Flavan-3-ols are a group of bioactive compounds that have been shown to improve vascular function in intervention studies. They are therefore of great interest for the development of dietary recommendation for the prevention of cardio-vascular diseases. However, there are currently no reliable data from observational studies, as the high variability in the flavan-3-ol content of food makes it difficult to estimate actual intake without nutritional biomarkers. In this study, researchers investigated cross-sectional associations between biomarker-estimated flavan-3-ol intake and blood pressure and other CVD risk markers, as well as longitudinal associations with CVD risk in 25,618 participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) Norfolk cohort.
Publications
The latest list of publications from the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre with a brief summary.
If you are publishing research which has had funding and / or support from the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, please complete this form.
Publication: Scientific Reports
Ottaviani JI, Britten A, Lucarelli D, Luben R, Mulligan AA, Lentjes MA, Fong R et al
21 October 2020
Summary
Publication: Nutrients
Haynes E, Bhagtani D, Iese V, Brown CR, Fesaitu J, Hambleton I, Badrie N et al
30 October 2020
Summary
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have high and increasing rates of diet-related diseases. This situation is associated with a loss of food sovereignty and an increasing reliance on nutritionally poor food imports. A policy goal, therefore, is to improve local diets through improved local production of nutritious foods. Researchers aim in this study was to develop methods and collect preliminary data on the relationships between where people source their food, their socio-demographic characteristics and dietary quality in Fiji and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) in order to inform further work towards this policy goal.
Publication: American Journal of Human Biology
Skottrup P, Kallemose T, Espino D, Infante‐Ramirez R, Brage S, Terzic D et al.
9 September 2020
Summary
Previous studies have suggested that acute exercise-induced cardiac and kidney damage following ultra-distance running is low in Mexican Tarahumara even though C-reactive protein (CRP) remained elevated 24 hours post-race. Researchers aimed to study if the plasma biomarker, soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR), could replace or complement CRP as a systemic inflammation biomarker in Tarahumara men and women following ultra-distance running.
View publicationPublication: PLOS Medicine
Corder K, Sharp S, Jong S, Foubister C, Brown H, Wells E et al.
23 July 2020
Summary
Less than 20% of adolescents globally meet recommended levels of physical activity, and not meeting these recommended levels is associated with social disadvantage and rising disease risk. The determinants of physical activity in adolescents are multilevel and poorly understood, but the school’s social environment likely plays an important role. Researchers conducted a cluster randomised controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of a school-based programme (GoActive) to increase moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) among adolescents.
Publication: Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
Kanen JW, Arntz FE, Yellowlees R, Price A, Christmas DM, Apergis-Schoute AM, Sahakian BJ, Cardinal RN, Robbins TW
12 January 2021
Summary
Responding emotionally to danger is critical for survival. Normal functioning also requires flexible alteration of emotional responses when a threat becomes safe. Aberrant threat and safety learning occur in many psychiatric disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia, in which emotional responses can persist pathologically. While there is evidence that threat and safety learning can be modulated by the serotonin systems, there have been few studies in humans. Researchers addressed a critical clinically relevant question: How does lowering serotonin affect memory retention of conditioned threat and safety memory?
View publicationPublication: BMJ Nutrition
Aljuraiban G, Chan Q, Gibson R, Stamler J, Daviglus M, Dyer A et al.
8 July 2020
Summary
Plant-based diets are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular diseases; however, little is known how the healthiness of the diet may be associated with blood pressure (BP). Researchers aimed to modify three plant -based diet indices: overall plant-based diet index (PDI), healthy PDI (hPDI), and unhealthy PDI (uPDI) according to country-specific dietary guidelines to enable use across populations with diverse dietary patterns – and assessed their associations with BP.
Publication: Diabetes Care
Ibsen D, Steur M, Imamura F, Overvad K, Schulze M, Bendinelli B et al.
22 June 2020
Summary
View publicationPublication: BMJ
Zheng J, Sharp S, Imamura F, Chowdhury R, Gundersen T, Steur M et al.
8 July 2020
Summary
Researchers investigated the association of plasma vitamin C and carotenoids, as indicators of fruit and vegetable intake, with the risk of type 2 diabetes.
View publication
Publication: The Lancet
Treweek S, Forouhi N, Narayan K, Khunti K.
12 June 2020
Summary
The toll of COVID-19 is not equal. Evidence globally shows a greater COVID-19 burden with older age, male sex, obesity, comorbidities, and poverty.
Early data suggest that people from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) groups in the UK and Black, Hispanic, and Native American groups in the USA are disproportionately at risk of severe COVID-19 complications and deaths. A recent systematic review of published, preprint, and grey literature concluded that BAME communities are at increased risk of infection from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and have more adverse outcomes, including death.
View publicationPublication: European Journal of Human Genetics
Senftleber N, Jørgensen M, Jørsboe E, Imamura F, Forouhi N, Larsen C et al.
19 June 2020
Summary
Several recent studies have found signs of recent selection on the carnitine palmitoyl-transferase 1A (CPT1A) gene in the ancestors of Arctic populations likely as a result of their traditional diet. Researchers aimed to assess which fatty acids may have driven the selection of rs80356779, a c.1436C>T (p.(Pro479Leu)) variant in CPT1A, by analysing a potential interaction between the variant and traditional diet.
View publication
Publication: PLOS Medicine
Atabaki-Pasdar N, Ohlsson M, Viñuela A, Frau F, Pomares-Millan H, Haid M et al.
19 June 2020
Summary
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is highly prevalent and causes serious health complications in individuals with and without type 2 diabetes (T2D). Early diagnosis of NAFLD is important, as this can help prevent irreversible damage to the liver and, ultimately, hepatocellular carcinomas. Researchers sought to expand etiological understanding and develop a diagnostic tool for NAFLD using machine learning.
Publication: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Sieri S, Agnoli C, Grioni S, Weiderpass E, Mattiello A, Sluijs I et al.
03 July 2020
Summary
Publication: PLOS Medicine
Imamura F, Fretts A, Marklund M, Ardisson Korat A, Yang W, Lankinen M et al.
12 June 2020
Summary
De novo lipogenesis (DNL) is the primary metabolic pathway synthesizing fatty acids from carbohydrates, protein, or alcohol. Researchers examined associations of in vivo levels of selected fatty acids in DNL with incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2D).
Publication: Nutrients
Laura C. Kusinski, Helen R. Murphy, Emanuella De Lucia Rolfe, Kirsten L. Rennie, Linda M. Oude Griep, Deborah Hughes, Roy Taylor, Claire L. Meek
22 April 2020
Summary
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) annually affects 35,000 pregnancies in the United Kingdom, causing suboptimal health outcomes to the mother and child. Obesity and excessive gestational weight gain are risk factors for GDM
Publication: European Journal of Nutrition
Eloranta A, Sallinen T, Viitasalo A, Lintu N, Väistö J, Jalkanen H et al.
4 May 2020
Summary
Researchers studied the effects of a physical activity and dietary intervention on plasma lipids in a general population of children. Researchers also investigated how lifestyle changes contributed to the intervention effects.
View publicationPublication: European Journal of Nutrition
Eleanor M. Winpenny, Esther M. F. van Sluijs, Nita G. Forouhi
13 May 2020
Summary
Poor diet quality is one of the key contributors to poor cardiovascular health and associated morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to assess how the short-term associations between diet quality and metabolic risk factors change with age.
View publicationPublication: Clinical Nutrition
Ghadeer S. Aljuraiban,Kamalita Pertiwi, Jeremiah Stamler, Queenie Chan, Johanna M. Geleijnse, Linda Van Horn, Martha L. Daviglus, Paul Elliott, Linda M. Oude Griep
22 January 2020
Summary
Previous studies have reported associations between higher potato intake and higher blood pressure (BP) and/or risk of hypertension and obesity. These studies rarely considered preparation methods of potatoes, overall dietary pattern or the nutrient quality of the meals. These factors may affect the association of potato intake with BP and body mass index (BMI). This study investigated potato consumption by amount, type of processing, overall dietary pattern, and nutrient quality of the meals in relation to BP and BMI.
View publicationPublication: Clinical Biochemistry
Paquette M, Gauthier D, Chamberland A, Prat A, De Lucia Rolfe E, Rasmussen J et al.
March 2020
Summary
The objective of this study is to investigate the association between circulating PCSK9 levels and the presence of hepatic steatosis, as well as with liver biomarkers in a cohort of healthy individuals.
View publication
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