University of Alberta researcher Flora Wang found that a diet with enriched levels of trans vaccenic acid (VA) “ a natural animal fat found in dairy and beef products “ can reduce risk factors associated with heart disease, diabetes and obesity

Results indicated this benefit was due in part to the ability of VA to reduce the production of chylomicrons “ particles of fat and cholesterol that form in the small intestine following a meal and are rapidly processed throughout the body. The role of chylomicrons is increasingly viewed as a critical missing link in the understanding of conditions arising from metabolic disorders.

Our results provide further evidence of the important role of chylomicrons in contributing to risk factors associated with metabolic disorders, said Wang, a PhD candidate in the University of Alberta Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences. They also indicate a strong opportunity for using diets with enhanced VA to help reduce these risk factors.

The research involved two VA feeding trials “ one short-term (three weeks) and one long-term (16 weeks) “ using model rat species for obesity and the metabolic syndrome.

The results, presented recently at the International Symposium on Chylomicrons in Disease, included novel findings that VA may have direct effects on the intestine. In addition, they showed key metabolic risk factors were reduced. For example, in the long-term trial, total cholesterol was lowered by approximately 30 per cent, LDL cholesterol was lowered by 25 per cent and triglyceride levels were lowered by more than 50 per cent.

Because VA is the major natural trans fat in dairy and beef products, comprising more than 70 per cent of the proportion of natural trans fat content in those products, the findings support a growing body of evidence that indicates natural animal-based trans fat is different than harmful hydrogenated trans fat created through industrial processing, Wang noted.

As the VA results illustrate, some natural trans fats are not harmful and may in fact be very good for you, she said.

ualberta/

Half of the new loci identified by Dr Frayling and colleagues contain genes whose functions are well documented. Some help regulate basic cell division, which may have implications for cancer research: unregulated cell division can lead to the growth of tumours. Other genes are implicated in cell-to-cell signalling, an important process in the early development of embryos in the womb. Yet others are so-called "master regulators", acting as switches to turn genes elsewhere in the genome on or off.

One locus in particular is also implicated in osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis involving the effects of wear and tear on the body's structures. This locus reinforces a similar link identified by a previous study, and may be involved in the growth of cartilage.

However, of the twenty loci identified by Dr Frayling and colleagues, half contain genes about which little or nothing is known. The researchers compare these findings to their work last year which identified the first common gene for obesity, the FTO gene. Even though the gene has been shown without a doubt to be influence body size, its role is still unclear.

"There may be more than a hundred genes which affect our height, many of which will work in surprising or unpredictable ways," says Dr Mike Weedon, lead author on the paper. "The challenge now for us is to understand how they influence growth in the body. This could open up new avenues for treating a range of diseases."

wellcome.ac/