August 11/Baton Rouge, La./Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week -- A report, "Resistant Starch, Fermented Resistant Starch, and Short-chain Fatty Acids Reduce Intestinal Fat Deposition in Caenorhabditis Elegans," is newly published data in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. According to a study from the U.S., "Obesity is a growing global public health dilemma. The objective of this project is to develop and validate a screening mechanism for bioactive compounds that may reduce body fat and promote health."

"Resistant starch (RS) reduces body fat in rodents. Amylose starch that has a high content of RS, endogenous compounds obtained from the ceca of amylose starch fed mice (fermented RS), and individual short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) were tested. The Caenorhabditis elegans model and Nile red staining were selected to determine the intestinal fat deposition response to bioactive components. The fluorescence intensity of Nile red was reduced to 76.5% (amylose starch), 78.8% (fermented RS), 63.6% (butyrate), or 28-80% (SCFAs) of controls, respectively (p <0.001)," wrote J. Zheng and colleagues.

The researchers concluded, "The reduced intestinal fat deposition suggests reduced food intake or increased energy expenditure. C. elegans is a practical animal model to screen for bioactive compounds that may prevent or treat obesity."

Zheng and colleagues published their study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry ("Resistant Starch, Fermented Resistant Starch, and Short-chain Fatty Acids Reduce Intestinal Fat Deposition in Caenorhabditis Elegans," Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2010;58(8):4744-8).

For more information, contact J. Zheng, LSU AgCenter, Veterinary Science Department, Louisiana StateUniversity, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803.

From the August 30, 2010, Prepared Foods E-dition