Kavalactones support motivation to move during intensive training in males preparing for military special operations forces.

BACKGROUND: Military special operators, elite athletes, and others requiring uninterrupted optimal performance currently lack options for sleep and mood support without performance-inhibiting effects. Kavalactones, derived from the root of the kava plant (Piper methysticum Forst), have been shown to elevate mood and wellbeing by producing a feeling of relaxation without addiction or cognitive impairment. METHODS: In this placebo-controlled, crossover study (NCT05381025), we investigated the effects of 2 weeks of kavalactones use on cortisol (diurnal salivary), sleep (RSQ-W; Restorative Sleep Questionnaire, Weekly), mood (DASS-21; Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21), and motivation state to expend (Move) or conserve (Rest) energy (CRAVE; Cravings for Rest and Volitional Energy Expenditure, Right Now) in a cohort of 15 healthy, physically fit young males engaged in a rigorous, two-a-day preparation class for special operations forces qualification. RESULTS: Cortisol, sleep, and mood were within normal, healthy parameters in this cohort at baseline. This remained unchanged with kavalactones use with no significant findings of clinical interest. However, a statistically similar, positive slope for within-group Move scores was seen in both groups during kavalactones loading (first group Move slope 2.25, second group Move slope 3.29, p = 0.299). This trend was seen regardless of order and with no apparent effects on the Rest metric (all p ≥ 0.05). Moreover, a significant between-group difference appeared after 1 week of kavalactones use in the first phase (p = 0.044) and persisted through the end of the first loading period (p = 0.022). Following the 10-day washout, this between-groups divergence remained significant (p = 0.038) but was reversed by 1 week after the crossover (p = 0.072), with Move scores once again statistically similar between groups and compared to baseline at study end. Furthermore, the group taking kavalactones first never experienced a significant decrease in Move motivation state (lowest mean score 21.0, highest 28.6, all p ≥ 0.05), while the group receiving kavalactones in the last 2 weeks of the study had Move scores that were statistically lower than baseline (lowest mean score 8.6, highest 25.9, all p ≤ 0.05) at all time points but the last (p = 0.063) after 2 weeks of kavalactones exposure. CONCLUSIONS: We report a novel finding that kavalactones may support performance by maintaining or rescuing the desire to expend energy in the context of significant physical and mental strain in well-conditioned individuals, even in a context of already normal cortisol, sleep, and mood.

The reverse cholesterol transport pathway improves understanding of genetic networks for fat deposition and muscle growth in beef cattle.

In the present study, thirteen genes involved in the reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) pathway were investigated for their associations with three fat depositions, eight fatty acid compositions and two growth-related phenotypes in a Wagyu x Limousin reference population, including 6 F(1) bulls, 113 F(1) dams, and 246 F(2) progeny. A total of 37 amplicons were used to screen single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on 6 F(1) bulls. Among 36 SNPs detected in 11 of these 13 genes, 19 were selected for genotyping by the Sequenom assay design on all F(2) progeny. Single-marker analysis revealed seven SNPs in ATP binding cassette A1, apolipoproteins A1, B and E, phospholipid transfer protein and paraoxinase 1 genes significantly associated with nine phenotypes (P<0.05). Previously, we reported genetic networks associated with 19 complex phenotypes based on a total of 138 genetic polymorphisms derived from 71 known functional genes. Therefore, after Bonferroni correction, these significant (adjusted P<0.05) and suggestive (adjusted P<0.10) associations were then used to identify genetic networks related to the RCT pathway. Multiple-marker analysis suggested possible genetic networks involving the RCT pathway for kidney-pelvic-heart fat percentage, rib-eye area, and subcutaneous fat depth phenotypes with markers derived from paraoxinase 1, apolipoproteins A1 and E, respectively. The present study confirmed that genes involved in cholesterol homeostasis are useful targets for investigating obesity in humans as well as for improving meat quality phenotypes in a livestock production.

Discovery of novel genetic networks associated with 19 economically important traits in beef cattle.

Quantitative or complex traits are determined by the combined effects of many loci, and are affected by genetic networks or molecular pathways. In the present study, we genotyped a total of 138 mutations, mainly single nucleotide polymorphisms derived from 71 functional genes on a Wagyu x Limousin reference population. Two hundred forty six F(2) animals were measured for 5 carcass, 6 eating quality and 8 fatty acid composition traits. A total of 2,280 single marker-trait association runs with 120 tagged mutations selected based on the HAPLOVIEW analysis revealed 144 significant associations (P < 0.05), but 50 of them were removed from the analysis due to the small number of animals (< or = 9) in one genotype group or absence of one genotype among three genotypes. The remaining 94 single-trait associations were then placed into three groups of quantitative trait modes (QTMs) with additive, dominant and overdominant effects. All significant markers and their QTMs associated with each of these 19 traits were involved in a linear regression model analysis, which confirmed single-gene associations for 4 traits, but revealed two-gene networks for 8 traits and three-gene networks for 5 traits. Such genetic networks involving both genotypes and QTMs resulted in high correlations between predicted and actual values of performance, thus providing evidence that the classical Mendelian principles of inheritance can be applied in understanding genetic complexity of complex phenotypes. Our present study also indicated that carcass, eating quality and fatty acid composition traits rarely share genetic networks. Therefore, marker-assisted selection for improvement of one category of these traits would not interfere with improvement of another.

Lipoproteins, cholesterol homeostasis and cardiac health.

Cholesterol is an essential substance involved in many functions, such as maintaining cell membranes, manufacturing vitamin D on surface of the skin, producing hormones, and possibly helping cell connections in the brain. When cholesterol levels rise in the blood, they can, however, have dangerous consequences. In particular, cholesterol has generated considerable notoriety for its causative role in atherosclerosis, the leading cause of death in developed countries around the world. Homeostasis of cholesterol is centered on the metabolism of lipoproteins, which mediate transport of the lipid to and from tissues. As a synopsis of the major events and proteins that manage lipoprotein homeostasis, this review contributes to the substantial attention that has recently been directed to this area. Despite intense scrutiny, the majority of phenotypic variation in total cholesterol and related traits eludes explanation by current genetic knowledge. This is somewhat disappointing considering heritability estimates have established these traits as highly genetic. Thus, the continued search for candidate genes, mutations, and mechanisms is vital to our understanding of heart disease at the molecular level. Furthermore, as marker development continues to predict risk of vascular illness, this knowledge has the potential to revolutionize treatment of this leading human disease.

Significant associations of stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD1) gene with fat deposition and composition in skeletal muscle.

Gene expression studies in humans and animals have shown that elevated stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD1) activity is associated with increased fat accumulation and monounsaturation of saturated fatty acids in skeletal muscle. However, results of the two reported association studies in humans are inconsistent. In the present study, we annotated the bovine SCD1 gene and identified 3 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in its 3'untranslated region (UTR). Genotyping these SNPs on a Wagyu x Limousin reference population revealed that the SCD1 gene was significantly associated with six fat deposition and fatty acid composition traits in skeletal muscle, but not with subcutaneous fat depth and percent kidney-pelvic-heart fat. In particular, we confirmed that the high stearoyl-CoA desaturase activities/alleles were positively correlated with beef marbling score, amount of monounsaturated fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid content, but negatively with amount of saturated fatty acids. The inconsistent associations between human studies might be caused by using different sets of markers because we observed that most associated markers are located near the end of 3'UTR. We found that the proximity of the polyadenylation signal site is highly conserved among human, cattle and pig, indicating that the region might contain functional elements involved in posttranscriptional control of SCD1 activity. In conclusion, our cross species study provided solid evidence to support SCD1 gene as a critical player in skeletal muscle fat metabolism.

Functional UQCRC1 polymorphisms affect promoter activity and body lipid accumulation.

Obesity and type 2 diabetes constitute leading public health problems worldwide. Studies have shown that insulin resistance affiliated with these conditions is associated with skeletal muscle lipid accumulation, while the latter is associated with mitochondrial dysfunctions. However, the initiation and regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis rely heavily on approximately 1000 nuclear-encoded mitochondrial regulatory proteins. In this study, we targeted the ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase core protein I gene, a nuclear-encoded component of mitochondrial complex III, for its association with subcutaneous fat depth (SFD) and skeletal muscle lipid accumulation (SMLA) using cattle as a model. Four promoter polymorphisms were identified and genotyped on approximately 250 Wagyu x Limousin F2 progeny. Statistical analysis revealed that two completely linked polymorphic sites, g.13487C>T and g.13709G>C (r2 = 1), were significantly associated with both SFD (p < 0.01) and SMLA (p < 0.0001). The difference between TTCC and CCGG haplotypes was 0.178 cm for SFD and 0.624 scores for SMLA. Interestingly, the former haplotype produced higher promoter activities than the latter by 43% to 49% in three cell lines (p < 0.05). In addition to Rett syndrome and breast/ovarian cancer observed in other studies, we report evidence for the first time, to our knowledge, that overexpression of ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase core protein I might affect mitochondrial morphology and/or physiology and lead to development of obesity and related conditions.

Cross species association examination of UCN3 and CRHR2 as potential pharmacological targets for antiobesity drugs.

BACKGROUND: Obesity now constitutes a leading global public health problem. Studies have shown that insulin resistance affiliated with obesity is associated with intramyocellular lipid (IMCL) accumulation. Therefore, identification of genes associated with the phenotype would provide a clear target for pharmaceutical intervention and care for the condition. We hypothesized that urocortin 3 (UCN3) and corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 2 (CRHR2) are associated with IMCL and subcutaneous fat depth (SFD), because the corticotropin-releasing hormone family of peptides are capable of strong anorectic and thermogenic effects. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We annotated both bovine UCN3 and CRHR2 genes and identified 12 genetic mutations in the former gene and 5 genetic markers in the promoter region of the latter gene. Genotyping of these 17 markers on Wagyu times Limousin F(2) progeny revealed significant associations between promoter polymorphisms and SFD (P = 0.0203-0.0685) and between missense mutations of exon 2 and IMCL (P = 0.0055-0.0369) in the bovine UCN3 gene. The SFD associated promoter SNPs caused a gain/loss of 12 potential transcription regulatory binding sites, while the IMCL associated coding SNPs affected the secondary structure of UCN3 mRNA. However, none of five polymorphisms in CRHR2 gene clearly co-segregated with either trait in the population (P>0.6000). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Because UCN3 is located on human chromosome 10p15.1 where quantitative trait loci for obesity have been reported, our cross species study provides further evidence that it could be proposed as a potential target for developing antiobesity drugs. None of the markers in CRHR2 was associated with obesity-type traits in cattle, which is consistent with findings in human. Therefore, CRHR2 does not lend itself to the development of antiobesity drugs.