The consortium partners from DIfE and the University of Reading investigated the molecular relationships of diet, lipid biomarkers and the development of metabolic diseases. The researchers used lipidomics, a modern analytical method, to identify those lipids that are statistically associated with cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. In addition, the scientists found that a diet with an increased proportion of unsaturated fatty acids leads to a reduction in risk-associated lipids and an increase in low-risk lipids. 

The results and complete article can be found here: “Deep Lipidomics in Human Plasma: Cardiometabolic Disease Risk and Effect of Dietary Fat Modulation"

Laury Sellem, a doctoral researcher at the consortium partner UoR, and colleagues from the University Paris Sorbonne Nord in France investigated the associations between the consumption of dairy foods and the risk of cardiovascular disease risk in the French prospective cohort study NutriNet-Santé. They found that despite dairy foods being important sources of dietary saturated fat, their consumption was not associated with overall cardiovascular disease or coronary heart disease risks. However, they observed that high consumption of fermented dairy (e.g. cheese and yogurt) was associated with a decreased risk of cerebrovascular disease (e.g. stroke and transient ischaemic attacks). These results suggest a potential differential effect of specific dairy foods on cardiovascular health.

Read the full article at the following link: "Consumption of dairy products and CVD risk: results from the French prospective cohort NutriNet-Santé".

Leveraging the comprehensive lipidomics data in two large human studies, the PREDIMED-trial in Spain and the EPIC-Potsdam cohort in Germany, Wittenbecher, and colleagues from the FAME consortium conducted the first comprehensive prospective lipidomics study on heart failure risk. Single lipids and lipid patterns, particularly ceramides and phosphatidylcholines with palmitate (C16:0), were associated with the risk of developing heart failure in the PREDIMED trial. The prospective associations of several lipids and lipid patterns with heart failure risk were externally validated in the EPIC-Potsdam cohort. These results suggest that plasma lipidomics profiling reflects perturbations in lipid metabolism preceding heart failure onset and generates putative biomarkers of heart failure risk.

Find the full article in the following link "Lipid Profiles and Heart Failure Risk: Results From Two Prospective Studies".

FAME investigators discuss in a recent review nutritional implications of the intake and metabolism of omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids for cardiometabolic diseases (Schulze et al. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 2020). While prospective observational studies support the use of long-chain omega-3 PUFAs in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease, randomised controlled trials have often reported neutral findings. The harmful effects of a high intake of omega-6 PUFAs are debated, although this idea is not supported by prospective studies. Health effects of PUFAs might be influenced by desaturases, the key enzymes in the metabolism of PUFAs. The activity of these enzymes and modulation by variants of the FADS1-2-3 gene cluster are linked to several cardiometabolic traits.The review discusses the consequences of altered desaturase activity in the context of PUFA intake and their clinical and public health implications.

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