Dietary fiber combinations to mitigate the metabolic, microbial, and cognitive imbalances resulting from diet-induced obesity in rats.

Dietary fiber promotes a healthy gut microbiome and shows promise in attenuating the unfavorable microbial changes resulting from a high-fat/sucrose (HFS) diet. High-fiber diets consisting of oligofructose alone (HFS/O) or in combination with ß-glucan (HFS/OB), resistant starch (HFS/OR), or ß-glucan and resistant starch (HFS/OBR) were fed to diet-induced obese rats for 8 weeks to determine if these fibers could attenuate the obese phenotype. Only the HFS/O group displayed a decrease in body weight and body fat, but all fiber interventions improved insulin sensitivity and cognitive function. The HFS/O diet was the least effective at improving cognitive function and only the HFS/OB group showed improvements in glucose tolerance, thus highlighting the differential effects of fiber types. Hippocampal cytokines (IL-6, IL-10) were more pronounced in the HFS/OB group which coincided with the most time spend in the open arms of the elevated plus maze. All fiber groups showed an increase in beneficial Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus abundance while the HFS group showed higher abundance of Clostridium. Fecal microbiota transplant from fiber-treated rats into germ-free mice did not alter body composition in the mice but did result in a higher abundance of Bacteroides in the HFS/O and HFS/OB groups compared to HFS. The HFS/OB recipient mice also had higher insulin sensitivity compared to the other groups. This study highlights the influence of dietary fiber type on metabolic and cognitive outcomes suggesting that the type of supplementation (single or combined fibers) could be tailored to specific targeted outcomes.

Paternal high protein diet modulates body composition, insulin sensitivity, epigenetics, and gut microbiota intergenerationally in rats.

Mounting evidence demonstrates that paternal diet programs offspring metabolism. However, the contribution of a pre-conception paternal high protein (HP) diet to offspring metabolism, gut microbiota, and epigenetic changes remains unclear. Here we show that paternal HP intake in Sprague Dawley rats programs protective metabolic outcomes in offspring. Compared to paternal high fat/sucrose (HF/S), HP diet improved body composition and insulin sensitivity and improved circulating satiety hormones and cecal short-chain fatty acids compared to HF/S and control diet (P < .05). Further, using 16S rRNA gene sequencing to assess gut microbial composition, we observed increased alpha diversity, distinct bacterial clustering, and increased abundance of Bifidobacterium, Akkermansia, Bacteroides, and Marvinbryantia in HP fathers and/or male and female adult offspring. At the epigenetic level, DNMT1and 3b expression was altered intergenerationally. Our study identifies paternal HP diet as a modulator of gut microbial composition, epigenetic markers, and metabolic function intergenerationally.

Does the use of self-compression in mammography affect compression force, breast thickness, and mean glandular dose?

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to investigate whether the use of self-compression in craniocaudal (CC) projection has an effect on compression force, breast thickness, radiation dose and image quality compared to the standard mammographic procedure. METHODS: The study was conducted on 200 female patients that were referred for mammographic imaging. Patients were randomly divided into two equal groups. In the first group, self-compression was performed on the right breast and in the second group on the left breast. The data about compression force (N), breast thickness (mm), and mean glandular dose (MGD; mGy) were collected. In addition, the differences in the mentioned variables according to the side of self-compression were compared. All mammographic images were evaluated by two experienced radiologists according to the criteria established by the European Commission. RESULTS: The use of self-compression resulted in a significant increase in compression force by 21.7 % (19.8 N) and a significant reduction of breast thickness by 5% (2.43 mm) and MGD by 6.3 % (0.09 mGy), respectively. There were no statistically significant differences based on the self-compression side, and no differences were observed in image quality assessment. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that the imaging protocol in mammography of the CC projection can be adopted by the use of self-compression in order to achieve better results.

The Effects of Human Milk Oligosaccharide Supplementation During Critical Periods of Development on the Mesolimbic Dopamine System.

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMO)s are a key component in human milk and represent an important dietary modulator of infant gut microbiota composition and associated gut-brain axis development and homeostasis. The brain reward system, specifically the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) projections from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to nucleus accumbens (NAc) is involved in the motivation and preference for food. The objective of the present study was to determine if HMO fortified diets given during the critical period of reward system development (p21) could affect the structure of the reward system. At weaning (p21), Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized to one of four fortified diet groups: Control, 3'sialyllactose (3'FL), 2'-fucosyllactose (2'FL), or a combination of 3'SL and 2'FL (3'SL + 2'FL). Messenger RNA (mRNA) expression was quantified for DA and appetite associated markers in the VTA and NAc and western blots measured the immediate early gene FosB and its isoform ΔFosB. Females fed the 3'SL + 2'FL fortified diet displayed a decrease in DAT expression in the VTA and an increase in leptin expression in the NAc. Females displayed an overall lower expression of NAc D2, VTA ghrelinR, and VTA leptin. In males, VTA DAT and FosB were negatively correlated with body weight and systemic leptin. Sex differences in the expression of DA markers underscore the need to investigate this phenomenon and understand the functional significance in preventing or treating obesity. This study highlights sex differences in response to HMO supplementation and the need for further investigations into the functional significance of nutritional interventions during DA system development.

Prebiotic Oligofructose Prevents Antibiotic-Induced Obesity Risk and Improves Metabolic and Gut Microbiota Profiles in Rat Dams and Offspring.

SCOPE: Antibiotics in early life disrupt microbiota and increase obesity risk. Dietary agents such as prebiotics may reduce obesity risk. The authors examine how antibiotics administered with/without prebiotic oligofructose, alter metabolic and microbial outcomes in pregnant rats and their offspring. METHODS AND RESULTS: Pregnant rats are randomized to: 1) Control, 2) Antibiotic (ABT), 3) Prebiotic (PRE), 4) Antibiotic+Prebiotic (ABT+PRE) during the 3rd week of pregnancy and lactation. Offspring were fed a high fat/high sucrose (HFS) diet from 9-17 weeks of age to unmask obesity risk. ABT dams had higher body weight, body fat and leptin during lactation than all other groups. Prebiotics attenuate these outcomes and increase cecal Bifidobacterium. ABT offspring have higher body weight, fat mass, and liver triglycerides after HFS diet, with a stronger phenotype in males; prebiotics attenuate these. At weaning, male ABT offspring have lower Lactobacillus while PRE and ABT+PRE offspring had higher Bifidobacterium and Collinsella. Fecal microbiota transfer of adult offspring cecal matter could not reliably transfer the obese ABT phenotype. CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotic use during pregnancy/lactation increases adiposity and impairs post-partum weight loss in dams. Co-administering prebiotics with antibiotics in rat dams prevented obesity risk in offspring and is associated with altered gut microbiota.

LUMBAR SPINE RADIOGRAPHY: LOWER ORGAN DOSE WITH THE USE OF PA PROJECTION.

The purpose of the research was to determine the effect of the posteroanterior (PA) patient position in lumbar spine imaging on effective dose and the absorbed organ dose. The study was performed on 100 patients that were referred to the lumbar spine radiography that were divided into two equal groups of 50. Body Mass Index, Dose Area Product (DAP), exposure index (EXI), tube time-current (mAs), image field size and the source-patient distance were acquired for each patient. The entrance surface dose (ESD), the effective dose and the absorbed organ doses were calculated. There was no statistically significant difference in the BMI and EXI between the AP and PA projection. The results showed a significant reduction of ESD by 33% and the effective dose by 53% when the PA projection was used. Furthermore, there was a 64% average reduction of the absorbed organ doses to the selected organs.

Comparison of anteroposterior and posteroanterior projection in lumbar spine radiography.

Background The aim of the study was to compare patient radiation dose and image quality in planar lumbar spine radiography using the PA and AP projection in a large variety of patients of both sexes and different sizes. Patients and methods In the first phase data of image field size, DAP, effective dose and image quality were gathered for AP and PA projection in lumbar spine imaging of anthropomorphic phantom. In the second phase, data of BMI, image field size, diameter of the patient's abdomen, DAP, effective dose and image quality were gathered for 100 patients of both sexes who were referred to lumbar spine radiography. The patients were divided into two groups of 50 patients, one of which was imaged using the AP projection while the other the PA projection. Results The study on the phantom showed no statistically significant difference in image field size, DAP and image quality. However, the calculated effective dose in the PA projection was 25% lower compared to AP projection (p =0.008). Measurements on the patients showed no statistically significant difference between the BMI and the image field size. In the PA projection, the thickness of abdomen was 10% (p < 10-3) lower, DAP 27% lower (p = 0.009) and the effective dose 53% (p < 10-3) lower than in AP projection. There was no statistically significant difference in image quality between the AP and the PA projection. Conclusions The study results support the use of the PA projection as the preferred method of choice in planar lumbar spine radiography.