Association between caffeine intake and age at onset in Huntington's disease.

Habitual consumption of caffeine, a non-selective adenosine receptor (AR) antagonist, has been suggested to be beneficial in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Experimental evidence support that ARs play a role in Huntington's disease (HD) raising the hypothesis that caffeine may be a life-style modifier in HD. To determine a possible relationship between caffeine consumption and age at onset (AAO) in HD, we retrospectively assessed caffeine consumption in 80 HD patients using a dietary survey and determined relationship with AAO. Following adjustment for gender, smoking status and CAG repeat length, caffeine consumption greater than 190mg/day was significantly associated with an earlier AAO. These data support an association between habitual caffeine intake and AAO in HD patients, but further studies are warranted to understand the link between these variables.

Influence of weight loss on plasma ghrelin responses to high-fat and high-carbohydrate test meals in obese women.

BACKGROUND: Diet-induced weight loss is associated with an increase in fasting ghrelin. The influence of weight loss on postprandial ghrelin response remains discussed, but the specific response to macronutrients is not known. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to assess the influence of weight loss in obese women on the plasma ghrelin response to a fat- or carbohydrate-rich meal. DESIGN: Seventeen obese women (mean body mass index 37.6 +/- 5 kg/m2) were given an energy-restricted diet (800 kcal/d) for 7 wk, followed by a maintenance diet for 1 wk. Before and after the weight reduction diet, each woman was given (in random order) two isoenergetic test meals, corresponding to 40% of daily energy needs. The test meals contained either 80% fat and 20% protein or 80% carbohydrate and 20% protein. Blood samples were collected over a 10-h period. Two-way ANOVA with repeated measures was used to assess the effect of the test meal on variables. RESULTS: Weight loss (-11.2 +/- 1.4 kg) was associated with a significant decrease in baseline plasma insulin (9.7 +/- 4.1 to 7.9 +/- 2.4 mU/ml; P < 0.0001) and leptin (25.9 +/- 8.3 to 17.2 +/- 7.8 ng/ml; P < 0.0001) and an increase in plasma ghrelin (1.86 +/- 1.05 to 2.28 +/- 1.48 ng/ml; P < 0.05). Before weight loss, there was no significant difference in postprandial ghrelin response between the test meals. After weight reduction, the ghrelin response was more pronounced after the carbohydrate test meal than after the fat test meal (P < 0.02). CONCLUSION: Weight loss is associated with an improved postprandial plasma ghrelin response to a carbohydrate meal, whereas the response to a fat meal is not modified.