Effect of age and dietary habits on Red Blood Cell membrane fatty acids in a Southern Europe population (Basque Country).

The levels of blood eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are very variable and, in general, low in most of the world population. In this study, the effects of age, sex, COVID-19, and dietary habits on the lipid profile of the erythrocyte membranes were assessed in a sub-cohort of healthy population (N = 203) from a large cohort of individuals from the Basque Country, Spain, (AKRIBEA). Sex did not have an effect on RBC lipid profile. COVID-19 infected participants showed higher levels of DGLA. Oldest participants showed higher oleic acid, EPA and DHA levels. Arachidonic acid in RBC correlated positively with the intake of sunflower oil, butter, eggs, processed and red meat, whereas DHA and EPA correlated positively with oily and lean fish. Basque Country population showed lipid profiles similar to other high fish consuming countries, such as Italy and Japan. Baseline levels of the whole lipidomic profile of the RBC including SFA, MUFA and PUFA should be examined to obtain a better description of the health and nutritional status.

Competitive season effects on polyunsaturated fatty acid content in erythrocyte membranes of female football players.

BACKGROUND: An optimal and correctly balanced metabolic status is essential to improve sports performance in athletes. Recent advances in omic tools, such as the lipid profile of the mature erythrocyte membranes (LPMEM), allow to have a comprehensive vision of the nutritional and metabolic status of these individuals to provide personalized recommendations for nutrients, specifically, the essential omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, individuating deficiencies/unbalances that can arise from both habitual diet and sportive activity. This work aimed to study the LPMEM in professional female football players during the football season for the first time and compare it with those defined as optimal values for the general population and a control group. METHODS: An observational study was carried out on female football players from the Athletic Club (Bilbao) playing in the first division of the Spanish league. Blood samples were collected at three points: at the beginning, mid-season, and end of the season for three consecutive seasons (2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022), providing a total of 160 samples from 40 women. The LPMEM analysis was obtained by GC-FID by published method and correlated to other individual data, such as blood biochemical parameters, body composition, and age. RESULTS: We observed a significant increase in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (p 0.048) and total polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) (p 0.021) in the first season. In the second season, we observed a buildup in the membrane arachidonic acid (AA) (p < .001) and PUFA (p < .001) contents when high training accumulated. In comparison with the benchmark of average population values, 69% of the football players showed lower levels of omega-6 dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA), whereas 88%, 44%, and 81% of the participants showed increased values of AA, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and the ratio of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids (SFA/MUFA), respectively. Regarding relationships between blood biochemical parameters, body composition, and age with LPMEM, we observed some mild negative correlations, such as AA and SFA/MUFA ratio with vitamin D levels (coefficient = -0.34 p = .0019 and coefficient = -.25 p = .042); DGLA with urea and cortisol (coefficient = -0.27 p < .006 and coefficient = .28 p < .0028) and AA with age (coefficient = -0.33 p < .001). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, relevant variations in several fatty acids of the membrane fatty acid profile of elite female football players were observed during the competitive season and, in comparison with the general population, increased PUFA contents were confirmed, as reported in other sportive activities, together with the new aspect of DGLA diminution, an omega-6 involved in immune and anti-inflammatory responses. Our results highlight membrane lipidomics as a tool to ascertain the molecular profile of elite female football players with a potential application for future personalized nutritional strategies (diet and supplementation) to address unbalances created during the competitive season.

OBINTER: A Holistic Approach to Catalyse the Self-Management of Chronic Obesity.

Obesity is a preventable chronic condition that, in 2016, affected more than 1.9 billion people globally. Several factors have been identified that have a positive impact on long-term weight loss programs such as personalized recommendations, adherence strategies, weight and diet follow-up or physical activity tracking. Recently, various applications have been developed which help patients to self-manage their condition. These apps implement either one or some of these identified factors; however, there is not a single application that combines all of them following a holistic approach. In this context, we developed the OBINTER platform, which assists patients during the weight loss process by targeting user engagement during the longer term. The solution includes a mobile application which allows users to fill out dietetic questionnaires, receive dietetic and nutraceutical plans, track the evolution of their weight and adherence to the diet, as well as track their physical activity via a wearable device. Furthermore, an adherence strategy has been developed as a tool to foster the app usage during the whole weight loss process. In this paper, we present how the OBINTER approach gathers all of these features as well as the positive results of a usability testing study performed to assess the performance and usability of the OBINTER platform.