Long term nut consumption is associated with reduced risk of coronary heart disease and better cognitive function. This study examined supplementing habitual diets with almonds or carbohydrate-rich snack foods (providing 15% energy) on biomarkers of cardiovascular and metabolic health, mood and cognitive performance. Participants (overweight/obese, 50-80 years) were randomised to an almond-enriched diet (AED) or isocaloric nut-free diet (NFD) for 12 weeks. Body weight, blood lipids, glucose, insulin, blood pressure (BP), arterial stiffness, cell adhesions molecules, C reactive protein (CRP), mood, and cognitive performance (working memory primary outcome), dietary profiles and energy intake/expenditure were measured at baseline and Week 12 in 128 participants (n = 63 AED, n = 65 NFD). Compared with NFD, AED was associated with altered macro and micronutrient profiles, but no differences in energy intake or expenditure. The AED significantly reduced triglycerides and SBP but there were no other changes in cardiometabolic biomarkers, mood, or cognitive performance. The inclusion of almonds in the diet improves aspects of cardiometabolic health without affecting cognitive performance or mood in overweight/obese adults.Nutrients 2020, 12, 1180 2 of 18 cognitive performance [7]. Nut consumption represents one aspect of nutrition with wide ranging benefits that may counteract these negative influences, including reducing oxidative damage and inflammation, and improving vascular responsiveness [8][9][10]. Improvements in vascular function associated with nut intake are proposed to not only improve cardiovascular health but also contribute to improving cognitive function [11]. Clinical trials have found improvements in vascular health following consumption of walnuts [12], hazelnuts [13], and almonds [14], but this has not been a consistent finding in all studies, possibly due to differences in methods of assessing vascular health, differences in populations evaluated, dose, or length of the period of consumption [9,10].Furthermore, there is now emerging literature to support nut consumption being associated with enhanced cognitive function or reduced cognitive decline [15,16]. Key nutrients found in nuts (and almonds in particular), including monounsaturated fat [17] and vitamin E [18] have been associated with reduced cognitive decline, and it has been proposed that regular nut consumption may prevent or slow the progressing of age-related brain dysfunction [16,19]. Prospective/longitudinal studies have demonstrated a positive association between nut consumption and cognitive performance [20][21][22] with a greater effect in those with the highest nut consumption [21]. In addition, prospective cohort studies reported improved cognitive performance and a reduced incidence of cognitive decline when the Mediterranean dietary pattern (with nuts as a key component) was adhered to [23,24].There have been mixed results from randomized controlled trials assessing the effects of nut intake on cognition. A 12 week weight loss in...

We have previously reported the presence of a 70 kDa insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-II-specific binding protein in chicken serum using Western ligand blotting approaches. In order to ascertain the identity of this 70 kDa IGF-II binding species, the protein has been purified from chicken serum using a combination of ion-exchange and gel-permeation chromatography. Interestingly, amino acid sequencing of the purified protein revealed that it has the same N-terminal sequence as chicken vitronectin (VN). The protein has the ability to specifically bind IGF-II and not IGF-I as determined by ligand blotting, cross-linking and competitive binding assay approaches. In addition, the protein binds 125I-des(1-6)-IGF-II, suggesting that the interaction with IGF-II is different to those with other characterized IGF-binding proteins. Importantly, we have ascertained that both human and bovine VN also specifically bind IGF-II. These results are particularly relevant in the light of the recent report that the urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor, a protein that also binds VN, has been shown to associate with the cation-independent mannose-6-phosphate/IGF-II receptor and suggest a possible role for IGF-II in cell adhesion and invasion.

The mammalian cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor (CI-MPR) binds mannose 6-phosphatebearing glycoproteins and insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-II. However, the CI-MPR from the opossum has been reported to bind bovine IGF-II with low affinity

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