Research Highlights November

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

• Cocoa polyphenols may modulate inflammatory mediators in patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease.
  
  
• In NHANES 20003-2004 study, vitamin C status improved, and the prevalence of vitamin C deficiency was significantly lower than NHANES 1988-1994. Increase in vitamin C supplementation in addition to adequate dietary intake are believed to be responsible.
  
  
• Iodine supplementation improved perceptual reasoning in mildly iodine-deficient children and suggests mild iodine deficiency could prevent children from attaining their full intellectual potential.
  
  
• Consumption of four egg yolks daily, and possibly two egg yolks (rich in lutein and zexanthin) for five weeks benefited macular health in older adults with low macular pigment optical density. HDL cholesterol increased and LDL cholesterol stayed the same in this population whom were mostly taking statin medication.
  
  
• Nutritional supplementation in girls is associated with substantial increases in their offspring's (more for sons) birth weight, height, head circumference, height-for-age score, and weight for age score.
  
  
• Glutathione enzyme deficient persons have an increased risk of vitamin C deficiency than persons with normal glutathione. Bonnie Translation: glutathione deficiency is an epigenetic methylation pathway breakdown, brought upon by environmental forces. The cells have to use up more vitamin C than usual to compensate. For these individuals, can you say Allergy Fighters? It contains vitamin C and reduced glutathione.

Journal of Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics

• Dietary intake of fish and -3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (-3 PUFAs) may decrease the risk of prostate cancer development and progression to advanced stage disease. This could reflect the anti-inflammatory effects of PUFAs, possibly through mediation of cyclooxygenase (COX), a key enzyme in fatty acid metabolism and inflammation. Despite promising experimental evidence, epidemiological studies have reported somewhat conflicting results regarding the effects of fish/PUFAs on prostate cancer development and progression. The literature suggests that fish, and particularly long-chain -3 PUFAs, may have a more pronounced protective effect on biologically aggressive tumors or on their progression, and less on early steps of carcinogenesis. Moreover, the impact of LC -3 PUFAs may be modified by variation of the COX-2 gene. Overall, results to date support the hypothesis that long-chain -3 PUFAs may impact prostate inflammation and carcinogenesis via the COX-2 enzymatic pathway.

Archives of Neurology

• The incidence and prevalence of dementia are expected to increase several-fold in the coming decades. Given that the current pharmaceutical treatment of dementia can only modestly improve symptoms, risk factor modification remains the cornerstone for dementia prevention. Some of the most promising strategies for the prevention of dementia include vascular risk factor control, cognitive activity, physical activity, social engagement, diet, and recognition of depression. In observational studies, vascular risk factors—including diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and obesity—are fairly consistently associated with increased risk of dementia. In addition, people with depression are at high risk for cognitive impairment. Population studies have reported that intake of antioxidants or polyunsaturated fatty acids may be associated with a reduced incidence of dementia, and it has been reported that people who are cognitively, socially, and physically active have a reduced risk of cognitive impairment. Most promising, interventions of cognitive and physical activity improve cognitive performance and slow cognitive decline.

New England Journal of Medicine

• Chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis may be manifested as a primary immunodeficiency characterized by persistent or recurrent infections of the mucosa or the skin with candida species. An autosomal recessive form of susceptibility to chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis is associated with genomic homozygous mutations in CARD9.

Food and Chemical Toxicology

• Flavonoids are known to have antioxidant activity that may limit DNA damage and help prevent degenerative diseases, including cancer. However, our knowledge of flavonoids’ role in DNA protection/repair mechanism(s) is limited. This study investigated the effects of quercetin on DNA oxidation and DNA repair in Caco-2 cells with or without oxidant (H2O2) challenge. Quercetin significantly reduced oxidative DNA damage, as measured by the number of single-strand breaks identified by single cell gel electrophoresis. Quercetin treatment also caused a measurable increase in the mRNA expression of human 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (hOGG1). In addition, the highest level of quercetin tested maintained hOGG1 expression at basal levels or higher for up to 12 h after H2O2 treatment, while oxidant treatment alone resulted in significant reduction of hOGG1 at 8 h. Our study indicates that quercetin could protect DNA both by reducing oxidative DNA damage and by enhancing DNA repair through modulation of DNA repair enzyme expression.