Progress 12/01/21 to 11/30/24
Outputs
Target Audience:Two papers were published in two different peer-reviewedjournals to other scientists in the field. A poster was also presented at a national conference to over 1000scientists in the field.Data has also been presented at a small meeting of scientists through Penn States Cancer Research Center. Collaboration with other professors at Penn State and at North Carolina State University is also being worked on to help with data acquisition and analysis. Changes/Problems:In these studies, I recieved null results and my mice did not develop inflammation from obesity. To overcome this future studies will need to use a different method, such as looking at circulating levels of pro-inflammatory markers after induction of obesity to determine which mice should be used in the study and see if there is a change in these levels after treatment. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Through this grant I had the ability to manage spending funds for research. I was also instructor of record for 2 lab sections and learned how to delegate tasks to teaching assistants, develop teaching material, and troubleshoot issues in a class setting. Through writing this grant and doing experiments I developed independence by developing a project idea and executing it and learning what to do with null results. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of this project have been disseminated through my dissertation which will be open-access allowign the public ability to see these results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Each objective was met for this project. Mice with diet-induced obesity were given cocoa and cocoa polyphenol fractions to determine anti-inflammatory effects by looking at gene expression of pro-inflamamtory cytokines in the colon. There was no difference seen between any of the groups. The gut microbiome was examined by looking at short chain fatty acid composition and no difference was seen between the groups. Protein expression of pro-inflamamtory cytokines were examined in adipose tissue and no difference was seen between groups. My final objective of an in vitro fermentation was conducted on the cocoa and cocoa fractions. Short chain fatty acid and 16S rRNA gene sequening were done on these samples. There was no difference in short chain fatty acid composition between groups and 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed overgrowth of the phylum Pseudomonadota.
Publications
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Progress 12/01/23 to 11/30/24
Outputs
Target Audience:National and international scientists, in particular cancer researchers, nutrition scientists, food scientists, and other obesity researchers. Undergraduates in the Food Science Department at PSU. Changes/Problems:Mice in the obesity study did not produce inflammation from obesity induction. This will need to be fixed in future studies by determining which mice to use after obesity induction by looking at levels of circulating pro-inflamamtory cytokines to determine changes after giving cocoa but also ensure mice are inflamamed from obesity. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?I learned how to manage funds that were closing. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A dissertation was written and will be available to the public by publishing through Penn State's open-access website. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The first two objectives were completed. The third objective was also conducted. An in vitro fermentation was done on cocoa and cocoa fractions and short chain fatty acid composition and microbial composition were done. A dissertation was produced with data from the first two objectives.
Publications
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Progress 12/01/22 to 11/30/23
Outputs
Target Audience:National and international scientists, in particular cancer researchers, nutrition scientists, food scientists, and other obesity researchers. Undergraduates in the Food Science Department at PSU. Changes/Problems:We have taken out using 16S to look at microbial composition for objective 2. We have seen no difference in microbial metabolism or microbial products between groups, nor expression of downstream products related to binding of these metabolites, so we have chosen instead to focus on colon inflamamtion and quantify a pathway related to inflammation in the colon. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?I spent a semester as instructor for a 400-level food science lab section. I have been provided networking opportunities through the project manager annual meeting, but also through collaboration with North Carolina State University to do my proposed fermentations. I will also be collaborating with Dr. Shengmin Song to conduct metabolmics of the fermented samples. I have presented ata national conference and been able to network at the national conference and gain better insight about my research methods. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A poster was presented at American Society for Nutrition 2023, a national conference of over 1000 scientists and dietitians. I have been able to communicate about my research with undergraduates in the Food Science department through guest lecturing for a 400-level Food Science course and instructing a Food Science course lab. I have also been able to talk about my fellowship and time in graduate school to undergraduates through Food Science Club and Phi Tau Sigma. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?By next annual report, I should be ready to defend my dissertation. I should also have completed Objectives 1 and 3. I should have a manuscript submitted with data from Objectives 1 and 2 and a separate manuscript submitted for objective 3.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1 has been mostly completed. Mice have been supplemented with cocoa and euthanized with tissues collected. All cocoa and cocoa polyphenol fractions have decreased rate of weight gain and have a lower final body weight compared to the mice on a high fat diet without cocoa supplementation. Protein quantification of colon tissue is currently being conducted to examine colonic inflamamtion and finish this objective. Objective 2 has been completed. We have found no differences in ecal short chain fatty acid levels, circulating endotoxin levels, or gene expression of proteins which bind to microbial endotoxins. For Objective 3, we are working with the Nielson lab at North Carolina State University to run in vitro fecal fermentations in Novemeber. We have already collected all fecal samples and processed them. This will allow inter-species comparisons to be made.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Weikart, DK; Lambert, JD. Sexual Dimorphism in Inflammation and Fatty Acid Metabolism in High-Fat Diet- Induced Obese Mice. American Society for Nutrition. Boston, July 22 2023.
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Progress 12/01/21 to 11/30/22
Outputs
Target Audience:National and international scientists, in particular cancer researchers, nutrition scientists, food scientists, and other obesity researchers. Undergraduates in the Food Science Department at PSU. Changes/Problems:We have modified the treatment groups due to low yields of products after polyphenol extraction. We have combined the low molecular weight and high molecular weight extractable polyphenol groups into extractable polyphenols. This will still provide valuable information as to whether a synergistic effect is needed for the anti-inflammatory properties of cocoa or if the extractable polyphenols can exert anti-inflammatory effects with a similar efficacy. We will also be conducting in vitro digestion and fermentation to mock the human digestive process and following each segment with characterization of polyphenol content. This will provide insight on what remains through digestion and what may remain to act against inflammation in the colon in obesity. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has also created networking opportunities through new collaborations with the Andrew Patterson Lab at PSU and Andrew Nielson and Colin Kay Labs at North Carolina State University to help with metabolite analysis and in vitro fermentation. An abstract will also be submitted to the American Society for Nutrition 2023 conference. I will also be presenting results from this project through an oral presentation to the Cornell Food Science Department allowing for further collaboration. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A poster was presented at Experimental Biology 2022, a national conference of over 5000 scientists. A poster was also presented at a local symposium through the Cancer Research Institute at PSU to other scientists including graduate students, undergraduates, medical students, and professors. I have also communication with undergraduates in the Food Science Department about research through the departments Food Science Club and through my TAing of the Food Analysis course. An abstract is also being submitted to the American Society for Nutrition 2023 conference to nutrition scientists. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?By the next annual report, Objectives 1 and 2 should be completed with a manuscript submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. We expect to have finished recruitment for Objective 3 and work on data acquisition and another manuscript for submission to a peer-review journal.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1 has been mostly completed. Mice have been supplemented with cocoa and euthanized with tissues collected. All cocoa and cocoa polyphenol fractions have decreased rate of weight gain and have a lower final body weight compared to the mice on a high fat diet without cocoa supplementation. Colonic inflammation has also been assessed by quantifying gene expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine genes and genes related to inflammasome and found cocoa powder down-regulated inflammatory gene expression. For Objective 2, we have already analyzed cecal short chain fatty acid levels and found no difference between groups in the same group of mice as Objective 1. This summer we will use 16S rRNA gene sequencing to look at cecal microbial composition using the same samples. For Objective 3, we are working with the Nielson lab at North Carolina State University to run in vitro fecal fermentations this summer. We are currently collecting fecal samples from participants. This will allow inter-species comparisons to be made.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Weikart, D.K.; Indukuri, V.V.; Racine, K.C.; Coleman, K.M.; Kovac, J.; Cockburn, D.W.; Hopfer, H.; Neilson, A.P.; Lambert, J.D. Effect of processing on the anti-inflammatory efficacy of cocoa in a high fat diet-induced mouse model of obesity. The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry 2022, 109117, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnutbio.2022.109117.
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