Browsing by Author "Pettinelli, Paulina"
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- ItemAssociation of the dopamine D2 receptor rs1800497 polymorphism with food addiction, food reinforcement, and eating behavior in Chilean adults(2022) Obregon, Ana M.; Oyarce, Karina; Garcia-Robles, Maria A.; Valladares, Macarena; Pettinelli, Paulina; Goldfield, Gary S.Purpose The regulation of food intake and body weight involves two interacting systems: (a) The homeostatic system (including biological regulators of hunger and satiety) and (b) the non-homeostatic system, (involving concepts of food reinforcement and food addiction). Studies have established a strong genetic component in eating behavior and obesity. The TaqI A1 polymorphism (rs1800497) has previously been associated with eating behavior, diminished dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) density, higher body mass, and food reinforcement, but relations to food addiction remain unclear. Aim To evaluate the association between the polymorphism rs1800497 with eating behavior, food reinforcement and food addiction in Chilean adults. Methods This cross-sectional study recruited a convenience sample of 97 obese, 25 overweight and 99 normal-weight adults (18-35 years). Anthropometric measurements were performed by standard procedures. Eating behavior was assessed using the: Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS), the Three Factor Eating Behavior Questionnaire and the Food Reinforcement Value Questionnaire (FRVQ). The DRD2 genotype (rs1800497) was determined by taqman assays. Results Twenty-two percentage of the participants met the criteria for food addiction. Food addiction was higher in women than men (26% vs 10.7%) and in obese compared to non-obese (40% vs 6%). There was no relationship between food addiction and DRD2 genotype. However when stratified by sex and nutritional status, obese female carriers of the A1 allele reported greater scores on emotional eating and snack food reinforcement compared to non-carriers. Conclusions The DRD2 polymorphism is associated with some hedonic aspects of eating behavior, namely food reinforcement and emotional eating but not food addiction, and this association may be moderated by sex and obesity status, with obese women who are carriers of this genetic variant at higher risk.
- ItemEsteatohepatitis no-alcohólica: Desarrollo silencioso de una emergencia en salud pública(Soc. Chilena Nutrición, Bromatología & Toxicología, 2023) Pettinelli, Paulina; Fernandez-Verdejo, Rodrigo; Aguirre Polanco, Carolina
- ItemHepatic retinaldehyde dehydrogenases are modulated by tocopherol supplementation in mice with hepatic steatosis(2022) D'Espessailles, Amanda; Campos, Valeria; Juretic, Nevenka; Tapia, Gladys S.; Pettinelli, PaulinaObjectives: An altered retinol metabolism might play a role in the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Tocopherols (TF) modulate metabolic pathways and have been proposed as a complementary treatment of obesity-induced metabolic alterations. Moreover, there is evidence suggesting that TF may modulate retinol metabolism. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the dietary supplementation of alpha- and gamma-TF modulates the expression of hepatic retinaldehyde dehydrogenases, RALDH1, RALDH2, and RALDH3 (involved in retinol metabolism) and, lipogenic factors sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) and cluster differentiation 36 (CD36) in an animal model of diet-induced NAFLD.
- ItemHigher hepatic advanced glycation end products and liver damage markers are associated with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis(2022) Priken, Kathleen; Tapia, Gladys; Cadagan, Cynthia; Quezada, Nicolas; Torres, Javiera; D'Espessailles, Amanda; Pettinelli, PaulinaAdvanced glycation end products (AGEs) may be associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) from stimulation of oxidative stress, inflammation, and fibrosis. We hypothesized that patients with NAFLD would have a lower concentration of soluble AGEs receptor and higher quantity of serum and liver AGEs and an increase in hepatic smooth muscle actin alpha (alpha-SMA) and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) compared with a control group. We compared the presence of hepatic and serum AGEs, AGE soluble receptor (sRAGE), and markers associated with hepatic damage between NAFLD patients and controls without disease. Histological characteristics, plasma biochemical parameters, serum AGEs, serum receptor sRAGE, and liver proteins (alpha-SMA, TGF-beta 1, AGEs, immunohistochemistry) were assessed in participants aged 18 to 65 years, with NAFLD (simple steatosis [SS]: n = 7; steatohepatitis [NASH]: n = 15) and controls (n = 11). NASH patients presented higher glycated hemoglobin levels (%) (5.7; 5.4-6.3) compared with SS (5.4; 5.2-5.7) and controls (5.4; 5.3-5.5). The NAFLD activity score (NAS) for NASH patients was 4.9 +/- 1.3; for SS patients, 2.0 +/- 1.0. NASH patients showed higher hepatic AGEs, TGF-beta 1, and alpha-SMA compared with SS and control groups. The NAS score indicates that patients with 5 to 8 had higher hepatic AGEs, TGF-beta 1, and alpha-SMA compared with a NAS of 1 to 4 and 0. For alpha-SMA, a NAS of 1 to 4 was higher than NAS 0. No difference was found in serum AGEs and sRAGE between groups. Higher hepatic AGEs, TGF-beta 1, and alpha-SMA were observed with increasing disease severity (according to NAS); therefore, endogenous liver AGEs may participate in hepatic damage progression. (C) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
- ItemPredicting academic success in undergraduate students from the Nutrition and Dietetics degree program from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile(2024) Pettinelli, Paulina; Fernandez-Verdejo, Rodrigo; Fredes, Carolina; Parada, Alejandra; Aguirre, CarolinaIntroduction: Identifying the factors that determine academic success can help design strategies focused on increasing academic success. We aimed to identify predictors associated with academic success in undergraduate students of the Nutrition and Dietetics Program of the Pontificia Universidad Cat & oacute;lica de Chile (PUC). Methods: Retrospective study using the institutional database. Academic success was the main outcome, including two indexes: i) final grade point average (GPA-f) and; ii) timely graduation, defined as graduating in <= 10 semesters. Candidate predictors were: age, sex, region of origin, school attended, score at the university selection test (PSU-score), admission route, and preference for the program. Stepwise linear regression was used to identify predictors of GPA-f. Binary logistic regression was used to identify variables associated with timely graduation. Results: PSU-score was the only predictor of GPA, explaining 24% of its variance. The odds (OR [95%CI]) for a timely graduation were influenced by PSU-score (1.017 [1.003- 1.031]) and admission route (PSU 1.00 [Reference], Inclusive 0.30 [0.10- 0.96], Special 0.46 [0.13- 1.57]). Conclusions and implications: PSU-score partially predicts the academic success of Nutrition and Dietetics students. In addition, students who accessed the program by the equity admission had lower odds of a timely graduation. As educational inequalities may affect academic success, the teaching and learning process needs to be addressed with specific strategies for these students to ensure academic success.
- ItemRelationship Between Hepatic Gene Expression, Intestinal Microbiota, and Inferred Functional Metagenomic Analysis in NAFLD(2022) Pettinelli, Paulina; Arendt, Bianca M.; Schwenger, Katherine J. P.; Sivaraj, Saranya; Bhat, Mamatha; Comelli, Elena M.; Lou, Wendy; Allard, Johane P.INTRODUCTION:We previously reported a lower fecal abundance of Ruminococcus spp., Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, and Coprococcus spp. in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In this article, we assess the associations between hepatic gene expression, the specific taxa, and bacterial pathways.METHODS:The relationships between hepatic genes that were differentially expressed in patients with NAFLD vs healthy controls (HC) and the abundance of these specific taxa were studied. Inferred functional metagenomic analysis using Piphillin was also performed to investigate associations with bacterial pathways.RESULTS:Fifteen patients with NAFLD and 6 HC participated. Of 728 hepatic genes examined, 176 correlated with the abundance of Ruminococcus spp., 138 with F. prausnitzii, and 92 with Coprococcus spp. For Ruminococcus spp., genes were enriched in gene ontology (GO) terms related to apoptotic process, response to external and cytokine stimuli, and regulation of signaling. Several genes related to the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway insulin resistance were correlated with F. prausnitzii. The hepatic genes associated with F. prausnitzii were enriched in GO terms related to cellular response to different stimuli, apoptotic process, and regulation of metabolic pathways. For Coprococcus spp., only the GO term response to external stimulus was enriched. There was a distinct pattern of associations between hepatic genes and bacterial taxa in NAFLD vs HC. For bacterial pathways, 65 and 18 hepatic genes correlated with bacterial metabolic functions in NAFLD and HC, respectively.DISCUSSION:Hepatic gene expression related to insulin resistance, inflammation, external stimuli, and apoptosis correlated with bacterial taxa. Patients with NAFLD showed a higher presence of bacterial pathways associated with lipid metabolism.
- ItemRelative fat mass as an estimator of body fat percentage in Chilean adults(2024) Aguirre Polanco, Carolina; Tumani Karmy, María Fernanda; Carrasco, Fernando; Inostroza, Jorge; Obregón, Ana Maria; Reyes, Álvaro; Pettinelli, PaulinaBackground/Objective: The Relative Fat Mass (RFM) is an alternative index to body mass index (BMI) for estimating whole body fat percentage (BF%). Our aims were to determine the accuracy of the RFM for 1) identifying individuals with elevated BF% and, 2) estimating the BF% compared to Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in a Chilean adult population. Subjects/Methods: Body composition was assessed by DXA in 270 healthy participants (125 women/145 men). Anthropometric measurements were assessed to calculate RFM and BMI. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were obtained to assess the sensitivity and specificity of both, RFM and BMI. Bland–Altman analysis between BF% measured by DXA vs. predicted BF% derived from RFM was performed to assess validity. Pearson´s correlation coefficients to analyze the association between BMI, RFM and DXA were also calculated. Results: For RFM, the cut-off for elevated BF% was ≥22.7% for men and ≥32.4% for women and for BMI was ≥24.4 kg/m2 for men and ≥24.1 kg/m2 for women. The area under the ROC curve between RFM and BMI was not significantly different in men (0.970 vs. 0.959; p = 0.420) and women (0.946 vs. 0.942, p = 0.750). The Bland–Altman analysis showed that the estimation bias is more pronounced in men than in women. Conclusion: RFM is an accurate tool for identifying individuals with elevated BF%, although it was not as accurate as DXA for estimating the BF%. RFM may be an alternative method useful in primary care to select individuals for lifestyle counseling and in research to select patients for epidemiological studies.
- ItemRol de la microbiota intestinal en el desarrollo del hígado graso no alcohólico(Sociedad Médica de Santiago, 2021) Tumani Karmy, María Fernanda; Tapia, Gladys; Aguirre, Carolina; Obregón, Ana María; Pettinelli, PaulinaNon-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) encompasses a wide spectrum of hepatic pathologies ranging from simple steatosis (SS) to hepatocellular carcinoma. Intestinal microbiota (IM) is composed of trillions of microorganisms existing in the gut. It has 150 times more genes than the host. Changes in the composition and function of the IM are associated with different diseases, including NAFLD. In this condition, IM could have a pathogenic role through different mechanisms such as energy salvaging from food, an inflammatory stimulus, a modulation of the innate immune system, regulation of bile acid turnover, alteration of choline metabolism and increasing endogenous ethanol levels. This review is an update on the role of the intestinal microbiota in NAFLD and the possible mechanisms involved.