Potential Effect of Physical Activity Calorie Equivalent (PACE) Labeling on Adult Fast Food Ordering and Exercise.

INTRODUCTION: Numeric calorie content labels show limited efficacy in reducing the number of calories ordered from fast food meals. Physical activity calorie equivalent (PACE) labels are an alternative that may reduce the number of calories ordered in fast food meals while encouraging patrons to exercise. METHODS: A total of 1000 adults from 47 US states were randomly assigned via internet survey to one of four generic fast food menus: no label, calories only, calories + minutes, or calories + miles necessary to walk to burn off the calories. After completing hypothetical orders participants were asked to rate the likelihood of calorie-only and PACE labels to influence (1) food choice and (2) physical activity. RESULTS: Respondents (n = 823) ordered a median of 1580 calories from the no-label menu, 1200 from the calories-only menu, 1140 from the calories + minutes menu, and 1210 from the calories + miles menu (p = 0.0001). 40% of respondents reported that PACE labels were "very likely" to influence food item choice vs. 28% for calorie-only labels (p<0.0001). 64% of participants reported that PACE labels were "somewhat likely" or "very likely" to influence their level of physical activity vs. 49% for calorie-only labels (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: PACE labels may be helpful in reducing the number of calories ordered in fast food meals and may have the added benefit of encouraging exercise.

Potential effect of physical activity calorie equivalent labeling on parent fast food decisions.

OBJECTIVES: Menu labels displaying food energy in physical activity calorie equivalents (PACE) is a possible strategy to encourage ordering meals with fewer calories and promoting physical activity. Potential effects of such labeling for children have never been examined. METHODS: We conducted a national survey of 1000 parents randomized to 1 of 4 fast food menus: no labels, calories only, calories plus minutes, or calories plus miles needed to walk to burn the calories. Respondents were asked to imagine they were in a fast food restaurant and place an order for their child. At the survey's conclusion, all respondents were shown a calorie-only label and both PACE labels and asked to rate the likelihood each label would influence them to encourage their child to exercise. RESULTS: We excluded respondents whose meals totaled 0 calories or >4000 calories, leaving 823 parents in the analysis. The mean age of the child for whom the meal was "ordered" was 9.5 years. Parents whose menus displayed no label ordered an average of 1294 calories, whereas those shown calories only, calories plus minutes, or calories plus miles ordered 1066, 1060, and 1099 calories, respectively (P = .0001). Only 20% of parents reported that calories-only labeling would be "very likely" to prompt them to encourage their children to exercise versus 38% for calories plus minutes (P < .0001) and 37% for calories plus miles (P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: PACE labeling may influence parents' decisions on what fast food items to order for their children and encourage them to get their children to exercise.

AS3MT, GSTO, and PNP polymorphisms: impact on arsenic methylation and implications for disease susceptibility.

BACKGROUND: Oral exposure to inorganic arsenic (iAs) is associated with adverse health effects. Epidemiological studies suggest differences in susceptibility to these health effects, possibly due to genotypic variation. Genetic polymorphisms in iAs metabolism could lead to increased susceptibility by altering urinary iAs metabolite concentrations. OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of genotypic polymorphisms on iAs metabolism. METHODS: We screened 360 publications from PubMed and Web of Science for data on urinary mono- and dimethylated arsenic (MMA and DMA) percentages and polymorphic genes encoding proteins that are hypothesized to play roles in arsenic metabolism. The genes we examined were arsenic (+3) methyltransferase (AS3MT), glutathione-s-transferase omega (GSTO), and purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP). Relevant data were pooled to determine which polymorphisms are associated across studies with changes in urinary metabolite concentration. RESULTS: In our review, AS3MT polymorphisms rs3740390, rs11191439, and rs11191453 were associated with statistically significant changes in percent urinary MMA. Studies of GSTO polymorphisms did not indicate statistically significant associations with methylation, and there are insufficient data on PNP polymorphisms to evaluate their impact on metabolism. DISCUSSION: Collectively, these data support the hypothesis that AS3MT polymorphisms alter in vivo metabolite concentrations. Preliminary evidence suggests that AS3MT genetic polymorphisms may impact disease susceptibility. GSTO polymorphisms were not associated with iAs-associated health outcomes. Additional data are needed to evaluate the association between PNP polymorphisms and iAs-associated health outcomes. Delineation of these relationships may inform iAs mode(s) of action and the approach for evaluating low-dose health effects for iAs. CONCLUSIONS: Genotype impacts urinary iAs metabolite concentrations and may be a potential mechanism for iAs-related disease susceptibility.

The Red clover necrotic mosaic virus capsid as a multifunctional cell targeting plant viral nanoparticle.

Multifunctional nanoparticles hold promise as the next generation of therapeutic delivery and imaging agents. Nanoparticles comprising many types of materials are being tested for this purpose, including plant viral capsids. It has been found that Red clover necrotic mosaic virus (RCNMV) can be loaded with significant amounts of therapeutic molecules with molecular weights of 600 or even greater. Formulation of RCNMV into a plant viral nanoparticle (PVN) involves the loading of cargo and attachment of peptides. In this study, we show that targeting peptides (less than 16 amino acids) can be conjugated to the capsid using the heterobifunctional chemical linker sulfosuccinimidyl-4-(N-maleimidomethyl)cyclohexane-1-carboxylate (Sulfo-SMCC). The uptake of both native RCNMV capsids and peptide-conjugated RCNMV was tested in the HeLa cell line for peptides with and without fluorescent labels. Uptake of RCNMV conjugate with a CD46 targeting peptide was monitored by flow cytometry. When formulated PVNs loaded with doxorubicin and armed with a targeting peptide were delivered to HeLa cells, a cytotoxic effect was observed. The ability to modify RCNMV for specific cell targeting and cargo delivery offers a method for the intracellular delivery of reagents for research assays as well as diagnostic and therapeutic applications.