Biochemical Phenomena, Metabolism, and Nutrition Commons^™

Impaired Mitochondrial Magnesium Transport Induces Genome-Wide Transcriptional Changes In Hepatic Steatosis, Inflammatory Signaling, And Detoxification Pathways During High-Fat Diet Feeding, Abhishek Shastry, Thiruvelselvan Ponnusamy, Asha Parveen Sakkarai Mohamed, Marianne Assogba, Natarajaseenivasan Kalimuthusamy, Shanmughapriya Santhanam

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Calcium overload during fatty diet consumption induces oxidative stress and mitochondrial apoptosis. Intramitochondrial magnesium inhibits calcium uptake into mitochondria; therefore, modulating the activity of the mitochondrial magnesium transporter Mrs2 may regulate calcium-induced hepatocellular stress. As previous work demonstrates that liver-specific Mrs2 inhibition increases hepatic lipid deposition, RNA-sequencing was performed to identify potential transcriptional mechanisms for hepatocellular stress.

Mrs2 knockout (Mrs2^KO) mice were generated by crossing male Mrs2^fl/fl mice with liver-specific-Cre transgenic mice. Eight-week-old wild-type (Mrs2^WT) and Mrs2^KO mice were placed on chow or high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 months (n=3/group). Whole liver was collected …

Time-Of-Day And Chronotype Influence On Cardiorespiratory And Metabolic Responses To Aerobic Exercise, Brian Fardman, Jie Kang, Nicholas Ratamess, Avery Faigenbaum, Jill Bush, Ariselle Vargas, Tyler Andriopoulos, Julia Melao, Eamonn O’Connell, Andrew Duff, Amy Cmielewski, Jena Desalvo, Alexander Johnson, Matthew Watts

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Exercise enhances skeletal muscle metabolism and promotes overall health. However, the time-of-day effect of exercise on physiological responses in humans remains less clear. This study investigated how exercise timing and individual chronotype influence cardiorespiratory and metabolic responses during aerobic exercise. Thirty healthy, young (20.9 ± 1.5 years) adults comprising 15 men and 15 women were recruited and classified using the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire into morning types (M-types, n = 5), neither types (N-types, n = 20), and evening types (E-types, n = 5). All subjects underwent a V̇o2max test and 2 randomized exercise trials at ∼75% V̇o2max for 30 minutes, 1 …

Examining The Relationship Between Sleep Habits And Caffeine Consumption, Daniel Calaff, Rachel Pruchno

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Sleep is essential for cognitive function, mood regulation, immune defense, and metabolic health. Despite widespread caffeine use, its impact on sleep remains debated. It was initially hypothesized that higher caffeine consumption would correlate with greater sleep disturbances. This study explored the relationship between caffeine consumption and sleep habits in a general adult population using a Qualtrics-based self-report survey. Participants (n=93) reported average hours slept per night, time to fall asleep, and number of nighttime awakenings. Caffeine consumption was calculated based on reported intake and categorized into four dosage groups. Sleep outcomes were statistically compared using ANOVA, t-tests, and Pearson correlation. …

Effects Of Dimerization On The Deacylase Activities Of Human Sirt2., Jie Yang, Nathan I Nicely, Brian P Weiser

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

Human sirtuin isoform 2 (SIRT2) is an NAD+-dependent enzyme that functions as a lysine deacetylase and defatty-acylase. Here, we report that SIRT2 readily dimerizes in solution and in cells and that dimerization affects its ability to remove different acyl modifications from substrates. Dimerization of recombinant SIRT2 was revealed with analytical size exclusion chromatography and chemical cross-linking. Dimerized SIRT2 dissociates into monomers upon binding long fatty acylated substrates (decanoyl-, dodecanoyl-, and myristoyl-lysine). However, we did not observe dissociation of dimeric SIRT2 in the presence of acetyl-lysine. Analysis of X-ray crystal structures led us to discover a SIRT2 double mutant (Q142A/E340A) that …

Invited Review: Adrenocortical Function In Avian And Non-Avian Reptiles: Insights From Dispersed Adrenocortical Cells., Rocco V. Carsia, Patrick J. Mcilroy, Henry B John-Alder

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

Herein we review our work involving dispersed adrenocortical cells from several lizard species: the Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus), Yarrow's Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus jarrovii), Striped Plateau Lizard (Sceloporus virgatus) and the Yucatán Banded Gecko (Coleonyx elegans). Early work demonstrated changes in steroidogenic function of adrenocortical cells derived from adult S. undulatus associated with seasonal interactions with sex. However, new information suggests that both sexes operate within the same steroidogenic budget over season. The observed sex effect was further explored in orchiectomized and ovariectomized lizards, some supported with exogenous testosterone. Overall, a suppressive effect of testosterone was evident, especially in cells …

Is There A Role For Plant-Based “Meat” In Cardiovascular Disease Prevention?, Aziza Jadallah, Usmaan Al-Shehab, Adam Friedman

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Diet is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The American Heart Association recommends following a whole-food, minimally processed diet emphasizing fruit and vegetables to reduce cardiovascular mortality. Recently, processed plant-based meat substitutes, such as Beyond Meat® and Impossible™ foods have become easily accessible to consumers and are advertised as a healthful addition to a plant-based diet. However, these products are highly processed and contain high amounts of saturated fat and sodium. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of processed plant-based meat diets on adverse cardiovascular events compared to animal-based meat diets and minimally processed healthful …

Improvement Of Memory Loss Through Dietary Intervention In The Assisted Living And Rehabilitative Settings, Alexander Swartz, Martin Forsberg

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

• The ketogenic diet is a popular, controversial diet that fuels the brain through beta-oxidation of fatty acids and production of ketone bodies, the most populous of which is betahydroxybutyrate (BHB).

• The ketogenic diet consists of 70-80% fats, 20-25% protein, and 5-10% carbohydrates.

• Medically, the ketogenic diet is utilized in patients with epilepsy and recommended by some physicians to improve general health through weight loss and insulin sensitivity.

• Key factors of neurodegeneration include glucose hypometabolism, oxidative damage, and neuroinflammation.

• Studies have shown that with ingestion of exogenous ketones alone, or endogenous ketonemia through a ketogenic diet, there is: …

Assessment Of Physical Fitness After Bariatric Surgery And Its Association With Protein Intake And Type Of Cholecalciferol Supplementation, Hendrika J M Smelt, Sjaak Pouwels, Alper Celik, Adarsh Gupta, Johannes F Smulders

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

Background: Several studies showed that there is a relationship between vitamin and mineral status and muscle strength. In particular this is the case for handgrip strength (HS) and vitamin D deficiency. In bariatric surgery there is a risk of decrease in muscle strength after surgery and also vitamin and mineral deficiencies are not uncommon. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of low vitamin 25 (OH) cholecalciferol levels, high dose cholecalciferol supplementation regime and protein intake on physical fitness, measured using handgrip strength (HS) and the shuttle walk run test (SWRT). Methods: For this retrospective …

Ethnic Differences In Maternal Adipokines During Normal Pregnancy, Xinhua Chen, Theresa O Scholl

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

Two adipokines (adiponectin and resistin) have opposite relations with insulin resistance and inflammation. Our major focus was to determine whether there were detectable ethnic differences in maternal adipokines during pregnancy. We also explored the correlation of the adipokines with maternal glucose homeostasis, blood pressure and anthropometric parameters. Pregnant women (n = 1634) were from a large prospective cohort study in Camden NJ (African-American 36.8%; Hispanic 47.6%; Caucasian 15.6%). Serum adiponectin and resistin were measured at entry (week 16.8) and the 3rd trimester (week 30.7) using the Luminex xMapTechnology. Significant differences were observed among ethnic groups, controlling for confounding variables. African …