Location: Dietary Prevention of Obesity-related Disease Research
2022 Annual Report
Objectives
Objective 1: Determine postprandial lipoprotein and lipidomic responses to time restricted meal patterns in overweight-obese humans and explore variables that modulate these responses.
Objective 2: Define the impact of dietary fats of differing fatty acid composition upon postprandial lipoprotein type and concentrations in healthy humans in response to multiple meals and explore variables that modulate these responses.
Objective 3: Determine the effects of specific foods with differing fatty acid compositions on the lipidomic signatures of postprandial lipoproteins in healthy humans.
Objective 4: Determine the impact of soil management practices on nutritional quality of plant and animal foods produced in the Northern Great Plains.
Objective 5: Investigate whether agricultural production practices of crops important to the Northern Great Plains (e.g. pulses, animals fed local feedstuffs) alter nutritional outcomes important to humans such as (but not limited to) nutrient bioavailability, modulation and connection of soil and animal/human microbiomes, epigenetic alterations, satiety, food reinforcement, and/or alteration of clinical parameters.
Approach
The overarching theme of this project is to investigate determinants of postprandial (PP) metabolism with the goal reducing chronic disease risk. Although many aspects of diet and lifestyle influence metabolic status and disease trajectory during the lifespan, emerging findings suggest that there may be considerable influence of meal frequency and meal timing in disease prevention. Moreover, abundant data point to the role of dietary fat type as a major influence upon cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk trajectory.
PP lipemia, a risk factor for CVD, is a common underpinning mechanism linking meal timing and dietary fat type. Most evaluations of the effect of dietary fats on CVD disease risk rely on measures obtained in the fasting state, but people exist primarily in a PP state. Recently, time restricted eating has gained substantial attention; however, we do not know how this form of meal patterning impacts PP lipemia. As well, few data have examined the compounding effect of multiple meals and fats of different fatty acid composition on PP lipemia. In this work, we will identify the role of dietary patterning and specified dietary fats on PP lipid and lipoprotein metabolism. The novel results of these innovative investigations will provide enhanced understanding of the influence of meal timing and dietary fatty acid composition in optimizing health and will inform evidence-based dietary recommendations. These studies take advantage of our demonstrated expertise in the successful completion of clinical trials combined with our expertise in cutting edge lipidomic analysis.
Progress Report
Objective 3: Scientists in Grand Forks, North Dakota, are determining the impact of eating saturated fats vs polyunsaturated fats upon plasma lipoproteins such as low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) that are associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. This research in this objective includes a clinical study coupled with state-of-the-art mass spectrometry analysis of isolated lipoproteins. The clinical study protocol was developed, the Institutional Review Board approval obtained, and the study initiated with two participants out of the 16 needed completing the required treatments. This research will aid in determining how different dietary fats may modify CVD risk. Due to COVID19, recruiting for the study was halted.
ARS researchers in Grand Forks, North Dakota, are actively participating in the ARS Grand Challenge project Dairy Agriculture for People and Planet. Scientists are analyzing hundreds of samples from research projects to evaluate how breed and management strategies impact the nutritional quality of milk. In this past year, scientists developed a novel method for the analysis of a class of lipid termed sphingomyelins (SM). Data suggest that SM has anti-inflammatory properties for the gut. Due the large amount of dairy produced annually in the United States, SM has the potential to be added to foods for health benefit.
ARS scientists in Grand Forks, North Dakota, completed a study examining the impact of time-restricted eating (TRE) on the gut microbiome in mice. TRE is a dietary pattern that restricts food intake to the most active part of the day, and data suggest that the microbiome may play a role in the health benefits associated with TRE. In this work, scientist studied the relationship of fecal microbes and fecal lipids in mice fed an obesity-causing high fat diet with and without TRE. The data demonstrated that TRE changes the fecal microbiome and lipids in a TRE-dependent manner and that some of the benefits of TRE are due to differences in the absorption of dietary fats from the gut.
ARS scientists in Grand Forks, North Dakota, completed a clinical study investigating the impact of egg intake upon CVD risk markers in people eating a Mediterranean diet (Med Diet). A Med Diet decreases plaque causing lipoproteins and CVD risk. It is unknown how high cholesterol intake within a Med Diet will affect these parameters. The objective of this project was to evaluate the daily inclusion of whole eggs, a high cholesterol food, in the Med Diet on lipid and lipoprotein profiles. The data showed that responses varied widely between people, and subsequent machine learning techniques identified that three main response types, related to lipoprotein metabolism, to the diets occurred. These findings demonstrate the need for personalized diets. These data have been accepted for publication.
ARS scientists at Grand Forks, North Dakota, are collaborating with scientists from the USDA-ARS Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center of Aging at Tufts University (Boston, Massachusetts) to determine how a person’s individual genetic background influences the response to diet. These scientists are investigating the impact of APOAII gene differences upon lipid metabolites in the blood. The data are being prepared for publication.
ARS researchers in Grand Forks, North Dakota, are laying the fundamental groundwork for the nutrition component of the Healthy Soils, Healthy Foods, Healthy People initiative in collaboration with ARS scientists in Fargo, North Dakota, and Mandan, North Dakota. This initiative will result in enhanced farming methods and food processing methods for improving the nutritional quality of foods. This year’s past activities include the search for and hire of a nutrition scientist for this initiative and the standing up of the laboratory located in Fargo, North Dakota.
ARS scientists in Grand Forks, North Dakota, collaborated with ARS scientists in East Lansing, Michigan, to determine whether grinding dry beans into a flour provides additional health benefits over the consumption of the typically consumed whole bean. In these studies, rodents were provided an obesity-causing diet (that induces high blood sugar, high blood lipids, and fatty liver – hallmarks of metabolic disease), the same diet made with whole beans, or the same diet made with beans that were ground as a flour. Samples and data are currently being analyzed.
Accomplishments
1. Identifying personalized responses to diets. Identifying how people individually respond to diets will aid in preventing cardiovascular disease (CVD). ARS scientists in Grand Forks, North Dakota, completed a clinical, controlled-feeding study investigating the impact of daily egg intake upon CVD risk markers in people eating a Mediterranean diet meal pattern. The data showed that risk marker responses varied widely between people, and subsequent machine learning techniques identified that three main response types to the diets occurred. These findings demonstrate the need for personalized diets. This research is important to nutrition scientists, dietitians, egg producers, and the American consumer.
2. Improved analysis of anti-inflammatory dairy lipids. Over 100 billion pounds of milk is produced in the United States annually. A special class of dairy lipids called sphingomyelins (SM) has unique health-promoting properties, but analysis of SM is difficult. Improved analysis of SM in dairy is important to nutrition scientists and to the dairy industry because dairy SM may be used as a food additive. Researchers in Grand Forks, North Dakota, developed an innovative method of analyzing SM, using mass spectrometry, that quantifies the several different types of SM in milk in a rapid manner without interferences from other milk lipids. This research is important to nutrition scientists, dairy scientists, and food chemists, and the American consumer.
Review Publications
Harnly, J.M., Picklo, M., Bukowski, M.R., Kalscheur, K., Magnuson, A.D., Fukagawa, N.K., Finley, J.W. 2021. Deriving information from complex data sets: Impact of forage on fatty acids in cow milk. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 107:104179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2021.104179.
Mankiewicz, J.L., Picklo, M.J., Idso, J.P., Cleveland, B.M. 2022. Evidence of hyperphagia and fatty acid mobilization in leptin receptor deficient rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Biomolecules EISSN 2218-273X. 12(4):516. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom12040516.
Yan, L., Sundaram, S., Rust, B.M., Picklo, M.J., Bukowski, M.R. 2021. Mammary tumorigenesis and metabolome in adipose specific monocyte chemotactic protein-1 deficient male MMTV-PyMT mice fed a high-fat diet. Frontiers in Oncology. 11. Article 667843. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2021.667843.
Picklo, M.J., Kalscheur, K., Magnuson, A.D., Bukowski, M.R., Harnly, J.M., Fukagawa, N.K., Finley, J.W. 2022. Identification of high and low branched-chain fatty acid producing phenotypes in Holstein cows following high forage and low forage diets in a cross-over designed trial1. Current Developments in Nutrition. Article nzab154. https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzab154.
Yan, L., Sundaram, S., Rust, B., Picklo, M.J., Bukowski, M.R. 2022. Metabolomes of Lewis lung carcinoma metastases and normal lung tissue from mice fed different diets. Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 107. Article 109051. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnutbio.2022.109051.
Rust, B., Raatz, S., Casperson, S.L., Duke, S.E., Picklo, M.J. 2021. Dietary fat chain length, saturation, and PUFA source acutely affect diet-induced thermogenesis but not satiey in adults in a randomized, crossover trail. Nutrients. 13(8). Article 2615. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13082615.
