Effect of an Asian-adapted Mediterranean diet and pentadecanoic acid on fatty liver disease: the TANGO randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Weight loss is the most effective treatment for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). There is evidence that the Mediterranean diets rich in unsaturated fatty acids and fiber have beneficial effects on weight homeostasis and metabolic risk factors in individuals with NAFLD. Studies have also shown that higher circulating concentrations of pentadecanoic acid (C15:0) are associated with a lower risk for NAFLD. OBJECTIVES: To examine the effects of a Mediterranean-like, culturally contextualized Asian diet rich in fiber and unsaturated fatty acids, with or without C15:0 supplementation, in Chinese females with NAFLD. METHODS: In a double-blinded, parallel-design, randomized controlled trial, 88 Chinese females with NAFLD were randomly assigned to 1 of the 3 groups for 12 wk: diet with C15:0 supplementation (n = 31), diet without C15:0 supplementation (n = 28), or control (habitual diet and no C15:0 supplementation, n = 29). At baseline and after the intervention, body fat percentage, intrahepatic lipid content, muscle and abdominal fat, liver enzymes, cardiometabolic risk factors, and gut microbiome were assessed. RESULTS: In the intention-to-treat analysis, weight reductions of 4.0 ± 0.5 kg (5.3%), 3.4 ± 0.5 kg (4.5%), and 1.5 ± 0.5 kg (2.1%) were achieved in the diet-with-C15:0, diet without-C15:0, and the control groups, respectively. The proton density fat fraction (PDFF) of the liver decreased by 33%, 30%, and 10%, respectively. Both diet groups achieved significantly greater reductions in body weight, liver PDFF, total cholesterol, gamma-glutamyl transferase, and triglyceride concentrations compared with the control group. C15:0 supplementation reduced LDL-cholesterol further, and increased the abundance of Bifidobacterium adolescentis. Fat mass, visceral adipose tissue, subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (deep and superficial), insulin, glycated hemoglobin, and blood pressure decreased significantly in all groups, in parallel with weight loss. CONCLUSION: Mild weight loss induced by a Mediterranean-like diet adapted for Asians has multiple beneficial health effects in females with NAFLD. C15:0 supplementation lowers LDL-cholesterol and may cause beneficial shifts in the gut microbiome. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: This trial was registered at the clinicaltrials.gov as NCT05259475.

Volatile methyl jasmonate from roots triggers host-beneficial soil microbiome biofilms.

The rhizosphere is a niche surrounding plant roots, where soluble and volatile molecules mediate signaling between plants and the associated microbiota. The preferred lifestyle of soil microorganisms is in the form of biofilms. However, less is known about whether root volatile organic compounds (rVOCs) can influence soil biofilms beyond the 2-10 mm rhizosphere zone influenced by root exudates. We report that rVOCs shift the microbiome composition and growth dynamics of complex soil biofilms. This signaling is evolutionarily conserved from ferns to higher plants. Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) is a bioactive signal of rVOCs that rapidly triggers both biofilm and microbiome changes. In contrast to the planktonic community, the resulting biofilm community provides ecological benefits to the host from a distance via growth enhancement. Thus, a volatile host defense signal, MeJA, is co-opted for assembling host-beneficial biofilms in the soil microbiota and extending the sphere of host influence in the rhizosphere.

Machine learning-based predictive analysis of total polar compounds (TPC) content in frying oils: A comprehensive electrochemical study of 6 types of frying oils with various frying timepoints.

Standard approaches to determining the total polar compounds (TPC) content in frying oils such as the chromatographic techniques are slow, bulky, and expensive. This paper presents the electrochemical analysis of 6 types of frying oils inclusive of 52 frying timepoints, without sample preparation. This is achieved via impedance spectroscopy to capture sample-specific electrical polarization states. To the best of our knowledge, this is a first-of-its-kind comprehensive study of various types of frying oils, with progressively increasing frying timepoints for each type. The principal component analysis distinguishes the frying timepoints well for all oil types. TPC prediction follows, involving supervised machine learning with sample-wise leave-one-out implementation. The R2 values and mean absolute errors across the test samples measure 0.93-0.97 and 0.43-1.19 respectively. This work serves as a reference for electrochemical analysis of frying oils, with the potential for portable TPC predictors for rapid accurate screening of frying oils.

Electrochemical investigation of edible oils: Experimentation, electrical signatures, and a supervised learning-case study of adulterated peanut oils.

Traditional approaches to characterize edible oils such as chemical, chromatographic and light absorption techniques are laborious, expensive, and bulky to implement. This paper presents the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of 13 types of edible oils, a rapid robust approach to characterizing the electrical behavior of oils without sample preparation. This is achieved through probing the oils via oscillating electric fields to capture oil-specific electrical behaviors. The principal component analysis discriminates the oil types well and establishes repetitive behavioral trends, perceived as electrical signatures. This data is applied in a case study of adulterated peanut oils to quantify adulteration via supervised machine learning with batch-wise leave-one-out implementation. The mean absolute errors and R2 values measure 2.18-3.27 and 0.975-0.991 respectively across 4 test batches. This work provides an exemplar for the electrochemical study of edible oils, with potential for portable proof-of-value device configurations for rapid in situ analysis of edible oils and adulterated oils.

Real-time, ultralow concentration detection of analytes in solution by infrared intracavity laser absorption.

Two intracavity laser absorption techniques for ultralow concentration detection of chemicals in solution are compared. The first consists of a laser diode in a grating extended cavity, which produces a linear calibration curve for parts in 10(9) (ppb) concentrations corresponding to 17 nM. By replacing the grating with a highly reflective mirror, parts in 10(12) (ppt) concentration detection is achieved, which corresponds to 340 pM. We report, to our knowledge for the first time, ppt detection of analyte concentration in liquid solution demonstrating good agreement between theory and experiment.