Exploring the neural correlates of fat taste perception and discrimination: Insights from electroencephalogram analysis.

Understanding neural pathways and cognitive processes involved in the transformation of dietary fats into sensory experiences has profound implications for nutritional well-being. This study presents an efficient approach to comprehending the neural perception of fat taste using electroencephalogram (EEG). Through the examination of neural responses to different types of fatty acids (FAs) in 45 participants, we discerned distinct neural activation patterns associated with saturated versus unsaturated fatty acids. The spectrum analysis of averaged EEG signals revealed notable variations in δ and α-frequency bands across FA types. The topographical distribution and source localization results suggested that the brain encodes fat taste with specific activation timings in primary and secondary gustatory cortices. Saturated FAs elicited higher activation in cortical associated with emotion and reward processing. This electrophysiological evidence enhances our understanding of fundamental mechanisms behind fat perception, which is helpful for guiding strategies to manage hedonic eating and promote balanced fat consumption.

Analysis of traditional Chinese medicine syndrome types and frequency changes of CD8+ and CD25+ T cells in metabolic-related fatty liver disease.

This study aimed to observe and analyze the changes in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome types and CD8+ and CD25+T cell frequencies of metabolic-related fatty liver disease. For this purpose, 100 patients with metabolic-related fatty liver disease and their TCM syndrome types who were screened for medical treatment were collected. Flow cytometry was used to detect the changes in the frequency of CD8+ and CD25+T cells in the peripheral blood of patients, as well as liver function, fasting blood glucose, and lipid index. The frequency differences of CD8+ and CD25+T cells in patients with different syndrome types were compared. To use partial correlation analysis to determine the correlation between CD8+, CD25+T cell frequencies and TCM syndrome types in patients. Results showed that a total of 30 cases of liver stagnation and spleen deficiency syndrome, 25 cases of phlegm turbidity internal obstruction syndrome, 20 cases of dampness heat stasis syndrome, and 25 cases of phlegm stasis mutual accumulation syndrome were included in the 100 MAFLD patients. There was statistical significance (P<0.01) in the comparison of ALT, AST, GGT, TC, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C, FPG, HOMA-IR, CD8+CD25+, CD8+CD25-, CD8-CD25+, and CD8-CD25- among patients with different TCM syndrome types. There is a positive correlation between TCM syndrome types and patients' CD8+CD25+, CD8+CD25-, and CD8-CD25+, while there is a negative correlation between them (P<0.05). From the chord diagram, the relationship between CD8+CD25+ and TCM syndrome types is the closest. The ROC curve was used to analyze and determine that the relevant standard for CD8+CD25+ in liver depression and spleen deficiency syndrome is <4.90%; The relevant standard for phlegm turbidity internal obstruction syndrome is 4.90%~7.88%; Damp heat stasis syndrome is 7.88%~8.20%; The syndrome of phlegm and blood stasis accumulation is more than 8.20%. The TCM syndrome types of metabolic-related fatty liver disease will vary with the frequency of CD8+ and CD25+T cells. In conclusion, TCM syndrome types are closely related to the severity of the patient's condition and immune function, providing a new perspective and means for understanding the pathogenesis of metabolic-related fatty liver disease and evaluating the condition.

Effect of annealing and heat-moisture pretreatments on the oil absorption of normal maize starch during frying.

The impacts of two hydrothermal pretreatments, annealing (ANN) and heat moisture treatment (HMT), on oil-absorption by normal maize starch (NMS) during frying were investigated using low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR). The structural organizations of the fried samples were also evaluated using SEM, XRD, ATR-FTIR, and DSC, respectively. Both hydrothermal pretreatments significantly reduced the total oil content in the starch after frying, with the magnitude of the effect depending on the treatment conditions used. SEM showed that the pretreated fried starch granules preserved more of their original morphology. XRD, FTIR, and DSC showed that both pretreatments preserved more of the short-range double helices and long-range organizations within the orthorhombic crystalline structure for NMS during frying. The promoting effect of ANN/HMT on the interactions of starch molecules and the rearrangement of double helices were hypothesized to be responsible for the increased thermal stability of starch granules in the present work. As a result, fried starch pretreated by ANN/HMT were more organized and more compact than fried NMS, thus inhibiting oil absorption during frying.

Analysis of porous structure of potato starch granules by low-field NMR cryoporometry and AFM.

Pore size distribution is a crucial structural element affecting the adsorption and diffusion of reagents and enzymes within starch granules. An accurate and credible method of determining the pore size distribution of starch granules especially for smooth ones is therefore required. In this work, low-field NMR cryoporometry (LF-NMRC) was applied to analyze the pore structure of potato starch (PS). The reliability of the LF-NMRC method is verified by comparing with the traditional method, i.e. the low temperature nitrogen adsorption (LT-NA). Both LF-NMRC and LT-NA could characterize the PS pore structure in mesoporous range. However, LF-NMRC has superiority over LT-NA in terms of the distinguishment and determination of pore size distribution approaching to the micropores, gives more accurate and reliable results than LT-NA does. Structural evidences from scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) further indicated that the new proposed method is a non-destructive method that does not induce structural changes during sample preparation.