Adipose tissue angiogenesis genes are down-regulated by grape polyphenols supplementation during a human overfeeding trial

The adaptive response to overfeeding is associated with profound modifications of gene expression in adipose tissue to support lipid storage and weight gain. The objective of this study was to assess in healthy lean men whether a supplementation with polyphenols could interact with these molecular adaptations. Abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue biopsies were sampled from 42 subjects participating to an overfeeding protocol providing an excess of 50% of their total energy expenditure for 31 days, and who were supplemented with 2 g/day of grape polyphenols or a placebo. Gene expression profiling was performed by RNA sequencing. Overfeeding led to a modification of the expression of 163 and 352 genes in the placebo and polyphenol groups, respectively. The GO functions of these genes were mostly involved in lipid metabolism, followed by genes involved in adipose tissue remodeling and expansion. In response to overfeeding, 812 genes were differentially regulated between groups. Among them, a set of 41 genes were related to angiogenesis and were downregulated in the polyphenol group. Immunohistochemistry targeting PECAM1, as endothelial cell marker, confirmed reduced angiogenesis in this group. Finally, quercetin and isorhamnetin, two polyphenol species enriched in the plasma of the volunteers submitted to the polyphenols, were found to inhibit human umbilical vein endothelial cells migration in vitro. Polyphenol supplementation do not prevent the regulation of genes related to lipid metabolism in human adipose tissue during overfeeding, but impact the angiogenesis pathways. This may potentially contribute to a protection against adipose tissue expansion during dynamic phase of weight gain.

The InSight HP3 Penetrator (Mole) on Mars: Soil Properties Derived from the Penetration Attempts and Related Activities

The NASA InSight Lander on Mars includes the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package HP³ to measure the surface heat flow of the planet. The package uses temperature sensors that would have been brought to the target depth of 3-5 m by a small penetrator, nicknamed the mole. The mole requiring friction on its hull to balance remaining recoil from its hammer mechanism did not penetrate to the targeted depth. Instead, by precessing about a point midway along its hull, it carved a 7 cm deep and 5-6 cm wide pit and reached a depth of initially 31 cm. The root cause of the failure - as was determined through an extensive, almost two years long campaign - was a lack of friction in an unexpectedly thick cohesive duricrust. During the campaign - described in detail in this paper - the mole penetrated further aided by friction applied using the scoop at the end of the robotic Instrument Deployment Arm and by direct support by the latter. The mole tip finally reached a depth of about 37 cm, bringing the mole back-end 1-2 cm below the surface. It reversed its downward motion twice during attempts to provide friction through pressure on the regolith instead of directly with the scoop to the mole hull. The penetration record of the mole was used to infer mechanical soil parameters such as the penetration resistance of the duricrust of 0.3-0.7 MPa and a penetration resistance of a deeper layer ( > 30 cm depth) of 4.9 ± 0.4 MPa . Using the mole's thermal sensors, thermal conductivity and diffusivity were measured. Applying cone penetration theory, the resistance of the duricrust was used to estimate a cohesion of the latter of 2-15 kPa depending on the internal friction angle of the duricrust. Pushing the scoop with its blade into the surface and chopping off a piece of duricrust provided another estimate of the cohesion of 5.8 kPa. The hammerings of the mole were recorded by the seismometer SEIS and the signals were used to derive P-wave and S-wave velocities representative of the topmost tens of cm of the regolith. Together with the density provided by a thermal conductivity and diffusivity measurement using the mole's thermal sensors, the elastic moduli were calculated from the seismic velocities. Using empirical correlations from terrestrial soil studies between the shear modulus and cohesion, the previous cohesion estimates were found to be consistent with the elastic moduli. The combined data were used to derive a model of the regolith that has an about 20 cm thick duricrust underneath a 1 cm thick unconsolidated layer of sand mixed with dust and above another 10 cm of unconsolidated sand. Underneath the latter, a layer more resistant to penetration and possibly containing debris from a small impact crater is inferred. The thermal conductivity increases from 14 mW/m K to 34 mW/m K through the 1 cm sand/dust layer, keeps the latter value in the duricrust and the sand layer underneath and then increases to 64 mW/m K in the sand/gravel layer below.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11214-022-00941-z.

Grape polyphenols decrease circulating branched chain amino acids in overfed adults

Introduction and aims

Dietary polyphenols have long been associated with health benefits, including the prevention of obesity and related chronic diseases. Overfeeding was shown to rapidly induce weight gain and fat mass, associated with mild insulin resistance in humans, and thus represents a suitable model of the metabolic complications resulting from obesity. We studied the effects of a polyphenol-rich grape extract supplementation on the plasma metabolome during an overfeeding intervention in adults, in two randomized parallel controlled clinical trials.

Methods

Blood plasma samples from 40 normal weight to overweight male adults, submitted to a 31-day overfeeding (additional 50% of energy requirement by a high calorie-high fructose diet), given either 2 g/day grape polyphenol extract or a placebo at 0, 15, 21, and 31 days were analyzed (Lyon study). Samples from a similarly designed trial on females (20 subjects) were collected in parallel (Lausanne study). Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics was conducted to characterize metabolome changes induced by overfeeding and associated effects from polyphenol supplementation. The clinical trials are registered under the numbers NCT02145780 and NCT02225457 at ClinicalTrials.gov.

Results

Changes in plasma levels of many metabolic markers, including branched chain amino acids (BCAA), ketone bodies and glucose in both placebo as well as upon polyphenol intervention were identified in the Lyon study. Polyphenol supplementation counterbalanced levels of BCAA found to be induced by overfeeding. These results were further corroborated in the Lausanne female study.

Conclusion

Administration of grape polyphenol-rich extract over 1 month period was associated with a protective metabolic effect against overfeeding in adults.

Polyphenol Supplementation Did Not Affect Insulin Sensitivity and Fat Deposition During One-Month Overfeeding in Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trials in Men and in Women

Two randomized placebo-controlled double-blind paralleled trials (42 men in Lyon, 19 women in Lausanne) were designed to test 2 g/day of a grape polyphenol extract during 31 days of high calorie-high fructose overfeeding. Hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamps and test meals with [1,1,1-¹³C₃]-triolein were performed before and at the end of the intervention. Changes in body composition were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Fat volumes of the abdominal region and liver fat content were determined in men only, using 3D-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) at 3T. Adipocyte's size was measured in subcutaneous fat biopsies. Bodyweight and fat mass increased during overfeeding, in men and in women. While whole body insulin sensitivity did not change, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and the hepatic insulin resistance index (HIR) increased during overfeeding. Liver fat increased in men. However, grape polyphenol supplementation did not modify the metabolic and anthropometric parameters or counteract the changes during overfeeding, neither in men nor in women. Polyphenol intake was associated with a reduction in adipocyte size in women femoral fat. Grape polyphenol supplementation did not counteract the moderated metabolic alterations induced by one month of high calorie-high fructose overfeeding in men and women. The clinical trials are registered under the numbers NCT02145780 and NCT02225457 at ClinicalTrials.gov and available at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02145780 and https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02225457.

SEIS: Insight's Seismic Experiment for Internal Structure of Mars

By the end of 2018, 42 years after the landing of the two Viking seismometers on Mars, InSight will deploy onto Mars' surface the SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Internal Structure) instrument; a six-axes seismometer equipped with both a long-period three-axes Very Broad Band (VBB) instrument and a three-axes short-period (SP) instrument. These six sensors will cover a broad range of the seismic bandwidth, from 0.01 Hz to 50 Hz, with possible extension to longer periods. Data will be transmitted in the form of three continuous VBB components at 2 sample per second (sps), an estimation of the short period energy content from the SP at 1 sps and a continuous compound VBB/SP vertical axis at 10 sps. The continuous streams will be augmented by requested event data with sample rates from 20 to 100 sps. SEIS will improve upon the existing resolution of Viking's Mars seismic monitoring by a factor of ∼ 2500 at 1 Hz and ∼ 200 000 at 0.1 Hz. An additional major improvement is that, contrary to Viking, the seismometers will be deployed via a robotic arm directly onto Mars' surface and will be protected against temperature and wind by highly efficient thermal and wind shielding. Based on existing knowledge of Mars, it is reasonable to infer a moment magnitude detection threshold of M w ∼ 3 at 40 ∘ epicentral distance and a potential to detect several tens of quakes and about five impacts per year. In this paper, we first describe the science goals of the experiment and the rationale used to define its requirements. We then provide a detailed description of the hardware, from the sensors to the deployment system and associated performance, including transfer functions of the seismic sensors and temperature sensors. We conclude by describing the experiment ground segment, including data processing services, outreach and education networks and provide a description of the format to be used for future data distribution.

ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

The online version of this article (10.1007/s11214-018-0574-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Maternal high-fat diet prevents developmental programming by early-life stress

Anxiety disorders and depression are well-documented in subjects exposed to adverse childhood events. Recently, maternal obesity and/or maternal consumption of high-fat diets (HFD) have been also proposed as risk factors for offspring mental health. Here using an animal model in rats, we explored the combinatorial effects of a maternal HFD (40% of energy from fat without impact on maternal weight; during gestation and lactation) and maternal separation (MS) in offspring. In the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of pups, MS led to changes in the expression of several genes such as Bdnf (brain derived neurotrophic factor), 5HT-r1a (serotonin receptor 1a) and Rest4 (neuron-restrictive silencer element, repressor element 1, silencing transcription factor (Rest), splicing variant 4). Surprisingly, perinatal HFD strongly attenuated the developmental alterations induced by MS. Furthermore, maternal HFD totally prevented the endophenotypes (anxiety, spatial memory, social behavior, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis response to stress, hippocampal neurogenesis and visceral pain) associated with MS at adulthood. Finally, we also demonstrated that HFD intake reduced anxiety and enhanced maternal care in stressed dams. Overall, our data suggest that a HFD restricted to gestation and lactation, which did not lead to overweight in dams, had limited effects in unstressed offspring, highlighting the role of maternal obesity, rather than fat exposure per se, on brain vulnerability during development.

Genetic deletion of the Histone Deacetylase 6 exacerbates selected behavioral deficits in the R6/1 mouse model for Huntington's disease

INTRODUCTION

The inhibition of the Histone Deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) increases tubulin acetylation, thus stimulating intracellular vesicle trafficking and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) release, that is, cellular processes markedly reduced in Huntington's disease (HD).

METHODS

We therefore tested that reducing HDAC6 levels by genetic manipulation would attenuate early cognitive and behavioral deficits in R6/1 mice, a mouse model which develops progressive HD-related phenotypes.

RESULTS

In contrast to our initial hypothesis, the genetic deletion of HDAC6 did not reduce the weight loss or the deficits in cognitive abilities and nest-building behavior shown by R6/1 mice, and even worsened their social impairments, hypolocomotion in the Y-maze, and reduced ultrasonic vocalizations.

CONCLUSIONS

These results weaken the validity of HDAC6 reduction as a possible therapeutic strategy for HD. The data are discussed in terms of additional cellular consequences and anatomical specificity of HDAC6 that could explain these unexpected effects.

La violence conjugale à l’épreuve de l’État social : une comparaison franco-états-unienne

À partir de la fin des années 1970, les associations féministes qui prennent en charge le problème de la violence conjugale se sont insérées dans le secteur social, avec plus ou moins de succès, et ont bénéficié de financements venant de l’État. Dans une période de reconfigurations de l’État social, qui affectent notamment les modes d’attribution des budgets publics, celui-ci perd en légitimité symbolique et voit ses fonctions se modifier. Quels sont les effets de ces mutations sur la prise en charge, étatique et associative, du problème de la violence conjugale ? La comparaison entre la France et les États-Unis met en lumière un paradoxe concernant l’évolution de la cause dans ces deux contextes institutionnels et politiques. Alors que l’État social est moins fort aux États-Unis qu’en France, la légitimité de la cause dans l’espace social permet de créer des droits spécifiques aux femmes victimes et d’instaurer notamment un régime d’exception les prémunissant des contraintes du workfare. Parallèlement, en France, les organisations féministes oeuvrent toujours à la pleine reconnaissance de ce problème public et semblent davantage menacées par les réductions budgétaires. En s’appuyant sur une enquête ethnographique menée principalement dans le comté de Los Angeles et en région parisienne, cet article propose de retracer les trajectoires de la cause de la violence conjugale prisme des transformations provoquées par les mutations de l’État social.

Sex-dependent changes in social behaviors in motor pre-symptomatic R6/1 mice

BACKGROUND

The R6/1 mouse line is one of the most widely employed models of Huntington Disease (HD), a complex syndrome characterized by motor and non-motor deficits. Surprisingly, its behavioral phenotype during the early phases of the pathology when the motor impairments are not manifest yet has been poorly investigated. It is also not clear whether the expression of HD-like symptoms at the pre-motor stage in this mouse model differs between the two sexes.

METHODS

Male and female 12 weeks-old R6/1 mice and their wild-type littermates were tested on a battery of tests modeling some of the major neuropsychiatric non-motor symptoms of HD: alterations in social interest, social interaction and communication, as well as disturbances in prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle response (PPI) and circadian patterns of activity. The lack of motor symptoms was confirmed during the entire experimental period by means of the tail test for clasping.

RESULTS

R6/1 mice displayed marked alterations in all social behaviors which were mainly observed in males. Male R6/1 animals were also the only ones showing reduced body weight. Both male and female transgenic mice displayed mild alterations in the circadian activity patterns, but no deficits in PPI.

CONCLUSIONS

These results demonstrate the validity of the R6/1 mouse in mimicking selected neuropsychiatric symptoms of HD, the social deficits being the clearest markers of the pre-motor phase of the pathology. Furthermore, our data suggest that male R6/1 mice are more suitable for future studies on the early stages of HD.