Elizabeth Joseph

Diverse effects of a low dose supplement of lipidated curcumin in healthy middle aged people

BackgroundCurcumin extracts of turmeric are proposed to produce health benefits. To date, human intervention studies have focused mainly on people with existing health problems given high doses of poorly absorbed curcumin. The purpose of the current study was to check whether in healthy people, a low dose of a lipidated curcumin extract could alter wellness-related measures.MethodsThe present study was conducted in healthy middle aged people (40–60 years old) with a low dose of curcumin (80 mg/day) in a lipidated form expected to have good absorption. Subjects were given either curcumin (N = 19) or placebo (N = 19) for 4 wk. Blood and saliva samples were taken before and after the 4 weeks and analyzed for a variety of blood and saliva measures relevant to health promotion.ResultsCurcumin, but not placebo, produced the following statistically significant changes: lowering of plasma triglyceride values, lowering of salivary amylase levels, raising of salivary radical scavenging capacities, raising of plasma catalase activities, lowering of plasma beta amyloid protein concentrations, lowering of plasma sICAM readings, increased plasma myeloperoxidase without increased c-reactive protein levels, increased plasma nitric oxide, and decreased plasma alanine amino transferase activities.ConclusionCollectively, these results demonstrate that a low dose of a curcumin-lipid preparation can produce a variety of potentially health promoting effects in healthy middle aged people.

Zinc for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Placebo-Controlled Double-Blind Pilot Trial Alone and Combined with Amphetamine

OBJECTIVE To explore effects of zinc supplementation in American children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Mideastern trials reported significant benefit from 13-40 mg elemental zinc as the sulfate. METHOD We randomly assigned 52 children aged 6-14 with DSM-IV ADHD to zinc supplementation (15 mg every morning [qAM] or two times per day [b.i.d.] as glycinate, n = 28) or matched placebo (n = 24) for 13 weeks: 8 weeks monotherapy and then 5 weeks with added d-amphetamine (AMPH). AMPH dose was weight-standardized for 2 weeks and then clinically optimized by week 13. Zinc glycinate was chosen as having less gastrointestinal discomfort than sulfate. Hypotheses were that zinc would improve inattention more than placebo by effect size of d > 0.25 at 8 weeks; zinc+AMPH would improve ADHD symptoms more than placebo+AMPH by d > 0.25, and optimal dose of AMPH with zinc would be 20% lower than with placebo. An interim analysis requested by the National Institute of Mental Health resulted in an increased dosage, so that 20 received 15 mg/day qAM and 8 received 30 mg/day (15 mg b.i.d.) RESULTS Only the third hypothesis was upheld: Optimal mg/kg AMPH dose with b.i.d. zinc was 37% lower than with placebo. Other clinical outcomes were equivocal, sometimes favoring zinc, sometimes placebo, but objective neuropsychological measures mostly favored b.i.d. zinc (d = 0.36-0.7). Safety tests and adverse events were not different between groups. Copper and iron blood indices were not impaired by 8 weeks of 30 mg/day zinc. CONCLUSION Doses up to 30 mg/day of zinc were safe for at least 8 weeks, but clinical effect was equivocal except for 37% reduction in amphetamine optimal dose with 30 mg/day zinc (not with 15 mg). Possible reasons for difference from mideastern reports include endemic diets, population genetics, relative rate of zinc deficiency, difference in background nutrition, insufficient dosage or absorption, or wrong anion (sulfate may be necessary for reported benefit). Dose may be especially important: All visually impressive advantages over placebo appeared only with 15 mg b.i.d. rather than once a day. Future research should use larger doses than 15 mg/day, provide a basic recommended daily allowance/intake multivitamin/mineral supplement for all to standardize background nutrition, select participants for low zinc, and consider the issue of anion interaction.

Selenium glycinate supplementation increases blood glutathione peroxidase activities and decreases prostate-specific antigen readings in middle-aged US men

Two concepts are often currently applied to selenium in adult men in the United States: • Intake is generally enough to maximize blood glutathione peroxidase activities. • In such men, selenium supplementation does not reduce risk of prostate cancer. In contrast to these concepts, 30 healthy middle-aged men were studied to test the following hypothesis: 6-week supplementation of 200 μg of selenium as glycinate can raise activities of 2 blood selenium enzymes and lower a marker of prostate cancer risk. The hypothesis was confirmed, in that selenium supplementation raised activities for erythrocyte and plasma glutathione peroxidase as well as lowered values for plasma prostate-specific antigen. The enzyme activity increases were not extremely large, but based on a chicken study, changes in blood glutathione peroxidase activities can reflect bigger changes in the prostate. Placebo treatment did not duplicate the selenium effects in 30 other men. In conclusion, this study suggests that US middle-aged men may not typically consume optimal amounts of selenium.

Copper deficiency impairs survival in endotoxin-treated rats

Abstract Copper (Cu) deficiency causes low activities of antioxidant enzymes, an effect which could weaken resistance against endotoxin induced injury. Weanling rats fed 0.2 ppm Cu for 6 weeks showed poor survival (2/12) 20 h after injection ip with 10 mg/kg endotoxin. Rats fed 15 ppm Cu showed good survival after this treatment (10/10). At 3 h after endotoxin injection, Cu-deficient rats displayed much larger increases than adequates in serum alanine aminotransferase activities, an indicator of liver injury. Deficient rats had low activities of 3 antioxidant enzymes: serum ceruloplasmin, hepatic Cu−Zn superoxide dismutase and serum extracellular superoxide dismutase. The last activities were reduced 3 h after endotoxin treatment in both Cu-adequate and deficient rats, but the final levels were much lower in the deficients. Thus, rats with low activities of Cu enzymes with potential antioxidant function showed poor survival of endotoxemia.

Effects of a Mixed Nutraceutical Beverage on Performance of Moderately Strenuous Aerobic Exercise Lasting Under an Hour

Intake of sugar containing drinks can aid performance in long aerobic exercise sessions. On the other hand, the effects on shorter sessions are less well characterized. The present study examined whether an effect could be seen in a shorter session when a nutraceutical beverage of carbohydrates (glucose, isomaltose, waxy maize) were combined with a small amount of protein plus nutritional antioxidants (� -carotene, vitamin C and vitamin E). Recreationally trained, young adults performed two aerobic exercise testings, 4 weeks apart (3 mile run time + distance in 25 minutes of stationary biking + a 90 second step test). At the second testing, subjects drank 6.5 oz of either placebo (N=20) or the nutraceutical beverage (N=20) before and after the run, and midway through the cycling. Neither beverage affected run time but the nutraceutical beverage increased biking distance and step number (p < 0.001 for bike distance, p < 0.01 for steps, paired t-test). The changes for each of the latter two assessments differed significantly between beverages (p < 0.01, unpaired t-test). In conclusion, acute use of a nutritional drink improved performance in middle + later stages of aerobic exercise lasting under 1 hour. Future work can establish an optimal ingredient mix.