Incremental Intake Research Articles

Incremental monounsaturated to saturated fat ratio and fibre consumption is associated with a reduction in a composite score of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors: Prospective results from the Moli-sani study.

Background/ObjectivesUnsaturated fats, fibre-rich foods and polyphenols are distinctive features of a traditional Mediterranean diet and have pleiotropic properties possibly contributing to reduce the long-term risk of non-communicable diseases and mortality associated with this diet. We aimed to evaluate whether changes over time in dietary fats, fibre and polyphenols consumption are associated with modifications in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors.MethodsThe analytic sample consists of a sub-cohort of 2023 men and women enrolled in the Moli-sani Study (n = 24,325). Dietary and health data were obtained both at baseline (2005–2010) and at re-examination (2017–2020). The exposures were changes in dietary fats, fibre and polyphenols consumption measured after 12.7 years (median), and the outcome was change in a composite score including 13 modifiable CVD risk factors (e.g., blood lipids, C-reactive protein), measured both at enrolment and after the 12.7 years period.ResultsIn multivariable-adjusted analysis including lifestyles, sociodemographic and clinical factors, an incremental intake of the ratio of monounsaturated to saturated fats or of fibre was associated with a reduction in the composite score of CVD risk factors (β = −0.086; 95%CI −0.150, −0.021 and β = −0.051; 95%CI −0.091, −0.012, respectively). Change in polyphenol intake was not associated with a substantial variation in the CVD risk score (p = 0.15).ConclusionsAn incremental consumption over time of monounsaturated versus saturated fats and of fibre was associated with an improvement in modifiable CVD risk factors as reflected by a composite score.

Plasma oxylipin profiling identifies polyunsaturated vicinal diols as responsive to arachidonic acid and docosahexaenoic acid intake in growing piglets

The dose-responsiveness of plasma oxylipins to incremental dietary intake of arachidonic acid (20:4n-6; ARA) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3; DHA) was determined in piglets. Piglets randomly received one of six formulas (n = 8 per group) from days 3 to 27 postnatally. Diets contained incremental ARA or incremental DHA levels as follows (% fatty acid, ARA/DHA): (A1) 0.1/1.0; (A2) 0.53/1.0; (A3-D3) 0.69/1.0; (A4) 1.1/1.0; (D1) 0.66/0.33; and (D2) 0.67/0.62, resulting in incremental intake (g/kg BW/day) of ARA: 0.07 ± 0.01, 0.43 ± 0.03, 0.55 ± 0.03, and 0.82 ± 0.05 at constant DHA intake (0.82 ± 0.05), or incremental intake of DHA: 0.27 ± 0.02, 0.49 ± 0.03, and 0.81 ± 0.05 at constant ARA intake (0.54 ± 0.04). Plasma oxylipin concentrations and free plasma PUFA levels were determined at day 28 using LC-MS/MS. Incremental dietary ARA intake dose-dependently increased plasma ARA levels. In parallel, ARA intake dose-dependently increased ARA-derived diols 5,6- and 14,15-dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acid (DiHETrE) and linoleic acid-derived 12,13-dihydroxyoctadecenoic acid (DiHOME), downstream metabolites of cytochrome P450 expoxygenase (CYP). The ARA epoxide products from CYP are important in vascular homeostatic maintenance. Incremental DHA intake increased plasma DHA and most markedly raised the eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) metabolite 17,18-dihydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (DiHETE) and the DHA metabolite 19,20-dihydroxydocosapentaenoic acid (DiHDPE). In conclusion, increasing ARA and DHA intake dose-dependently influenced endogenous n-6 and n-3 oxylipin plasma concentrations in growing piglets, although the biological relevance of these findings remains to be determined.

Evaluation of PM10 forecasting based on the artificial neural network model and intake fraction in an urban area: A case study in Taiyuan City, China

Primary fine particulate matters with a diameter of less than 10 µm (PM10) are important air emissions causing human health damage. PM10 concentration forecast is important and necessary to perform in order to assess the impact of air on the health of living beings. To better understand the PM10 pollution health risk in Taiyuan City, China, this paper forecasted the temporal and spatial distribution of PM10 yearly average concentration, using Back Propagation Artificial Neural Network (BPANN) model with various air quality parameters. The predicted results of the models were consistent with the observations with a correlation coefficient of 0.72. The PM10 yearly average concentrations combined with the population data from 2002 to 2008 were given into the Intake Fraction (IF) model to calculate the IFs, which are defined as the integrated incremental intake of a pollutant released from a source category or a region over all exposed individuals. The results in this study are only for main stationary sources of the research area, and the traffic sources have not been included. The computed IFs results are therefore under-estimations. The IFs of PM10 from Taiyuan with a mean of 8.5 per million were relatively high compared with other IFs of the United States, Northern Europe and other cities in China. The results of this study indicate that the artificial neural network is an effective method for PM10 pollution modeling, and the Intake Fraction model provides a rapid population risk estimate for pollutant emission reduction strategies and policies. Implications The PM10 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm) yearly average concentration of Taiyuan, with a mean of 0.176 mg/m3, was higher than the 65 μg/m3 recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The spatial distribution of PM10 yearly average concentrations showed that wind direction and wind speed played an important role, whereas temperature and humidity had a lower effect than expected. Intake fraction estimates of Taiyuan were relatively high compared with those observed in other cities. Population density was the major factor influencing PM10 spatial distribution. The results indicated that the artificial neural network was an effective method for PM10 pollution modeling.

Risk-based air pollutants management at regional levels

► Justified the use of a health risk-based approach to address air pollution problem. ► Demonstrated its technical feasibility in addressing SO 2 in Beijing and its vicinity. ► Studied health risks associated with the SO 2 emissions from different sectors. ► Found different marginal risks by unit emissions from different sectors. ► Results help improve efficiency in resource utilization for abating SO 2 emissions. The ultimate objective of abating air pollution is to protect the health and welfare of the public, while in the past, health and welfare are seldom used as the direct policy target. Often, emissions or concentrations are used as the direct target. In this paper, we put heavy weight on the justification of using a risk-based approach to address air pollution problems, and use a case study to demonstrate its technical feasibility in a Chinese setting. In the case, we study the health risks associated with SO 2 emissions from the different sectors in Beijing and its surrounding areas (the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region), to inform control responsibility assignment and control option design. The emission inventory was classified by sectors according to Chinese Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities. The Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system is used to simulate the fate and transport of SO 2 in the study region. Intake fraction, which is defined as the incremental intake per unit of pollutant released from a source or a category of sources, is borrowed to indicate the marginal risk posed by SO 2 from the major sectors. The results show that the intake fraction avoided per unit of SO 2 emissions abated from the four major sectors (power sector, smelting and pressing of ferrous metals, manufacture of non-metallic mineral products, and chemical industry) varies greatly, which implies that using a risk-based approach has the potential to help improve the efficiency in resource utilization for assigning pollutant control responsibilities and prioritizing pollutant control options.

Intake Fraction for the Indoor Environment: A Tool for Prioritizing Indoor Chemical Sources

Reliable exposure-based chemical characterization tools are needed to evaluate and prioritize in a rapid and efficient manner the more than tens of thousands of chemicals in current use. This study applies intake fraction (iF), the integrated incremental intake of a chemical per unit of emission, for a suite of indoor released compounds. A fugacity-based indoor mass-balance model was used to simulate the fate and transport of chemicals for three release scenarios: direct emissions to room air and surface applications to carpet and vinyl. Exposure through inhalation, dermal uptake, and nondietary ingestion was estimated. To compute iF, cumulative intake was summed from all exposure pathways for 20 years based on a scenario with two adults and a 1-year-old child who ages through the simulation. Overall iFs vary by application modes: air release (3.1 × 10(-3) to 6.3 × 10(-3)), carpet application (3.8 × 10(-5) to 6.2 × 10(-3)), and vinyl application (9.0 × 10(-5) to 1.8 × 10(-2)). These iF values serve as initial estimates that offer important insights on variations among chemicals and the potential relative contribution of each pathway over a suite of compounds. The approach from this study is intended for exposure-based prioritization of chemicals released inside homes.

Evaluation of the European population intake fractions for European and Finnish anthropogenic primary fine particulate matter emissions

The intake fraction (iF) has been defined as the integrated incremental intake of a pollutant released from a source category or region summed over all exposed individuals. In this study we evaluated the iFs in the population of Europe for emissions of anthropogenic primary fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) from sources in Europe, with a more detailed analysis of the iF from Finnish sources. Parameters for calculating the iFs include the emission strengths, the predicted atmospheric concentrations, European population data, and the average breathing rate per person. Emissions for the whole of Europe and Finland were based on the inventories of the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) and the Finnish Regional Emission Scenario (FRES) model, respectively. The atmospheric dispersion of primary PM 2.5 was computed using the regional-scale dispersion model SILAM. The iFs from Finnish sources were also computed separately for six emission source categories. The iFs corresponding to the primary PM 2.5 emissions from the European countries for the whole population of Europe were generally highest for the densely populated Western European countries, second highest for the Eastern and Southern European countries, and lowest for the Northern European and Baltic countries. For the entire European population, the iF values varied from the lowest value of 0.31 per million for emissions from Cyprus, to the highest value of 4.42 per million for emissions from Belgium. These results depend on the regional distribution of the population and the prevailing long-term meteorological conditions. Regarding Finnish primary PM 2.5 emissions, the iF was highest for traffic emissions (0.68 per million) and lowest for major power plant emissions (0.50 per million). The results provide new information that can be used to find the most cost-efficient emission abatement strategies and policies.

Bio-availability and metabolism of n-3 fatty acid rich garden cress ( Lepidium sativum) seed oil in albino rats

The ratio of fatty acids namely linoleic acid (LA, 18:2, n-6) and alpha linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3, n-3) in the diet plays an important role in enrichment of ALA in tissues and further conversion to long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) like eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5, n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6, n-3). Garden cress seed oil (GCO) is one of the richest sources of ω-3 fatty acid and contains 29–34.5% of ALA. In this study, dietary supplementation of GCO on bio-availability and metabolism of α-linolenic acid was investigated in growing rats. Male wistar rats were fed with semi-purified diets supplemented with 10.0% sunflower oil (SFO 10%); 2.5% GCO and 7.5% SFO (GCO 2.5%); 5% GCO and 5% SFO (GCO 5.0%); 10% GCO (GCO 10%) for a period of 8 weeks. There was no significant difference with regard to the food intake, body weight gain and organ weights of rats in different dietary groups. Rats fed with GCO showed significant increase in ALA levels in serum and tissues compared to SFO fed rats. Feeding rats with 10% GCO lowered hepatic cholesterol by 12.3% and serum triglycerides by 40.4% compared to SFO fed group. Very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels decreased by 9.45% in serum of 10% GCO fed rats, while HDL remained unchanged among GCO fed rats. Adipose tissue showed incorporation of 3.3–17.4% of ALA and correlated with incremental intake of ALA. Except in adipose tissue, the EPA, DHA levels increased significantly in serum, liver, heart and brain tissues in GCO fed rats. A maximum level of DHA was registered in brain (11.6%) and to lesser extent in serum and liver tissues. A significant decrease in LA and its metabolite arachidonic acid (AA) was observed in serum and liver tissue of rats fed on GCO. Significant improvement in n-6/n-3 fatty acid ratio was observed in GCO based diets compared to diet containing SFO. This is the first study to demonstrate that supplementation of GCO increases serum and liver ALA, EPA, DHA and decreases LA and AA in rats. Therefore, the GCO can be considered as a potential, alternate dietary source of ALA.

Influence of feeding sheep on oilseed cake following the consumption of tanniferous feeds

This study evaluated the synergism between oilseed [50:50 noug ( Guizotia abyssinica) and groundnut] cake (OSC) and tanniferous feeds (pods of Acacia albida and Sesbania sesban leaves) in two experiments. S. sesban has a lower content of soluble phenolics than A. albida pods (196 vs. 270 g/kg). Dietary treatments during trial 1 comprised teff ( Eragrotis tef) straw given ad libitum supplemented per day with the following: 168 g of OSC alone (T1), or 100 g of OSC plus 135 g of sesbania leaves (T2) or 100 g of OSC plus either 50 (T3),100 (T4) or 200 g (T5) of acacia pods. During trial 2 dietary treatments comprised T1, T2, T5 and an additional treatment comprised 100 g sesbania leaves plus 200 g pods which were fed to sheep as a mixture. One strategy (sequence) was to give the OSC following complete consumption of either sesbania leaves or acacia pods while the other strategy (mixture) was to mix OSC with either of these forages before feeding. The sequence strategy was used in trial 1 while both strategies were used in trial 2. Each experiment used 30 sheep in a RCB design. During trial one incremental intake of pods resulted to linear increases ( P<0.05) of live weight gain (LWG), organic matter (OM) and nitrogen (N) intake but had no effect on straw intake. T5 and T2 had similar LWG (60 vs. 56 g) and intake. During trial 2 total nitrogen (N) intake was within the range 12.0 to 12.9 g/day for diets containing OSC. Dietary treatments had no effect on the intake of teff straw, but the diet supplemented with OSC alone had lower dry matter (DM) intake (g/day; ≈595) than the sesbania leaves (637; P<0.08) and acacia (694; P<0.001) diets. The digestibilities of DM, OM and neutral detergent fibre were similar among diets. Faecal N (g/day) was similar between the sesbania leaves (5.11) and acacia (5.29) diets which were higher ( P<0.01) than on OSC alone. Sheep fed on the sesbania diets excreted similar urinary N as did those on acacia (4.04 v. 3.39 g/day) but more ( P<0.05) than those on OSC alone (2.9 g/day). Sheep had similar rates of LWG (g/day) on sesbania leaves (57) and OSC alone (62) which were inferior to the acacia diets (74). The difference in LWG between sesbania and acacia groups was small using the mixture strategy (10 g/day; P>0.05) and substantial using the sequence strategy (23 g/day; P<0.01). Similarly, the LWG differences between strategies were small (2 g/day; P>0.05) for the sesbania and large (15 g/day; P<0.05) for the acacia diets. A comparison between the OSC–acacia mixture and acacia–sesbania mixture suggested that sesbania leaves could replace OSC with rather marginal increases in LWG. The discussion was structured to explain why the sequence strategy could offer a greater chance of interaction between tannin and OSC–protein than the mixture strategy and why such interaction was most probable with A. albida pods than with S. sesban. It was concluded that it is beneficial to feed sheep on OSC following the intake of tanniferous feeds as this could support superior LWG.

Dispersion modelling of dioxin releases from the waste incinerator at Avonmouth, Bristol, UK

A modified Gaussian atmospheric dispersion model, Industrial Source Complex (ISCST3), is used to estimate toxic equivalent ground level concentrations (GLC) of dioxins emitted from the Avonmouth municipal waste incinerator (MWI) in Bristol, UK. The sensitivity of the predicted GLC to various vapour and particle partitioning scenarios is reported. Predictions incorporating local terrain and actual emission data are used to estimate the mean incremental intake of dioxin due to MWI operation for local residents, through an existing multi-pathway human exposure model. Results are compared with predictions of incremental intake for a generalised MWI. The mean incremental dioxin intake for a hypothetical maximum exposed individual (HMEI) is shown to be up to 46.5% of the background intake compared to only 1.14% for the generalised MWI scenario. This indicates that the use of local terrain and emission data in MWI dispersion modelling is crucial for health risk assessments associated with human dioxin intake, especially in view of the current debate over the tolerable daily intake for dioxins.

Labile methyl group balances in the human: The role of sarcosine

Estimates of the daily rate of methionine utilization by adult humans, published previously, were under-estimated because available data did not permit quantitative assessment of the rate at which the methyl moiety of methionine is oxidized. 1 The present paper reports efforts to measure the rate of oxidation of methionine methyl by the two pathways that proceed through the intermediate N-methylglycine (sarcosine). Two sarcosinemic, sarcosinuric patients, proven or presumed to have specific genetic defects in the sarcosine-oxidizing system, were studied while maintained on constant diets containing differing amounts of methionine, choline (or choline derivatives), and glycine. The steadystate excretions of sarcosine, creatinine, creatine, and a number of other materials were determined. The results obtained suggest that sarcosine is formed in 2 ways: (1) In an amount equivalent to the dietary intake of choline (or choline derivative)—this pathway would make a net positive contribution to the methionine-methyl pool due to the transfer of a methyl group from betaine to homocysteine; and (2) By processes requiring net consumption of methionine methyl. For the single patient for whom reasonably complete data were attained, it appears that 2 such processes may be occurring. One proceeds at a rate (approximately 2 mmole/24 hr) that changed little as total intake of labile methyl groups ∗ ∗ For this paper, a labile methyl group is taken to be any methyl moiety which is potentially transferable from one molecule to another as an intact group by normal metabolic processes. The methyl of methionine, the methyl of AdoMet, one of the methyls of both choline and betaine, and the methyl of N 5-methyltetrahydrofolate are members of this class. was altered. The second became prominent (and accounted for the bulk of the incremental intake of labile methyl groups) when this intake exceeded the combined amounts required for the synthesis of creatine (10.2 mmole/24 hr), other transmethylation reactions (1.4 mmole/24 hr), polyamine synthesis (0.5 mmole/24 hr), and the “basal” process of sarcosine formation just mentioned (2 mmole/24 hr). It is possible that such “basal” sarcosine formation is due chiefly to endogenous choline synthesis, balanced by degradation, whereas the more responsive process of sarcosine formation may be due chiefly to methylation of glycine. Together with available data, these new data on methionine consumption due to sarcosine formation permit calculation of a turnover time for S-adenosylmethionine in human liver (no more than 3.5–7 min), as well as upward revision of previous minimal estimates 1 of the rate of methylneogenesis, the number of times that the average homocysteinyl moiety cycles between methionine and homocysteine during its passage through the body, and the partitioning of homocysteine between the remethylation and the transsulfuration pathways.