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The effect of select nutrients on serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoprotein A-I levels. Mooradian AD, Haas MJ, Wong NC. Endocr Rev. 2006 Feb;27(1):2-16. Epub 2005 Oct 21. Review. PMID: 16243964 One of the factors contributing to the increased risk of developing premature atherosclerosis is low plasma concentrations of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (HDLc). Multiple potential mechanisms account for the cardioprotective effects of HDL and its main protein apolipoprotein A-I (apo A-I). The low plasma concentrations of HDL could be the result of increased fractional clearance and reduced expression of apo A-I. To this end, nutrients play an important role in modulating the fractional clearance rate, as well as the rate of apo A-I gene expression. Because medical nutrition therapy constitutes the cornerstone of management of dyslipidemias, it is essential to understand the mechanisms underlying the changes in HDL level in response to alterations in dietary intake. In this review, we will discuss the effect of select nutrients on serum HDLc and apo A-I levels. Specifically, we will review the literature on the effect of carbohydrates, fatty acids, and ketones, as well as some of the nutrient-related metabolites, such as glucosamine and the prostanoids, on apo A-I gene expression. Because there are multiple mechanisms involved in the regulation of serum HDLc levels, changes in gene transcription do not necessarily correlate with clinical observations on serum levels of HDLc.

Apigenin inhibits growth and motility but increases gap junctional coupling intensity in rat prostate carcinoma (MAT-LyLu) cell populations. Czernik M, Sroka J, Madeja Z, Czyz J. Cell Mol Biol Lett. 2008;13(3):327-38. Epub 2008 Feb 21. PMID: 18292973 DOI: 10.2478/s11658-008-0003-z This in vitro data indicates that apigenin may affect cancer development in general, and prostate carcinogenesis in particular, via its influence on cellular activities decisive for both cancer promotion and progression, including cell proliferation, gap junctional coupling and cell motility and invasiveness.

"Consuming tempeh can reduce the risk of developing dementia in the elderly, but eating tofu can increase it, said a joint study between universities here and in Britain on Wednesday. The study between University of Indonesia (UI), Indonesia Respati University, University of Loughborough and University of Oxford said people over 68 years of age who consumed tofu more than twice a day had a worse memory than those who rarely ate it. But if they also ate tempeh, the risk of dementia was reduced. "Tempeh consumption very likely offsets tofu's negative associations with memory," Professor Eef Hogervorst of the University of Loughborough said in a seminar on aging and health at UI campus in Depok, where she presented the result of the study. The study involved 712 respondents from Jakarta, Citengah in West Java and Yogyakarta, with ages ranging from 52 to 99 years. "

The findings showed babies brought up exclusively on their mother's milk were significantly more healthy than those given substitute formula feeds.But the study found the positive effects - fewer and less severe infections - were not felt by children who were only partially breastfed.Researchers from the University of Crete monitored the health of just under 1,000 infants for a period of 12 months,

"One of the surprises over the past year has been all the research regarding Vitamin D and brain health. Give that many people are spending less time outdoors and more time in front of their computers, we all should be concerned, as Vitamin D comes in part from our exposure to the sun. Low Vitamin D levels have been associated with pain, depression, MS, cancer and now perhaps even dementia. Here are the results of a new study that should cause all of us to pay attention. I frequently check the Vitamin D levels in my patients and frrequently see that they are below the optimal level. Get your levels checked if you have any of these concerns. A new large-scale senior population study has found that a lack of vitamin D in the elderly could be linked to cognitive impairment. The study, conducted on almost 2,000 adults over the age of 65, is the first of its scale to identify this relationship, and prompted researchers to suggest vitamin D supplementation as a possible means of reducing the risk of dementia. "

Association of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids with stability of atherosclerotic plaques: a randomised controlled trial. Thies F, Garry JM, Yaqoob P, Rerkasem K, Williams J, Shearman CP, Gallagher PJ, Calder PC, Grimble RF. Lancet. 2003 Feb 8;361(9356):477-85. PMID: 12583947 doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(03)12468-3 Interpretation Atherosclerotic plaques readily incorporate n-3 PUFAs from fish-oil supplementation, inducing changes that can enhance stability of atherosclerotic plaques. By contrast, increased consumption of n-6 PUFAs does not affect carotid plaque fatty-acid composition or stability over the time course studied here. Stability of plaques could explain reductions in non-fatal and fatal cardiovascular events associated with increased n-3 PUFA intake

One-year comparison of a high-monounsaturated fat diet with a high-carbohydrate diet in type 2 diabetes. Brehm BJ, Lattin BL, Summer SS, Boback JA, Gilchrist GM, Jandacek RJ, D'Alessio DA. Diabetes Care. 2009 Feb;32(2):215-20. Epub 2008 Oct 28. PMID: 18957534 doi: 10.2337/dc08-0687 CONCLUSIONS-In individuals with type 2 diabetes, high-MUFA diets are an alternative to conventional lower-fat, high-CHO diets with comparable beneficial effects on body weight, body composition, cardiovascular risk factors, and glycemic control.

Intima-media thickness of the carotid artery and the distribution of lipoprotein subclasses in men aged 40 to 49 years between whites in the United States and the Japanese in Japan for the ERA JUMP study. Sekikawa A, Ueshima H, Sutton-Tyrrell K, Kadowaki T, El-Saed A, Okamura T, Takamiya T, Ueno Y, Evans RW, Nakamura Y, Edmundowicz D, Kashiwagi A, Maegawa H, Kuller LH. Metabolism. 2008 Feb;57(2):177-82. PMID: 18191046 doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2007.08.022. In men in the post World War II birth cohort, i.e., men aged 40-49, whites in the United States (U.S.) had significantly higher levels of intima-media thickness of the carotid arteries (IMT) than the Japanese in Japan. The whites had significantly higher levels of large very-low-density-lipoprotein particles and significantly lower levels of large high-density-lipoprotein particles than the Japanese, whereas the two populations had similar levels of small low-density-lipoprotein particles. The two populations had similar associations of IMT with NMR lipoproteins. Adjusting for NMR lipoproteins did not attenuate the significant difference in IMT between the two populations (0.671 ± 0.006 for the whites and 0.618 ± 0.006 mm for the Japanese, P=0.01, mean (standard error)). Differences in the distributions of NMR lipoproteins between the two populations did not explain the higher IMT in the whites.

Conjugated linoleic acid impairs endothelial function. Taylor JS, Williams SR, Rhys R, James P, Frenneaux MP. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2006 Feb;26(2):307-12. Epub 2005 Dec 8. PMID: 16339498 CONCLUSIONS: A CLA isomeric mixture had at most modest effects on adiposity and worsened endothelial function. On the basis of these results, the use of the isomeric mixture of CLA as an aid to weight loss cannot be recommended

Berberine, a natural product, induces G1-phase cell cycle arrest and caspase-3-dependent apoptosis in human prostate carcinoma cells. Mantena SK, Sharma SD, Katiyar SK. Mol Cancer Ther. 2006 Feb;5(2):296-308. PMID: 16505103 doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-05-0448 The effectiveness of berberine in checking the growth of androgen-insensitive, as well as androgen-sensitive, prostate cancer cells without affecting the growth of normal prostate epithelial cells indicates that it may be a promising candidate for prostate cancer therapy. The evaluation of ancient herbal medicines may indicate novel strategies for the treatment of prostate cancer, which remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in American men (1). In our present investigation, we show that a naturally occurring isoquinoline alkaloid, berberine, significantly inhibits the proliferation and reduces the viability of DU145 and PC-3 as well as LNCaP cells (Fig. 1), which suggests that berberine may be an effective chemotherapeutic agent against both androgen-sensitive and androgen-insensitive prostate cancer cells. Importantly, we found that berberine did not exhibit toxicity to nonneoplastic human prostate epithelial cells under the conditions used, except for a moderate reduction in cell viability at higher concentrations when cells were treated in vitro for an extended period of time. In conclusion, the results of the present study indicate that berberine inhibits proliferation and induces G1-phase arrest and apoptosis in human prostate cancer cells but not in normal human prostate epithelial cells. In addition, we provide mechanistic evidence that berberine-induced apoptosis in prostate carcinoma cells, particularly hormone-refractory prostate carcinoma cells, is mediated through enhanced expression of Bax, disruption of the mitochondrial membrane potential, and activation of caspase-3.

Eggs modulate the inflammatory response to carbohydrate restricted diets in overweight men. Ratliff JC, Mutungi G, Puglisi MJ, Volek JS, Fernandez ML. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2008 Feb 20;5:6. PMID: 18289377 Carbohydrate restricted diets (CRD) consistently lower glucose and insulin levels and improve atherogenic dyslipidemia [decreasing triglycerides and increasing HDL cholesterol (HDL-C)]. We have previously shown that male subjects following a CRD experienced significant increases in HDL-C only if they were consuming a higher intake of cholesterol provided by eggs compared to those individuals who were taking lower concentrations of dietary cholesterol. Here, as a follow up of our previous study, we examined the effects of eggs (a source of both dietary cholesterol and lutein) on adiponectin, a marker of insulin sensitivity, and on inflammatory markers in the context of a CRD. Conclusion A CRD with daily intake of eggs decreased plasma CRP and increased plasma adiponectin compared to a CRD without eggs. These findings indicate that eggs make a significant contribution to the anti-inflammatory effects of CRD, possibly due to the presence of cholesterol, which increases HDL-C and to the antioxidant lutein which modulates certain inflammatory responses.

Synergistic anti-inflammatory effects of low doses of curcumin in combination with polyunsaturated fatty acids: docosahexaenoic acid or eicosapentaenoic acid. Saw CL, Huang Y, Kong AN. Biochem Pharmacol. 2010 Feb 1;79(3):421-30. Epub 2009 Sep 8. PMID: 19744468

Types of dietary fat and risk of coronary heart disease: a critical review. Hu FB, Manson JE, Willett WC. J Am Coll Nutr. 2001 Feb;20(1):5-19. Review. PMID: 11293467

Egg consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes in men and women. Djoussé L, Gaziano JM, Buring JE, Lee IM. Diabetes Care. 2009 Feb;32(2):295-300. Epub 2008 Nov 18. PMID: 1901777 doi: 10.2337/dc08-1271 RESULTS-During mean follow-up of 20.0 years in men and 11.7 years in women, 1,921 men and 2,112 women developed type 2 diabetes. Compared with no egg consumption, multivariable adjusted hazard ratios for type 2 diabetes were 1.09 (95% CI 0.87-1.37), 1.09 (0.88-1.34), 1.18 (0.95-1.45), 1.46 (1.14-1.86), and 1.58 (1.25-2.01) for consumption of <0.0001). CONCLUSIONS-These data suggest that high levels of egg consumption (daily) are associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in men and women. Confirmation of these findings in other populations is warranted.