Category: News

In a new Johns Hopkins Medicine study, researchers found that male and female patients with early Lyme disease present with different signs of the disease in the symptoms they report, their physical exams and their laboratory test results.

The study was published on February 7 in Clinical and Experimental Medicine.

Researchers found that males were more likely to have a positive test and to have more obvious, severe disease indicators, including other laboratory abnormalities, at diagnosis, yet there were no differences in how long males and females had been sick. They studied data from 243 adults (118 females and 125 males) with early Lyme disease before and after treatment. The age range was 20–84.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 476,000 Americans are diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease each year, nearly half a million cases annually. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection obtained through a tick bite that often presents with a red, round skin lesion.

Additionally, researchers found a small number of Lyme disease symptoms that were reported more frequently among females (heart palpitations, vomiting and light sensitivity) and one symptom (sleep disruption) reported more frequently among males. Heart palpitations occurred in 4% of males versus 11.9% of females. Vomiting occurred in less than 1% of males versus 7.6% of females. Light sensitivity occurred in 8.8% of males versus 17% in females. Sleep difficulty occurred in 40% of males versus 24.6% of females.

“Males and females are different,” says John Aucott, M.D., the director of the Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Clinical Research Center. “For both findings, the male group was more similar to females who had undergone menopause and more different from females who had not.”

These findings suggest that sex and menopause status are important to consider in understanding early Lyme disease. More research is needed to determine the cause of these differences and their impact on patients’ time to diagnosis and risk of developing later conditions after treatment. Aucott says the next step will be to identify the mechanisms, such as hormone levels, underlying these differences.

Other Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers who led this study are Alison W. Rebman and Ting Yang. All authors report no conflicts of interest.

This research was funded by the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, the Global Lyme Alliance and the Bay Area Lyme Foundation.

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Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received an $80 million grant to continue research into the mysteries of exceptional longevity. The grant renews support for the Long Life Family Study, a long-running, international investigation of multiple generations of families with unusually high numbers of individuals who have lived much longer than statistical models predict, including some to age 100 and beyond.

The work is supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Launched in 2004, the Long Life Family Study has built on WashU Medicine’s long history of global leadership in genetics and genomics. One of the largest contributors to the Human Genome Project, the international effort that first sequenced the entire human genome, WashU Medicine has led the field in DNA sequencing, including in analyzing the whole genomes of all participants in the long life study to seek genetic clues to longevity. In the two decades since the study began, it has revealed important insights into features of healthy aging, notably that most long-lived families have better cardiovascular health than the average population does, including healthier blood pressures and lower rates of diabetes.

Around the world, populations are aging and with that comes an increasing number of people projected to develop chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. Studies estimate that the number of people over age 50 with at least one such condition could double by 2050.

According to Michael A. Province, PhD, the Long Life Family Study’s principal investigator and a professor in the Department of Genetics at WashU Medicine, research into the genetics of families with exceptional longevity could shed light on how long-lived individuals avoid or delay the onset of common diseases of aging and guide the development of treatments and prevention strategies that could help anyone live a longer, healthier life.

“So much of medical research is focused on genetic problems that cause disease, and importantly so — we have learned a tremendous amount from that strategy,” Province said. “But I am also fascinated by the opposite question: are there genetic variants that cause good things to happen in the body? Our study suggests that there is a wide variety of genetic ways that these long-lived families could be protected from chronic diseases as they age.”

New insights into healthy aging

The study has enrolled more than 5,000 participants from more than 530 families living across the U.S. and in Denmark. The oldest generation averaged 90 years of age when the study began enrolling families in 2006, and several survived beyond 110 years. Today, the children of that first generation are entering their 80s and the grandchildren are in their 50s and 60s. This study design allows the researchers to analyze inherited genetic variations that may protect multiple generations of family members from typical diseases of aging. The well-known Framingham Heart Study, which has been tracking multiple generations of families in Framingham, Mass., since 1948, serves as a comparison group.

Over the past five years, the long life study researchers have uncovered some tantalizing hints to healthy aging. Importantly, they found that the families were not uniform in terms of how they experienced unusual health, suggesting multiple potential routes to healthy aging. For instance, some families stood out as healthier than average in cognition or blood pressure, whereas others had markedly robust lung function or grip strength.

In general, though, the families tended to have lower rates of diabetes. One of the researchers’ analyses identified a genetic variant associated with lower hemoglobin A1c, a measure of average blood sugar levels that is used to diagnose diabetes.

According to Province, many families maintain unusually good cardiovascular and metabolic health, but he said there are some mysterious paradoxes in the data as well. For example, obesity is just as common among long-lived families as it is among those in the Framingham Heart Study, yet the long-lived families have only about half the cases of diabetes that would be expected.

“Something is protecting them from diseases associated with obesity,” Province said, “and we’d love to find out what that is.”

The unusually long lives of the participants also provided the opportunity to identify a novel gene associated with late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. And in an unexpected finding, the researchers uncovered a genetic variant associated with both extreme longevity and lower blood pressure but also a slightly increased risk of head and neck cancer. Although more research is needed to understand what may be causing these seemingly unrelated outcomes, the researchers said it points to a need for caution when trying to develop therapies to treat diseases caused by rare variants that may confer both positive and negative health effects.

Another new aspect of the study will be a re-analysis of whole genomes for all current and past participants using the latest “long-read” sequencing technology.  The new technology also will be used to analyze new participants’ genomes, bringing the total number of participants in the study to 7,800 individuals. The tools and techniques of whole genome sequencing have advanced dramatically over the 20 years of the study. The new long-read technology can resolve much of the so-called “dark matter” of the genome that was missed by the original short-read sequencing technology. The new analysis will allow the researchers to potentially find additional genetic clues to longevity that the older technology missed.

Because most of the oldest participants have now died, Province said, the investigators are seeking to enroll new families with very long-lived oldest generations. The goal is also to expand the genetic backgrounds of participating families, which have been largely of European descent.

“We plan to enroll more families and especially families of African ancestry,” Province said. “The larger and more diverse our dataset, the better we will be able to identify inherited genetic variants associated with longevity and then distinguish which are causing the protective effects and which are just inherited and ‘along for the ride,’ so to speak. This is a critical question as we seek possible ways to replicate these protective effects for people without the beneficial genetic variations.”

The Long Life Family Study has sites across the U.S. and internationally. As part of this grant renewal, WashU Medicine researchers are working with their collaborators at Boston University, Columbia University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Minnesota, Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, Tufts University, Georgia State University and the University of Southern Denmark.

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This work is supported by the NIH, grant number 2U19AG063893-06. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

About WashU Medicine

WashU Medicine is a global leader in academic medicine, including biomedical research, patient care and educational programs with more than 3,000 faculty. Its National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding portfolio is the second largest among U.S. medical schools and has grown 83% since 2016. Together with institutional investment, WashU Medicine commits well over $1 billion annually to basic and clinical research innovation and training. Its faculty practice is consistently among the top five in the country, with more than 2,000 faculty physicians practicing at 130 locations. WashU Medicine physicians exclusively staff Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals — the academic hospitals of BJC HealthCare — and Siteman Cancer Center, a partnership between BJC HealthCare and WashU Medicine and the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Missouri. WashU Medicine physicians also treat patients at BJC’s community hospitals in our region. With a storied history in MD/PhD training, WashU Medicine recently dedicated $100 million to scholarships and curriculum renewal for its medical students, and is home to top-notch training programs in every medical subspecialty as well as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and audiology and communications sciences.

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) has announced the availability of its updated dietary position statement meant to guide clinicians in the treatment, reversal and prevention of chronic disease. The statement is the result of a year of work by a multi-member expert task force led by Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Nutrition, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science Melissa Bernstein, PhD, RDN, LD, FAND, DipACLM, FACLM, and ACLM Senior Director of Research Micaela Karlsen, PhD, MSPH. This update coincides with a key time of increased national attention on nutrition.

As the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation reported in 2023, dietary risks were the fifth-leading risk factor for early death. The application of food as a medical intervention is founded on decades of evidence demonstrating that various plant-forward dietary patterns are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, type 2 diabetes and cancer, and all-cause mortality, while greater consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with higher risks of a variety of adverse health outcomes, such as cardiometabolic disease, common mental disorders, and mortality outcomes.

The panel of experts who developed the position statement included clinicians (RDs, MDs/DOs), ACLM leadership including Board of Directors members and senior staff, chefs, health coaches, and PhD researchers. The group reached agreement on four key points.

It is ACLM’s position that:
1.    Food as Medicine (FAM), also referred to as Food is Medicine (FIM), is the use of food and nutrition interventions, guided by trained healthcare professionals, to improve health outcomes and nutrition security across the lifespan. These initiatives are supported through person-centered, culturally tailored, and collaborative decision-making. FAM may include nutrition education and counseling, culinary medicine education, behavioral support, and, in some cases, the provision of healthy food and related resources, particularly to underserved populations.

2.    Healthy dietary patterns exist along a continuum of food-based interventions that span from health promotion and prevention to treatment and reversal of lifestyle-related chronic disease, with variation in intensity and therapeutic dosing.

3.    For the treatment, reversal, and prevention of lifestyle-related chronic diseases, an optimal dietary pattern has two key elements. First, the core diet should be centered on a wide variety of whole and minimally processed plant foods including vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, mushrooms, nuts, and seeds while meeting but not exceeding energy requirements. Second, it should minimize red and processed meats, foods high in saturated fat, and ultra-processed foods containing added sugars, sweeteners, unhealthy fats/oils, refined carbohydrates, and excess sodium.

4.    Effective implementation of FAM in clinical practice is best achieved with an interprofessional health care team all working within their scope of practice and trained in nutrition-related lifestyle medicine competencies. An optimal team includes registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) certified in lifestyle medicine.

The new position statement is the latest in a comprehensive offering of coursework and practice tools ACLM has developed over its 21 years to help clinicians provide evidence-based lifestyle medicine, including dietary advice and dietary prescriptions to patients for the treatment, reversal, and prevention of chronic disease.

These tools exemplify a 2023 first-of-its-kind study published in Advances in Nutrition that compared dietary recommendations across current clinical practice guidelines for multiple major chronic diseases. The results show that guidelines aimed at preventing, managing, or treating major chronic diseases are closely aligned in their recommendations for daily intake of plant sources of food, with limited consumption of alcohol and salt.

“Overall, this new position statement frames the advancing scope of activity and influence led by ACLM to deepen the integration of food into patient care, as part of its mission to make lifestyle medicine the foundation of all health and health care,” Bernstein said.

For more information about the updated dietary position statement, visit ACLM’s blog.

About ACLM®
The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) is the nation’s medical professional society advancing the field of lifestyle medicine as the foundation of a redesigned, value-based and equitable healthcare delivery system, essential to achieving the Quintuple Aim and whole-person health. ACLM represents, advocates for, trains, certifies, and equips its members to identify and eradicate the root cause of chronic disease by optimizing modifiable risk factors. ACLM is filling the gaping void of lifestyle medicine in medical education, providing more than 1.2 million hours of lifestyle medicine education to physicians and other health professionals since 2004, while also advancing research, clinical practice and reimbursement strategies.

Blueroot Health, a consumer health company focused on advancing long-term health and well-being for people and the planet, today announced the appointment of Jay Schwartz as chief executive officer. Schwartz succeeds Jane Pemberton, who founded Blueroot Health and built it into a multi-brand, practitioner-trusted platform, leading its integration, portfolio expansion, and operational scale across brands including Vital Nutrients, Bariatric Fusion, Fairhaven Health, and Unjury. Schwartz assumes the role as Blueroot Health enters its next phase of growth, with a focus on expanding access to science-backed nutritional solutions while preserving the clinical credibility and practitioner relationships that define the company’s portfolio.

Blueroot Health Appoints Jay Schwartz CEO as North Castle Backs Next Phase of Practitioner-Focused Growth

“Blueroot Health has built a differentiated platform of brands that practitioners trust and patients rely on,” said Schwartz. “The opportunity ahead is to thoughtfully scale that impact, bringing clinically relevant products into more households while staying grounded in evidence, quality, and practitioner insight.”

Schwartz brings decades of leadership experience across global health, wellness, and nutrition organizations, with deep expertise in supplements and active nutrition. His background includes senior general management and sales roles at Iovate Health Sciences International and marketing leadership positions within Pfizer Consumer Healthcare’s international business unit. Throughout his career, Schwartz has championed practitioner-led innovation and supported landmark clinical research efforts, including the COSMOS and Physicians’ Health Study II trials.

“Jay is a proven leader with a strong record of building and scaling science-driven, purpose-led brands,” said Roy Chin, partner at North Castle Partners. “He understands how to balance growth with credibility, and how to translate clinical relevance into consumer impact. We are excited to support Blueroot Health in this next chapter.”

“From day one, our focus has been on building brands that improve people’s health, and whilst I’m proud of the impact we’ve made, I’m excited to see where Jay and the team take Blueroot Health next,” said Pemberton.

North Castle Partners has been Blueroot Health’s investment partner since 2020, supporting the company’s long-term strategy and mission-driven growth.

Schwartz will attend the Integrative Healthcare Symposium, Feb. 19–21, in New York City, where he will be on site at the Vital Nutrients booth connecting with practitioners and industry partners. Learn more at https://www.blueroothealth.co.

About Blueroot Health®
Blueroot Health is a consumer health company growing a diverse portfolio of brands that fuel lasting happiness and health for people and the planet. The company’s industry-leading brands – including Vital Nutrients®, Bariatric Fusion®, Fairhaven Health®, and Unjury® – offer a suite of clean, innovative, and clinically relevant nutritional solutions trusted by healthcare practitioners, patients, and consumers worldwide.
https://blueroothealth.co.

About North Castle Partners
North Castle Partners is a leading private equity firm focused on investments in consumer driven product and service businesses that promote healthy, active, and sustainable living. For more than 25 years, the firm has partnered with lower middle-market companies in the (i) fitness, recreation & sports, (ii) nutrition, (iii) beauty & personal care, and (iv) consumer health sectors, among others. North Castle’s current and prior portfolio includes well-known brands such as Therabody, Crunch Fitness (franchisee), The Escape Game, Five Iron Golf, SLT, Barry’s, Wellness Space Brands (HydroMassage), Nest and Glow Recipe. By combining proven experience, extensive industry networks and a collaborative partnership model, North Castle has a proven track record of building world-class businesses that inspire healthier and more active lifestyles.
https://northcastlepartners.com

 

Emerging clinical data underscores the efficacy of Natural Remedies’ Ashwa.30, a low-dose, clinically studied ashwagandha root extract, in supporting stress regulation, physical endurance, and post-exertion recovery—providing integrative practitioners with an evidence-based botanical tool aligned with personalized, systems-based care.

Natural Remedies Empowers Integrative Practitioners With New Clinical Evidence on Ashwa.30 for Stress and Performance Support

The newly completed four-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluated 60 healthy adults experiencing elevated stress. Participants receiving Ashwa.30 showed significantly improved physiological and psychological responses to stress compared with placebo, reinforcing the role of precision botanical extracts in clinical care.

“This data on Ashwa.30 gives clinicians objective markers to support stress resilience, physical performance, and recovery,” said Suresh Lakshmikanthan, Ph.D., chief business officer at Natural Remedies. “It offers measurable reference points for practitioners working with patients experiencing fatigue, physical strain, and chronic stress.”

Ashwagandha what does it do?

Under stress conditions, the Ashwa.30 group exhibited a lower cortisol response, with levels increasing 18.93% compared with an 86.17% increase in placebo. Additional outcomes included a 44% reduction in DASS-21 stress scores, a 10% increase in VO₂ max, and reductions in markers of muscle damage and post-exertion fatigue. The findings have been submitted for peer-reviewed publication (Prajapati et al., 2025).

Supporting preclinical research using predictive transcriptomics demonstrated Ashwa.30’s influence on gene expression associated with mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative phosphorylation, pathways linked to cellular energy production and resilience. Additional findings from model organism studies indicate activity in pathways associated with oxidative stress regulation and cellular longevity.

The alignment of human clinical outcomes with mechanistic data may provide clinicians additional context when evaluating botanical interventions within multidisciplinary care settings, including the use of validated stress scales and performance biomarkers.

“For integrative practitioners, mechanistic clarity is critical,” said Lakshmikanthan. “Understanding how an ingredient interacts with cellular energy systems helps bridge Eastern botanical traditions with Western clinical frameworks.”

The study evaluated Ashwa.30™ at a dose of 30 milligrams administered over a four-week period, providing practitioners with a clearly defined reference point when considering evidence-based botanical interventions for stress, recovery and performance support. Natural Remedies will showcase Ashwa.30 and discuss the new clinical findings at the Integrative Healthcare Symposium from Feb. 19–21, in New York City, providing healthcare practitioners an opportunity to review the evidence and engage directly with the company’s scientific team. Learn more at: https://naturalremedieshumanhealth.com/ashwa-30.

About Natural Remedies
With a history dating back to 1950, Natural Remedies is an internationally recognized botanical healthcare company focused on combining traditional herbal wisdom with modern science. The company develops clinically supported, high-quality botanical branded ingredients used in health and wellness products around the world. Its team of 45-plus scientists has published more than 230 research papers in peer-reviewed journals and contributed to global standards in herbal medicine. Natural Remedies is committed to safety, sustainability, and innovation across its entire supply chain and all ingredients are certified kosher and halal.

 

The concept of “good fats” and “bad fats” has influenced diet trends, public health policy and biomedical research for decades. Now, a new study led by Thomas A. Vallim, PhD, a researcher and professor of medicine in the UCLA Division of Cardiology, offers new insights into how the body handles “good fats” and “bad fats” at the molecular level — opening a door to new treatments for obesity, diabetes and other metabolic conditions. Their study is featured on the cover of the February edition of Cell Metabolism.

“We found that if you can tweak bile acids, you can find a way to selectively absorb the good fats and excrete the bad fats, with many metabolic benefits,” Dr. Vallim said. That includes the secretion of hormones like glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), the same mechanism that underlies popular weight loss drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic.  

Bile Acids as Gatekeepers of Fat Absorption 

Dietary fat is essential to survival, and humans have evolved to process it very efficiently. Bile acids are detergent molecules that help break fat into small droplets in the intestine, allowing fats to be efficiently absorbed into systemic circulation. While this was quite useful for our ancestors living in times when food was scarce, this advantage becomes a disadvantage in a world where high-fat food options are readily available. The typical Western diet is high in fat, especially saturated fat — which is associated with inflammation and often implicated in metabolic disease. Other types of fat, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, are known to protect the heart and liver but found less frequently in a Western-style diet. This study, led by co-first authors Alvin P. Chan, MD, PhD; Kelsey E. Jarrett, PhD; and Rochelle W. Lai, MS, RD, CSP, set out to better understand how bile acids regulate lipid absorption in metabolic disease. 

Dr. Jarrett, an assistant project scientist in the Division of Cardiology, engineered a CRISPR tool to disable a critical enzyme for bile acid synthesis, CYP7A1. The tool successfully decreased bile acid levels by 50% in adult mice.    

“I used some of the same delivery techniques that are being used for human gene therapies, but with the purpose of understanding new things about biology and nutrition,” Dr. Jarrett said. “Our first goal here was to decrease bile acid levels to see if fat absorption decreased. To do that I used gene editing in adult mouse liver to make an important bile acid gene nonfunctional.” 

While decreasing bile acids for the sake of decreasing fat absorption made sense, Lai, a dietitian who is working towards a doctorate in the UCLA Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology program, questioned whether blocking fat absorption was truly novel. She suggested a second group of mice receive orlistat, an FDA‑approved weight‑loss drug (marketed as Alli) that blocks fat absorption in a mechanism distinct from decreasing bile acids to serve as a positive control. For eight weeks, each group of mice was fed a high-fat diet that mimics a Western diet — think greasy cheeseburger, fries, and a sugary soda. Although both groups absorbed less fat, only the mice lacking CYP7A1 were protected from weight gain. 

Reducing Bile Acids Triggers GLP-1 Release

While the Cyp7a1 CRISPR mice ate the same amount as their controls, the orlistat group ate more. To see how the two approaches influenced absorption, the researchers then used oxygen bomb calorimetry to analyze the caloric, or energy, content of animals’ fecal matter. Both the Cyp7a1 CRISPR mice and the orlistat-treated mice excreted more calories in their feces, but only the Cyp7a1 CRISPR mice did so without a compensatory increase in appetite.  

The team was surprised that the mice without the CYP7A1 enzyme did not eat more and wondered if this mechanism could be leveraged to reduce obesity. To explore this further, they measured circulating levels of satiety-related hormones and found that GLP-1 secretion was markedly greater in the mice without CYP7A1 than in those on orlistat. After additional analyses suggested that GLP-1 release was being driven by fat absorption, the researchers examined where in the intestine the fat was being absorbed. Unlike control mice, Cyp7a1 CRISPR mice absorbed fat further down the digestive tract than normal. 

“We think what’s happening is that as these fats travel further into the gut, they stimulate some receptors that promote the secretion of GLP-1,” Dr. Vallim explained. “That’s a way that your body tells your brain, ‘Hey, I’ve had enough of this nutrient.’”  

How Absorption Shapes the Fats in Our Tissues  

After establishing the link between bile acids, appetite, and fat absorption, the researchers investigated how altered fat absorption reshapes fat metabolism in the liver — the central hub for fat distribution — and other tissues. Through a combination of lipidomic analysis, histological examination and other techniques, they found that both bile acid reduction and orlistat treatment change what types of fatty acids end up in tissues, but to opposite metabolic ends. In Cyp7a1 CRISPR mice, the liver shifted toward higher levels of polyunsaturated “good” fats and lower levels of saturated “bad” fats. In contrast, orlistat broadly reduced fat absorption, including beneficial polyunsaturated fats. As a result, orlistat-treated mice activated liver pathways that generate new fats, a response that promotes metabolic dysfunction over time. 

Next, the team asked whether changes in liver fat were driven by how different fats were absorbed, rather than by the mice simply eating less fat overall. By tracking the absorption of individual fatty acids, they found that Cyp7a1 CRISPR mice continued to absorb polyunsaturated “good” fats while allowing more saturated “bad” fats to pass into the stool—a pattern that matched what they saw in the tissues. 

Singling Out Bile Acids

Given their findings so far, Dr. Vallim’s team then set out to elucidate the mechanism by which bile acids were changing fat absorption. As detergent molecules, bile acids transport fatty acids by wrapping them up in particles called micelles. The researchers hypothesized that some fats might simply be easier to put into micelles than others.  

To test this idea, they took bile from mouse gallbladders and mixed it with individual fatty acids. The results validated what they had seen so far: Saturated fats took relatively large amounts bile to dissolve, while unsaturated fatty acids required much less. The researchers then tested the same idea out with human bile, which has different bile acid composition. Using bile from an otherwise healthy patient following the removal of the gallbladder, they demonstrated that the mechanism was the same across species — saturated fatty acids required more bile to break down than unsaturated fatty acids, meaning that they were less readily absorbed. It was noteworthy that much less human bile was necessary to break down fatty acids compared to mice, suggesting that humans absorb fat more easily. 

Dr. Vallim’s team next set out to understand how individual bile acids contribute to fat absorption. To do so, they used CRISPR  targeting different enzymes involved in bile acid synthesis in a way that made the combination of bile acids similar to that of humans. After seeing the results, they then added different bile acids back in one at a time to see how they influenced fat absorption. The results showed that not all bile acids move fat equally. When the researchers removed an enzyme for the formation of a specific bile acid, called cholic acid, saturated fat absorption was reduced, while unsaturated fats continued to be absorbed almost normally. Adding back the CA in diet confirmed its key role in saturated fat absorption.  

Multi-Faceted Molecules, Multiple Absorption Approaches

Prior to this study, conventional wisdom held that all fat is absorbed in the same way through a largely passive, non-specific process. The team’s results show that fat absorption is far more selective than previously thought. 

“This study really shows that different types of fats are being absorbed very differently, and specifically that polyunsaturated fat acids — the healthier fats — are actually absorbed more efficiently in the body,” Dr. Chan, a pediatric gastroenterologist and recent graduate from the UCLA STAR program, explained. “We show that this is due to bile acids and that by manipulating bile acids, you can manipulate absorption.”  

Just as they found that all fats are not absorbed in the same way, the researchers also showed that not all bile acids are created equal.  

“We often think of bile acids as a group of molecules, not that they each have their own specific physiochemical functions,” Lai said. “Seeing bile acids and absorption as multi-faceted molecules and processes adds novelty to our paper that previous research might not have put together.”  

The team is now collaborating with other UCLA faculty to design small molecules that can target the bile acid-fat absorption pathway therapeutically to improve metabolic health.  

“We think there is a lot of potential in targeting this system and maybe specific bile acids,” Dr. Vallim said. “We’re interested in pursuing all those avenues and, potentially, in developing new therapies.” 

Source:  University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences

Experiencing multiple acute stresses at the same time, as in natural disasters or mass shootings, can leave lasting memory scars. New research from the University of California, Irvine suggests that levels of estrogen in the brain may play a surprising role in this vulnerability, especially for women. The study, published today in Neuron, provides insight into why women are more likely than men to develop post-traumatic stress disorder and face higher dementia risk later in life.

Led by Dr. Tallie Z. Baram, Distinguished Professor of pediatrics, anatomy & neurobiology, and neurology at UC Irvine’s School of Medicine, the research found that exposure to several simultaneous stressors can lead to persistent memory problems, difficulty recalling events and heightened responses to reminders of trauma. These impairments can last for weeks or months, whereas a single stressful event does not produce the same effects.

Estrogen is widely known to support learning and memory. But this study revealed that high levels of estrogen in the hippocampus, a brain region critical for memory, can increase vulnerability to stress-related memory problems. When female mice were exposed to stressors during hormonal cycle phases when estrogen levels were high developed enduring memory loss and heightened fear of trauma reminders, while lower estrogen levels were protective. Males, who naturally produce high estrogen levels in their hippocampus, were also susceptible, though more mildly and through different estrogen receptor pathways.

High estrogen changes how genes in brain cells are “switched on” by loosening DNA structure, a state called permissive chromatin. Normally, this flexibility is advantageous because it helps with learning and adaptation. But during extreme stress, it can allow harmful, enduring changes in memory circuits.

“High estrogen is essential for learning, memory and overall brain health,” said Baram, who’s also a Donald Bren Professor and Danette Shepard Chair in Neurological Studies. “But when severe stress hits, the same mechanisms that normally help the brain adapt can backfire, locking in long-lasting memory problems.”

Memory issues are driven by different estrogen receptors in men and women – alpha in men and beta in women. Blocking the relevant receptor prevented stress-related memory problems even when estrogen levels remained elevated, highlighting potential targets for sex-specific therapies.

“A lot of what determines vulnerability is the state your brain is already in,” said co-author Elizabeth Heller, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. “If a traumatic event hits during a period when estrogen is already unusually high, the biology can amplify the impact in lasting ways. This study shows that a state of high estrogen in a specific brain region promotes vulnerability to stress in both male and female subjects.”

Women were found to form stress memories faster, generalize fear more readily and experience longer-lasting effects than men. Importantly, vulnerability depends on hormone levels at the time of stress, not afterward. These results help explain why traumatic events such as natural disasters, mass violence and assaults can cause long-term memory problems and why women are roughly twice as likely as men to develop PTSD.

Supported by the National Institutes of Health, the study was conducted by researchers from UC Irvine, the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and the University of British Columbia.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UC Irvine has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UC Irvine, visit www.uci.edu.

For many, cardiovascular conditions can begin in their 20s and progress with age, and this is often linked to nutritional deficiencies, including vitamins such as K and B9 (folate), which have been shown to support heart health and function.

Clinicians from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation have stated: “There is an alarmingly high prevalence of vitamin K deficiency and suboptimal recommended intake among the general population in the US”. [1] Emerging research suggests that higher intakes of vitamin K (particularly vitamin K2) may be needed to help protect arteries and bones.

In addition, approximately 54% of the world’s population does not consume enough folate from food. [2] According to a 2025 study, nearly three out of four women of reproductive age (approximately 73%) have folate levels below levels considered necessary to help combat neural tube defects.[3] This means they are also not receiving the lesser-known cardio-protective benefits of folate.

While many people have insufficient intake of these vitamins due to nutrient-depleted Western diets, which can leave them vulnerable to heart issues in the future, science continues to confirm the potential of simultaneously addressing both.

The Impact of Nutritional Deficiencies

Vitamin K2 and folate (vitamin B9) have been repeatedly identified as essential for healthy outcomes; not just for heart health, but for bone health and fertility, respectively. Yet, both remain elusive for most to obtain through diet alone, observed Lacey Hall, MS, RD, Head of Medical Affairs with Gnosis by Lesaffre. “It is difficult for most consumers to overhaul their current diets as the convenience of preparation (and increasingly of procuring) is the top priority, resulting in low levels of key nutrients. Now more than ever, supplementation to fill the gaps is easy and attractive.”

In fact, the Council for Responsible Nutrition estimated that vitamin K2 use could reduce coronary artery disease events by 15.7% and save the US healthcare system $9.48B (2022–2030). [4]

Vitamin K2 has been shown to protect heart health by helping the body manage calcium deposition, inhibiting it from settling into arteries and soft tissues. Meanwhile, folate supports vascular function via homocysteine metabolism, and pregnancy outcomes increasingly serve as an early warning signal for a woman’s future cardiovascular risk. [5]

“But if we look at the potential dangers associated with suboptimal vitamin K and folate intakes, these deficiencies may contribute to increased cardiovascular risk by increasing arterial calcification, vascular stiffness, impaired homocysteine metabolism, and endothelial dysfunction,” said Hall.

Proven Heart-Health Solutions

While calcium is essential for bone health, it’s precipitation in blood vessels is harmful to the cardiovascular system. Vitamin K2 controls soft-tissue calcification by activating the K-dependent protein matrix Gla protein (MGP), a key inhibitor of vascular calcification. Low vitamin K status is determined by inactive MGP, and is therefore strongly associated with arterial stiffness, vascular and valvular calcification, and resulting heart failure, and eventual cardiovascular mortality.

The good news: higher vitamin K2 intake has been linked to improved arterial health and reduced cardiovascular risk. [6] In fact, each additional 10 mcg of Vitamin K2 (MK-7, MK-8, MK-9) is associated with a 9% lower risk of coronary heart disease and reduced cardiovascular mortality. [7]

MenaQ7® K2 as MK-7 is the most clinically validated vitamin K2 ingredient on the market, supported by nearly two decades of research. Human intervention studies show that long-term MK-7 supplementation improves vascular elasticity[8,9] and, in subpopulations with elevated arterial stiffness, supports healthy blood pressure — particularly among postmenopausal women.[10]

The results of the new VitaK CAC trial further support these vascular benefits. [11] “Preliminary results show that two years of MenaQ7 supplementation significantly slowed coronary artery calcification compared with placebo,” commented vitamin K expert Professor Leon Schurgers, Chairman of the K2SAC. Additional clinical studies are ongoing to evaluate different dosages and patient populations, he reported.

Meanwhile, folate’s cardiovascular relevance is largely driven by its role in homocysteine metabolism and endothelial function. Large cohort studies and meta-analyses published between 2022 and 2025 consistently associate higher folate intake with lower cardiovascular and all-cause mortality, especially in metabolically vulnerable populations. [12,13] Each increase in folate intake was associated with a 5% lower risk of total CVD events and a 10% lower risk of CVD mortality, highlighting its potential benefit for cardiovascular health. [14].

However, these positive results do not reflect folic acid, the more commonly consumed Vitamin B9, which requires an important in vivo conversion to the active form 5-MTHF (folate). Further, approximately 40% of the population has an enzyme deficiency, rendering their bodies incapable of fully converting to 5-MTHF.

Quatrefolic® active folate is a well-studied active folate, with research substantiating and quantifying its benefits in several health contexts for women’s health, including overall folate metabolism[15-16], cardiovascular health[17], and fertility[18].

Next-Gen Heart Health Blend

Together, vitamin K2 (MenaQ7®) and active folate (Quatrefolic®) address two complementary cardiovascular pathways:

• Calcium regulation: Vitamin K2 facilitates the activation of Matrix Gla-protein, helping to inhibit arterial calcium deposition while supporting bone mineralization.
• Methylation and endothelial support: active folate supports healthy homocysteine metabolism and vascular health

Both ingredients are clinically validated, with numerous human studies demonstrating positive effects on heart health. As heart health conversations evolve beyond cholesterol alone, the combination of fat-soluble K2 and water-soluble active folate offers a compelling, science-driven narrative for American Heart Month 2026 — focused on vascular aging, prevention, and long-term cardiovascular resilience.

“With a large portion of the population likely sub-clinically deficient in both K2 and folate, the opportunities for closing those gaps and providing heart health and other wellness attributes with MenaQ7® and Quatrefolic® are extraordinary,” Hall concluded.

###

References:

1 Hariri et al Vitamin K2-a neglected player in cardiovascular health: a narrative review. Open Heart. 2021 Nov;8(2):e001715.

2 Passarelli, Simone et al.Global estimation of dietary micronutrient inadequacies: a modelling analysis

The Lancet Global Health, Volume 12, Issue 10, e1590 – e1599

3 Koulman et al. Folate status shows no relationship with vitamin B12 but reiterates the urgency for folate fortification in the UK. Eur J Nutr. 2025 Sep 6;64(6):272.

4 https://www.crnusa.org/sites/default/files/HCCS/00-CRN-Supplements-to-Savings-2022-FullReport.pdf

5 Chen. et al. Gestational diabetes mellitus and development of intergenerational overall and subtypes of cardiovascular diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Cardiovasc Diabetol 23, 320 (2024).

6 Hariri et al Vitamin K2-a neglected player in cardiovascular health: a narrative review. Open Heart. 2021 Nov;8(2):e001715.

7 Gast et al. A high menaquinone intake reduces the incidence of coronary heart disease. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2009;19(7):504–510.

8 Knapen MHJ, et al. “Menaquinone-7 supplementation improves arterial stiffness in healthy postmenopausal women. A double-blind randomized clinical trial.” Thromb Haemost. 2015 May;113(5):1135-44.

9 Vermeer C and Vik H. “Effect of Menaquinone-7 (vitamin K2) on vascular elasticity in healthy subjects: results from a one-year study.” 2020 Vascul Dis Ther, 5: doi: 10.15761/VDT.1000179.

10 de Vries F, Bittner R, Maresz K, Machuron F, Gaserod O, Jeanne J-F, Schurgers LJ. Effects on One-Year Menaquinione-7 Supplementation on Vascular Stiffness and Blood Pressure in Post-Menopausal Women. Nutrients 2025, 17(5), 815.

11 Vossen, et al. “Menaquinone-7 Slows Down Progression of Coronary Artery Calcification: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial” J Hypertension 2025 May 43(Suppl 1):p e18.

12 Melika Fallah et al “ Folate Biomarkers, Folate Intake, and Risk of Death From All Causes, Cardiovascular Disease, and Cancer: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies”,Nutrition Reviews, Volume 83, Issue 3, March 2025, Pages e801–e813,

13 Su et al “Associations of folate intake with all‑cause and cause‑specific mortality among individuals with diabetes”. Frontiers in Nutrition, 2022

14 Zhang et al “ Associations of dietary folate, vitamin B6 and B12 intake with cardiovascular outcomes in 115664 participants: a large UK population-based cohort”. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2023

15 Weiss D, et al. Scottsdale Magnesium Study: Absorption, Cellular Uptake, and Clinical Effectiveness of a Timed-Release Magnesium Supplement in a Standard Adult Clinical Population. J Am Coll Nutr. 2018 May-Jun;37(4):316-327.

16 Osburn SC, et al. Effects of 12-Week Multivitamin and Omega-3 Supplementation on Micronutrient Levels and Red Blood Cell Fatty Acids in Pre-menopausal Women. Front Nutr. 2021 Jul 13:8:610382.

17 Mazza A, et al. Nutraceutical approaches to homocysteine lowering in hypertensive subjects at low cardiovascular risk: a multicenter, randomized clinical trial. J Biol Regul Homeost Agents 2016; 30:921–7.

18 Cirillo M et al. 5-Methyltetrahydrofolate and Vitamin B12 Supplementation Is Associated with Clinical Pregnancy and Live Birth in Women Undergoing Assisted Reproductive Technology. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021, 18(23), 12280.

      

About Gnosis by Lesaffre 

By using the power of microorganisms and biotransformation processes, Gnosis by Lesaffre cultivates unique active ingredients through fermentation, as well as probiotics and nutritional, functional yeasts that benefit human health, longevity, and well-being. Our high-quality solutions are meticulously studied, replicable, and reliable as we scale our collaboration with nutraceutical and pharmaceutical brands to develop revolutionary products that help customers thrive.

Gnosis by Lesaffre – Think like Nature to raise the standard of human health. http://www.GnosisByLesaffre.com

About Lesaffre 

A key global player in fermentation for more than a century, Lesaffre, with a 3 billion euro turnover, and established on all continents, counts 11,000 employees and more than 90 nationalities. On the strength of this experience and diversity, we work with customers, partners, and researchers to find ever more relevant answers to the needs of food, health, naturalness, and respect for our environment. Thus, every day, we explore and reveal the infinite potential of microorganisms.

To nourish 9 billion people, in a healthy way, in 2050 by making the most of our planet’s resources is a major and unprecedented issue. We believe that fermentation is one of the most promising answers to this challenge.

Lesaffre – Working together to better nourish and protect the planet. http://www.Lesaffre.com

Chronic sleep disruption doesn’t just leave people tired and irritable. It may quietly undermine the gut’s ability to repair itself, increasing vulnerability to serious digestive diseases. A new study from the University of California, Irvine, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and the China Agricultural University reveals, step by step, how disturbed sleep causes the brain to send harmful signals to the intestines, ultimately damaging the stem cells responsible for maintaining a healthy gut lining.

Chronic sleep issues impact gut health

The research uncovers a previously unknown biological chain reaction linking the brain’s sleep center to intestinal health. The findings appear in Cell Stem Cell and offer new insight into why people with chronic sleep problems are more likely to develop gastrointestinal disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes-related gut complications and chronic inflammation.

Physicians have long known that irregular or insufficient sleep is associated with a wide range of health problems, from mood disorders to high blood pressure. Yet how changes in sleep can directly harm organs that do not sleep themselves, such as the intestines, has remained largely elusive. This study answers that question by tracing the damage from its neurological origins all the way to the gut’s regenerative machinery.

The research team, including investigators from China and Maksim Plikus, professor of developmental and cell biology at UC Irvine, identified a precise communication relay between the brain and the gut. When sleep is chronically disrupted, abnormal neuronal activity arises in a brain region that normally regulates sleep. Those faulty signals then travel down the vagus nerve, a major conduit linking the brain to internal organs.

Once the faulty signals reach the gut, they do not act alone. Instead, the vagus nerve releases molecular messengers that trigger a cascade of molecular responses across several gut cell types. Eventually, sleep deprivation messages reach intestinal stem cells – which are essential for the constant renewal of the gut lining.

Under healthy conditions, intestinal stem cells are remarkably resilient, repairing everyday wear and tear caused by digestion and microbes. But the study shows that in the setting of chronic sleep disruption, these stem cells experience unusually high levels of oxidative stress, a damaging condition that interferes with very basic cell functions. As a result, their ability to regenerate the gut lining drops sharply.

“When sleep signals go awry, the gut essentially pays the price,” said co-corresponding author Plikus. “We were surprised to see how precisely the brain communicates sleep defects to intestinal stem cells. This helps explain why chronic sleep disruption can make the gut more fragile and prone to disease.”

As the gut lining weakens, it becomes far more susceptible to injury and inflammation. Over time, this vulnerability may predispose individuals to chronic gastrointestinal disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease, a painful and often debilitating condition affecting millions of people worldwide.

The study involved close international collaboration with co-corresponding author Zhengquan Yu of China Agricultural University in Beijing, whose expertise was critical to mapping the complex cellular and molecular steps involved. Together, the team combined neuroscience, stem cell biology and gut physiology to assemble a detailed picture of how sleep loss harms intestinal health.

Beyond revealing a new biological mechanism, the findings also point toward potential solutions. The researchers identified several specific molecules in the brain-to-gut communication relay that could, in principle, be targeted with drugs. Such candidate treatments might help protect intestinal stem cells and restore the gut’s self-repair ability in people who suffer from chronic sleep deprivation due to shift work, insomnia or other conditions.

“Our work opens the door to new strategies for managing intestinal disorders in patients who cannot easily fix their sleep patterns,” Yu said. “If we can interrupt the harmful signals traveling from the brain to the gut, we may be able to reduce disease risk.”

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UC Irvine has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UC Irvine, visit www.uci.edu.