Higher intakes of lysine,threonine and valine are inversely associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease risk:a community-based case-control study in the Chinese elderly

The associations of individual amino acid with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)risk remained unclear.The present study aimed to investigate the associations between the two in the Chinese elderly.Methods:A community-based health check-up program was conducted in Qingdao,China.NAFLD was diagnosed by ultrasonography accompanied by epidemiological investigation.The dietary intakes of amino acids were investigated with 3-day,24-h dietary records and calculated by Nutrition Calculator software.Restricted cubic spline model was used to evaluate a nonlinear relationship between amino acid intake and NAFLD risk.Results:400 NAFLD subjects were identified,and 400 participants were randomly selected as controls and matched by gender and age(±3 years)Dose-response analysis showed that 1000 mg increment of aromatic amino acids(AAAs)was associated with reduced 16%risk of NAFLD.Dietary increments of 750 mg/d threonine,950 mg/d valine,or 1700 mg/d lysine were associated with a 20%reduction in the NAFLD risk(all P for linearity<0.05).Conclusion:The present study demonstrated that the dietary increases in milk,eggs and deep-sea fish,which are rich in the amino acids,might contribute to protecting against NAFLD in the elderly.

Punicalagin prevents obesity-related cardiac dysfunction through promoting DNA demethylation in mice

The aim of this study was to investigate whether punicalagin(PU)could prevent obesity-related cardiac dysfunction by promoting DNA demethy lation,and to explore its possible mechanism.C57BL/6J mice were fed with standard diet,high-fat diet(HFD),HFD supplemented with resveratrol,low-dose PU(LPU)and high-dose PU(HPU)for 8 weeks.Compared with HFD group,body weight was significantly lower in PU treatment groups,number of cardionwocytes and the protein level of myosin heavy chain 7B were significantly higher in PU treatment groups.Levels of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine and 5-formylcytosine were significantly lower in HFD group than in other groups.Compared with the HFD group,the protein level of ten-eleven translocation enzyme(TET)2 was significantly higher in PU treatment groups,p-AMP-activated protein kinase(AMPK)was significantly higher in LPU group.Levels of total antioxidant capacity and the protein levels of complexesⅡ/Ⅲ/Ⅴ,oxoglutarate dehydrogenase,succinate dehydrogenase B and fumarate hdrolase were significantly lower in HFD group than PU treatment group.The ratio of(succinic acid+fumaric acid)/a-ketoglutarate was significantly higher in HFD group than other groups.In conclusion,PU up-regulated TETs enzyme activities and TET2 protein stability through alleviating mitochondrial dysfunction and activating AMPK,so as to promote DNA demethylation,thus preventing obesity-related cardiac dysfunction.