Matthieu Maillot

Human fasting plasma concentrations of vitamin E and carotenoids, and their association with genetic variants in apo C-III, cholesteryl ester transfer protein, hepatic lipase, intestinal fatty acid binding protein and microsomal triacylglycerol transfer protein

Plasma concentrations of vitamin E and carotenoids are governed by several factors, including genetic factors. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in some genes involved in lipid metabolism have recently been associated with fasting plasma concentrations of these fat-soluble micronutrients. To further investigate the role of genetic factors that modulate the plasma concentrations of these micronutrients, we assessed whether SNP in five candidate genes (apo C-III, CETP, hepatic lipase, I-FABP and MTP) were associated with the plasma concentrations of these micronutrients. Fasting plasma vitamin E and carotenoid concentrations were measured in 129 French Caucasian subjects (forty-eight males and eighty-one females). Candidate SNP were genotyped by PCR amplification followed by restriction fragment length polymorphisms. Plasma gamma-tocopherol, alpha-carotene and beta-carotene concentrations were significantly different (P < 0.05) in subjects who carried different SNP variants in hepatic lipase. Plasma alpha-tocopherol concentrations were significantly different in subjects who had different SNP variants in apo C-III and cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP). Plasma lycopene concentrations were significantly different (P < 0.05) in women who had different SNP variants in intestinal fatty acid binding protein (I-FABP). Finally, there was no effect of SNP variants in microsomal TAG transfer protein upon the plasma concentrations of these micronutrients. Most of the observed differences remained significant after the plasma micronutrients were adjusted for plasma TAG and cholesterol. These results suggest that apo C-III, CETP and hepatic lipase play a role in determining the plasma concentrations of tocopherols while hepatic lipase and I-FABP may modulate plasma concentrations of carotenoids.

Low-cost foods: how do they compare with their brand name equivalents? A French study.

OBJECTIVE Consumers are increasingly relying on low-cost foods, although it is not clear if the nutritional quality of these foods is fully maintained. The aim of the present work was to analyse the relationship between cost and quality within a given food category. DESIGN AND SETTING The relationship was analysed between nutritional quality and cost for 220 food products belonging to seventeen different categories, controlling for package type and package size. Given that a summary of nutrient information was not available on the product label, a novel ingredient quality score was developed based on listed product ingredients. RESULTS Within a given category, the lowest-priced foods were not different from the equivalent branded products in terms of overall energy or total fat content. Nevertheless, a positive relationship, small but significant, was observed between the price and the ingredient quality score. On average, the branded products cost 2.5 times more than the low-cost products, for an equivalent energy and lipid content, and had a slightly higher (1.3 times) ingredient quality score. CONCLUSIONS More studies are necessary to evaluate the nutritional quality of low-cost foods. This evaluation would be facilitated if nutrition labelling was mandatory. Yet in view of the present results, it does not seem to be justified to divert consumers, especially the poorest, from low-cost foods because this may have an adverse effect on the nutritional quality of their diet, by reducing further the fraction of their food budget spent on fresh fruit and vegetables.