Differences in Anthropometric Measurements and Serum Lipid Levels between Representative Samples of the United States and South Korean Populations: NHANES and KNHANES 2007 – 2008 and 2009 – 2010 Study

The objective of this study was to analyze the dynamics and differences of changes in obesity-defining parameters such as body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), total cholesterol (TC), tricarboxylic acid (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in representative samples from the US and South Korea in analogous sampling frames comprising the years 2007 - 2008 and 2009 - 2010. Differences in anthropometric parameters and serum lipid levels between specific sampling frames were evaluated using a t-test for unpaired data. Age-dependent changes were analyzed using the GLM technique and the Bonferroni-Dunn post-hock test. Among all subjects, the obesity defined by BMI is cross-correlated with an increase in WC. However, in extremely obese women in the United States, there is a lack of a direct relationship between BMI and WC. There was also a clear correlation between the relative change in WC and serum lipid levels in subjects of different ethnic groups. This study showed that BMI and WC could be interchangeably used to assess the health risks associated with increased serum lipid levels in US and South Korean populations

Synergistic Effects of the Jackfruit Seed Sourced Resistant Starch and Bifidobacterium pseudolongum subsp. globosum on Suppression of Hyperlipidemia in Mice

Approximately 17 million people suffer from cardiovascular diseases caused by hyperlipidemia, making it a serious global health concern. Among others, resistant starch (RS) has been widely used as a prebiotic in managing hyperlipidemia conditions. However, some studies have reported limited effects of RS on body weight and blood lipid profile of the host, suggesting further investigation on the synergistic effects of RS in combination with probiotics as gut microbes plays a role in lipid metabolism. This study evaluated the effects of jackfruit seed sourced resistant starch (JSRS) as a novel RS on mice gut microbes and hyperlipidemia by performing 16s rRNA and shotgun metagenomic sequencing. The results showed that 10% JSRS had a limited preventive effect on bodyweight and serum lipid levels. However, the JSRS promoted the growth of Bifidobacterium pseudolongum, which indicated the ability of B. pseudolongum for JSRS utilization. In the validation experiment, B. pseudolongum interacted with JSRS to significantly reduce bodyweight and serum lipid levels and had a therapeutic effect on hepatic steatosis in mice. Collectively, this study revealed the improvements of hyperlipidemia in mice by the synergistic effects of JSRS and B. pseudolongum, which will help in the development of “synbiotics” for the treatment of hyperlipidemia in the future.