Maternal vitamin D deficiency and brain functions: a never-ending story.

A large number of observational studies have highlighted the prevalence rates of vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency in many populations including pregnant women. Vitamin D is well known to have a crucial role in differentiation and proliferation, as well as neurotrophic and neuroprotective actions in the brain. It has been observed that this micronutrient can modulate neurotransmission and synaptic plasticity. Recent results from animal and epidemiological studies indicated that maternal vitamin D deficiency is associated with a wide range of neurobiological diseases including autism, schizophrenia, depression, multiple sclerosis and developmental defects. The aim of this review is to summarize the current state of knowledge on the effect of maternal vitamin D deficiency on brain functions and development.

Deep phenotyping and biomarkers of various dairy fat intakes in an 8-week randomized clinical trial and 2-year swine study.

Health effects of dairy fats (DF) are difficult to evaluate, as DF intakes are hard to assess epidemiologically and DF have heterogeneous compositions that influence biological responses. We set out to find biomarkers of DF intake and assess biological response to a summer DF diet (R2), a winter DF diet (R3), and a R3 supplemented with calcium (R4) compared to a plant-fat-based diet (R1) in a randomized clinical trial (n=173) and a 2-year study in mildly metabolically disturbed downsized pigs (n=32). Conventional clinical measures were completed by LC/MS plasma metabolomics/lipidomics. The measured effects were modeled as biological functions to facilitate interpretation. DF intakes in pigs specifically induced a U-shaped metabolic trajectory, reprogramming metabolism to close to its initial status after a one-year turnaround. Twelve lipid species repeatably predicted DF intakes in both pigs and humans (6.6% errors). More broadly, in pigs, quality of DF modulated the time-related biological response (R2: 30 regulated functions, primarily at 6 months; R3: 26 regulated functions, mostly at 6-12 months; R4: 43 regulated functions, mostly at 18 months). Despite this heterogeneity, 9 functions overlapped under all 3 DF diets in both studies, related to a restricted area of amino acids metabolism, cofactors, nucleotides and xenobiotic pathways and the microbiota. In conclusion, over the long-term, DF reprograms metabolism to close to its initial biological status in metabolically-disrupted pigs. Quality of the DF modulates its metabolic influence, although some effects were common to all DF. A resilient signature of DF consumption found in pigs was validated in humans.

(all-E)- and (5Z)-Lycopene Display Similar Biological Effects on Adipocytes.

SCOPE: Although about 90% of lycopene in dietary sources occurs in the linear all-trans conformation, a large proportion of the lycopene found in human tissues is of the cis-isomer type, notably (5Z)-lycopene. The biological effects of this (5Z) isomer have been under-researched. The aim of this study is to evaluate some biological functions of (5Z)-lycopene in adipocytes and to compare them with those of (all-E)-lycopene. METHODS AND RESULTS: (all-E)- and (5Z)-Lycopene displayed strong similarities in global gene expression profile and biological pathways impacted. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) signaling is identified as a major actor mediating the effects of lycopene isomers. Transactivation assays confirmed the ability of both isomers to transactivate PPARγ. In addition, the TNFα-induced proinflammatory cytokine mRNA expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes is reduced by both isomers via a reduction in the phosphorylation levels of p65. Finally, lycopene isomers restore the TNF-α-blunted uptake of glucose by adipocytes via a modulation of AKT phosphorylation. CONCLUSION: These results show that lycopene isomers exert similar biological functions in adipocytes, linked to their ability to transactivate PPARγ. These findings add to our knowledge of lycopene effects in adipocyte biology and point to the possible use of lycopene in the prevention of obesity-related disorders.

Lycopene and tomato powder supplementation similarly inhibit high-fat diet induced obesity, inflammatory response, and associated metabolic disorders.

SCOPE: Several studies have linked the high intake of lycopene or tomatoes products with lower risk for metabolic diseases. The aim of the present study was to evaluate and to compare the effect of lycopene and tomato powder on obesity-associated disorders. METHODS AND RESULTS: Male C57BL/J6 mice were assigned into four groups to receive: control diet (CD), high fat diet (HFD), high fat diet supplemented with lycopene or with tomato powder (TP) for 12 weeks. In HFD condition, lycopene and TP supplementation significantly reduced adiposity index, organ, and relative organ weights, serum triglycerides, free fatty acids, 8-iso-prostaglandin GF2α and improved glucose homeostasis, but did not affect total body weight. Lycopene and TP supplementation prevented HFD-induced hepatosteatosis and hypertrophy of adipocytes. Lycopene and TP decreased HFD-induced proinflammatory cytokine mRNA expression in the liver and in the epididymal adipose tissue. The anti-inflammatory effect of lycopene and TP was related to a reduction in the phosphorylation levels of IκB, and p65, and resulted in a decrease of inflammatory proteins in adipose tissue. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that lycopene or TP supplementation display similar beneficial health effects that could be particularly relevant in the context of nutritional approaches to fight obesity-associated pathologies.