Consumption of dairy products and cognitive functioning: Findings from the SU.VI.MAX 2 study

Objectives

Research concerning the link between dairy product intake and cognition is scant while experimental studies suggest links through various biological mechanisms. This study’s objective was to examine the cross-time associations of total and specific dairy product consumption with cognitive performance in aging adults. We also explored compliance with dairy intake recommendations in France.

Design

The study was based on the «Supplémentation en Vitamines et Minéraux Antioxydants» randomized trial (SU.VI.MAX, 1994-2002) and the SU.VI.MAX 2 observational follow-up study (2007-2009).

Setting

A general-population cohort in France.

Participants

N=3,076 participants included in both the SU.VI.MAX and SU.VI.MAX 2 studies.

Measurements

Dairy product consumption was estimated using repeated 24h records (1994-1996; mean=10 records, SD=3). Cognitive performance was assessed by neuropsychologists after an average of 13 years post-baseline via a battery of six validated tests. Mean age at the time of the cognitive function evaluation was 65.5 (SD=4.6) years. Principal component analysis revealed factors for verbal memory and working memory. Associations of energy-adjusted dairy product consumption and compliance with the respective dietary guidelines with subsequent cognitive impairment were examined using ANCOVA, providing mean differences (95% confidence intervals, CI) according to tertiles (T), adjusted for confounders including overall dietary patterns.

Results

Total dairy product consumption was not associated with cognitive function. However, milk intake was negatively associated with verbal memory performance: mean difference T3 versus T1= -0.99 (-1.83, -0.15). Among women, consuming more than the recommended amount of dairy was negatively associated with working memory performance: excess versus adequate = -1.52 (-2.93, -0.11).

Conclusion

Our results indicate that dairy products consumption and especially compliance with dietary guidelines regarding dairy product intake are differentially associated with performance in specific cognitive domains after a comprehensive adjustment for lifestyle factors, health status markers and dietary patterns. Further longitudinal research is needed given the limited data available.

     

Effects of intermittent hypoxia training on leukocyte pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK-1) mRNA expression and blood insulin level in prediabetes patients

Purpose

Intermittent hypoxia training/treatment (IHT) is an emerging therapeutic approach to alleviate chronic diseases, such as diabetes. The present study investigated the effects of IHT on blood leucocyte pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK-1) mRNA expression and its relationship with the changes in blood insulin level.

Methods

Seven adult healthy volunteers and 11 prediabetic patients participated in this study. A 3-week course of IHT consisted of a 40-min session of 4 cycles of 5-min 12% O₂ and 5-min room air breathing per day, 3 sessions per week for 3 weeks (i.e., total 9 sessions of IHT). Plasma insulin levels and leukocyte PDK-1 mRNA expression were determined at various time points either under fasting condition or following oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Correlation between the IHT-induced changes in PDK-1 mRNA and insulin or glucose levels in the same serological samples was analyzed.

Results

At pre-IHT baseline, PDK-1 mRNA expression was two times higher in prediabetes than control subjects. IHT resulted in significant augmentation in PDK-1 mRNA expression (> twofold) in prediabetes at the end of 3-week IHT and remained elevated 1 month after IHT, which was correlated with a significantly reduced insulin release and lower blood glucose after glucose loading with OGTT.

Conclusion

IHT can trigger beneficial effects in normalizing blood insulin levels in prediabetic patients under oral glucose load, which were closely correlated with an enhanced mRNA expression of PDK-1 in leukocytes. Further clinical trials are warranted to validate the utility of IHT as a non-invasive complementary therapy against diabetes-associated pathologies.

     

Optogenetic Stimulation of the Axons of Visual Cortex and Hippocampus Pyramidal Neurons in Living Brain Slices

Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology - Widening and deepening our understanding of how the brain works requires constant improvements not only in methods of recording neuron activity, but also...     

Hidden variables: unstable Abeta chain genes encoding antigen recognition structures in tumor survivors.

Novel single exon genes Aβ4-7 comprising the Aβ6 gene family have been cloned from mouse mutants surviving transplantable metastatic tumors. Their protein coding sequences are similar to H2-Ab cDNA which encodes antigen-binding molecules of antigen presenting cells (APC); their promoters and/or signal sequences are unrelated to Ab sequences but found in other eukaryotic genes. Aβ4^b protein was demonstrated on macrophages and B cells that are APC. The Aβ6^w302 appears to be an ancient gene ancestral to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II β genes. However, unlike the MHC class II, the Aβ4-7 genes are not involved in skin graft rejection. Despite inbreeding, the Aβ6^w302 locus remains unfixed in several strains of mice. The number of Aβ genes and their alleles varied between individual mice; they do not map into the H2 region but appear to be scattered over the genome. The Aβ6 gene family is molecularly unstable in Aβ6^w302-positive (but not in Aβ6^w302-negative) mice which are somatic mosaics for these genes. Biological features of Aβ4-7 genes make them remarkably different from the classical MHC gene system. All available evidence strongly suggests that these genes control susceptibility/resistance to the spread of metastatic tumors.     

Investigations into the structure–activity relationship in gemini QACs based on biphenyl and oxydiphenyl linker

Eighteen novel gemini quaternary ammonium compounds were synthesized to examine the effect of linker nature, aliphatic chain length and their relative position on antibacterial and antifungal activity. The synthesized compounds showed strong bacteriostatic activity against a panel of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and two fungi. Some of these compounds exhibited a wider and more potent antimicrobial spectrum than commonly-used antiseptics, such as benzalkonium chloride (BAC), cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), chlorhexidine digluconate (CHG) and octenidine dihydrochloride (OCT).

The synthesis and biological evaluations of new gemini QACs possessing high antibacterial and antifungal activity were performed.     

Assesssing Herbal Medical Practitioners in Professional Qualifying Examination in Ghana, a Model

About 70% of Ghanaians depend on Alternative health practice for their primary health care needs. Hence, there is the need to streamline and regulate these practices. Graduates from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (K.N.U.S.T), Kumasi-Ghana were assessed by the Professional Qualifying Examination Board of the Traditional Medicine Practice Council (TMPC), Ghana, after two years of internship training. A model of assessment took into consideration, the scope of the university training, internship and the primary health care needs of the society.     

The SEEDs of two gastrointestinal diseases: socioeconomic, environmental, and demographic factors related to cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis in Massachusetts

Objectives

We assessed associations between community-level socioeconomic, demographic, and environmental characteristics, and the presence of two potentially waterborne infectious diseases, cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis, as reported to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Methods

We created a series of maps showing the spatial distribution of cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis in Massachusetts (1993-2002) overall and by age, using logistic regression to analyze associations between community-level characteristics and the presence of at least one reported case of each disease. This analysis was repeated for communities with predominantly private water supplies.

Result

After adjusting for population size, higher population density and larger than average household sizes were associated with increased odds of reported cases of cryptosporidiosis. Giardiasis was also associated with high population density, but was not associated with household size. In the elderly, income was positively associated with the presence of giardiasis.

Discussion

These findings suggest that greater population density and larger household sizes may increase the likelihood of protozoan gastrointestinal infection. The results emphasize the necessity to account for distal factors, such as demographic characteristics, that may ultimately play a role in the transmission or reporting of disease.     

Liver blood supply after a modified Appleby procedure in classical and aberrant arterial anatomy

Reported here are two cases of a modified Appleby operation for borderline resectable ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic body, in one of which a R0 distal resection was attended to by excision, not only of the celiac axis, but also of the common and left hepatic arteries in the presence of arterial anatomic variation Michels, type VIIIb. The possibility and avenues of the maintenance of the blood supply to the left hepatic lobe after surgical aggression of this kind are demonstrated employing computed tomography (CT) and 3-D CT angiography. Furthermore, both cases highlight all important worrisome aspects of pancreatic cancer resectability prediction.     

Efficacy of amiodarone versus propafenone in the prevention of rhythm disorders in patients after aortocoronary bypass surgery

A prospective randomized study was conducted to compare the antiarrhythmic activity of amiodarone and propafenone used to prevent atrial fibrillation (AF) after aortocoronary bypass surgery (ACBS). The study included 100 patients who had undergone myocardial revascularization. The patients were divided into 2 groups that did not significantly differ in their baseline condition, history data, the type of a surgical intervention, and the incidence of postoperative complications. Antiarrhythmic therapy was initiated within the first 24 hours after surgery. Group 1 (n=50) was given intravenous amiodarone in a dose of 6 mg/kg/day. Rhythm disturbances occurred in 13 (26%) patients. Group 2 (n=50) received oral propaferone in a dose of 6.6 mg/kg/day. AF occurred in 5 (10%) patients. The difference between Groups 1 and 2 was statistically significant (p = 0.047). The preventive use of propafenone recovered sinus rhythm in earlier periods (4602 +/- 71 min) than that of amiodarone (760 +/- 82 min); p = 0.049. Thus, propafenone was found to be a more effective drug used to prevent AF after ACBS, which is attributable to different pharmacodynamic behavior of the agents.     

First-line trifluridine/tipiracil + bevacizumab in patients with unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer: final survival analysis in the TASCO1 study

Background Therapeutic options are limited in patients with unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) ineligible for intensive chemotherapy. The use of trifluridine/tipiracil plus bevacizumab (TT-B) in this setting was evaluated in the TASCO1 trial; here, we present the final overall survival (OS) results.Methods TASCO1 was an open-label, non-comparative phase II trial. Patients (n = 153) were randomised 1:1 to TT-B (trifluridine/tipiracil 35 mg/m² orally twice daily on days 1–5 and 8–12, and bevacizumab intravenously 5 mg/kg on days 1 and 15 of each 28-day cycle) or capecitabine plus bevacizumab (C-B; capecitabine, 1250 mg/m² orally twice daily on days 1–14 and bevacizumab 7.5 mg/kg intravenously on day 1 of each 21-day cycle). Final OS was analysed when all patients had either died or withdrawn from the study. Adjusted multivariate regression was used to investigate the effects of pre-specified variables on OS.Results At 1 September 2020, median OS was 22.3 months (95% CI: 18.0–23.7) with TT-B and 17.7 months (95% CI: 12.6–19.8) with C-B (adjusted HR 0.78; 95% CI: 0.55–1.10). No variables negatively affected OS with TT-B. Safety results were consistent with prior findings.Conclusions TT-B is a promising therapeutic regimen in mCRC patients ineligible for intensive chemotherapy.Clinical trial information {"type":"clinical-trial","attrs":{"text":"NCT02743221","term_id":"NCT02743221"}}NCT02743221 (clinicaltrials.gov)Subject terms: Colorectal cancer, Colorectal cancer