Depression has frequently been reported to be associated with other physical diseases and changes in the cytokine system. We aimed to investigate associations between a medical history of depression, its comorbidities and cytokine plasma levels in the Bavarian Nutrition Survey II (BVS II) study sample and in patients suffering from an acute depressive episode.The BVS II is a representative study of the Bavarian population aged 13–80 years. The disease history of its 1050 participants was assessed through face-to-face interviews. A sub-sample of 568 subjects and 62 additional acutely depressed inpatients of the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry participated in anthropometric measurements and blood sampling. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and soluble TNF receptor (sTNF-R) p55 and sTNF-R p75 plasma levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.A history of depression was associated with a higher incidence of high blood pressure, peptic ulcer, dyslipoproteinemia, osteoporosis, allergic skin rash, atopic eczema and thyroid disease.Within the BVS II sample, participants with a history of depression differed from subjects who had never had depression with regard to sTNF-R p55 and sTNF-R p75 levels even when controlling for age, BMI and smoking status. Acutely depressed inpatients showed even higher levels of sTNF-R p55 and sTNF-R p75 than subjects in the normal population. TNF-α levels were also significantly elevated in acutely depressed patients.These results confirm earlier studies regarding the comorbidities of depression and support the hypothesis that activation of the TNF-α system may contribute to the development of a depressive disorder.

Eating out has been linked to the current obesity epidemic, but the evaluation of the extent to which out of home (OH) dietary intakes are different from those at home (AH) is limited. Data collected among 8849 men and 14 277 women aged 35–64 years from the general population of eleven European countries through 24-h dietary recalls or food diaries were analysed to: (1) compare food consumption OH to those AH; (2) describe the characteristics of substantial OH eaters, defined as those who consumed 25 % or more of their total daily energy intake at OH locations. Logistic regression models were fit to identify personal characteristics associated with eating out. In both sexes, beverages, sugar, desserts, sweet and savoury bakery products were consumed more OH than AH. In some countries, men reported higher intakes of fish OH than AH. Overall, substantial OH eating was more common among men, the younger and the more educated participants, but was weakly associated with total energy intake. The substantial OH eaters reported similar dietary intakes OH and AH. Individuals who were not identified as substantial OH eaters reported consuming proportionally higher quantities of sweet and savoury bakery products, soft drinks, juices and other non-alcoholic beverages OH than AH. The OH intakes were different from the AH ones, only among individuals who reported a relatively small contribution of OH eating to their daily intakes and this may partly explain the inconsistent findings relating eating out to the current obesity epidemic.

Bile acids (BA) are signaling molecules with a wide range of biological effects, also identified among the most responsive plasma metabolites in the postprandial state. We here describe this response to different dietary challenges and report on key determinants linked to its interindividual variability. Healthy men and women (n = 72, 62 ± 8 yr, mean ± SE) were enrolled into a 12-wk weight loss intervention. All subjects underwent an oral glucose tolerance test and a mixed-meal tolerance test before and after the intervention. BA were quantified in plasma by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry combined with whole genome exome sequencing and fecal microbiota profiling. Considering the average response of all 72 subjects, no effect of the successful weight loss intervention was found on plasma BA profiles. Fasting and postprandial BA profiles revealed high interindividual variability, and three main patterns in postprandial BA response were identified using multivariate analysis. Although the women enrolled were postmenopausal, effects of sex difference in BA response were evident. Exome data revealed the contribution of preselected genes to the observed interindividual variability. In particular, a variant in the SLCO1A2 gene, encoding the small intestinal BA transporter organic anion-transporting polypeptide-1A2 (OATP1A2), was associated with delayed postprandial BA increases. Fecal microbiota analysis did not reveal evidence for a significant influence of bacterial diversity and/or composition on plasma BA profiles. The analysis of plasma BA profiles in response to two different dietary challenges revealed a high interindividual variability, which was mainly determined by genetics and sex difference of host with minimal effects of the microbiota. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Considering the average response of all 72 subjects, no effect of the successful weight loss intervention was found on plasma bile acid (BA) profiles. Despite high interindividual variability, three main patterns in postprandial BA response were identified using multivariate analysis. A variant in the SLCO1A2 gene, encoding the small intestinal BA transporter organic anion-transporting polypeptide-1A2 (OATP1A2), was associated with delayed postprandial BA increases in response to both the oral glucose tolerance test and the mixed-meal tolerance test.

Background: Casein is considered a slowly digestible protein compared with whey protein, and this may cause differences in hormone responses and the k