Dietary Habits and Self-Reported Health Measures Among Norwegian Adults Adhering to Plant-Based Diets.

Background: As plant-based diets is increasing, we aimed to investigate dietary habits, dietary motivation and self-reported health of Norwegian adults who adhere to different types of plant-based diets. Methods: In 2020, 808 subjects (530 women and 278 men) participated in an online survey, including vegans (8%), lacto-ovo vegetarians (16%), pescatarians (23%), and flexitarians (53%). Results: Half of the participants reported to consume fruits daily, three quarters consumed vegetables daily, and one quarter consumed whole grain products daily. Half of the participants reported weekly consumption of sweets and salted snacks, and 10% reported daily consumption of sugary drinks. Daily consumption of milk and dairy substitutes were reported by vegans (49%), lacto-ovo vegetarians (33%), pescatarians (32%), and flexitarians (25%). Daily consumption of meat replacement products was reported by vegans (3%), lacto-ovo vegetarians (5%), pescatarians (2%). Reported supplement use was highest among vegans (62%) and lowest among flexitarians (28%). Dietary motivations were driven by environmental (71%), health (64%), and animal welfare (49%) concerns, across all dietary groups. 75% reported their self-perceived health to be good or very good. Conclusion: We found that Norwegian adults adhering to plant-based diets consumed less fruit, vegetables, and whole grain products, together with more sugar than recommended in the Norwegian dietary guidelines. The participants reported their self-perceived health to be good or very good.

Evolution of vertebrate nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.

BACKGROUND: Many physiological processes are influenced by nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR), ranging from neuromuscular and parasympathetic signaling to modulation of the reward system and long-term memory. Due to the complexity of the nAChR family and variable evolutionary rates among its members, their evolution in vertebrates has been difficult to resolve. In order to understand how and when the nAChR genes arose, we have used a broad approach of analyses combining sequence-based phylogeny, chromosomal synteny and intron positions. RESULTS: Our analyses suggest that there were ten subunit genes present in the vertebrate predecessor. The two basal vertebrate tetraploidizations (1R and 2R) then expanded this set to 19 genes. Three of these have been lost in mammals, resulting in 16 members today. None of the ten ancestral genes have kept all four copies after 2R. Following 2R, two of the ancestral genes became triplicates, five of them became pairs, and three seem to have remained single genes. One triplet consists of CHRNA7, CHRNA8 and the previously undescribed CHRNA11, of which the two latter have been lost in mammals but are still present in lizards and ray-finned fishes. The other triplet consists of CHRNB2, CHRNB4 and CHRNB5, the latter of which has also been lost in mammals. In ray-finned fish the neuromuscular subunit gene CHRNB1 underwent a local gene duplication generating CHRNB1.2. The third tetraploidization in the predecessor of teleosts (3R) expanded the repertoire to a total of 31 genes, of which 27 remain in zebrafish. These evolutionary relationships are supported by the exon-intron organization of the genes. CONCLUSION: The tetraploidizations explain all gene duplication events in vertebrates except two. This indicates that the genome doublings have had a substantial impact on the complexity of this gene family leading to a very large number of members that have existed for hundreds of millions of years.

Evolution of the Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptors in Vertebrates.

The family of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) consists of five members in mammals, encoded by the CHRM1-5 genes. The mAChRs are G-protein-coupled receptors, which can be divided into the following two subfamilies: M2 and M4 receptors coupling to Gi/o; and M1, M3, and M5 receptors coupling to Gq/11. However, despite the fundamental roles played by these receptors, their evolution in vertebrates has not yet been fully described. We have combined sequence-based phylogenetic analyses with comparisons of exon-intron organization and conserved synteny in order to deduce the evolution of the mAChR receptors. Our analyses verify the existence of two ancestral genes prior to the two vertebrate tetraploidizations (1R and 2R). After these events, one gene had duplicated, resulting in CHRM2 and CHRM4; and the other had triplicated, forming the CHRM1, CHRM3, and CHRM5 subfamily. All five genes are still present in all vertebrate groups investigated except the CHRM1 gene, which has not been identified in some of the teleosts or in chicken or any other birds. Interestingly, the third tetraploidization (3R) that took place in the teleost predecessor resulted in duplicates of all five mAChR genes of which all 10 are present in zebrafish. One of the copies of the CHRM2 and CHRM3 genes and both CHRM4 copies have gained introns in teleosts. Not a single separate (nontetraploidization) duplicate has been identified in any vertebrate species. These results clarify the evolution of the vertebrate mAChR family and reveal a doubled repertoire in zebrafish, inviting studies of gene neofunctionalization and subfunctionalization.

Expression and down-regulation of cytochrome P450 genes of the CYP4 family by ecdysteroid agonists in Spodoptera littoralis and Drosophila melanogaster.

The function of CYP4 genes in insects is poorly understood. Some CYP genes are up-regulated by ecdysteroids and a number of Cyp4 genes in Drosophila melanogaster have been shown by microarray to be down-regulated when the ecdysteroid titre is high, suggesting hormonal regulation. Here, we report the utilization of certain cloned CYP4 cDNAs/fragments to probe their developmental/tissue expression in the Lepidopteran, Spodoptera littoralis, including the effects of ecdysteroid receptor agonists (bis-acyl hydrazines). CYP4L8 is expressed essentially throughout the final larval instar of S. littoralis and, together with CYP4M12, is down-regulated by agonist. Furthermore, expression of these genes occurs in midgut, but is undetectable in brain, fat body, and integument. Similarly, in D. melanogaster, Cyp4ac1, Cyp4ac3, Cyp4ad1 and Cyp4d1 gene expression is drastically down-regulated by ecdysteroid agonist. The significance of the results is discussed in relation to the plausible functions of the CYP4 genes in Lepidoptera and mechanisms of down-regulation.