No abstract

Pomegranate juice (PJ), a rich source of polyphenols including ellagitannins, has attracted much attention due to its reported health benefits. This has resulted in the consumption of liquid and powder pomegranate extracts as alternatives to PJ. Therefore establishing the bioavailability of polyphenols from these extract preparations is necessary. Sixteen healthy volunteers sequentially consumed, with a 1-week washout period between treatments, PJ (8 ounces, Wonderful fruit variety), a pomegranate polyphenol liquid extract (POMxl, 8 ounces), and a pomegranate polyphenol powder extract (POMxp, 1,000 mg). The three interventions provided 857, 776, and 755 mg of polyphenols as gallic acid equivalents, respectively. Plasma bioavailability, judged based on ellagic acid levels over a 6-hour period, did not show statistical differences in area under the curve for the three interventions: 0.14 +/- 0.05, 0.11 +/- 0.03, and 0.11 +/- 0.04 micromol . hour/L for PJ, POMxl, and POMxp, respectively. The time of maximum concentration was delayed for POMxp (2.58 +/- 0.42 hours) compared to PJ (0.65 +/- 0.23 hours) and POMxl (0.94 +/- 0.06 hours). Urolithin-A glucuronide, a urinary metabolite of ellagic acid, was not significantly different with the three interventions, reaching levels of approximately 1,000 ng/mL. This study demonstrates that ellagitannin metabolites, delivered from pomegranate fruits, as PJ, POMxl, and POMxp, reach equivalent levels with a delay in time of maximum concentration of POMxp compared to PJ and POMxl.

Obesity prevalence and average body composition vary by US race and gender. Asian Americans have the lowest prevalence of obesity. Relying on body-mass index (BMI) to estimate obesity prevalence may misclassify subgroups that appear normally weighted but have excess body fat. We evaluated percentage body fat (PBF) and BMI to determine whether BMI reflects PBF consistently across different races. 940 college students were recruited from a local public university over four consecutive years. We measured PBF by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), weight by physicians' scales, and height with stadiometers. Our sample comprised Asians (49%), Caucasians (23%), Hispanics (7%), and Other (21%). Participants averaged 21.4 years old; BMI was 22.9 kg/m2; PBF was 24.8%. BMI and PBF varied significantly by race and gender (P value = 0.002 and 0.005 for men; 0.0009 and 0.0008 for women). Asian-American women had the lowest BMI (21.5 kg/m2) but the second highest PBF (27.8%). Linear association between BMI and PBF was the weakest (r 2 = 0.09) among Asian-American women and BMI had the poorest sensitivity (37%) to detect PBF. The high PBF with low BMI pattern exhibited by Asian-American women suggests that they could escape detection for obesity-related disease if BMI is the sole measure that estimates body composition.

The present positron emission tomography study used 2-deoxy-2[18F]fluoro-D-glucose to examine age-related changes in local cerebral metabolic rates for glucose (LCMRglc) in sedated rhesus macaques and vervet monkeys. Nineteen vervet monkeys were scanned in a cross-sectional design, which consisted of three age groups (birth to 59 d, 60-179 d, 180 d to adult) that captured the developmental period of greatest synaptic density within the second group. Two rhesus and two vervet monkeys were also examined longitudinally. Subjects were sedated throughout the procedure with a combination of ketamine and midazolam. Longitudinal and cross-sectional analyses of 20 brain regions indicated lowest LCMRglc in rhesus and vervet monkeys < 2 months of age (about 60% of adult levels). These metabolic rates more than doubled to approximately 155% of adult levels after the second postnatal month, coincident with transient synaptic overproduction and increased sociobehavioral activity. LCMRglc remained high until 6 months postnatally, coincident with continued dendritic growth and the emerging sociobehavioral independence of the young monkey. After 6 months, LCMRglc decreased gradually to adult levels. Thus, the period between 2 and 6 months is a time of peak metabolic activity, which coincides with increased histologic and behavioral activity in the developing monkey.

Background: While high protein diets have been shown to improve satiety and retention of lean body mass (LBM), this study was designed to determine effects of a protein-enriched meal replacement (MR) on weight loss and LBM retention by comparison to an isocaloric carbohydrate-enriched MR within customized diet plans utilizing MR to achieve high protein or standard protein intakes.