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BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Follow-up studies have suggested that total intake of trans fatty acids (TFA) is a risk factor for gain in body weight and waist circumference (WC). However, in a cross-sectional study individual TFA isomers in adipose tissue had divergent associations with anthropometry. Our objective was to investigate the association between intake of TFA from ruminant dairy and meat products and subsequent changes in weight and WC. Furthermore, potential effect modification by sex, age, body mass index and WC at baseline was investigated. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Data on weight, WC, habitual diet and lifestyle were collected at baseline in a Danish cohort of 30851 men and women aged 50-64 years. Follow-up information on weight and WC was collected 5 years after enrolment. The associations between intake of ruminant TFA (R-TFA) and changes in weight and WC were analysed using multiple linear regression with cubic spline modelling. RESULTS: Intake of R-TFA, both absolute and energy-adjusted intake, was significantly associated with weight change. Inverse associations were observed at lower intakes with a levelling-off at intakes > 1.2 g/day and 0.4 energy percentage (E %). Absolute, but not energy-adjusted, intake of R-TFA was significantly associated with WC change. An inverse association was observed at lower intakes with a plateau above an intake of 1.2 g/day. CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggests that intake of R-TFA is weakly inversely associated with changes in weight, whereas no substantial association with changes in WC was found. Keywords: trans fatty acids;dairy products;body weight change;waist circumference;cohort study, INTRODUCTION Two large cohort studies have found positive associations between total intake of trans fatty acids (TFA) and changes in weight and waist circumference (WC). (1,2) TFA in the diet [...]

Crohn's disease is a painful inflammatory disorder of the ileum, a segment of the intestine. It can lead to malabsorption of nutrients, and if the ileum perforates, the condition can be fatal. It has been reported that patients with Crohn's disease also suffer from exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (failure to produce sufficient digestive enzymes). However, it is not known whether this is a primary effect, or simply a result of protein deficiency secondary to the malabsorption. To investigate pancreatic function in individuals with Crohn's disease, a study was done with 143 patients with this condition, and with 115 normal control subjects. After an overnight fast, a standardized test meal was given, and the contents of the duodenum (the upper part of the intestine, into which pancreatic enzymes are secreted) were aspirated and levels of amylase (a starch-digesting enzyme) and lipase (a fat-digesting enzyme) were measured. Crohn's disease patients had significantly lowered levels of both these enzymes. The magnitude of the lowering was not related to the duration of the disease, but it was related to the area of the intestine affected. Patients with inflammation of the terminal, or most distant, portion of the ileum had the lowest enzyme levels. In the overall population, there was no correlation between severity of the disease and enzyme levels, but in the group with terminal ileus inflammation, these two variables were correlated. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)