The Association between Carbohydrate-Rich Foods and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Is Not Modified by Genetic Susceptibility to Dyslipidemia as Determined by 80 Validated Variants

Background

It is still unclear whether carbohydrate consumption is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Genetic susceptibility might modify the associations between dietary intakes and disease risk.

Objectives

The aim was to examine the association between the consumption of carbohydrate-rich foods (vegetables, fruits and berries, juice, potatoes, whole grains, refined grains, cookies and cakes, sugar and sweets, and sugar-sweetened beverages) and the risk of incident ischemic CVD (iCVD; coronary events and ischemic stroke), and whether these associations differ depending on genetic susceptibility to dyslipidemia.

Methods

Among 26,445 individuals (44–74 years; 62% females) from the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study cohort, 2,921 experienced an iCVD event during a mean follow-up time of 14 years. At baseline, dietary data were collected using a modified diet history method, and clinical risk factors were measured in 4,535 subjects. We combined 80 validated genetic variants associated with triglycerides and HDL-C or LDL-C, into genetic risk scores and examined the interactions between dietary intakes and genetic risk scores on the incidence of iCVD.

Results

Subjects in the highest intake quintile for whole grains had a 13% (95% CI: 3–23%; p-trend: 0.002) lower risk for iCVD compared to the lowest quintile. A higher consumption of foods rich in added sugar (sugar and sweets, and sugar-sweetened beverages) had a significant cross-sectional association with higher triglyceride concentrations and lower HDL-C concentrations. A stronger positive association between a high consumption of sugar and sweets on iCVD risk was observed among those with low genetic risk score for triglycerides (p-interaction=0.05).

Conclusion

In this prospective cohort study that examined food sources of carbohydrates, individuals with a high consumption of whole grains had a decreased risk of iCVD. No convincing evidence of an interaction between genetic susceptibility for dyslipidemia, measured as genetic risk scores of dyslipidemia-associated variants, and the consumption of carbohydrate-rich foods on iCVD risk was observed.     

The extraction,structure, and gelling properties of hybrid galactan from the red alga <Emphasis Type="Italic">Furcellaria lumbricalis</Emphasis> (Baltic Sea,Estonia)

The structure and composition of galactan from Furcellaria lumbricalis (furcellaran) were investigated in connection with rheological specificities, gel structure, and extraction conditions. The polysaccharide was characterized by ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (¹³C-NMR) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry, electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry, and gel permeation chromatography methods. The microstructure of polymer gels was studied using a cryofixation method in combination with freeze-drying and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The undersulfated furcellaran backbone consists mainly of 3,6-anhydro-d-galactose (28.5–30.1%) and galactose residues, the latter being partly sulfated in positions 4 and 6, which give rise to some specific properties of the gel. Also, residues of 6-O-methyl-d-galactose as a minor component are found to be present. The water-extracted furcellaran with the average molecular weight about 290 kDa is rich in nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, and potassium, while the sodium content is rather low. The low sulfur content (5.3%) and ¹³C-NMR spectra refer to an undersulfated nature of this galactan. The extraction of seaweeds in low concentration alkaline solutions (instead of water) leads to a significant increase of the minimum size of the galactan particles and the value of gel strength (more than 12 times for Rb-containing gels). The properties of the gel are dependent on specific tentacle-like structure units present in furcellaran gels established by a high-resolution SEM.     

Testing for an unusual distribution of rare variants

Technological advances make it possible to use high-throughput sequencing as a primary discovery tool of medical genetics, specifically for assaying rare variation. Still this approach faces the analytic challenge that the influence of very rare variants can only be evaluated effectively as a group. A further complication is that any given rare variant could have no effect, could increase risk, or could be protective. We propose here the C-alpha test statistic as a novel approach for testing for the presence of this mixture of effects across a set of rare variants. Unlike existing burden tests, C-alpha, by testing the variance rather than the mean, maintains consistent power when the target set contains both risk and protective variants. Through simulations and analysis of case/control data, we demonstrate good power relative to existing methods that assess the burden of rare variants in individuals.     

Effects of immune activation and glucocorticoid administration on feather growth in greenfinches

Elevation of glucocorticoid (GC) hormone levels is an integral part of stress response (as well as its termination) and immunomodulation. These hormones are also responsible for mobilizing energy stores by stimulation of gluconeogenesis and inhibition of protein synthesis. Elevation of GCs is thus incompatible with other protein-demanding processes, such as moult. Previous studies have shown that chronic elevation of GC hormones suppresses feather growth. Here, we asked whether similar effect would also occur in the case of acute GC elevation and induction of an inflammatory response by foreign antigen. We performed an experiment on captive wild-caught greenfinches (Carduelis chloris) injecting birds with phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) and dexamethasone (DEX) in a factorial design. To assess the possible somatic impacts of these manipulations, we removed one of the outermost tail feathers before the experiment and measured mass and rachis diameter and length of the replacement feathers grown in captivity. Immunostimulation by PHA reduced rachis length, but did not affect feather mass or rachis diameter. Single injection of a synthetic GC hormone DEX significantly reduced all three parameters of feather size. Altogether, these findings demonstrate the sensitivity of feather growth to manipulation of immune and adrenal functions. Our results corroborate the somatic costs of immune activation and suggest that even a short-term elevation of GC hormones may induce long-term somatic costs with a potential impact on fitness. Our findings also imply that a single injection of DEX, frequently used as a diagnostic tool, can have lasting effects and researchers must consider this when designing experiments.     

Wolframin deficiency is accompanied with metabolic inflexibility in rat striated muscles

The protein wolframin is localized in the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), influencing Ca2+ metabolism and ER interaction with mitochondria, but the exact role of the protein remains unclear. Mutations in Wfs1 gene cause autosomal recessive disorder Wolfram syndrome (WS). The first symptom of the WS is diabetes mellitus, so accurate diagnosis of the disease as WS is often delayed. In this study we aimed to characterize the role of the Wfs1 deficiency on bioenergetics of muscles. Alterations in the bioenergetic profiles of Wfs1-exon-5-knock-out (Wfs1KO) male rats in comparison with their wild-type male littermates were investigated using high-resolution respirometry, and enzyme activity measurements. The changes were followed in oxidative (cardiac and soleus) and glycolytic (rectus femoris and gastrocnemius) muscles. There were substrate-dependent alterations in the oxygen consumption rate in Wfs1KO rat muscles. In soleus muscle, decrease in respiration rate was significant in all the followed pathways. The relatively small alterations in muscle during development of WS, such as increased mitochondrial content and/or increase in the OxPhos-related enzymatic activity could be an adaptive response to changes in the metabolic environment. The significant decrease in the OxPhos capacity is substrate dependent indicating metabolic inflexibility when multiple substrates are available.     

The PNPLA3 Ile148Met interacts with overweight and dietary intakes on fasting triglyceride levels

The Ile148Met (rs738409, G-allele) in the patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3 gene (PNPLA3) associates with liver fat content and may lead to loss-of-function (hydrolysis) or gain-of-function (CoA-dependent lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase) defects. PNPLA3 is up-regulated by dietary carbohydrates, and interactions between rs738409 and carbohydrates, and sugar and ω6:ω3-polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) ratio on hepatic fat accumulation have been reported. We examined interaction between rs738409 and overweight, and between rs738409 and dietary intakes (carbohydrates, sucrose and ω6:ω3-PUFA ratio), on fasting triglyceride levels. From the Malmo Diet and Cancer Study-Cardiovascular Cohort, 4,827 individuals without diabetes aged 58 ± 6 years, 2,346 with BMI ≤ 25 kg/m² and 2,478 with BMI > 25 kg/m², were included in cross-sectional analyses. Dietary data were collected by a modified diet history method. Overweight modified the association between rs738409 and fasting triglyceride levels (P_interaction = 0.003). G-allele associated with lower triglycerides only among overweight individuals (P = 0.01). Nominally, significant interaction on triglyceride levels was observed between rs738409 and sucrose among normal-weight individuals (P_interaction = 0.03). G-allele associated with lower triglycerides among overweight individuals in the lowest tertiles of carbohydrate and ω6:ω3-PUFA ratio (P = 0.04 and P = 0.001) and with higher triglycerides among normal-weight individuals in the highest tertile of sucrose (P = 0.001). We conclude that overweight and dietary sucrose may modify the association between rs738409 and fasting triglyceride levels.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12263-014-0388-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Inhibition of the Trichoderma reesei cellulases by cellobiose is strongly dependent on the nature of the substrate

The inhibition effect of cellobiose on the initial stage of hydrolysis when cellobiohydrolase Cel 7A and endoglucanases Cel 7B, Cel 5A, and Cel 12A from Trichoderma reesei were acting on bacterial cellulose and amorphous cellulose that were [(3)H]- labeled at the reducing end was quantified. The apparent competitive inhibition constant (K(i)) for Cel 7A on [(3)H]-bacterial cellulose was found to be 1.6 +/- 0.5 mM, 100-fold higher than that for Cel 7A acting on low-molecular-weight model substrates. The hydrolysis of [(3)H]-amorphous cellulose by endoglucanases was even less affected by cellobiose inhibition with apparent K(i) values of 11 +/- 3 mM and 34 +/- 6 mM for Cel 7B and Cel 5A, respectively. Contrary to the case for the other enzymes studied, the release of radioactive label by Cel 12A was stimulated by cellobiose, possibly due to a more pronounced transglycosylating activity. Theoretical analysis of the inhibition of Cel 7A by cellobiose predicted an inhibition analogous to that of mixed type with two limiting cases, competitive inhibition if the prevalent enzyme-substrate complex without inhibitor is productive and conventional mixed type when the prevalent enzyme-substrate complex is nonproductive.     

Coccidian infection causes oxidative damage in greenfinches

The main tenet of immunoecology is that individual variation in immune responsiveness is caused by the costs of immune responses to the hosts. Oxidative damage resulting from the excessive production of reactive oxygen species during immune response is hypothesized to form one of such costs. We tested this hypothesis in experimental coccidian infection model in greenfinches Carduelis chloris. Administration of isosporan coccidians to experimental birds did not affect indices of antioxidant protection (TAC and OXY), plasma triglyceride and carotenoid levels or body mass, indicating that pathological consequences of infection were generally mild. Infected birds had on average 8% higher levels of plasma malondialdehyde (MDA, a toxic end-product of lipid peroxidation) than un-infected birds. The birds that had highest MDA levels subsequent to experimental infection experienced the highest decrease in infection intensity. This observation is consistent with the idea that oxidative stress is a causative agent in the control of coccidiosis and supports the concept of oxidative costs of immune responses and parasite resistance. The finding that oxidative damage accompanies even the mild infection with a common parasite highlights the relevance of oxidative stress biology for the immunoecological research.     

Distinct organization of energy metabolism in HL-1 cardiac cell line and cardiomyocytes

Expression and function of creatine kinase (CK), adenylate kinase (AK) and hexokinase (HK) isoforms in relation to their roles in regulation of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) and intracellular energy transfer were assessed in beating (B) and non-beating (NB) cardiac HL-l cell lines and adult rat cardiomyocytes or myocardium. In both types of HL-1 cells, the AK2, CKB, HK1 and HK2 genes were expressed at higher levels than the CKM, CKMT2 and AK1 genes. Contrary to the saponin-permeabilized cardiomyocytes the OXPHOS was coupled to mitochondrial AK and HK but not to mitochondrial CK, and neither direct transfer of adenine nucleotides between CaMgATPases and mitochondria nor functional coupling between CK-MM and CaMgATPases was observed in permeabilized HL-1 cells. The HL-1 cells also exhibited deficient complex I of the respiratory chain. In conclusion, contrary to cardiomyocytes where mitochondria and CaMgATPases are organized into tight complexes which ensure effective energy transfer and feedback signaling between these structures via specialized pathways mediated by CK and AK isoforms and direct adenine nucleotide channeling, these complexes do not exist in HL-1 cells due to less organized energy metabolism.