Motivational effects of 12-week moderately restrictive diets with or without special attention to the Glycaemic Index of foods.

Low glycaemic index (GI) diets may facilitate weight loss via behavioural and/or endocrine mechanisms. This study investigated whether the outcomes of the Weight Watchers POINTS Weight-Loss System could be improved by encouraging dieters to select low GI, high-carbohydrate foods. Ninety-six women (age 20-72 years; BMI 25-40 kg/m2) were recruited as they started the Weight Watchers POINTS programme for 12 weeks. Weekly classes were randomized so that seven (forty-five women) followed the regular programme while seven others (fifty-one women) followed a revised programme encouraging the selection of low GI foods. Anthropometric and biochemical parameters were measured before and after the 12-week diets. Participants rated hunger and desire to eat using visual analogue scales on 1 d per week, several times per d. Attrition was the same in both groups (32 v. 30 %), as well as many benefits (5 % weight loss, decreases in insulinaemia and blood lipids, waist and hip circumferences, blood pressure). Hunger and desire to eat were rated consistently lower in the low GI group over the 12-week diet. Group differences in subjective sensations were especially large in the afternoon. The 12-week weight management yielded many significant anthropometric and biochemical benefits that were not improved by encouraging dieters to select low GI foods. The subjective benefits (lower hunger and desire to eat) of the low GI diet may be a worthwhile contribution to the motivation of dieters that might affect adherence to the diet over the long term.

Non food-related environmental stimuli induce increased meal intake in healthy women: comparison of television viewing versus listening to a recorded story in laboratory settings.

The objective of the present study, performed under laboratory conditions, was to assess the impact of two non food-related environmental stimuli (television and auditory stimulus) on meal intake. Normal weight women (N = 48) ate lunch in the laboratory once a week for four weeks. All lunches were identical and included popular traditional foods, of which participants could eat ad libitum. The first and last lunches were eaten in the absence of the environmental stimuli (control conditions); in the other two tests, presented in random order, subjects ate while either watching television or listening to a recorded story. Energy intakes were determined for each meal, as were ratings of hunger, satiety and meal palatability. Subjects filled out the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire at the end of the meal series. Meal size was significantly larger in the presence of both environmental stimuli than in both control conditions (+11.6%, 280 kJ, p < 0.01). Television viewing induced a significant stimulation of intake, equal to, but not greater than the effect of the auditory stimulus. Ratings of hunger, satiety, and palatability were not significantly different between conditions, despite the differences in intake. These results suggest that environmental, non food-related stimuli could stimulate intake regardless of hunger-satiety or palatability conditions. Environmental stimulation of eating should be tested in other populations, eg subjects with weight control problems, and other conditions, e.g. free-living.

Decreased taste sensitivity in cancer patients under chemotherapy.

GOALS OF WORK: The aim of the study was to measure taste thresholds among cancer patients under chemotherapy compared to controls. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study was performed with 110 cancer patients and 170 healthy subjects of similar age distribution were included in the study. The electrogustometric detection threshold was evaluated as the lowest current intensity perceived by the subject in three tongue sites independently with a constant current generator. MAIN RESULTS: Taste thresholds for all cancer patients demonstrated significantly higher values compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS: Cancer patients treated by chemotherapy demonstrated a temporary taste sensitivity deficit. Associated with the illness due to the treatment, this deficit explains the patients complaining of "abnormal or bad tastes", which results in food aversion and has a negative impact on nutritional status and quality of life. In order to prevent the risk of anorexia and the enhanced morbidity related to this deficit, treatment should include relevant information to the subject for anticipating objective taste modifications and a psychological follow-up during the actual change of taste quality perceptions in everyday life.

Contribution of snacks and meals in the diet of French adults: a diet-diary study.

To investigate the relative contributions of meals and snacks in the daily intake of free-living humans, 54 French adults maintained food intake diaries for four 7-day periods. They recorded all food and fluid intakes mentioning whether, in their opinion, each intake event was a snack or a meal. The weekly food diaries also contained information on the circumstances of each event such as time and place, number of persons present, and affective states (hunger, satiety, etc.) before and after intake. On average, 2.7 meals and 1.3 snacks were consumed each day. Very few days included no snacking. Total daily energy and nutrient intake were not different between days with and days without snacks. Snacks differed from meals in several dimensions. Meals were about twice as large as snacks in energy and weight. Nutrient intake, in absolute values, was higher in meals. In proportions, however, snacks contained more CHO and less fat and proteins. Most foods were consumed in larger amounts in the context of meals but a few (sweets, cereal bars, biscuits, and sodas) were mostly consumed as snacks. Hunger was more intense before but less intense after meals than snacks. The satiety ratio was higher for snacks than meals. Time of day affected many intake parameters. For example, afternoon snacks exhibited a high satiety ratio for a modest intake. The present study describes the status of several potential determining factors at the time of snacks in humans, demonstrating a specific role for snacks, as opposed to meals, in the daily eating pattern of healthy adults.

Cognitive restraint can be offset by distraction, leading to increased meal intake in women.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive restraint, a stable disposition to limit food intake, can be assessed by questionnaires, but there is no quantitative, objective measure of its effect. OBJECTIVE: The goal was to provide an objective measure of the intake-limiting effects of cognitive restraint by testing meal intake under conditions intended to minimize or accentuate restraint. DESIGN: Healthy women (n = 41; aged 35 +/- 9 y; body mass index, in kg/m2: 21.3 +/- 1.9) participated in once-weekly laboratory lunch tests under 4 conditions: condition 1, subjects ate alone (baseline); condition 2, subjects ate alone while listening to recorded instructions focusing on the sensory characteristics of the foods (attention); condition 3, subjects ate alone while listening to a recorded detective story (distraction); and condition 4, a group of 4 subjects had lunch together. On all occasions, the same foods were presented and ingested ad libitum. The Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) was filled out after the series of 4 meals was completed. RESULTS: Meal size was significantly higher in the distraction condition than at baseline (by 301 +/- 26 kJ; P < 0.001). The difference in energy intake between the baseline and distraction conditions significantly correlated with factor 1 (cognitive restraint) of the TFEQ (r = 0.51, P < 0.01) and with total score (r = 0.32, P < 0.05) but not with disinhibition or hunger. For each additional point on factor 1, meal size increased by 50 kJ under the distraction condition compared with baseline. The group eating condition induced no increase in meal size. CONCLUSION: Cognitive restraint exerts a quantifiable limiting effect on intake at meal times and this effect can be offset by cognitive distraction.

Palatability and intake relationships in free-living humans. characterization and independence of influence in North Americans.

In order to investigate palatability influences on the ad lib eating behavior of free-living humans, 564 participants were paid to maintain food intake diaries for 7 days. They recorded their intake along with a global rating of the palatability of the entire meal on a seven-point scale. It was found that most meals that are self-selected are palatable and that only 9.3% are rated as unpalatable. Meals that were highest in palatability were 44% larger than meals that were low in palatability, but palatability only accounted for around 4% of the variance in meal sizes. Multiple regression demonstrated that palatability appears to act on intake independent of the levels of other influential factors. These results were very similar to those observed for the French and suggest that palatability operates similarly on intake regardless of culture. Palatability appears to be an influence on the amounts ingested by free-living humans in their natural environments but appears to be only one of many influential factors and accounts for only a small proportion of the variance in intake.

Palatability and intake relationships in free-living humans: measurement and characterization in the French.

To investigate palatability influences on the ad lib eating behavior of free-living humans, 54 French participants were paid to maintain food intake diaries for four 7-day periods. They recorded their intake along with palatability ratings, on a seven-point scale, of each individual item eaten and also a global rating of the palatability of the entire meal. Higher levels of palatability were found to be related to larger meal sizes, durations, and deprivation ratios, smaller satiety ratios, greater hunger, and lower depression and anxiety. The global palatability rating was found to be superior to individual item palatability ratings as a measure of the palatability of the meal. Although palatability was found to have fairly large effects on intake, it accounted for less than 2% of the variance. It was concluded that, in the natural environment, there are a large number of other powerful variables present that add variance. In addition, people tend to self-select only a restricted range of highly palatable foods. As a result, in the natural environment, the influence of palatability on intake is limited.

Dietary (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids improve adipocyte insulin action and glucose metabolism in insulin-resistant rats: relation to membrane fatty acids.

To study the effects of dietary fish oil on insulin-stimulated glucose metabolism in adipocytes of insulin-resistant rats (rats fed 50% sucrose and 30% fat), eighteen 5-wk-old Sprague-Dawley rats were fed, for 6 wk, a diet containing 30% fat as either fish oil (FO) or a mixture of vegetable and animal oils [control oils (CO)]. A third reference group was fed a standard diet (62% corn starch and 13% fat). At the end of the 6-wk period, the two experimental groups had comparable plasma glucose concentrations that were higher than that found in the reference group. FO feeding corrected the hyperinsulinemia of the experimental rats (P < 0.05) to reach values in the reference group. Plasma triacylglycerol (P < 0.01) and cholesterol (P < 0.001) concentrations were also lower in rats fed FO than in those fed CO. The body weights of FO-fed rats were similar to that of CO-fed rats, but epididymal adipose tissue weight was lower (P < 0.01). Adipocytes of FO-fed rats, compared with those of CO-fed rats, had high insulin-stimulated glucose transport (P < 0.05), oxidation (P < 0.001) and incorporation into total lipids (P < 0.05). The incorporation of (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids in adipocyte membrane phospholipids was higher in FO-fed rats than in those fed CO (P < 0.0001). Insulin action was positively correlated with the fatty acid unsaturation index in membrane phospholipids. Thus dietary fish oil has beneficial effects on insulinemia, plasma lipids and insulin-stimulated glucose metabolism in insulin-resistant slightly diabetic rats.

Monosodium glutamate affects mealtime food selection in diabetic patients.

Lunch intake was followed in 31 matched pairs of hospitalized diabetic patients over four consecutive days. Pairs of patients were matched for type and duration of diabetes, gender, age and body mass index. Lunches were composed of appetizer, meat, vegetables, starch, cheese, bread and dessert; water, coffee, tea and lemon were available. One patient per pair was randomly ascribed to the experimental group and was served vegetable and starch dishes added with 0.6% monosodium glutamate (MSG). Lunch intake was measured by weighing amounts served and left-overs. Patients in the experimental group ingested more starch food than their matched controls, and less lemon juice and yogurt. However, the total energy load at lunch was not different between groups. This effect on meal time food selection replicates earlier observations made on elderly persons. It is suggested that manipulating palatability of various foods within a meal, and especially by using MSG, is an efficient way to affect food selection in the meal, without inducing hyperphagia.

Human responses to five concentrations of sucrose in a dairy product: immediate and delayed palatability effects.

Preferences for five sucrose concentrations (0, 5, 10, 20 and 40 g of sugar per 100 g of plain yogurt) were assessed in men and women by brief-exposure sensory evaluation tests and intake tests. Ten ad-libitum yogurt intake tests (with each concentration presented twice) and two sensory evaluation tests (one before and one after the series of intake tests) were conducted. Food intake in the 24 h after each test was estimated using dietary records. Sweetness intensity ratings did not change as a function of test condition. In contrast, hedonic ratings in sensory evaluation tests were more closely correlated to actual intake in experienced than in naive subjects. In intake tests the preferred sucrose concentrations were 5 and 10%. Food intake in the first few hours after yogurt intake was significantly greater on 10%-sucrose days relative to the other concentration days in men only. Although there was a tendency to eat more over the 24 h after consumption of the preferred yogurts, this effect was not statistically significant. Total daily intake, including the calories in the yogurts, was greater on intake days than on sensory evaluation days, indicating that the energy derived from the yogurts was not compensated for by a decrease in subsequent intake.

Variations in human liver fucosyltransferase activities in hepatobiliary diseases.

The hyperfucosylation of a number of glycoconjugates observed in liver diseases involves the action of several specific fucosyltransferases (F.T.) notably responsible for synthesizing histo-blood group antigens. We determined the activities of alpha 3, alpha 2 and alpha 3/4 F.T. in 35 liver biopsy samples from patients with fatty liver, alcoholic or post-hepatic liver cirrhosis, primary or secondary biliary cirrhosis, acute hepatitis or a normal liver. F.T. activities were measured by transfer of GDP [14C] fucose to asialotransferrin for alpha 3 F.T., to phenyl beta-D-galactoside for alpha 2 F.T. and to 2' fucosyllactose for alpha 3/4 F.T. The diseased liver extracts showed an early increase in non-Le gene-associated alpha 3 F.T. activity (p = 0.001), which was related to the number of steatosic hepatocytes and the degree of intralobular inflammatory infiltration. Overexpression of this alpha 3 F.T. provides an explanation for the strong expression of 3-fucosyl lactosamine structures described in several hepatobiliary diseases. alpha 2 F.T. levels were significantly elevated in the two groups of liver cirrhosis and acute hepatitis (p = 0.05), but not enough to consider alpha 2 F.T. as a sensitive feature of mesenchymal cell injury. All Lewis-positive biopsies displaying biliary alterations showed increased Le gene-encoded alpha 3/4 F.T. activity (p = 0.001), which was related to the intensity of neoductular proliferation. Elevated levels of alpha 3/4 F.T. may be a very early sign of biliary regeneration.

Genetic regulation of the expression of ABH and Lewis antigens in tissues.

Sequential appearance of ABH antigens in different animal species shows a progression from tissues of endodermal to ectodermal and finally mesodermal origin, human erythrocytes being the last cells to acquire these antigens. In view of this, ABH antigens should be called tissue or histo-blood group antigens rather than blood group antigens. In addition to the glycosyltransferases encoded by the ABO genes, several alpha-2, alpha-3 and alpha-4-fucosyltransferases are needed to account for the known ABH histo-blood group antigens. The genetic polymorphism of the genes encoding each of these enzymes defines inter-individual differences. In addition, in the same individual various tissues express these antigens in a different way. For each adult epithelial tissue, antigenic expression is related to cell maturation from germinal layer to surface epithelium. Differential expression is also found at various embryonal stages of the same cells. Examples of these phenomena are presented in an effort to gain further insight into the genetic regulation of the expression of these complex oligosaccharide molecules.

Differential susceptibility to experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) in genetically defined A+ and A- rabbits.

Only one out of 57 A-/A- rabbits immunized with rat or guinea-pig myelin developed clinical signs suggestive of EAE. On the contrary, clinical signs of acute or chronic EAE were found in two thirds of the 102 A+/A+ and A+/A- rabbits immunized in the same way. About one third of the diseased animals had reversible acute EAE, another third died paralysed and the last third developed chronic progressive or relapsing EAE. Incidence and severity of EAE symptoms were positively correlated with age and no significant difference was observed between males and females. Cellular and humoral anti-myelin responses were stronger in A+ than in A- rabbits. Anti-A antibodies, on the contrary, were only detected in A- rabbits. The A+ rabbits did not make Anti-A at any time. Anti-A antibodies increased early, in A- rabbits, after immunization with myelin (11-30 days) and were later replaced by a low, but specific, anti-myelin response (60-90 days). The gene responsible for the susceptibility to EAE is autosomal and dominant over resistance. This gene must be closely linked to the A locus or might be the A gene itself. The low susceptibility of A- rabbits to the disease could be, in this last case, a consequence of the competition between the early anti-A and the normal anti-myelin immune responses, both induced by the injection of myelin.

Appearance of B and H blood group antigens in the developing cochlear hair cells.

The presence of human blood-group antigens was analyzed in the rat cochlea during its postnatal development, using anti-A, anti-B and anti-H antibodies. At no stage was reactivity with anti-A antibody observed. With the anti-H antibody, a strong reactivity was observed from 1 to 9 days after birth within hair cells and some other surface epithelial cells of the cochlear duct. After postnatal day 9, only a faint reactivity persisted in a few non-sensory cells. With the anti-B antibody, only hair cells were selectively labeled. At early stages (postnatal day 1 and 3), the reactivity was intense and observed both around the cell surface and within the supranuclear region of cytoplasm. Later on, the reactivity decreased; it was limited at postnatal day 9 to a reactive spot below the cuticular plate. Results are compared with a preliminary finding describing the first appearance of B and H antigens in the organ of Corti at a prenatal stage, and with data concerning other sensory and neural structures. The appearance and progressive disappearance of B and H antigens on sensory and non-sensory cells can be correlated with significant events in the development of the cochlea. The transient expression of B and H antigens in cochlear sensory cells may correspond to developmental changes in their surface glycoconjugates.

Expression of ABH, Lewis and related tissue antigens in the human thymus.

Expression of ABH, Lewis and related antigens was studied in the thymus of children of known ABO, Lewis and secretor status using a panel of specific reagents. ABH and Lewis antigens partly under control of the secretor status were expressed on the Hassals' bodies and a large fraction of the medullary epithelial cells. The sialyl-Lea antigen was only present on some Hassals' bodies of Lewis-positive individuals. ABH but not Lewis antigens were also present on cortical epithelial cells but this was independent of the secretor status. The X, sialyl-X and Y antigens were only expressed on Hassals' bodies irrespective of the ABO, Lewis or secretor phenotype. Furthermore, the anti-X and sialyl-X antibodies labelled a subset of leucocytes of all the individuals tested. These results show that the genetic control of the expression of ABH and Lewis glycosidic tissue alloantigens in the thymus is different on cortical and medullary epithelial cells and stress the heterogeneity of the thymus epithelial cells.

The jelly layers and cortex of the unfertilized Xenopus laevis egg: carbohydrate, phospholipid and protein analysis.

Differences in the carbohydrate composition were found in the jellies and the cortex of the unfertilized Xenopus laevis egg using lectins and blood group antibodies. Blood group H trisaccharide was detected in the outer jelly and "A-like" oligosaccharide was found in the inner jelly. The blood group A trisaccharide was detected in the vitelline envelope and the cortex. The plasma membranes were isolated and partially purified by differential centrifugation on sucrose cushion. The phospholipid composition of the membrane was assessed by quantitative two-dimensional thin layer chromatography. The major phospholipids were sphingomyelin (8%), phosphatidylcholine (55%), phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylserine (7%), and phosphatidylethanolamine (26%). The external application of phospholipase A2 indicated a possible asymmetry of the phospholipids in the membrane such as the acidic phospholipids are preferentially located at the inner leaflet. The membrane protein and glycoprotein pattern was examined by gel electrophoresis using Triton and selective staining. Six major glycoproteins ranging from 250 to 32 kDa, were detected among the Triton-insoluble components.

Discordance between red cell and saliva Lewis phenotypes in patients with hydatid cysts.

Patients with hydatid cysts and controls of the same Tunisian area were typed for ABO, Lewis and secretor phenotypes. A high incidence of red cell Le(a-b-) phenotype (34-37%) was found among hydatid cyst patients as compared to normal controls (13-16%). However, a large proportion of the patients with Le(a-b-) red cell phenotype had discordant red cell and saliva Lewis phenotypes since they secreted Lea and/or Leb antigens in saliva. In addition, 1 patient with Le(a+b-) red cell phenotype secreted Leb antigen in saliva. The remaining patients and all the controls had concordant red cell and saliva Lewis phenotypes. The discordant results between the phenotypes obtained in serum and saliva of hydatid cyst patients are probably the consequence of a decrease in the concentration of the circulating Lewis glycosphingolipids, secondary to the disease.

Cellular expression and genetic control of ABH antigens in primary sensory neurons of marmoset, baboon and man.

ABH antigens have been demonstrated in the posterior root ganglia (PRG) of 3 primate species (marmoset, baboon and man). Their expression corresponded to the ABO phenotype of the individual and was independent of the secretor gene. In marmosets more cells were positive for H (33 +/- 9%) than for A (19 +/- 6%). In baboons A or B antigens were more easily detected (66 +/- 9%) than the H antigens (48 +/- 5%). In humans more than two-thirds of PRG cells were positive for H but only a small proportion of these were positive for A or B. The ABH antigens were found mainly in the small and intermediate-size neurons whose central processes project to lamina II of the spinal cord posterior horn. Unipolar neurons of the Gasserian ganglion, neurons of the mesencephalic nucleus of the trigeminal nerve and of some visceral ganglia have also been shown to express these antigens which are also present in the fibre layer and glomeruli of the olfactory bulbs.