NewsMakers

Eating too much protein is bad for your arteries, and this amino acid is to blame

Consuming over 22% of dietary calories from protein can lead to increased activation of immune cells that play a role in atherosclerotic plaque formation, driving the disease risk.

Published

3 months ago

February 20, 2024

Rachelle Grace Tan-Estrecho

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers discovered a molecular mechanism by which excessive dietary protein could increase atherosclerosis risk. The findings were published in Nature Metabolism.

The study, which combined small human trials with experiments in mice and cells in a Petri dish, showed that consuming over 22% of dietary calories from protein can lead to increased activation of immune cells that play a role in atherosclerotic plaque formation, driving the disease risk. Furthermore, the scientists showed that one amino acid – leucine – seems to have a disproportionate role in driving the pathological pathways linked to atherosclerosis, or stiff, hardened arteries.

“Our study shows that dialing up your protein intake in pursuit of better metabolic health is not a panacea. You could be doing real damage to your arteries,” said senior and co-corresponding author Babak Razani, M.D., Ph.D., professor of cardiology at Pitt. “Our hope is that this research starts a conversation about ways of modifying diets in a precise manner that can influence body function at a molecular level and dampen disease risks.”

According to a survey of an average American diet over the last decade, Americans generally consume a lot of protein, mostly from animal sources. Further, nearly a quarter of the population receives over 22% of all daily calories from protein alone.

That trend is likely driven by the popular idea that dietary protein is essential to healthy living, says Razani. But his and other groups have shown that overreliance on protein may not be such a good thing for long-term health.

Following their 2020 research, in which Razani’s laboratory first showed that excess dietary protein increases atherosclerosis risk in mice, his next study in collaboration with Bettina Mittendorfer, Ph.D., a metabolism expert at the University of Missouri, Columbia, delved deeper into the potential mechanism and its relevance to the human body.

To arrive at the answer, Razani’s laboratory, led by first-authors Xiangyu Zhang, Ph.D., and Divya Kapoor, M.D., teamed up with Mittendorfer’s group to combine their expertise in cellular biology and metabolism and perform a series of experiments across various models – from cells to mice to humans.

“We have shown in our mechanistic studies that amino acids, which are really the building blocks of the protein, can trigger disease through specific signaling mechanisms and then also alter the metabolism of these cells,” Mittendorfer said. “For instance, small immune cells in the vasculature called macrophages can trigger the development of atherosclerosis.”

Based on initial experiments in healthy human subjects to determine the timeline of immune cell activation following ingestion of protein-enriched meals, the researchers simulated similar conditions in mice and in human macrophages, immune cells that are shown to be particularly sensitive to amino acids derived from protein.

Their work showed that consuming more than 22% of daily dietary calories through protein can negatively affect macrophages that are responsible for clearing out cellular debris, leading to the accumulation of a “graveyard” of those cells inside the vessel walls and worsening of atherosclerotic plaques overtime. Interestingly, the analysis of circulating amino acids showed that leucine – an amino acid enriched in animal-derived foods like beef, eggs and milk – is primarily responsible for abnormal macrophage activation and atherosclerosis risk, suggesting a potential avenue for further research on personalized diet modification, or “precision nutrition.”

Razani is careful to note that many questions remain to be answered, mainly: What happens when a person consumes between 15% of daily calories from protein as recommended by the USDA and 22% of daily calories from protein, and if there is a ‘sweet spot’ for maximizing the benefits of protein – such as muscle gain – while avoiding kick-starting a molecular cascade of damaging events leading to cardiovascular disease.

The findings are particularly relevant in hospital settings, where nutritionists often recommend protein-rich foods for the sickest patients to preserve muscle mass and strength.

“Perhaps blindly increasing protein load is wrong,” Razani said. “Instead, it’s important to look at the diet as a whole and suggest balanced meals that won’t inadvertently exacerbate cardiovascular conditions, especially in people at risk of heart disease and vessel disorders.”

Razani also notes that these findings suggest differences in leucine levels between diets enriched in plant and animal protein might explain the differences in their effect on cardiovascular and metabolic health. “The potential for this type of mechanistic research to inform future dietary guidelines is quite exciting,” he said.

Additional authors of the study are Yu-Sheng Yeh, Ph.D., also from Pitt; Alan Fappi, Ph.D. and Vasavi Shabrish, Ph.D., both of the University of Missouri, Columbia; Se-Jin Jeong, Ph.D., Jeremiah Stitham, M.D., Ph.D., Ismail Sergin, Ph.D., Eman Yousif, M.D., Astrid Rodriguez-Velez, Ph.D., Arick Park, M.D., Ph.D., Joel Schilling, M.D., Ph.D., Marco Sardiello, Ph.D., Abhinav Diwan, M.D., Nathan Stitziel, M.D., Ph.D., Ali Javaheri, M.D., Ph.D., Irfan Lodhi, Ph.D., and Jaehyung Cho, Ph.D., all of Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis; Arif Yurdagul Jr, Ph.D., and Oren Rom, Ph.D., both of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center; and Slava Epelman, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Toronto.

NewsMakers

DKT Philippines Foundation unveils PH’s first family planning mobile clinic

The SODEX Mobile Clinic is an innovation to improve DKT Philippines Foundation’s SODEX Program and its contribution to achieving the DOH 8-Point Action Agenda and National Objectives for Health.

Published

17 hours ago

May 18, 2024

ZestMag.com Staff

DKT Philippines Foundation, a charitable non-profit organization promoting family planning and HIV prevention, officially launched the SODEX (Service Outreach and Distribution Extension Program) Mobile Clinic – the country’s first-ever family planning ambulatory clinic. This pioneering effort aims to provide safe and accessible modern family planning methods for Filipinos in far-flung areas to bridge the gap between Filipinos wanting to space and limit pregnancy and the disparities in Family Planning service provision.

The SODEX Mobile Clinic is an innovation to improve DKT Philippines Foundation’s SODEX Program and its contribution to achieving the DOH 8-Point Action Agenda and National Objectives for Health.

“DKT Philippines Foundation’s mission is to provide couples with affordable, and safe options for family planning, and HIV/AIDS prevention through dynamic social marketing,” said Loida Almendares, the Foundation’s Director of Programs. “The SODEX mobile clinic will provide a wide array of free family planning services especially in areas with lesser access to services like the geographically isolated or socially disadvantaged areas. The mobile clinic will bring the services closer to the people and meet them where they are,” she added.

The mobile clinic will provide free Family Planning commodities such as pills, condoms, injectables and intrauterine devices (IUD). It will also offer free bilateral tubal ligation (BTL) using local anesthesia and non-scalpel vasectomy (NSV). Onboarding the clinic are Physician/Surgeon trained on the provision of BTL, NSV, IUD, and subdermal implant services; FP-trained nurse; FP- trained midwife; a circulating staff, and a driver. To ensure that all clients are well-informed and fit to take the services, they will undergo counseling and final screening prior to getting the method.

In partnership with 30 LGUs from Luzon, DKT Philippines Foundation aims to foster sustainable and long-term partnerships with these LGUs to cultivate Filipinos’ desire to meaningfully participate and contribute to government efforts to achieve universal health coverage for all.

“DKT Philippines Foundation and its Family Planning Mobile Clinic reinforce DKT’s commitment to ensuring nobody is left behind and provides free and quality reproductive health options including permanent methods, to those most remote and vulnerable communities. Made possible by the sales of family planning products under the TRUST Reproductive Health Choices brand, the mobile clinic ensures that people who still cannot afford the highly affordable TRUST products, or cannot access the reproductive health services they need in the public sector, are not left behind and still have free access to these services. It is a part of a total market approach, complementing the important work the local LGUs do on a daily basis.” said Denise van Dijk, Chair of the Board of DKT Philippines Foundation.

The mobile clinic will travel for 119 days to offer free services in the provinces of Central Luzon, North Luzon, Cordillera, MIMAROPA and CALABARZON with the first stop being at Binangonan, Rizal where the launch took place. The clinic will stay in one area for a day or two from 8 AM to 6 PM. By next year, the mobile clinic will cover communities in the Visayas and Mindanao areas.

The launch and blessing event was officially attended by fellow reproductive health advocates in public and private sectors, development partners, and family planning clients. Guest of honor and speaker was Department of Health Undersecretary Dr. Glenn Mathew Baggao with special participation of the Mayor of Binangonan, Rizal – Hon. Cesar M. Ynares.

The programs and free services of DKT Philippines Foundation are made possible by the country’s leading brand of contraceptives TRUST Reproductive Health Choices, which is carried by the social enterprise DKT Health, Inc.

NewsMakers

Pru Life UK ramps up recruitment efforts

Through a series of Build Your Business (BYB) sessions—held online and in person in key cities across the country—seasoned PRU business builders share their success stories and tips to encourage attendees to pursue their own business goals.

Published

3 days ago

May 16, 2024

ZestMag.com Staff

Pru Life UK ramps up its recruitment efforts to empower ambitious individuals from all walks of life to build a long-lasting business with the leading life insurer.

“By choosing Pru Life UK, aspiring financial advisors can be confident that they are backed by the #1 life insurer in the country with strong market presence and solid financial results,” said Marylin Detalla-Averia, Chief Agency Officer of Pru Life UK.

The company ranks number one in the life insurance industry in the Philippines, garnering the highest New Business Annual Premium Equivalent based on the Insurance Commission’s report as of 31 December 2023.

“Our financial advisors are provided with all the support they need to help build their business. They have access to digital tools, development programs, hip offices, and attractive rewards and incentives with unlimited earning potential. This allows them to be their own boss and live their ideal lifestyle while helping clients achieve theirs.”

Celebration of success with #BuildYourPRUBusiness

While BYB sessions are held year-round, the company leads an energetic approach to recruitment this May.

Themed Paint the Town Red: It’s PRUFiesta time, Recruitment Never Stops!, BYB sessions will be held in Metro Manila (Makati, Ortigas, QC), Pampanga (Clark, Sta. Rosa), South (Alabang, Lipa), North (Baguio), and VisMin (Cebu, Davao, CDO).

Attendees will receive mentorship on becoming a business builder with Pru Life UK’s 40,000-agency force, the largest in the industry.

A virtual BYB session will happen on May 22 featuring “Pambansang Wealth Coach” Chinkee Tan, who will talk about financial management and business development, further highlighting the importance of financial planning and empowering entrepreneurial mindset.

Pru Life UK also holds its weekly Facebook live Q&A sessions for budding and experienced business builders. Held every Thursday at 7:00 p.m., these online sessions offer a glimpse into the world of financial advisors.

Seeking a meaningful and rewarding business opportunity? Visit bit.ly/JoinPRU2024 to join Pru Life UK’s BYB sessions.

NewsMakers

BAFI, USAID deliver biodiversity projects, MIND S-COOL TV and Biodiversity Crisis Escape Room

Both projects serve to innovatively highlight the critical concepts of “roles” and “collaboration” in addressing the biodiversity crisis as well as the “measures” of the values, not only monetary, that we should all consider living with nature.

Published

3 days ago

May 15, 2024

ZestMag.com Staff

Bonifacio Art Foundation, Inc. (BAFI) and the United States Agency for International Development have joined forces to bring you a two-part biodiversity special of MIND S-COOL TV as well as a traveling Biodiversity Crisis Escape Room (BCER). Both projects serve to innovatively highlight the critical concepts of “roles” and “collaboration” in addressing the biodiversity crisis as well as the “measures” of the values, not only monetary, that we should all consider living with nature.

BCER is the first, traveling, experiential, immersive space, made up of 3 main rooms that will stand for the biodiversity crisis. The goal is for the participants to escape the crisis TOGETHER by helping one another realize and fulfill their roles. BCER will be hosted by BAFI’s The Mind Museum right after its opening at the museum on May 22 and will travel to host venues in Subic (Harbor Point, June15), Puerto Princesa (Robinson’s Mall, June 29) and Davao (Abreeza Mall, July 27) to enjoin participants who include – legislators, enforcers, regulators as well as community leaders – including cultural leaders AND local flora and fauna as well in the form of life-sized moving puppets, manned by professional puppeteers. It will also welcome the general public to experience this very unique and meaningful escape room on the dates mentioned.

Inside BCER, participants will take on roles that they would randomly pick. They will enter 3 connected rooms that they could only escape from if they understand what needs to be done and that they work together. The challenges they will face in each room are closely tied to realizing the “Mga Sukat ng Kalikasan” (measures/values of nature) in order to escape the biodiversity crisis. The experience will be facilitated so it will mimic the real human conversations and actions that need to happen in decision-making involving our natural heritage in which we all share in terms of not just benefits but also responsibilities.

The 2-part biodiversity special of MIND S-COOL TV, the #1 science show across all channels^[1] is a TV version of BCER fleshing out a narrative that will involve our main questers as well as non-human “players” who will be called to help out since MIND S-COOL has been held hostage by the biodiversity crisis. They will experience being trapped in the rooms together with other characters, including life-sized puppets that represent non-humans such as flora, fauna, habitats, abiotic elements giving nature a “voice”. The story of this special 2-part can be summarized as “all life is embedded in nature and we need to realize its many values because if we don’t, the quality of our interconnected lives will be degraded.” Part 1 of this special will air on May 26, 11 am and replayed at 4:30 PM on OnePh Channel on Cignal while part 2 will air the week after. These will be followed by replays for 6 weeks.

Kathy Wachala, Chief of Party for USAID’s Sustainable Interventions for Biodiversity, Oceans and Landscapes (SIBOL) project, says: “This partnership with BAFI to do BCER and MIND S-COOL TV enabled us to roll-out a very powerful way for stakeholders to internalize their actual roles and work together to come up with solutions to the biodiversity crisis.” Maria Isabel Garcia, Managing Director/Curator of BAFI, also comments on the project, saying, “We are so inspired by the kind of partnership we have with USAID SIBOL since it allowed us to recruit very imaginative ways of engagement for science to serve life, biodiversity.”

We can all escape the biodiversity crisis if we understand that all lives are interconnected and that we all work together, now.

To know more about the USAID SIBOL project and its interventions, you may send an email to info@ph-sibol.org.

Mind S-Cool TV and Biodiversity Crisis Escape Room were conceived and created by the Bonifacio Art Foundation, Inc., the creator and operator of The Mind Museum and the BGC Arts Center.

To know more, or if you wish to know how you can support mind s-cool and the other projects of the Bonifacio Art Foundation, send an inquiry to: mindscool@bafi.org.ph, inquiry@themindmuseum.org or info@bgcartscenter.org.

[1] According to the latest Nielsen Ratings Survey