Oil from Muscadine grapeseed may cause weight loss
A new UF study shows that oil from a grapeseed can be used to reduce obesity.
The results, published in June in the journal Food and Function, show that oil from the Muscadine grapeseed can reduce fat accumulation in the body’s cells.
Muscadine oil is similar to olive oil, said Marty Marshall, an author of the study and UF professor of food science and human nutrition. It’s high in fatty acids and contains a vitamin E derivative known as tocotrienol. This form of vitamin E has been shown to reduce the buildup of fat in the body, he said.
For the study, human fat cells were extracted from the body and exposed to tocotrienol, said Lu Zhao, lead author of the study and a UF graduate student.
The UF research team is one of the first to discover the benefits of the oil in reducing obesity, Marshall said. The team knew there were three major oils that contained tocotrienol including rice bran, red palm and grapeseed oil. However, it hadn’t yet been determined which type of grapeseed contained the most tocotrienol.
The oil appears to work like a signaling device, instructing the cells to stop storing fat, Marshall said.
The team is unsure how many seeds are readily available at this time, Marshall said. Researchers are optimistic that animal clinical trials will begin in a year, Zhao said.
—DAKOTA SUTTON
UF-led research team studies spiny lobsters
UF researchers conducted research on behavioral immunity in spiny lobsters, which prevents them from contracting PaV1, a lethal disease.
PaV1 threatens spiny lobster population sustainability as heavily infected lobsters suffer from increased lethargy, stop feeding and eventually die of metabolic drain, said Abigail Clark, a fisheries and aquatic sciences graduate student.
“PaV1 prevalence is most common and almost always lethal in juveniles and declines with lobster size,” she said.
Led by Don Behringer, a scientist in the UF School of Forest Resources and Conservation Program in Fisheries and Aquatic Science, the research team examined data from a 2007 massive sponge die-off in a 926-square-mile area of the Florida Keys, according to the journal “PLOS ONE.”
Researchers conducted a field experiment in which either a healthy or a PaV1-infected lobster was introduced into highly aggregated lobster dens, revealing the practice of behavioral immunity.
“We were looking to evaluate if it was more important for lobsters to have shelter and risk infection or for them to leave their shelter and risk predation while looking for
new shelter,” Behringer said.
It was discovered that exposure to the lethal disease posed a greater imminent threat and the lobsters were willing to risk predation to get away from the disease.
Healthy lobsters were able to detect the diseased ones through the smell of their urine and vacated dens occupied by PaV1-infected lobsters despite the scarcity of alternative shelters.
By eliciting avoidance behavior, healthy lobsters protect themselves from contracting PaV1 and from facilitating its propagation.
Spiny lobsters support one of the most valuable commercial and recreational fisheries in Florida and throughout the Caribbean, exceeding more than $500 million annually.
—MELISSA BROWN
UF-developed mouthguard helping stop the nightly grind
UF researchers have developed what they’re calling a “smart” mouth guard, which allows dentists to detect if patients are grinding their teeth.
The mouth guard integrates sensors that transmit information to a smartphone via Bluetooth, which can reveal the symptoms of bruxism, or teeth grinding.
Yong-Kyu Yoon, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, first began working with dentists about five years ago, when he was asked to collaborate on a project that would allow them to identify improperly fitted dentures.
To create the customized mouth guard, he collaborated with Fong Wong, an associate professor at UF’s Department of Restorative Dental Sciences, who made the dental impressions for the mouth guard’s prototype.
In trying to create a solution, they quickly realized dentures were too specific, said Wong, who specializes in prosthetic dentistry.
“It’s not addressing the bigger need for the population,” she said, so they decided the platform they wanted to use was a mouth guard.
With bruxism, some people grind their teeth unconsciously, she said. Mouth guards can prevent the breakdown of teeth for these patients.
Yoon said the most difficult part of developing their mouth guard was scaling the electronics down into something small enough to fit inside the mouth.
“Everything should be small,” he said, “while the function is maintained.”
Yoon and Fong are now working on another mouth guard that will help to detect dehydration and concussions, inspired partly by the strong athletic program at UF.
“It amazes me how far technology has come,” said Sohyun Lee, a 24-year-old in her second year of dental school. “It makes me excited about what’s to come in the future.”
—PATRICIA POTESTADES
Certain butterfly species need fire early in life to survive
A group of UF researchers has conducted experiments that could save threatened species of butterflies.
Over the course of four years, UF scientists have studied how two butterfly species — the frosted elfin and the atala hairstreak — could survive in fire-prone habitats in Florida.
The butterflies need fire-prone habitats when they are larvae to complete the cycle of becoming butterflies, but fires could also kill them, said Matthew Thom, a researcher for the experiment and a research entomologist for the Department of Agriculture.
The larvae of these two species are specialist beings, meaning they rely on a certain type of organism to live. In this case, it’s a plant that requires fire to survive, he said.
“It constrains them, but it’s sort of a tradeoff,” Thom said.
While studying the frosted elfin in Nassau County, the group noticed that some of the larvae dug under the soil far enough that fire may not have reached them.
After burying the pupae at various depths below the soil, the scientists and station workers set a controlled fire on the area that the pupae, insects in their immature form between caterpillar and butterfly, were located.
The pupae were also tested for heat tolerance to see what temperature they could endure and how long they could take that heat, said Jaret Daniels, a UF entomology associate professor.
The pupae that were buried 1.1 inches or more below the ground survived 75 percent to 100 percent of the time.
With these results, the scientists collectively hope that measures will be taken to help preserve the frosted elfin especially in North Florida, Daniels said.
—SEDONA HUFFY
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 7/16/15]
