News

Marcela Prada, a PhD student at the consortium partner DIfE, presented results of her work at the annual meeting of the European Diabetes Epidemiology Group (EDEG). Novel lipidomics profiling in the EPIC-Potsdam study allowed an in-depth analysis of odd-chain fatty acid containing lipids across a range of different lipid classes and their association with new onset of type 2 diabetes in this prospective cohort.

Matthias Schulze, as project coordinator, presented progress and results of the FAME consortium at the Final Seminar of the Call for Joint Transnational Research Proposals: “Biomarkers for Nutrition and Health”, co-founded by ERA-HDHL. The presentation highlighted results of the work carried out across the 3 different work packages by project partners, e.g. on lipidomics and cardiometabolic diseases, novel biomarkers of dairy food consumption, and genetic and non-genetic determinants of PUFA status.

Our consortium partners were also present, together with other experts, including Scientific Advisory and Stakeholders Board members of the JPI HDHL and a representative of the European Commission.

The FAME group is committed to hold regular meetings at which new methods, analysis strategies, results and other facets of research are shared and discussed. Our latest meeting in Pamplona, Spain brought together representatives from the project partners.

In two days, the group had the opportunity to gather and exchange ideas and information, which makes this meeting an invaluable resource to quality research. The meeting included organization topics and presentations of the current activities carried by each research center. There were discussions on further collaborations and following meetings, both face-to-face and video conferences.

The FAME group presented their work in the 13th European Nutrition Conference, Federation of European Nutrition Societies (FENS) on Oct 17th 2019 in Dublin, Ireland.

The presentation “The FAME Project - an overview“ was given by Prof. Matthias Schulze. He presented the partners, aims and the research that is currently taken part based on randomized trials on whole diets (PREDIMED, CORDIOPREV) and on specific fatty acid modulations (LIPGENE, RESET, DIVAS, SATgene) or polyphenol content (FLAVURS, CIRCLES) as well as the large-scale population-based cohort EPIC-Potsdam.

“Impact of dairy on human health: biomarkers of intake and cardiovascular risk” was presented by Prof. Julie Lovegrove, from the University of Reading. The emphasis was the discussion of associations between dairy intake and risk from CVD and cardiometabolic diseases, and the future potential for circulating fatty acids as valid novel biomarkers of dairy intake.

Prof. Anne Marie Minihane, from University of East Anglia (UEA), presented “The influence of genotype on fatty acid status and its impact on cardio-metabolic health”, where she discussed how circulating and tissue polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) status is modulated by common variants in genes which influence PUFA synthesis, metabolism, transport, and cell uptake. There was a particular focus on the fatty acid desaturase (FADS) 1 and 2 and lipoxygenase (ALOX) genes. The presentation summarized available evidence and considered how it can be used to refine future dietary guidelines

The talk “Lipidomics and cardiometabolic risk in PREDIMED” was delivered by Dr. Miguel Ruiz Canela, where he showed lipidome patterns longitudinally associated with CVD and T2D, including analyses of their 1-year changes and the subsequent CVD/T2D risk in the context of a Mediterranean diet intervention trial.

The FAME Consortium will host a special scientific symposium at the upcoming FENS congress in Dublin (17th Oct 10:30-12:00):

"Fatty Acid Metabolism – Interlinking Diet with Cardiometabolic Health"

This session will highlight major findings of research within the project FAME related to

a) the identification of novel lipidomics biomarkers as biomarkers of fatty acid status and of future cardiometabolic clinical events,

b) the relationships between whole diets and specific foods with tissue status of fatty acids as explanatory factors for diet relationships with cardiometabolic health, and

c) genetic determinants of fatty acid status and metabolism which modify the physiological effects of dietary intake.

FENS 2019 Congress Website

The Consortium Meeting in Reading brought together representatives from all project partners, with the aim of monitoring progress of the different work packages and planning the following period (meetings, symposium, work plan, papers, etc.).

Lipidomics results were discussed from EPIC-Potsdam, PREDIMED and CORDIOPREV studies. Preliminary data on dairy intake markers were presented by the University of Reading group, followed by discussions about the selection of variants in enzymes involved in PUFA metabolic pathways by the University of East Anglia group. 

Cordoba, Sept 28th, 2018

During the Consortium Meeting, project partners specifically discussed the progress within the 3 WPs and first results of data analysis on fatty acid profiles and lipidomics data based on the CORDIOPREV and PREDIMED studies. Furthermore, analytical strategies for complex lipidomics profiles were presented.

The Hague (The Netherlands), 5th July 2018

During the Mid-term symposium of the ERA-HDHL Cofund "Biomarkers for Nutrition and Health" the progress of work of the FAME consortium was presented by coordinator Matthias Schulze.