Foam Rolling For Cardiovascular Health. Propolis For Muscle Protection. Melatonin For Insulin Sensitivity. Plus: Bananas, Pineapples, Oranges & Beer to Boost Your Melatonin Levels!

Among 18-35 year-old Canadians 80% present with premature hardening of the arteries that could potentially lead to an ischaemic event (LLSA).

Despite the fact that it ain't Saturday, yet, I decided to compile a couple of short news for you, also to make sure you re-appreciate the value of melatonin as a prerequisite to be and stay healthy and beautiful. It should therefore not come as a surprise to you that the SuppVersity Figure of the Week comes from the exact same context.

The exact serum value is 51.5 pg/ml melatonin and it is the cut-off point for decreased nocturnal melatonin as a significant marker of an increased risk of stroke (Atanassova. 2009). Accordingly, every 1.0 pg/ml  decrease in melatonin would be associated with a >2% increase in stroke risk with a 50% risk suffering from an ischaemic stroke for people of all ages with a 3 a.m. value for melatonin of approx. 25pg/ml.

 Foam roll yourself towards a healthier cardiovascular system

Who would have thought that: Foam rolling is good for something beside making fun of it! And if the results of the recent study from Nippon Sports University are applicable to everyone, it could be something as vital as the function of our arteries that will benefit from foam rolling the the adductor, hamstrings, quadriceps, iliotibial band and trapezius.

The Japanese scientists had a group of  seven men and three women (age, 19.9 ± 0.3 y; height, 162.7 ± 8.1 cm; weight, 60.6 ± 11.2 kg, means ± SD), all healthy and free of any overt chronic disease performed the self-myofascial release (SMR) with a 15 × 91-cm (diameter × length) uniform polystyrene roller.

Figure 1: Acute brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity and plasma NO concentration in healthy individuals before and after foam rolling aka self-myofascial release (Okamuto. 2013)

The upper and lower extremities and the trunk were moved across the roller, pressure (direct force) was directed at the lower sacrum, mid thoracic spine and posterior head.

"Pressure was adjusted by applying body weight to the roller and using the hands and feet to offset weight as required. The roller was placed under the target tissue area and the body was moved back and forth across the roller. Briefly, to accomplish SMR of the adductor, the thigh is extended and the roller is placed in the groin region with body prone on the floor. For SMR of the hamstrings, the lower extremities are extended and the roller is placed on the hamstrings with the hips unsupported.

For SMR of the quadriceps, the thigh is extended and the roller is placed on the quadriceps with the body prone on the floor. For SMR of the iliotibial band, the roller is placed on the iliotibial band with the body lateral on the floor.

You don't feel comfortable foam rolling? It's awkward? Yes, it is, but that's probably something you will get used to.

For SMR of the upper back, the hands are placed behind the head and the roller is positioned on the trapezius with the hips unsupported. The head is maintained in a neutral position with the ears and shoulders aligned. The bottom leg is raised slightly off floor. The hips are raised until they are unsupported and the head is stabilized in the neutral position.

The SMR proceeded in the order of adductors, hamstrings, quadriceps, iliotibial band and trapezius.

Each participant practiced two or three times to learn the correct foam rolling technique with the guidance of a trainer and performed 20 SMR repetitions on each muscle group at 1-min intervals." (Okamuto. 2013)

As you can see this protocol is a pretty time-consuming undertaking, which was however rewarded with significant

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Bottom line: With this being the first study to examine the effects of foam rolling or to say it the sexy way "Self-Myofascial Release" we cannot tell whether or not the benficial effects on brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity and plasma NO concentration are (a) replicable in sick and old people who would certainly benefit to a greater extent than the healthy young adults in the study at hand, and whether these changes would (b) persist / reoccur, if you practiced foam-rolling on a regular basis. Therefore Oakmuto et al. may be right that their results suggest that "repeated long-term SMR might decrease baseline arterial stiffness" (Okamuto. 2013), but if you had the choice of taking a walk and foam rolling for 30min, I bet the former will be WAY superior to waddling around with higgledy-piggledy 100% paleo incompatible polystyrene ;-)

More evidence that propolis could promote muscle gain - at least in the elderly

With all the rage about protein anabolism we often tend to overlook that pumping air into a balloon with hundreds of holes in it is not the wisest thing to do... or to say it in plain English, we tend to underestimate the importance of anti-catabolic substances. And while this is particularly true for elderly individuals, in whom the catabolic side effects of exercise tend to eat away their gains, even younger folks could benefit from a reduction in the as of now exclusively detrimental effects of TNF-alpha.

Learn more about inflammation and skeletal muscle hypertrophy

A recent study from nowhere else than the Department of Chinese Martial Arts at the Chinese Culture University did now elucidate that the provision of 5 and 10 mg/kg of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE, HED 50-150mg per day), a phenolic compound isolated from propolis (the honey beehive propolis, not the fungus) effectively blunts the inflammatory assault in response to downhill running and could thus "protect [...] against eccentric exercise-induced skeletal muscle damage" and avert (a) over exertion and (b) potential atrophy (Shen. 2013).

It is however problematic that the TNF-alpha decline goes hand in hand with concomittant declines in OX2, iNOS, and production of IL-1β and MCP-1, all of which have been implicated as an integral part of the beneficial adaptive response to exercise. Genetic ablation of the MCP-1 gene for example lead to persistent macrophage accumulation in association with residual necrotic tissue and impaired muscle regeneration (Shireman. 2007).

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Bottom line: As mentioned before a propolis supplement is probably more beneficial for older people or other trainees with health conditions that make them more susceptible to skeletal muscle catabolism. Whether this will be beneficial in young people is yet about as questionable as the whole COX-inhibitor for or against muscle growth conundrum, of which Trappe et al. wrote in a very recent review that they probably won't hamper muscular adaption in young and middle aged individuals and showed some promise in promoting the adaptation process in the older guys and gals (Trappe. 2013). For both "regular" COX inhibitors like aspirin, but also "exotic" supplements like propolis extracts it may thus depend on both timing & dosage  and age / baseline inflammation & ability to cope with it  - whether or not supplementing with respective compounds makes sense.

Melatonin supplementation doubles insulin sensitivity in old obese rodents

I know another rodent study, but if you look at the sleep problems your own older relatives have and the way similar patterns have become prevalent in ever-increasing parts of the younger generation, as well, even the mere possibility that the 2.1x increase in insulin sensitivity researchers fro the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of São Paulo describe in their soon-to-be published paper would warrant an N=1 experiment with melatonin (Zanuto. 2013). mesenchymal stem cells from oxidative damage and can be temporarily doubled by simply consuming tropical fruits even (pineapple < orange < banana, see figure 2; Sae-Teaw. 2012)

Figure 2: KITT–Glucose disappearance rate (%/min), weight change from week 0, periepididimal fat weight (left; Zanuto. 2013); effect of fruit extract from 1kg pineapples, 1kg oranges or two ripe bananas on serum melatonin in 12 healthy male healthy volunteers (left; Sae-Teaw. 2012)

This is all the more true, in view of the fact that the pineal hormone, of which you do find 60-170µg/l in beer (with higher values in beers with high alcohol content; cf. Garcia-Moreno ), has also been shown to protect rodents from ischaemic heart disease (at high doses of ~1.5mg/kg ; cf. Sehirli. 2013) and to be inversely associated with the incidence of stroke in humans (Atanassova. 2009).

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Bottom line: Don't discount the value of natural and supplemental melatonin. If it was patentable it would maybe be the #1 prescription drug in the stressful an restless world of the 21st century. You think that's an exaggeration? Maybe, but if you just check out the few SuppVersity news on the matter, you will realize that it's only a minor exaggeration.

And in case you don't want to supplement. A decent amount of sleep, some testosterone boosting high alcohol beer as a "Post Workout Booze" (not really recommended) and the insulin sensitizing "6x Bananas à Day Protocol" you can also boost it the natural way ;-)

References:

• Atanassova PA, Terzieva DD, Dimitrov BD. Impaired nocturnal melatonin in acute phase of ischaemic stroke: cross-sectional matched case-control analysis. J Neuroendocrinol. 2009 Jul;21(7):657-63.
• Garcia-Moreno H, Calvo J, Maldonado M. High levels of melatonin generated during the brewing process. J Pineal Res. 2012 Aug 1.
• LLSA - Stroke at a Young Ag. < http://www.lifelinescreening.com/health-updates/healthy-you/stroke/stroke-at-a-young-age.aspx > retrieved April 12, 2013.
• Liu X, Gong Y, Xiong K, Ye Y, Xiong Y, Zhuang Z, Luo Y, Jiang Q, He F. Melatonin mediates protective effects on inflammatory response induced by interleukin-1 beta in human mesenchymal stem cells. J Pineal Res. 2013 Jan 30.
• Okamoto T, Masuhara M, Ikuta K. Self-Myofascial Release and Arterial Function. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. April 2013 [ahead of print]
• Sae-Teaw M, Johns J, Johns NP, Subongkot S. Serum melatonin levels and antioxidant capacities after consumption of pineapple, orange, or banana by healthy male volunteers. J Pineal Res. 2012 Oct 5.
• Sehirli AO, Koyun D, Tetik S, Ozsavcı D, Yiğiner O, Cetinel S, Tok OE, Kaya Z, Akkiprik M, Kılıç E, Sener G. Melatonin protects against ischemic heart failure in rats. J Pineal Res. 2013 Mar 15.
• Shen YC, Yen JC, Liou KT. Ameliorative Effects of Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester on an Eccentric Exercise-Induced Skeletal Muscle Injury by Down-Regulating NF-κB Mediated Inflammation. Pharmacology. 2013 Apr 3;91(3-4):219-228. 
• Shireman PK, Contreras-Shannon V, Ochoa O, Karia BP, Michalek JE, McManus LM. MCP-1 deficiency causes altered inflammation with impaired skeletal muscle regeneration. J Leukoc Biol. 2007 Mar;81(3):775-85.
• Trappe TA, Liu SZ. Effects of Prostaglandins and COX Inhibiting Drugs on Skeletal Muscle Adaptations to Exercise. J Appl Physiol. 2013 Mar 28. 
• Zanuto R, Siqueira-Filho MA, Caperuto LC, Bacurau RF, Hirata E, Peliciari-Garcia RA, do Amaral FG, Marçal AC, Ribeiro LM, Camporez JP, Carpinelli AR, Bordin S, Cipolla-Neto J, Carvalho CR. Melatonin improves insulin sensitivity independently of weight loss in old obese rats. J Pineal Res. 2013 Mar 30.

Fat From Serotonin. MS Despite Vitamin D. DHA & DPA Feel at Home in Your Cellwalls. Weightloss Obstacle Late Lunch? Wrist Predicts Diabetes Risk. Viagra Detoxes the Brain. Acetyl Cysteine Battles Acne. Propolis Increases GLUT-4

Yet another reason why calorie counting is not good for your sanity: The "average" sexual intercourse burns only 14 kcal more than watching TV.  and significantly less than a fast paced walk on the inclined treadmill. Luckily weight loss & maintenance is more complex than calories in vs. out, anyway ;-)

"14" that's the SuppVersity figure of the number of extra calories you will expend when you and your significant other decide to have sex instead of sitting on the couch watching TV tonight. I got that figure from a paper my buddy Sean Casey from CasePerformance has brought to my attention. Published in the latest issue of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine (Casazza. 2013), it discusses the 7 most commonly held "false and scientifically unsupported beliefs about obesity" the scientists identified in a thorough analysis of popular media and scientific literature.

"The scientific community needs some more honesty"

While the sex-myth, which originally states that you would burn at least 100kcal, with a little more action"" even 300kcal per intercourse, is obviously my favorite, there are also a couple of  less sexy "presumptions about obesity" (e.g. simply eat more veggies and fruit and you lose weight) and "facts about obesity" (e.g.  the scientists dug up and debunked in a paper that ends with the wise words:

"While we work to generate additional useful knowledge, we may in some cases justifiably move forward with hypothesized, but not proved, strategies. However, as a scientific community we must always be open and honest with the public about the state of our knowledge and should rigorously evaluate unproved strategies." (Casazza. 2013)

Actually the term "the state of our knowledge" is an ideal segue to what follows - the "short" news! Originally the On Short Notice column was actually intended as a very brief overview over what has been going on in the "community" as of late. And since we are talking about honesty, I must admit that I have failed miserably in the past installments as far as the tiny word "short" in the column's title is concerned. 

The new short news are short again ;-)

So, as of now, I will be doing my very best to bring the On Short Notice column back on the short track, so to say. I guess, we will see in a couple of paragraphs, how successful my efforts will be ;-)

• Does serotonin make you fat? It's pro-fat storage effects would suggest so
  
  

  

  If 5-HT can make you fat and creatine blunts its increase PWO (learn more), what does that tell us about creatine? Nothing, but it leaves room for speculations.

  (Gres. 2013) -- If you trust in TV wisdom the reason women eat chocolate, whenever they feel sad or alone is it's ability to boost serotonin (5-HT). The latter is yet not the reason Sandra Grès et al. say that serotonin could make you fat. Rather than that, it's the ability of 5-HT to stimulate the obesogenic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPAR-γ, learn more), on adipose cells, which will increase fat storage and the recruitment of new fat cells from the stem cell reservoir.
  
  These effects happen in the periphery (vs. the brain) and are totally unrelated to the centrally mediated effects of serotonin.

• MS patients benefit from the sun, not vitamin D
  
  (Zivadinov. 2013) -- Where is your vitamin D supposed to come from? From your skin, right. And where does your skin get it from? From tablets? No. It manufactures it from the "bad" cholesterol, when it's  exposed to the "bad" sunlight.
  
  

  

  In the upper left of this image you see, where the magic is - the rest is just a nice bonus.

  With all those supposedly bad, but in fact vital things being important for much more than vitamin D synthesis it is therefore not surprising that a recently published paper on the asociations of sun-exposure and/or vitamin D with MRI measures in multiple-sclerosis patterns revealed that
  

  "[...] sun exposure was associated with increased grey matter volume (GMV, r_p=0.16, p=0.019) and whole brain volume (WBV, r_p=0.20, p=0.004)" (Zivadinov. 2013).

  ...and that totally irrespective of whether the subjects had high or low vitamin D levels. If you wanted to say it fancily, you'd say the beneficial effects of sun exposure on the brain volume in MS patients was found to be disassociated from the effect the sun has on vitamin D levels (suggested read: Vitamin D, Epstein Bar & MS)

• If you want to up the omega-3 levels in your tissue, pick DHA and / or its precursor DPA over EPA
  
  

  

  Figure 1: Incorporation various lipid fractions in different tissues (Kaur. 2013)

  (Kaur. 2013) -- According to a very recent rodent study docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) are much more readily incorporated into two of your most vital organs, namely your brain and liver and likewise the preferred phospholipid in the cell walls of your kidneys and muscle tissue. Only your fat cells don't really like these long(est) chain omega-3s the incorporation of which was ~50% lower than that of oleic acid (OA; that's the mono-unsuaturated fatty acid in olive oil), which was used as a "neutral" control.
  
  The one question I would still like to have an answer to is how beneficial it actually is, if the phospholipids (PL, figure 1) in your cell membranes are full of easily oxidizable fatty acids.
  
  Also, what do we make of the other lipid fractions? Cholesterol (CHOL), diacylglycerol (DGL) and NEFAs + triglycerides (NE+TG)? Where do we actually want those good omega-3 fatty acids to accumulate? ... just some food for thought  for your DPA and DHA lovin' brains ;-)

• 
  On a side note: If you like GMO, you won't have to eat fish any longer to get your omega-3 PUFAs
  
  (Petrie. 2012) -- Researchers from the CSIRO Food Futures National Research Flagship have already engineered the first GMO brassica species with a higher DHA yield >11% than fish. The invention is hailed as "a breakthrough in the development of sustainable alternative sources of DHA as this technology should be applicable in oilseed crops" (Petrie. 2012)

• When late eating (spec. lunch) and certain genes come together weight loss can become pretty difficult - reasons still not fully understood, though
  
  (Garaulet. 2013) -- Late lunch and certain genotypes appear to make weight loss difficult for some. And the relation holds even after possible confounding factors like energy intake and even appetite hormones, were measured.
  

  

  Skipping breakfast. Yay or Nay? (read more)

  "Late lunch eaters lost less weight and displayed a slower weight-loss rate during the 20 weeks of treatment than early eaters (P=0.002). Surprisingly, energy intake, dietary composition, estimated energy expenditure, appetite hormones and sleep duration was similar between both groups." (Garaulet. 2013)

  While this is not a general argument against intermittent fasting, skipping breakfast and thelike, it does still go to show you that we are not all created exactly equal and any cookie cutter approach to weight loss therefore counter-indicated. 

• Show me your wrist and I'll tell you something about your glucose metabolism.
  
  (Nudeh. 2013) -- A study that was published in the latest issue of the The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism reveals: Wrist circumference is a significant predictor of diabetes in both genders of adult population.

  

  Figure 2: Incidence of diabetes during 8.8 years of follow-up in different tertiles of baseline
  wrist circumference among male and female populations (significant trend in both genders; Noudeh. 2013)

  What's particularly interesting is that this association which was observed in cohort of 6393 subjects (2716 males and 3677 females), who had been subjected to a standard 2-hour postchallenge plasma glucose, test holds independent of BMI and waist circumference - allegedly in women, only. 

• Sildenafil Citrate Attenuates the Deleterious Effects of Elevated Ammonia
  
  (Arafa. 2013) -- You will probably remember the problems with ammonia accumulation due to huge BCAA and protein intakes (learn more). If you trust the latest results of two Egyptian researchers from the Zagazi University it would look as if a solution to that problem (which shouldn't be one, if your liver is healthy and you don't go overboard on pro-ammonia foods, anyway) would already exist: Sildenafil citrate aka Viagra can help.
  
  In their study the researcher administered 10mg/kg sildenafil to rats that were treated with daily intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of ammonium chloride (100 mg/kg body weight) for eight weeks. This treatment resulted in a significant reduction in serum liver enzymes, lipid profile and - maybe most importantly - brain lipid peroxidation and caspase-3 mRNA. It also increased the nitric oxide (NO) levels in the blood and lead to a significant increase in cGMP, antioxidants and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene expression in the brains of hyperammonemic rats.
  

  

  List of various foods and their ammonia content (Rudnan. 1973)

  "Our results showed that sildenafil exerts a protective effect on the brain by reversing oxidative stress during hyperammonemia and this could be due to (i) cytoprotective, antioxidant and anti-apoptotic effects ii) increasing cGMP and enhancing the proper metabolism of fats which could suppress oxygen radical generation and thus preventing oxidative damage in the brain."

  Until now, the scientists cannot tell how exactly the human equivalent of 1.62mg/kg sildenafil citrate work, but its modulatory effect on the NO/cGMP pathway is the most likely candidate. That these effects are of real world significance has incidentally been shown, already. In 2003, for example, the learning abilities of rats with hyperammonia was restored by a similar regimen (Erceg. 2003) 

• Acetyl cysteine - don't swallow, but rub it... onto your skin, if you have acne
  
  (

  

  The comedo count is a measure of the number of comedones, i.e. the open black "pores" like those on the forehead of the person shown on this photo

  Montes. 2012) -- According to a study published in the latest issue of Skinmed, the application of a 5% acetylcysteine topical gel proved to be "significantly superior to placebo (P = .04)" in reducing the comedo counts. The results were comparable in  male and female participants and would suggest that "acetylcysteine is an effective therapeutic option for the treatment of mild to moderate acne". Whether it is an alternative to the retinoid based standard drugs, is yet still questionable.
  
  By the way, the latter, or rather the most prescribed of these retinol-like drugs, namely tretinoin has only recently been found to synergize with Aloe vera for even better results (Saeedi. 2013).

• Brazilian propolis ethanol extract promotes glucose uptake and translocation of insulin-sensitive glucose transporter (GLUT) 4 in skeletal muscle
   
  

  

  In the unfortunate case you missed the news: The commonly ignored BCAA Isoleucine also boosts GLUT4 (read more)

  (Ueda. 2013) I guess you will have heard about the miracles "royal jelly" is supposed to work on your health, right? Well, the cheap "packaging" material bees use to seal the smaller gaps in their hives (the larger ones are usually filled with beeswax) seems to have similarly outstanding - and in this case scientifically backed effects.
  
  When propolis was administered at a human equivalent dose of 20mg/kg to mice, those rodents saw increases in both PI3 and AMPK modulated increase in the glucose transporter 4 activity and skeletal glucose uptake.
  
  The main active polyphenols were artepillin C, coumaric acid, and kaempferide. All of them promoted GLUT4 translocation in a subsequent ex-vivo analysis using L6 myotubes, but kaempferide, which can also be found in acovado seeds (Pahua-Ramos. 2012) and cordia sinensis aka  grey-leaved saucer berry extracts (Martinetti. 2010), was the most potent one.

Now you are surprised, right? Me too. Nine individual items and all of them still qualify as "short news". I guess in view of the sheer abundance of news you won't need anything else till tomorrow, but in case you do, I have a couple of suggestions to check out on the SuppVersity Facebook Wall:

• Lycopene works as an anti-cancer agent, because some of it's metabolites "look" like retinol (vitamin A) and dock to the retinol receptor (read more)
  
• Curcumin is a hormetic agent (learn more about hormesis), but not all curcuminoids are created equally effective (read more)
• White poison!? Low sugar diet does not improve insulin sensitivity but decreases glucose levels in obese subjects (read more)
• Myostatin knockout mice have increased brown fat - Does this mean that myostatin suppression will increase browning of fat in man, as well? The recent SuppVersity article on PGC-1A4 already confirmed that (read more) 
• Fish oil for alcohol withdrawal - Only three weeks on low dose EPA (60 mg/day) and high dose DHA (252 mg/day) supplement yielded significant decreases in distress symptoms and basal cortisol secretion in abstinent alcoholics (read more)
• SuppVersity Suggested Read: The Hunter-Gatherer Within: Health and the Natural Human Diet - "Don't get your food from the same place your car does" (read more)

There are going to be a couple of more news before the official next SuppVersity post will be posted in ~24h - so "like" the SuppVersity on Facebook and make sure you don't miss any of them. Have a nice weekend!

References:

• Arafa MH, Atteia HH. Sildenafil Citrate Attenuates the Deleterious Effects of Elevated Ammonia. Toxicol Mech Methods. 2013 Jan 23. 
• Casazza K, Fontaine KR, Astrup A, Birch LL, Brown AW, Bohan Brown MM, Durant N, Dutton G, Foster EM, Heymsfield SB, McIver K, Mehta T, Menachemi N, Newby PK, Pate R, Rolls BJ, Sen B, Smith DL Jr, Thomas DM, Allison DB. Myths, presumptions, and facts about obesity. N Engl J Med. 2013 Jan 31;368(5):446-54.
• Erceg S, Monfort P, Hernández-Viadel M, Rodrigo R, Montoliu C, Felipo V. Oral administration of sildenafil restores learning ability in rats with hyperammonemia and with portacaval shunts. Hepatology. 2005 Feb;41(2):299-306.
• Garaulet M, Gómez-Abellán P, Alburquerque-Béjar JJ, Lee YC, Ordovás JM, Scheer FA. Timing of food intake predicts weight loss effectiveness. Int J Obes (Lond). 2013 Jan 29.
• Grès S, Canteiro S, Mercader J, Carpéné C. Oxidation of high doses of serotonin favors lipid accumulation in mouse and human fat cells. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2013 Feb 6.
• Jahangiri Noudeh Y, Hadaegh F, Vatankhah N, Momenan AA, Saadat N, Khalili D, Azizi F. Wrist Circumference as a Novel Predictor of Diabetes and Prediabetes: Results of Cross-Sectional and 8.8-Year Follow-up Studies. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2013 Feb;98(2):777-84.
• Kaur G, Molero JC, Weisinger HS, Sinclair AJ. Orally administered [14C]DPA and [14C]DHA are metabolised differently to [14C]EPA in rats. British Journal of Nutrition. 2013; 109, pp 441-448. 
• Martineti V, Tognarini I, Azzari C, Carbonell Sala S, Clematis F, Dolci M, Lanzotti V, Tonelli F, Brandi ML, Curir P. Inhibition of in vitro growth and arrest in the G0/G1 phase of HCT8 line human colon cancer cells by kaempferide triglycoside from Dianthus caryophyllus. Phytother Res. 2010 Sep;24(9):1302-8.
• Montes LF, Wilborn WH, Montes CM. Topical acne treatment with acetylcysteine: clinical and experimental effects. Skinmed. 2012 Nov-Dec;10(6):348-51.
• Pahua-Ramos ME, Ortiz-Moreno A, Chamorro-Cevallos G, Hernández-Navarro MD, Garduño-Siciliano L, Necoechea-Mondragón H, Hernández-Ortega M. Hypolipidemic effect of avocado (Persea americana Mill) seed in a hypercholesterolemic mouse model. Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 2012 Mar;67(1):10-6.
• Petrie JR, Shrestha P, Zhou XR, Mansour MP, Liu Q, Belide S, Nichols PD, Singh SP. Metabolic engineering plant seeds with fish oil-like levels of DHA. PLoS One. 2012;7(11):e49165. 
• Rudnan D, Smith RB 3rd, Salam AA, Warren WD, Galambos JT, Wenger J. Ammonia content of food. Am J Clin Nutr. 1973 May;26(5):487-90.
• Ueda M, Hayashibara K, Ashida H. Propolis extract promotes translocation of glucose transporter 4 and glucose uptake through both PI3K- and AMPK-dependent pathways in skeletal muscle. Biofactors. 2013 Jan 28.
• Zivadinov R, Treu CN, Weinstock-Guttman B, Turner C, Bergsland N, O'Connor K, Dwyer MG, Carl E, Ramasamy DP, Qu J, Ramanathan M. Interdependence and contributions of sun exposure and vitamin D to MRI measures in multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2013 Feb 5.