Grape polyphenols decrease circulating branched chain amino acids in overfed adults.

Introduction and aims: Dietary polyphenols have long been associated with health benefits, including the prevention of obesity and related chronic diseases. Overfeeding was shown to rapidly induce weight gain and fat mass, associated with mild insulin resistance in humans, and thus represents a suitable model of the metabolic complications resulting from obesity. We studied the effects of a polyphenol-rich grape extract supplementation on the plasma metabolome during an overfeeding intervention in adults, in two randomized parallel controlled clinical trials. Methods: Blood plasma samples from 40 normal weight to overweight male adults, submitted to a 31-day overfeeding (additional 50% of energy requirement by a high calorie-high fructose diet), given either 2 g/day grape polyphenol extract or a placebo at 0, 15, 21, and 31 days were analyzed (Lyon study). Samples from a similarly designed trial on females (20 subjects) were collected in parallel (Lausanne study). Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics was conducted to characterize metabolome changes induced by overfeeding and associated effects from polyphenol supplementation. The clinical trials are registered under the numbers NCT02145780 and NCT02225457 at ClinicalTrials.gov. Results: Changes in plasma levels of many metabolic markers, including branched chain amino acids (BCAA), ketone bodies and glucose in both placebo as well as upon polyphenol intervention were identified in the Lyon study. Polyphenol supplementation counterbalanced levels of BCAA found to be induced by overfeeding. These results were further corroborated in the Lausanne female study. Conclusion: Administration of grape polyphenol-rich extract over 1 month period was associated with a protective metabolic effect against overfeeding in adults.

A Method to Monitor the NAD+ Metabolome-From Mechanistic to Clinical Applications.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) and its reduced form (NADH) are coenzymes employed in hundreds of metabolic reactions. NAD+ also serves as a substrate for enzymes such as sirtuins, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases (PARPs) and ADP-ribosyl cyclases. Given the pivotal role of NAD(H) in health and disease, studying NAD+ metabolism has become essential to monitor genetic- and/or drug-induced perturbations related to metabolic status and diseases (such as ageing, cancer or obesity), and its possible therapies. Here, we present a strategy based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), for the analysis of the NAD+ metabolome in biological samples. In this method, hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) was used to separate a total of 18 metabolites belonging to pathways leading to NAD+ biosynthesis, including precursors, intermediates and catabolites. As redox cofactors are known for their instability, a sample preparation procedure was developed to handle a variety of biological matrices: cell models, rodent tissues and biofluids, as well as human biofluids (urine, plasma, serum, whole blood). For clinical applications, quantitative LC-MS/MS for a subset of metabolites was demonstrated for the analysis of the human whole blood of nine volunteers. Using this developed workflow, our methodology allows studying NAD+ biology from mechanistic to clinical applications.

Resistance to lean mass gain in constitutional thinness in free-living conditions is not overpassed by overfeeding.

BACKGROUND: Constitutional thinness (CT), a non-malnourished underweight state with no eating disorders, is characterized by weight gain resistance to high fat diet. Data issued from muscle biopsies suggested blunted anabolic mechanisms in free-living state. Weight and metabolic responses to protein caloric supplementation has not been yet explored in CT. METHODS: A 2 week overfeeding (additional 600 kcal, 30 g protein, 72 g carbohydrate, and 21 g fat) was performed to compare two groups of CTs (12 women and 11 men) to normal-weight controls (12 women and 10 men). Bodyweight, food intake, energy expenditure, body composition, nitrogen balance, appetite hormones profiles, and urine metabolome were monitored before and after overfeeding. RESULTS: Before overfeeding, positive energy gap was found in both CT genders (309 ± 370 kcal in CT-F and 332 ± 709 kcal in CT-M) associated with higher relative protein intake per kilo (1.74 ± 0.32 g/kg/day in CT-F vs. 1.16 ± 0.23 in C-F, P < 0.0001; 1.56 ± 0.36 in CT-M vs. 1.22 ± 0.32 in C-M, P = 0.03), lower nitrogen (7.26 ± 2.36 g/day in CT-F vs. 11.41 ± 3.64 in C-F, P = 0.003; 9.70 ± 3.85 in CT-M vs. 14.14 ± 4.19 in C-M, P = 0.02), but higher essential amino acids urinary excretion (CT/C fold change of 1.13 for leucine and 1.14 for arginine) in free-living conditions. After overfeeding, CTs presented an accentuated positive energy gap, still higher than in controls (675 ± 540 in CTs vs. 379 ± 427 in C, P = 0.04). Increase in lean mass was induced in both controls genders but not in CTs (a trend was noticed in CT women), despite a similar nitrogen balance after overfeeding (5.06 ± 4.33 g/day in CTs vs. 4.28 ± 3.15 in controls, P = 0.49). Higher anorectic gut hormones' tone, glucagon-like peptide 1 and peptide tyrosine tyrosine, during test meal and higher snacking frequency were noticed before and after overfeeding in CTs. CONCLUSIONS: The blunted muscle energy mechanism, previously described in CTs in free-living state, is associated with basal saturated protein turn over suggested by the concordance of positive nitrogen balance and an increased urine excretion of several essential amino acids. This saturation cannot be overpassed by increasing this spontaneous high-protein intake suggesting a resistance to lean mass gain in CT phenotype.

Cytotoxic Lipopeptide Muscotoxin A, Isolated from Soil Cyanobacterium Desmonostoc muscorum, Permeabilizes Phospholipid Membranes by Reducing Their Fluidity.

There is mounting evidence that cyanobacterial lipopeptides can kill mammalian cells, presenting a hazard to human health. Unfortunately, their mechanism of toxicity is poorly understood. We have isolated new cyclic undecalipopeptides muscotoxin A and B containing unique lipophilicresidue 3-amino-2,5-dihydroxydecanoic acid (5-OH Ahdoa). Muscotoxin B was not used for biological studies due to its poor yield. Muscotoxin A was cytotoxic to YAC-1, Sp/2, and HeLa cancer cell lines (LC(50) ranged from 9.9 to 13.2 µM after 24 h of exposure), causing membrane damage and influx of calcium ions. Subsequently, we studied this lytic mechanism using synthetic liposomes with encapsulated fluorescent probes. Muscotoxin A permeabilized liposomes composed exclusively of phospholipids, demonstrating that no proteins or carbohydrates present in biomembranes are essential for its activity. Paradoxically, the permeabilization activity of muscotoxin A was mediated by a significant reduction in membrane surface fluidity (stiffening), the opposite of that caused by synthetic detergents and cytolytic lipopeptide puwainaphycin F. At 25 °C, muscotoxin A disrupted liposomes with and without cholesterol/sphingomyelin; however, at 37 °C, it was selective against liposomes with cholesterol/sphingomyelin. It appears that both membrane fluidity and organization can affect the lytic activity of muscotoxin A. Our findings strengthen the evidence that cyanobacterial lipopeptides specifically disrupt mammalian cell membranes and bring new insights into the mechanism of this effect.