Project description:The crucial role of nutrition for cerebral health and the impact of dietary habits on brain structure and function have been long far recognized. To date a major health concern is associated with the increased consumption of fructose as added sugar in many types of drinks and processed foods, especially among young people. High-fructose intake has been pointed out as the possible culprit for the raised incidence of chronic diseases, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and type 2 diabete. Further, it has been reported that high-fructose intake is associated with the over-activation of its cerebral metabolism, which was proposed to negatively impact on whole brain physiology and cognitive function. Notably, we previously reported that short-term fructose-rich diet induces mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation in hippocampus of young rats, as well as the imbalance of redox homeostasis, autophagic mechanisms and representation of synaptic markers in frontal cortex of both adult and young rats. Animal studies have also revealed the damaging effect of high-fructose diets on hippocampal functions during periods of neurocognitive development, such as childhood and adolescence. Hypothalamus plays a crucial role in maintaining whole body homeostasis. Long-term fructose overfeeding was reported to alter hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, leading to elevations in glucocorticoids in peri-adolescent rats [22]. Further, fructose overconsumption was associated with impairment of hypothalamic insulin signalling, oxidative stress and inflammation , and it was proposed that fructose-driven perturbations of hypothalamic function may compromise the potential for satiety, thereby increasing the prospect of developing obesity. Data currently available on hypothalamic dysfunctions related to a high-fructose diet essentially refer to the effects of long-term sugar feeding, while information on corresponding alterations associated with a short-term dietary treatment, particularly in the critical period of adolescence, is still lacking. Due to complexity and multiplicity of hypothalamic functions, there is also the need for a holistic characterization aimed at unveiling the general picture of hypothalamic dysfunctions associated with a high-fructose diet. To fill this gap, we investigated adolescent rats fed a fructose-rich or control diet, for 3 weeks. To verify whether the fructose-driven changes are rescued after the switch to a control diet, half of the rats from both animal groups were then fed a control diet for additional 3 weeks until young adulthood phase. Quantitative proteomics on hypothalamic extracts of all animal groups was used to identify molecular alterations triggered by fructose-rich diet and to obtain insights into the relationship between sugar feeding and possible dysfunctions of hypothalamus.

Project description:Beneficial effects of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 FAs) are generally well-known from epidemiological studies, but the various mechanisms of action are not completely clarified. Regulation of gene expression is one known mechanism of action, but only very limited data of regulated pathways in humans after n-3 FA supplementation are available. Up to now, no studies compared gene expression changes after n-3 FA supplementation between normolipidemic and dyslipidemic subjects. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of n-3 FA administration on whole genome expression profiles in the blood of normo- and dyslipidemic subjects. We conducted an intervention study with normo- and dyslipidemic men aged between 29 and 51 years, which were subdivided into four groups with a balanced age distribution and randomized to either six fish oil capsules per day providing 1.5 g docosahexaenoic acid and 1.0 g eicosapentaenoic acid or corn oil capsules rich in linoleic acid per day for a period of 12 weeks. Venous blood samples were collected at baseline as well as after 4 hours, 1 week and 12 weeks of supplementation. For each investigation time point, the samples of each group were pooled together to minimize inter-individual variability. All subjects have successfully completed the study, but for the microarray experiments, nine subject samples were excluded. Therefore, the microarray experiments are based on the following group characteristics: normolipidemic fish oil group (FO-N): pool of nine RNAs from normolipidemic subjects supplemented with fish oil; normolipidemic corn oil group (CO-N): pool of six RNAs from normolipidemic subjects supplemented with corn oil; dyslipidemic corn oil group (CO-D): pool of eight RNAs from dyslipidemic subjects supplemented with corn oil; dyslipidemic fish oil group (FO-D): pool of nine RNAs from dyslipidemic subjects supplemented with fish oil. The twenty normolipidemic and the twenty dyslipidemic subjects were subdivided into two groups. Thus, a total of four groups with ten men per group passed through the study. To realize a comparable mean age between groups, the formation of groups was performed by stratified allocation according to subject's age. The four study groups were randomly assigned to different study products by an uninvolved collaborator. Subjects ingested either six FO or six corn oil (CO) capsules per day for a period of twelve weeks. The daily n-3 PUFA intake via FO capsules was 2.7 g (1.14 g DHA and 1.56 g EPA). The predominant FA of the CO capsules was the omega-6 (n-6) PUFA linoleic acid (LA, 18:2n-6). Thus, the daily LA intake via CO capsules was 3.05 g LA. The subjects were instructed to ingest the capsules together with food, three in the morning and three in the evening, and to maintain their usual exercise and dietary habits throughout the intervention time. As an exception, at the first intervention day, all six capsules were ingested at the same time in the morning after a standardised breakfast. During each visit, fasting blood samples were collected by venepuncture. Additionally, participants completed a questionnaire to obtain information about changes in medication, dietary (e.g., changes in weekly fish intake, preferred fish dishes or species, respectively) and lifestyle habits (e.g., physical activity), as well as the tolerability of the capsules. This record summarizes the results of 16 microarrays. The samples originate from whole blood of normo- and dyslipidemic subjects supplemented with either fish oil or corn oil for 4 h, 1 week and 12 weeks. Microarrays were hybridized in a loop design with one common reference using a dye-swap approach.

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