bank to examine whether “alternations in sugar intake can account for difference in diabetes prevalence in overall populations” from 175 countries. The findings evidently showed that “every 150 kcal/person/day increase in sugar availability (about one can of soda per/day) was associated with increased diabetes prevalence by 1.1% (p <0.001)” after controlling for other food types, conditions such as obesity, and socioeconomic variables. In particular, the study’s authors reported that “no other food types yielded significant…
Duke University researchers have identified the mechanism by which bisphenol A (BPA) allegedly affects nervous system development by suppressing a gene “vital to nerve cell function,” according to a February 25, 2013, press release. Michele Yeo, et al., “Bisphenol A delays the perinatal chloride shift in cortical neurons by epigenetic effects on the Kcc2 promoter,” PNAS, February 2013. The study focused on cortical neuron development, during which time a protein called Kcc2 expels chloride ions that would otherwise “damage neural circuits and compromise the nerve cell’s ability to migrate to its proper position in the brain.” Using cell cultures from rats and humans, researchers purportedly found that BPA suppresses the gene responsible for Kcc2 production, raising concerns about whether BPA “could contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders such as Rett syndrome, a severe autism spectrum disorder found only in girls… [and] characterized by mutations in the gene that produces MECP2.” When exposed…
A recent study has purportedly found that soybean plants can uptake widely used industrial nanoparticles (NPs) from the soil, raising concerns about potential effects on the food chain and the next generation of crops. Jose Hernandez-Viezcas, et al., “In Situ Synchrotron X-ray Fluorescence Mapping and Speciation of CeO2 and ZnO Nanoparticles in Soil Cultivated Soybean (Glycine max),” ACS Nano, February 2013. Researchers apparently used microscopic synchrotron X-ray beams on soybean plants grown in soil contaminated with zinc oxide (ZnO) and cerium dioxide (CeO2) NPs to trace “the potential storage of these NPs or their biotransformed products in edible/reproductive organs of crop plants.” Although x-ray absorption spectroscopy studies evidently did not find intact ZnO NPs within the plant tissues, micro-X-ray absorption near end structure (µ-XANES) data did identify “O-bound Zn, in a form resembling Zn-citrate, which could be an important Zn complex in soybean grains.” The µ-XANES data also reportedly showed…
A recent study claims that both sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) and artificially sweetened beverage (ASB) consumption was associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk in 66,118 women enrolled in a European prospective study. Guy Fagherazzi, et al., “Consumption of artificially and sugar-sweetened beverage and incident type 2 diabetes in the Etude Epidemiologique aupres des femmes de la Mutuelle Generale de l’Education Nationale—European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, February 2013. French researchers reported that “women in the highest quartiles of SSB and ASB consumers were at an increased risk of T2D” compared with those who did not drink SSBs or ASBs, although randomized trials are still needed “to prove a causal link between ASB consumption and T2D.” “SSB and ASB consumption were shown to be directly and indirectly (possibly mediated by adiposity) linked with increased risk of T2D,” concluded the study. “Extensive and lasting changes in…
Researchers with the University of Amsterdam’s School of Communication Research and Radboud University’s Behavioral Science Institute have published a study examining the effect of advergames on children’s actual food intake. Frans Folkvord, et al., “The effect of playing advergames that promote energy-dense snacks or fruit on actual food intake among children,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, February 2013. The study focused on 270 children asked to play an advergame that promoted an energy-dense snack, fruit, or a non-food product, and then monitored “the free intake of energy-dense snacks and fruit.” The study’s authors ultimately reported that “an advergame containing food cues increased general energy intake, regardless of the advertised brand or product type (energy-dense snacks or fruit), and this activity particularly increased the intake of energy-dense snack foods.” They also noted that participants who played the fruit advergame “did not consume more fruit than did those in the other groups,” instead…
A recent study has reportedly identified “a relationship between the percentage of outdoor food advertising and overweight/obesity.” Lenard Lesser, “Outdoor advertising, obesity, and soda consumption: a cross-sectional study,” BMC Public Health, January 2013. Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the study relied on telephone survey data on adults aged 18 to 98 years “collected from 220 census tracts in Los Angeles and Louisiana,” comparing “self-reported information on BMI and soda consumption with a database of directly observed outdoor advertisements.” The results evidently showed that “the higher the percentage of outdoor advertisements promoting food or non-alcoholic beverages within a census tract, the greater the odds of obesity among its residents, controlling for age, race and educational status.” In particular, the study reported that “for every 10% increase in food advertising, there was a 1.05… greater odds of being overweight or obese,” so that “compared to an individual living in areas with no…
A new study has reportedly confirmed the presence of antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) in manure samples harvested from swine farms in China, raising concerns about the widespread use of therapeutic antimicrobials in livestock and livestock feed. Yong-Guan Zhu, et al., “Diverse and abundant antibiotic resistant genes in Chinese swine farms,” PNAS, February 2013. Researchers apparently used high-capacity quantitative PCR arrays to assess “the type and concentrations of ARGs at three stages of manure processing to land disposal at three large-scale (10,000 animals per year) commercial swine farms.” The results from all the manure samples evidently revealed 149 unique ARGs, with “the top 63 ARGs being enriched 192-fold (median) up to 28,000-fold (maximum) compared with their respective antibiotic-free manure or soil controls.” In particular, the findings suggested that antibiotics and heavy metals found in the manures had the potential to co-select for resistance traits and further exacerbate “the risks of transfer of ARGs…
A recent article published in Biological Psychiatry reviews the research examining the neurological basis for food addiction and its relation to obesity. Nora Volkow, et al., “The Addictive Dimensionality of Obesity,” Biological Psychiatry, February 2013. Co-authored by National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora Volkow, the article proposes that drug and food addiction “share neurobiological processes that, when disrupted, can result in compulsive consumption, while also involving unique neurobiological processes.” In particular, the authors argue not that obesity is the result of food addiction, “but rather that food reward plays a critical role in overeating and obesity, referring to it as the dimensional component of obesity.” To this end, the article describes how drug and food addiction allegedly share genetic, molecular, neurobiological, and behavioral mechanisms that, when coupled with environmental triggers, have “the potential to facilitate or exacerbate the establishment of uncontrolled behaviors.” The authors also speculate that exposure to obesogenic…
A recent study examining the public stigma around food addiction has concluded that the “food addict” label “was perceived similarly to obesity, but more favorably than other addictions.” Jenny DePierre, et al., “A New Stigmatized Identity? Comparisons of a ‘Food Addict’ Label with Other Stigmatized Health Conditions,” Basic and Applied Social Psychology, February 2013. To gauge public perceptions of food addiction, researchers at Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity first asked 659 adults about their responses to individuals “with various health conditions and addictions, including obesity, food addiction, physical disability, mental illness, cocaine addiction, and smoking.” A second survey of 570 adults asked them to view only one of three addictions—smoking, alcohol or food—“to specifically compare public perceptions of individuals described as being addicted to food to those with smoking and alcohol addictions.” While the results of the first online survey allegedly showed that “a food addict…
