Nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain in diabetic patients are often attributed to diabetic gastropathy (DG). Post-pyloric (“jejunal”) enteral nutrition (JN) may improve nutrition and glycaemia in difficult cases. The acute effects of JN on postprandial symptoms and gastric function in DG patients has not been studied. DG patients with moderate to severe symptoms (gastroparesis cardinal symptom index (GCSI) > 27), diabetic controls without symptoms (DC; GCSI < 14) and healthy controls (HV) were entered into a randomized, double blind controlled trial. JN with liquid nutrient (2 kcal/min) or water was infused for 60 min prior to ingestion of a standardized mixed solid/liquid test meal. Outcomes included postprandial symptoms and effects on gastrointestinal (GI)–peptide hormones and gastric emptying (GE) assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Nine DG, nine DC and twelve HV were recruited. DG patients reported more symptoms after meals than other groups (p < 0.05). Post-prandial symptoms were reduced after JN in DG patients (p < 0.01). GE was more rapid after JN in DG and DC patients (p < 0.05). JN induced a GI–peptide response in all subjects; however, this was less pronounced in diabetic groups. JN has beneficial effects on DG patients’ symptoms after a meal. The mechanism is not primarily mediated by effects on GE, but appears to involve other aspects of GI function, including visceral sensitivity. Full article

Daily muscle glycogen recovery after training is important for athletes. Few studies have reported a continuous change in muscle glycogen for 24 h. We aimed to investigate the changes in carbohydrate intake amount on muscle glycogen recovery for 24 h after exercise using ¹³C-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹³C-MRS). In this randomized crossover study, eight male participants underwent prolonged high-intensity exercise, and then consumed one of the three carbohydrate meals (5 g/kg body mass (BM)/d, 7 g/kg BM/d, or 10 g/kg BM/d). Glycogen content of thigh muscle was measured using ¹³C-MRS before, immediately after, and 4 h, 12 h and 24 h after exercise. Muscle glycogen concentration decreased to 29.9 ± 15.9% by exercise. Muscle glycogen recovery 4–12 h after exercise for the 5 g/kg group was significantly lower compared to those for 7 g/kg and 10 g/kg groups (p < 0.05). Muscle glycogen concentration after 24 h recovered to the pre-exercise levels for 7 g/kg and 10 g/kg groups; however, there was a significant difference for the 5 g/kg group (p < 0.05). These results suggest that carbohydrate intake of 5 g/kg BM/d is insufficient for Japanese athletes to recover muscle glycogen stores 24 h after completing a long-term high-intensity exercise. Full article

Lipids are increasingly recognized as bioactive mediators of extracellular vesicle (EV) functions. However, while EV proteins and nucleic acids are well described, EV lipids are insufficiently understood due to lack of adequate quantitative methods. We adapted an established targeted and quantitative mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method originally developed for analysis of 94 eicosanoids and seven polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in human plasma. Additionally, the influence of freeze–thaw (FT) cycles, injection volume, and extraction solvent were investigated. The modified protocol was applied to lipidomic analysis of differently polarized macrophage-derived EVs. We successfully quantified three PUFAs and eight eicosanoids within EVs. Lipid extraction showed reproducible PUFA and eicosanoid patterns. We found a particularly high impact of FT cycles on EV lipid profiles, with significant reductions of up to 70%. Thus, repeated FT will markedly influence analytical results and may alter EV functions, emphasizing the importance of a standardized sample pretreatment protocol for the analysis of bioactive lipids in EVs. EV lipid profiles differed largely depending on the polarization of the originating macrophages. Particularly, we observed major changes in the arachidonic acid pathway. We emphasize the importance of a standardized sample pretreatment protocol for the analysis of bioactive lipids in EVs. Full article

This study aimed to investigate the effect of the oral processing of vegetables induced by texture modification on acute postprandial glycemic response (GR) and insulin response (IR) when co-ingested and ingested prior to a rice meal. In a randomized crossover trial, 14 healthy female subjects consumed (1) co-ingestion of soft broccoli and rice (SR); (2) co-ingestion of hard broccoli and rice (HR); (3) soft broccoli prior to rice (S+R); (4) hard broccoli prior to rice (H+R); (5) rice (R). Postprandial GR and IR was compared between test meals over a period of 180-min, and the oral processing behaviors were measured for each test food samples. Hard broccoli was observed to have a higher mastication time and chews than soft broccoli. All the broccoli meals resulted in reduced incremental peak glucose (IPG) and an increased incremental area under the insulin curve in 180 min (iAUC_0–180) compared with R. The S+R curbed the IPG by 40% with comparable HOMA-IR AUC_0–180 compared with R, while the H+R elevated the HOMA-IR AUC_0–180 by 62% more than that of R. In conclusion, the soft broccoli intake prior to a rice meal effectively attenuated postprandial GR, without lowering insulin sensitivity as its hard counterpart did. Full article