American Institute Of Nutrition Research Articles

Benzyl isothiocyanate enhances chemosensitivity and inhibits migration and invasion of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Approximately 500,000 cases of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are reported worldwide each year. Despite recent improvements in cancer treatment, the increase in overall survival of advanced HNSCC has not improved in the past 3 decades. Consequently, our objective is to find new therapeutic options to enhance survival of patients with aggressive HNSCC. Benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC), a natural compound found in cruciferous vegetables, is showing promising results in targeting chemoresistant and metastatic HNSCC cell lines. Our current data suggests that BITC enhances sensitivity of HNSCC cell lines to cisplatin after 24, 48, and 72 hours. A migration assay indicated that the wound healing of metastatic HNSCC cell lines are inhibited by BITC in a dose dependent manner. Additionally, an invasion assay showed that BITC significantly inhibits HNSCC cell invasion towards the chemoattractant EGF after 20 hrs, in a dose dependent manner. Immunofluorescence and Western blot analysis suggest that treatment with BITC inhibits the expression of epithelial‐mesenchymal transition marker, vimentin, in the HN12 cell line. Therefore, the present results suggest that BITC may be able to enhance the effect of chemotherapy, while also reducing migration and invasion of HNSCC cells. Thus suggesting that BITC may be a novel adjuvant therapy for patients with aggressive HNSCC.Grant Funding Source: American Society for Nutrition

Effect of a 12-Week Nutrition and Wellness Program in Independent Living Seniors

Almost one third of total United States health care dollars are spent on older adults, which will continue to rise as the number of older Americans increases.1 Several large-scale health and wellness programs have been able to demonstrate positive health and financial outcomes for people older than 65 years.2 The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, along with the American Society for Nutrition and the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior, has issued a position statement that all older adults should have access to food and nutrition programs.

Editorial introductions

Editorial introductions

Expanding the frontiers of population nutrition research: new questions, new methods, and new approaches.

Nutrition research, ranging from molecular to population levels and all points along this spectrum, is exploring new frontiers as new technologies and societal changes create new possibilities and demands. This paper defines a set of frontiers at the population level that are being created by the increased societal recognition of the importance of nutrition; its connection to urgent health, social, and environmental problems; and the need for effective and sustainable solutions at the population level. The frontiers are defined in terms of why, what, who, and how we study at the population level and the disciplinary foundations for that research. The paper provides illustrations of research along some of these frontiers, an overarching framework for population nutrition research, and access to some of the literature from outside of nutrition that can enhance the intellectual coherence, practical utility, and societal benefit of population nutrition research. The frontiers defined in this paper build on earlier forward-looking efforts by the American Society for Nutrition and extend these efforts in significant ways. The American Society for Nutrition and its members can play pivotal roles in advancing these frontiers by addressing a number of well-recognized challenges associated with transdisciplinary and engaged research.

Commentary on 'Maternal long-chain PUFA supplementation during protein deficiency improves brain fatty acid accretion in rat pups by altering the milk fatty acid composition of the dam' by Ranade and Rao.

Perinatal PUFA nutrition is usually studied in the context of resource-replete populations in Western countries. Under conditions of ample dietary energy and protein, study findings may be neutral because long-chain PUFA (LC-PUFA) effects are obscured by high-performing control groups, wider-than-assumed variability and other factors. Moreover, studies of hidden hunger, defined by adequate energy and protein, usually focus on vitamin A, Fe, or general micronutrients and ignore essential fats. As industrialising nations such as India shift away from traditional whole foods that deliver a net balance of essential fats towards industrially produced linoleic acid-rich oils, often in the name of cholesterol-lowering, reductions in neural tissue n-3 DHA are sure to follow, along with higher nutritional demands for preformed DHA. Despite the evidence-based medicine mantra that considers animal data to be inadequate to set dietary guidelines, animal studies can, and in many cases do, represent the highest level of evidence, particularly in the science of nutrition. Consider that no ethical health researcher or institutional review board would ever consider randomising pregnant women to a diet that delivers all fat from linoleate-replete, linolenate-deficient, seed oils (e.g. conventional sunflower, safflower and peanut), definitively shown in animal studies to compromise neural development of offspring, and probably the mental health of the mother; not a single human trial exists on this point, and in light of the animal evidence, it should never be done. Similar situations exist for most of the dietary essential nutrients. In the Journal of Nutritional Science, Ranade & Rao(, 1 ) present an animal study of importance for nutritional situations in which protein is in short supply. They consider whether preformed DHA and arachidonic acid (ARA) in the dam's diet modify the effects of a low-protein diet on the DHA status of the rat pup brain. Tissue DHA itself is unequivocally known to be required for proper perinatal brain and retinal development and function from many human studies, and probably also in many other life stages. Ranade and Rao show that DHA and ARA provided to rat dams fed 9 % protein diets restore and enhance brain DHA levels in nursing pups at 14 d compared with a 9 % protein diet devoid of LC-PUFA as well as a protein-replete (18 %) LC-PUFA-devoid control group. They also show that rat dam milk DHA and rat pup DHA are the most highly correlated among fatty acids at day 14 of lactation. At one level, these data suggest that limited protein also limits the conversion of precursor α-linolenic acid to DHA, at least against a background soyabean oil diet. These data have important implications for the nutriture of protein-restricted lactating women. They confirm that milk DHA is lower in dams fed low-protein diets, thus suggesting one mechanism by which low protein may adversely affect brain development. They also imply that compromised brain DHA can be restored by provision of preformed DHA. The control diet, American Institute of Nutrition (AIN)-93, derives all fat from commodity soyabean oil in which linoleic acid is more than 50 % of energy from fat, similar to diets of populations consuming high levels of industrially produced seed oils. This is, therefore, a study of linoleic acid-surfeit diets that in general compromise tissue n-3 LC-PUFA and inhibit the accumulation of DHA from dietary precursors(, 2 ). Ranade & Rao(, 1 ) show that low protein further restricts brain DHA accretion. Preformed DHA as provided here is known in other contexts, and convincingly in this study, to restore and enhance brain DHA levels. Greater brain DHA is found for human breast-fed infants compared with infants fed LC-PUFA-free formulae, and in a plethora of animal studies DHA is known to be required for proper neural function(, 3 ). It is therefore likely that the present results apply to human subjects. Lactovegetarian pregnant and lactating women in India who shift their intake to manufactured linoleate-rich seed oils such as conventional sunflower, safflower, peanut, or soyabean oils are likely to be particularly vulnerable to a DHA deficiency. Plant foods in general have no LC-PUFA, and milk fat has only small amounts of EPA and no DHA. They would be well advised to restrict intake of these oils or increase intake of acceptable vegetarian sources of DHA. The present paper indicates that this step may be of particular importance in protein-limited populations. There are no conflicts of interest.

Contributions of Processed Foods to Dietary Intake in the US from 20032008: A Report of the Food and Nutrition Science Solutions Joint Task Force of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, American Society for Nutrition, Institute of Food Technologists, and International Food Information Council1–4

Processed foods are an integral part of American diets, but a comparison of the nutrient contribution of foods by level of processing with the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans regarding nutrients to encourage or to reduce has not been documented. The mean reported daily dietary intakes of these nutrients and other components were examined among 25,351 participants ≥2 y of age in the 2003–2008 NHANES to determine the contribution of processed food to total intakes. Also examined was the percent contribution of each nutrient to the total reported daily nutrient intake for each of the 5 categories of food that were defined by the level of processing. All processing levels contributed to nutrient intakes, and none of the levels contributed solely to nutrients to be encouraged or solely to food components to be reduced. The processing level was a minor determinant of individual foods' nutrient contribution to the diet and, therefore, should not be a primary factor when selecting a balanced diet.

Evolutionary Aspects of Animal Models

The 8th American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP) symposium, held at the 2012 Experimental Biology meeting in San Diego, California (http://experimentalbiology.org/ content/AboutEP.aspx), was organized by the ACVP Intersociety Experimental Pathology Committee in conjunction with the American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP; http://www.asip.org/). The symposium facilitates interactions and cross-disciplinary collaborations between veterinary and physician pathologists, scientists, and basic researchers. The American Society for Nutrition cosponsored this year’s symposium. The symposium topic was evolutionary aspects of animal models. An evolutionary perspective is increasingly being embraced as essential for a comprehensive understanding of disease. The symposium highlighted the importance of an evolutionary perspective in the development and use of animal models of human disease. Speakers emphasized how evolution has differentially molded cardiovascular physiology, response to infectious agents, and aging in both man and animals. In addition, the evolutionary trade-offs between phenotypic selection and disease, which has provided many spontaneous animal models of human diseases, were discussed. Dr Robert Hamlin, The Ohio State University, opened with the challenges for studying cardiovascular disease in a talk entitled: ‘‘Animals as models of human cardiovascular disease: the search to overcome outdated evolutionary homeostatic mechanisms.’’ He addressed the fact that animals used to model human diseases often have very different cardiovascular physiology from humans and how these differences affect the predictive value of safety studies. As an example, cardiovascular drug safety testing was expanded significantly upon discovering that the antihistamine terfenadine is cardiotoxic when not completely metabolized. Its toxic effect is induced by the inhibition of the cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP 3A4) isoform, a circumstance that caused death in a small percentage of people due to an unexpected interaction with other medications. CYP 3A4 is inhibited by a variety of commonly prescribed drugs as well as grapefruit. In its toxic form, terfenadine induces a prolonged QT interval and thus can trigger a fatal arrhythmia; however, this effect could not be modeled in rats and mice since they do not have the hERG ion channel that caused the human arrhythmia. Dr Hamlin further emphasized the importance of matching characteristics of the experimental animal with those of the human phenotype. In listing several animals that should not be used to model specific human diseases, he included guinea pigs and dogs as poor subjects for studies of coronary collateralization as their coronary arteries have a much more extensive collateral circulation than is present in human beings. An interesting theme was how many cardiovascular diseases arise or worsen due to outmoded ‘‘protective’’ homeostatic mechanisms. For example, volume depletion was the primary mode of death for prehistoric man; however, in the developed world, the mechanisms that evolved to assist survival in conditions of volume depletion (thirst, decreased urine production, and vasoconstriction) now complicate more modern maladies such as diabetes, congestive heart failure, and pulmonary disease. Such examples emphasize the need for careful consideration of the evolutionary similarities and differences between man and the animals used in research. To summarize, Dr Hamlin questioned how we can expect to model a heterogeneous population with a homogeneous animal model when disease characteristics may be determined by population heterogeneity. He concluded that selecting surrogates to study human pathophysiology should

Nutritional Scientist or Biochemist?

When invited by the editors to provide a prefatory article for the Annual Review of Nutrition, I attempted to decide what might be unique about my experiences as a nutritional biochemist. Although a large proportion of contemporary nutritional scientists were trained as biochemists, the impact of the historical research efforts related to nutrition within the Biochemistry Department at the University of Wisconsin 50 to 60 years ago was, I think, unique, and I have tried to summarize that historical focus. My scientific training was rather standard, but I have tried to review the two major, but greatly different, areas of research that I have been involved in over my career: inorganic fluorides as an industrial pollutant and the metabolic role of vitamin K. I have also had the opportunity to become involved with the activities of the societies representing the nutritional sciences (American Society for Nutrition), biochemistry (American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology), Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, the Food and Nutrition Board, the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics. These interactions can be productive or frustrating but are always time-consuming.

Dietary fructo-oligosaccharides improve insulin sensitivity along with the suppression of adipocytokine secretion from mesenteric fat cells in rats

Short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) are known to have beneficial effects on health. However, the effects of FOS on insulin resistance have not been fully clarified. We observed the effects of FOS feeding on insulin sensitivity and adipocytokine release from abdominal adipocytes in weaning rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats, 3 weeks old, were divided into three groups and fed a sucrose-based American Institute of Nutrition (AIN)-93 growth diet (control), the control diet containing 5% FOS for 5 weeks (FOS-5wk) or the control diet for 2 weeks followed by the 5% FOS diet for 3 weeks (FOS-3wk). Tail blood was collected after fasting for 9h on day 33 of feeding, and glucose and insulin levels were measured. On the last day, rats were anaesthetised and killed after the collection of aortic blood. Small- and large-intestinal mesenteric fat tissues were immediately excised, and the release of adiponectin, leptin and TNF-α was evaluated from the subsequently isolated adipocytes. The weight of the large-intestinal mesenteric fat, fasting blood insulin level and homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance decreased in a time-dependent manner, and were much lower in the FOS-5wk group than in the control group. These values were correlated with aortic blood leptin levels. The secretion rate of leptin from the isolated mesenteric adipocytes in the small intestine, but not in the large intestine, was lower in the FOS-fed groups than in the control group. In conclusion, FOS feeding improved insulin sensitivity accompanied by the reduction in large-intestinal fat mass and leptin secretion from the mesenteric adipocytes of the small intestine.

Report on Stakeholders' activities in the area of emerging risks

Report on Stakeholders' activities in the area of emerging risks

Beginning a discussion of nutrition and health disparities

In 2005, the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) created a Minority Affairs Committee (MAC). The goal of the committee is to enhance the participation of scientists from minority groups in the activities of the ASN. Because of the marked disparities in health conditions between white Americans and ethnic minority groups, the MAC also aims to promote scholarly interaction in the area of nutrition in health disparities. To that end, in 2010, the MAC held its first symposium at Experimental Biology. The goal of the symposium was to begin a discussion within the ASN of the role of nutrition in disparities...

Membrane-rich milk fat diet provides protection against gastrointestinal leakiness in mice treated with lipopolysaccharide

Milk fat globule membrane is a protein-lipid complex that may strengthen the gut barrier. The main objective of this study was to assess the ability of a membrane-rich milk fat diet to promote the integrity of the gut barrier and to decrease systemic inflammation in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-challenged mice. Animals were randomly assigned to one of 2 American Institute of Nutrition (AIN)-76A formulations differing only in fat source: control diet (corn oil) and milk fat diet (anhydrous milk fat with 10% milk fat globule membrane). Each diet contained 12% calories from fat. Mice were fed diets for 5 wk, then injected with vehicle or LPS (10mg/kg of BW) and gavaged with dextran-fluorescein to assess gut barrier integrity. Serum was assayed for fluorescence 24h after gavage, and 16 serum cytokines were measured to assess the inflammatory response. Gut permeability was 1.8-fold higher in LPS-challenged mice fed the control diet compared with the milk fat diet. Furthermore, mice fed the milk fat diet and injected with LPS had lower serum levels of IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-1, interferon (IFN)-γ, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and IL-3 compared with LPS-injected mice fed the control diet. The results indicate that the membrane-rich milk fat diet decreases the inflammatory response to a systemic LPS challenge compared with corn oil, and the effect coincides with decreased gut permeability.

The anti‐tumor activity of Antrodia camphorate in melanoma cells: Modulation of Wnt/β‐catenin signaling

Antrodia camphorata is well known in Taiwan as a nutritional food. The objective of our study was to determine if fermented culture broth of Antrodia camphorata (AC‐10; 40–120 μg/mL) could modulate the key elements of Wnt pathway in murine melanoma cell (B16F10); an efficacy for chemoprevention of this malignancy. The suppression of β‐catenin, a key mediator of Wnt signaling pathway, was seen in B16F10 cell with AC‐10 administration. The transcriptional targets of c‐myc and cyclin D1 were also dramatically downregulated. We also observed that AC‐10 caused the G1 arrest that was mediated through reductions in the levels of cyclinD1 and CDK4, and increases in p27 and p21 levels in B16F10 cell. In addition, treatment B16F10 with AC‐10 resulted in a significant dose‐dependent increase in apoptosis, which was associated with DNA fragmentation, sub‐G1 phase accumulation. Gelatin zymography and western blotting showed that reduced cell invasion with AC‐10 treatment correlated with MMP‐9 and MMP‐2 expression. These results suggested that AC‐10 may exert anti‐tumor activity by modulating Wnt/β‐catenin pathway.The source of research support: American Society for Nutrition (ASN)

Problems in the Japanese criteria for metabolic syndrome.

Dear Editor, Ogawa et al. studied the cut-off point of waist circumference (WC) for the clustering of two or more metabolic risk factors among the three non-WC components of Japanese metabolic syndrome (JMetS) and proposed to amend JMetS regarding the cut-off point of WC for women1. However, the most dangerous drawback of JMetS criteria is that it makes abdominal obesity a necessary component. Other problems of JMetS criteria are the cut-off point of impaired fasting glucose, the unnecessary combination of two components (hypertriglyceridemia and hypo-high-density lipoprotein cholesterolemia into one component) and the cut-off point of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol for women. In 2009, a worldwide consensus statement2 for the criteria of metabolic syndrome (MetS) was jointly issued by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Task Force on Epidemiology and Prevention; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI); American Heart Association (AHA); World Heart Federation; International Atherosclerosis Society; and International Association for the Study of Obesity. In this statement, the revised National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) criteria (AHA/NHLBI criteria) where abdominal obesity is not a necessary component was adopted as the worldwide definition of MetS. The 2005 IDF criteria of MetS where abdominal obesity is a necessary component were withdrawn by the IDF itself. However, the cut-off points of WC could not be determined for any ethnic groups2. In 2007, the Association for Weight Management and Obesity Prevention, the Obesity Society, the American Society for Nutrition, and the American Diabetes Association issued a consensus statement regarding WC, where they stated that there is not yet a compelling body of evidence showing that WC provides clinically meaningful information that is independent of well-known cardiometabolic risk factors3. Although the cut-off points of WC were controversial, those of body mass index (BMI) were widely accepted as 25 kg/m2 for overweight and 30 kg/m2 for obesity. We compared BMI, WC and percentage of body fat as markers for the clustering of metabolic risk factors in 2444 Japanese men and 1442 Japanese women, and found no significant difference among these three obesity parameters as a marker of metabolic risk clustering4. Therefore, both a BMI cut-off point of 25 kg/m2 and a WC cutoff point of 85 cm for men and 80 cm for women might be appropriate for a cut-off point of an obesity component of MetS. However, the most important point is that obesity is not a necessary component of MetS. It was pointed out by NIPPON DATA90 that the definition of MetS where obesity is a necessary component is dangerous, because normal-weight individuals have a high mortality risk and are more prevalent than obese or overweight subjects in Japan. A Japan Public Health Center-based (JPHC) study also concluded that the MetS definition requiring obesity or overweight as a necessary component might not necessarily identify normal-weight individuals who have a high mortality risk and are more prevalent than subjects with JMetS, and suggested that MetS based on the AHA/NHLBI criteria predicts cardiovascular disease better than MetS based on the 2005 IDF criteria where abdominal obesity is a necessary component.

Education in Nutrition Medicine: the Critical Role of Medical Students

Statement of the ProblemThe Healthy People 2010 and the US Preventive Services Task Force recommend that physicians provide nutritional counseling to their patients. Less than 10% of fourth‐year students at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) felt well‐prepared to address nutritional concerns with patients.ObjectiveTo enhance medical students' knowledge, attitudes, and counseling skills in nutrition medicine.MethodThe Student Nutrition Awareness and Action Council (SNAAC) was created in 2009–10. Second years students lead SNAAC's activities and recruit first‐year students to become the next year's leaders. SNAAC has a membership of 56 students and a primary mentor who is a Physician Nutrition Specialist. Major support comes from medical school funds and foundation awards.InterventionSNAAC activities are classified in five categories: 1) education: students work with BUSM's Nutrition Vertical Integration Group to create and update a virtual nutrition medicine course; 2) community outreach: students work with high‐school students to create nutrition tools for community‐based interventions; 3) clinical practice: students conduct interviews at a pediatric obesity clinic; 4) advocacy: students promote healthier food options at cafeterias on‐site and work with regional nutrition/obesity committees to change policies; and, 5) events: students hold a nutrition‐lecture series. As a result, SNAAC obtained the best student presentation award at the John McCahan Education Day and became a featured program of BUSM's Deans Service Learning Initiative and Wellness Initiative.Future DirectionTo partner with BU dietetic interns and public health students and expand this partnership to other universities. To provide opportunities in research and global health.Support: 2010 CNIP award, American Society for Nutrition (Hannah Milch, BA); The New Balance Foundation Award and Loomis, Sayles & Company Charitable Fund (Carine Lenders, MD)

High‐protein low‐carbohydrate diets: what is the rationale?

Dietary recommendations released by the large majority of international scientific committees and organizations suggest that the diet for the prevention and treatment of the most compelling health problems of our societies (obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases and cancer) should be a diet moderately low in caloric content, low in fat content (particularly in saturated fat), poor in total cholesterol and rich in fibre. Despite this uniformity in official recommendations, alternative diets with low carbohydrate and high protein content continue to be extremely popular within consumers and patients. Recently, new studies seem to suggest that high-protein low-carbohydrate diets may have particularly positive effects on reducing body weight and other risk factors for heart disease. Gannon and Nuttall conducted direct comparisons of high-protein low-carbohydrate diets compared with high-carbohydrate low-protein diets in subjects with type 2 diabetes. They found that high-protein low-carbohydrate diets reduced fasting plasma glucose, 24-h glucose area under the curve and haemoglobin A(1c). On the basis of these results, a joint committee of the American Diabetes Association, North American Society for the Study of Obesity and the American Society for Clinical Nutrition suggested that a low-carbohydrate diet may be preferred to a low-fat diet for the induction of weight loss and glycaemic control in subjects with type 2 diabetes. What is the rationale? What mechanisms are involved?

Protective Effect of Chlorella vulgaris against Lead-Induced Oxidative Stress in Rat Brains

Lead (Pb) is a toxic heavy metal widely distributed in the environment. Recent studies suggest oxidative stress as one possible mechanism involved in Pb poisoning. The unicellular algae Chlorella vulgaris (CV) contains various bioactive substances with antioxidant for the prevention of oxidative stress by metals. We investigated the protective effects of CV on the oxidative system in five groups of male Sprague-Dawley rats fed American Institute of Nutrition (AIN)-76 diet, plus 2, 5 or 10% CV for 4 weeks. All animals were exposed to 200 mg/l lead acetate by drinking water except for the control (tap water). Body weight gains were significantly reduced in the Pb-exposed group (64%) relative to the control and CV groups. Brain weights were significantly increased in the Pb-exposed group (44%) relative to the others. In the experimental period, food intake, water intake and Pb intake were not different among the groups. The levels of Pb (87%) in brain obtained from the Pb-exposed group were significantly increased compared to the other groups. The levels of oxidative stress parameters in the brain such as superoxide dismutase (36%), glutathione peroxidase (63%), and glutathione reductase (30%) were decreased in the Pb-exposed group relative to the control but markedly increased in the CV groups. The CV also significantly increased glutathione levels by approximately 1.7-fold over the Pb-exposed group, while the malondialdehye concentration significantly decreased by approximately 47-71%. Based on these results, we found alterations in several indicators of oxidative stress of Pb intoxication, suggesting the antioxidant potential of CV. Therefore, CV may have protective effects on brain damage of low-level and short-term Pb exposure in the brains of rats.

It’s the Right Time for Advances in Nutrition

Dear Colleagues: We are pleased to present this inaugural issue of Advances in Nutrition. Everyone is invited to take advantage of its high-profile, state-of-the-science reviews in the nutritional sciences. To enlist readers and successfully launch Advances in Nutrition, the Executive Board of The American Society for Nutrition (ASN) has decided to offer the publication without the need for subscription until 2012. Given the growing popularity of online journals and the need to keep costs low, the journal will be an electronic publication only. Why did the ASN decide to publish this new reviews journal? The answer is simple: it will benefit our members and the broader community interested in nutrition. Our 2 flagship journals, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) and The Journal of Nutrition (JN), publish <30% of the manuscripts submitted to them. Although they publish some review articles, the primary focus of both AJCN and JN is on the publication of original research reports. The launch of Advances in Nutrition will allow ASN to greatly expand the availability of high-quality review articles on all aspects of nutrition research. Moreover, ASN members and associated professionals have told us that it is increasingly difficult to keep abreast of important developments outside their specialties. Advances in Nutrition will help them do so. There is growing interest in the nutritional sciences well beyond the ASN community. This includes not only health care professionals, but also the general public. Like our membership, they need a source that succinctly explains the importance and application of original research findings in the nutritional sciences. With the launch of Advances in Nutrition, ASN will be able to address this unfulfilled need to publish high-quality review articles in an online format and extend our reach and impact to a much broader audience. Whereas AJCN and JN are primarily focused on discovery, Advances in Nutrition will help ASN fulfill its commitment to translation of nutritional science.

It's the right time for Advances in Nutrition

Dear Colleagues: We are pleased to present this inaugural issue of Advances in Nutrition. Everyone is invited to take advantage of its high-profile, state-of-the-science reviews in the nutritional sciences. To enlist readers and successfully launch Advances in Nutrition, the Executive Board of The American Society for Nutrition (ASN) has decided to offer the publication without the need for subscription until 2012. Given the growing popularity of online journals and the need to keep costs low, the journal will be an electronic publication only. Why did the ASN decide to publish this new reviews journal? The answer is simple: it will benefit our members and the broader community interested in nutrition. Our 2 flagship journals, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) and The Journal of Nutrition (JN), publish <30% of the manuscripts submitted to them. Although they publish some review articles, the primary focus of both AJCN and JN is on the publication of original research reports. The launch of Advances in Nutrition will allow ASN to greatly expand the availability of high-quality review articles on all aspects of nutrition research. Moreover, ASN members and associated professionals have told us that it is increasingly difficult to keep abreast of important developments outside their specialties. Advances in Nutrition will help them do so. There is growing interest in the nutritional sciences well beyond the ASN community. This includes not only health care professionals, but also the general public. Like our membership, they need a source that succinctly explains the importance and application of original research findings in the nutritional sciences. With the launch of Advances in Nutrition, ASN will be able to address this unfulfilled need to publish high-quality review articles in an online format and extend our reach and impact to a much broader audience. Whereas AJCN and JN are primarily focused on discovery, Advances in Nutrition will help ASN fulfill its commitment to translation of nutritional science.

Trans-Fats and Coronary Heart Disease

A large body of data from epidemiologic, clinical trial, animal, and in vitro studies demonstrate adverse consequences of industrially synthesized trans fatty acids (TFAs) on the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). A growing database of more recent research from virtually all experimental models demonstrates evidence of detrimental consequences of TFAs on the risk of diabetes. Evidence is accumulating about the physiological and cellular mechanisms of action that account for the many adverse effects TFAs have on CHD and diabetes. In a relatively short period of time (i.e., from around the early 1990s to the present time, or almost 20 years), we have gained a good understanding of the health effects of TFAs from epidemiologic studies, clinical trials/studies, animal research, and in vitro experiments that collectively justify current dietary recommendations made by numerous government agencies and health organizations to consume a diet with as little TFAs as possible. Public policy actions have been impl...