TY - JOUR A1 - Islam, Khan M. S. A1 - Khalil, Mahmoud Abd Elhamid A1 - Maenner, Klaus A1 - Raila, Jens A1 - Rawel, Harshadrai Manilal A1 - Zentek, Jürgen A1 - Schweigert, Florian J. T1 - Lutein Specific Relationships among Some Spectrophotometric and Colorimetric Parameters of Chicken Egg Yolk JF - The journal of poultry science N2 - Lutein is an essential dietary carotenoid with health benefits and is inter alia responsible for the colouration of egg yolk. The relationship between lutein accumulation and egg yolk colouration was therefore studied in more detail. After feeding a low-luteine diet for 21 days, 14 birds (Lohmann brown hens aged 20 weeks) were fed a diet containing marigold (80 mg lutein/kg feed) and 14 other birds were fed a diet containing oleoresin (45 mg lutein/kg feed) for 21 days; for both groups of birds, this feeding period was followed by withdrawal for 21 days. The Roche Yolk Colour Fan (RYCF) score (0 to 15, where higher values denote greater colour intensity; R-2=0.87; P<0.01) and redness (R-2=0.89; P<0.01) increased with increasing lutein content of egg yolk. Total carotenoid content had a poor relationship with lightness (R-2=0.13; P>0.05) and yellowness (R-2=0.12; P>0.05) of the yolk. It may be concluded that increased lutein is potentially responsible for an increased RYCF score and redness (a*), but decreased yellowness (b*) and lightness (L*), of egg yolk. KW - carotenoid KW - HPLC KW - iCheck KW - lutein KW - spectrophotometry KW - yolk Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.2141/jpsa.0160065 SN - 1346-7395 VL - 54 SP - 271 EP - 277 PB - Japan Poultry Science Association CY - Tsukuba ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fruscalzo, Arrigo A1 - Frommer, Julia-Marie A1 - Londero, Ambrogio P. A1 - Henze, Andrea A1 - Schweigert, Florian J. A1 - Nofer, Jerzy-Roch A1 - Steinhard, Johannes A1 - Klockenbusch, Walter A1 - Schmitz, Ralf A1 - Raila, Jens T1 - First trimester TTR-RBP4-ROH complex and angiogenic factors in the prediction of small for gestational age infant’s outcome JF - Archives of gynecology and obstetrics N2 - To study the role of the TTR-RBP4-ROH complex components (transthyretin, serum retinol binding protein, retinol) and of angiogenic factors PlGF (placental growth factor) and sFlt-1 (soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1) in pregnancies complicated by small for gestational age infants (SGA). Case control study conducted on maternal serum collected between 11 + 0 to 13 + 6 weeks of gestation. TTR, RBP4, ROH, PlGF and sFlt-1 were measured in SGA patients (birth weight < 10%) who delivered at term (n = 37) and before 37 weeks of gestation (n = 17) and in a matched control group with uneventful pregnancies (n = 37). We found decreased RBP4 in SGA patients that delivered fetuses < 3% and in fetuses delivered after the 37 weeks of gestation compared to controls [1.50 (95% CI 1.40-1.75) vs 1.62 (95% CI 1.47-1.98), p < 0.05]. Further, we found lower PlGF and sFlt-1 concentrations in SGA that delivered before 37 weeks of gestation compared to controls (respectively, PIGF and sFlt-1: 39.7 pg/ml (95% CI 32.3-66.3) vs 62.9 pg/ml (95% CI 45.2-78.4) and 906 pg/ml (95% CI 727-1626) vs 1610 pg/ml (95% CI 1088-212), p < 0.05). First trimester maternal serum RBP4 and angiogenic factors PlGF and sFlt-1 can differently predict the timing of delivery of pregnancies complicated by SGA fetuses. KW - Low birth weight KW - Small for gestational age KW - Pregnancy KW - First trimester KW - Marker KW - RBP4 KW - TTR KW - Retinol KW - Vitamin A KW - sFlt-1 KW - PlGF Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-017-4338-4 SN - 0932-0067 SN - 1432-0711 VL - 295 SP - 1157 EP - 1165 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Raila, Jens A1 - Kawashima, Chiho A1 - Sauerwein, Helga A1 - Hülsmann, Nadine A1 - Knorr, Christoph A1 - Myamoto, Akio A1 - Schweigert, Florian J. T1 - Validation of blood vitamin A concentrations in cattle: comparison of a new cow-side test (iCheck™ FLUORO) with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) JF - BMC veterinary research N2 - Background: Plasma concentration of retinol is an accepted indicator to assess the vitamin A (retinol) status in cattle. However, the determination of vitamin A requires a time consuming multi-step procedure, which needs specific equipment to perform extraction, centrifugation or saponification prior to high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Methods: The concentrations of retinol in whole blood (n = 10), plasma (n = 132) and serum (n = 61) were measured by a new rapid cow-side test (iCheck™ FLUORO) and compared with those by HPLC in two independent laboratories in Germany (DE) and Japan (JP). Results: Retinol concentrations in plasma ranged from 0.033 to 0.532 mg/L, and in serum from 0.043 to 0.360 mg/L (HPLC method). No significant differences in retinol levels were observed between the new rapid cow-side test and HPLC performed in different laboratories (HPLC vs. iCheck™ FLUORO: 0.320 ± 0.047 mg/L vs. 0.333 ± 0.044 mg/L, and 0.240 ± 0.096 mg/L vs. 0.241 ± 0.069 mg/L, lab DE and lab JP, respectively). A similar comparability was observed when whole blood was used (HPLC vs. iCheck™ FLUORO: 0.353 ± 0.084 mg/L vs. 0.341 ± 0.064 mg/L). Results showed a good agreement between both methods based on correlation coefficients of r2 = 0.87 (P < 0.001) and Bland-Altman blots revealed no significant bias for all comparison. Conclusions: With the new rapid cow-side test (iCheck™ FLUORO) retinol concentrations in cattle can be reliably assessed within a few minutes and directly in the barn using even whole blood without the necessity of prior centrifugation. The ease of the application of the new rapid cow-side test and its portability can improve the diagnostic of vitamin A status and will help to control vitamin A supplementation in specific vitamin A feeding regimes such as used to optimize health status in calves or meat marbling in Japanese Black cattle. KW - Cattle KW - Vitamin A KW - Biomarker KW - Blood KW - Method comparison KW - Cow-side assay Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-017-1042-3 VL - 13 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Alicke, Marie A1 - Boakye-Appiah, Justice K. A1 - Abdul-Jalil, Inusah A1 - Henze, Andrea A1 - van der Giet, Markus A1 - Schulze, Matthias Bernd A1 - Schweigert, Florian J. A1 - Mockenhaupt, Frank P. A1 - Bedu-Addo, George A1 - Danquah, Ina T1 - eAdolescent health in rural Ghana: A crosssectional study on the co-occurrence of infectious diseases, malnutrition and cardiometabolic risk factors JF - PLoS one N2 - In sub-Saharan Africa, infectious diseases and malnutrition constitute the main health problems in children, while adolescents and adults are increasingly facing cardio-metabolic conditions. Among adolescents as the largest population group in this region, we investigated the co-occurrence of infectious diseases, malnutrition and cardio-metabolic risk factors (CRFs), and evaluated demographic, socio-economic and medical risk factors for these entities. In a cross-sectional study among 188 adolescents in rural Ghana, malarial infection, common infectious diseases and Body Mass Index were assessed. We measured ferritin, C-reactive protein, retinol, fasting glucose and blood pressure. Socio-demographic data were documented. We analyzed the proportions (95% confidence interval, CI) and the cooccurrence of infectious diseases (malaria, other common diseases), malnutrition (underweight, stunting, iron deficiency, vitamin A deficiency [VAD]), and CRFs (overweight, obesity, impaired fasting glucose, hypertension). In logistic regression, odds ratios (OR) and 95% CIs were calculated for the associations with socio-demographic factors. In this Ghanaian population (age range, 14.4-15.5 years; males, 50%), the proportions were for infectious diseases 45% (95% CI: 38-52%), for malnutrition 50% (43-57%) and for CRFs 16% (11- 21%). Infectious diseases and malnutrition frequently co-existed (28%; 21-34%). Specifically, VAD increased the odds of non-malarial infectious diseases 3-fold (95% CI: 1.03, 10.19). Overlap of CRFs with infectious diseases (6%; 2-9%) or with malnutrition (7%; 3-11%) was also present. Male gender and low socio-economic status increased the odds of infectious diseases and malnutrition, respectively. Malarial infection, chronic malnutrition and VAD remain the predominant health problems among these Ghanaian adolescents. Investigating the relationships with evolving CRFs is warranted. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0180436 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 12 SP - 4463 EP - 4477 PB - PLoS CY - San Fransisco ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Raila, Jens A1 - Schweigert, Florian J. A1 - Stanitznig, A. A1 - Lambacher, B. A1 - Franz, S. A1 - Baldermann, Susanne A1 - Wittek, T. T1 - No detectable carotenoid concentrations in serum of llamas and alpacas JF - Journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition N2 - Carotenoids are lipid-soluble pigments and important for a variety of physiological functions. They are major dietary vitamin A precursors and act as lipophilic antioxidants in a variety of tissues and are associated with important health benefits in humans and animals. All animals must acquire carotenoids from their diet, but to our knowledge, there are no studies investigating the intestinal carotenoid absorption and their blood concentrations in New World camelids. The present study aimed to assess the serum concentrations of selected carotenoids in llamas (n=13) and alpacas (n=27). Serum carotenoids as well as retinol (vitamin A) and -tocopherol (vitamin E) were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and these were unable to detect any carotenoids (- and -carotene, - and -cryptoxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene) in the samples. The concentrations of retinol in alpacas (2.89 +/- 1.13mol/l; mean +/- SD) were higher (p=0.024) than those found in llamas (2.05 +/- 0.87mol/l); however, the concentrations of -tocopherol were not significantly (p=0.166) different (llamas: 3.98 +/- 1.83mol/l; alpacas: 4.95 +/- 2.14mol/l). The results show that both llamas and alpacas are not able to absorb intact carotenoids, but efficiently convert provitamin A carotenoids to retinol. KW - New World camelids KW - carotenoids KW - vitamins Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/jpn.12638 SN - 0931-2439 SN - 1439-0396 VL - 101 SP - 629 EP - 634 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER -