The effects of high dietary levels of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) on plasma concentrations of homocysteine (tHcy) have not previously been studied. Eighteen mink (Mustela vison) studied were fed one of three diets during a 25d period in a parallel-group design. The compared diets had 0, 17 and 67% extracted lipids from natural gas-utilising bacteria (LNGB), which were rich in PE. The group with 0% LNGB was fed a diet of 100% soyabean oil (SB diet). Phospholipids are the main lipid components in LNGB and Methylococcus capsulatus is the main bacteria (90%). The fasting plasma concentration of tHcy was significantly higher when the mink consumed the diet with 67% LNGB than when they consumed the SB diet (P=0·039). A significantly lower glutathione peroxidase activity was observed in mink consuming the 17% LNGB diet or the 67% LNGB diet than was observed in mink fed the SB diet. The lack of significant differences in the level of plasma PE due to the diets indicates that most of the PE from the 67% LNGB diet was converted to phosphatidylcholine (PC) in the liver. It has previously been hypothesised that phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase is an important source of tHcy. The present results indicate that plasma tHcy is at least partly regulated by phospholipid methylation from PE to PC. This methylation reaction is a regulator of physiological importance.

Absorption, distribution and elimination of 14C-labelled isoflavone-containing extracts from kudzu (Pueraria lobata) root culture and red clover (Trifolium pratense) cell culture were investigated in an in vivo rat model. The predominant isoflavones in the kudzu extract were the glycosides puerarin, daidzin and malonyl daidzin, while in the red clover extract, the major isoflavones were formononetin and its derivatives, genistein and biochanin A, with radioactivities of 3·770 and 7·256 MBq/g, respectively. Male Sprague–Dawley rats, implanted with a jugular catheter and a subcutaneous ultrafiltrate probe, were orally administered with 14C-labelled isoflavone extracts from either kudzu or clover cell cultures. Serum, interstitial fluid (ISF), urine and faeces were collected using a Culex® Automated Blood Collection System for 24 h. Analysis of bone tissues revealed that radiolabel accumulated in the femur, tibia and vertebrae at 0·04, 0·03 and 0·01 % of the administered dose, respectively, in both kudzu and red clover treatments. The liver accumulated the greatest concentration of radiolabel among the tissues tested, at 1·99 and 1·54 % of the administered kudzu and red clover extracts, respectively. Serum and ISF analysis showed that both extracts were rapidly absorbed, distributed in various tissues, and largely eliminated in the urine and faeces. Urine and faeces contained 8·53 and 9·06 % of the kudzu dose, respectively, and 3·60 and 5·64 % of the red clover dose, respectively. Serum pharmacokinetics suggest that extracts from kudzu may undergo enterohepatic circulation.

Excessive Ca intakes have been proposed to associate with vascular calcification and a higher risk of prostate cancer. We investigated the associations of supplemental and dietary Ca intake with mortality using data from 497 828 UK Biobank participants. The average follow-up was 4·2 years and 14 255 participants died, 8297 from cancer, 2959 from CVD and 572 from respiratory disease. The use of Ca supplements and milk consumption were associated with differences in mortality in younger (≤65 years) but not in older participants (>65 years, Pinteraction ≤ 0·04 for all comparisons). Among participants <65 years, there was an inverse association between Ca supplementation (OR 0·91, 95 % CI 0·83, 0·99) and milk consumption (OR 0·93, 95 % CI 0·86, 1·00) with respect to all-cause mortality. In the same age group, milk drinkers had lower odds of cancer mortality (OR 0·89, 95 % CI 0·80, 0·98) but Ca supplement use was associated with increased odds of respiratory mortality (OR 1·69, 95 % CI 1·16, 2·74). All associations in participants aged ≥65 years were null after full adjustment. In sensitivity analyses stratified by hormone replacement therapy, Ca supplement use was associated with decreased odds of cancer mortality in users but increased risk in other women (OR 0·81, 95 % CI 0·69, 0·94 v. OR 1·17, 95 % CI 1·01, 1·35, respectively). To conclude, we saw little evidence for harm with dietary or supplemental Ca. Further studies are required to confirm the proposed interaction with hormone replacement therapy and to exclude reverse causation as a determinant in the association between Ca supplements and increased risk of respiratory diseases.

The effects of subclinical Zn deficiency on depletion and redistribution of body Zn were studied in weaned piglets. Forty-eight weaned piglets (German-Large-White×Land-Race×Piétrain; 50 % female, 50 % male-castrated; body weight 8·5 (sd 0·27) kg) were fed restrictively (450 g/d) a basal maize–soyabean meal-based diet supplemented with varying amounts of ZnSO4.7H2O (analysed dietary Zn: 28·1, 33·6, 38·8, 42·7, 47·5, 58·2, 67·8, 88·0 mg/kg diet) for an experimental period of 8 d. Analyses comprised Zn concentrations in soft tissues. Statistical analyses included regression models and k-means cluster analysis. Jejunum and kidney Zn correlated positively with dietary Zn (P<0·05). Other Zn pools responded in a non-linear fashion by declining (colon, epidermis, spleen) or increasing (mesenteric lymph follicles, thymus, skeletal muscle) below 63·6, 48·0, 47·5, 68·0, 43·0 and 53·1 mg Zn/kg diet, respectively (P<0·01). Above these thresholds, Zn concentrations in epidermis, mesenteric lymph follicles and skeletal muscle plateaued (P<0·0001), whereas they exhibited a decrease in colon and thymus (P<0·01) as well as a numerical increase in spleen. Clustering by dietary Zn concentration indicated clusters of varying Zn supply status and pathophysiological status. Clustering by biological matrices revealed a discrimination between storage, transport and excretion media as well as soft tissues. Taken together, novel response patterns indicated compensation reactions in tissues that are essential for the acute survival of growing animals (heart, skeletal muscle, immune tissues). Furthermore, this is to our knowledge the first study that mapped the gross Zn requirement by clustering tissue Zn concentrations between treatment groups.

1. Body-weight, body height and skinfold measurements were taken in 419 adult males working in the UK offshsore oil industry. Percentage body fat was estimated from skinfold thicknesses and the Quetelet index (weight: height2) determined.

2. The prevalence of overweightness, assessed from the Quetelet index, in the age groups 20–29, 30–39 and 40–49 years was 31.6, 50.0 and 66.2% respectively. The Office of Population Census and Surveys (1981) showed that for age-matched groups, the incidence of overweightness in an onshore population was 26, 40 and 50% respectively.

3. The percentage body fat for each respective age group was greater than that reported for an age-matched onshore population.

4. The Quetelet index was significantly related to body fat (r 0.765, P < 0.0001) and poorly correlated with height, thus this weight: height relation may be utilized in the assessment of overweightness in offshore personnel.

5. In conclusion it appears that the offshore population had a higher percentage body fat than their onshore peers and that the prevalence of overweightness was also greater.

We studied the effects of a fermentable sugar-alcohol (lactitol) on the concentrations of enteroglucagon and gastrin in the blood of rats for 7·5 h after feeding. The control and treatment groups were fed on semi-purified diets containing either non-fermentable cellulose or lactitol respectively, at 100 g/kg. Compared with the cellulose-fed group, the animals fed with lactitol had higher levels of enteroglucagon (5−10 times higher than control; P < 0·05) and lower serum gastrin (70−80% of control; P< 0.·05) for several hours after the withdrawal of feed. In contrast, varying the level of dietary lipid (maize oil) over a range of 8−120 g/kg had no effect on the release of either peptide. These results suggest that poorly absorbed fermentable dietary carbohydrate stimulates postprandial plasma enteroglucagon and inhibits serum gastrin release in the rat. The mechanism is uncertain but an endocrine response by the colon to fermentation products seems probable.

1. The effect of folic acid deficiency on collagen formation, with respect to the level of collagen-protein synthesis and the extent of collagen-proline hydroxylation, has been studied. A folic acid-free diet containing 10 g sulphasuxidine/kg was used to induce folate deficiency in young male rats. Animals were judged folic acid-deficient on the grounds of retardation of growth, characteristic haematological changes and the urinary excretion of formimino-L-glutamic acid.

2. From isotope incorporation studies it was found that folic acid deficiency caused a marked impairment in collagen synthesis. It was shown, however, from the use of pair-fed control animals, that this was due in part to a reduced food intake accompanying the vitamin deficiency. The further reduction in synthesis in addition to that attributable to inanition was considered to arise from an involvement of folic acid in general protein synthesis, since it was found that the synthesis of elastin and non-collagenous skin proteins was similarly impaired.

3. Reduced synthesis of collagen was not considered attributable to lack of hydroxylation of peptidyl proline that may occur in ascorbic acid deficiency. Hydroxylation of collagen- and elastin-proline was only very slightly impaired in folic acid deficiency. It was concluded that, at least when ascorbic acid is present, folic acid is not directly essential for the hydroxylation, in vivo, of peptidyl proline. The results support the view that ascorbic acid participates direct, in vivo, in this hydroxylation rather than indirect by simply maintaining an adequate level of reduced folates. They do not, however, exclude the possibility, arising from the known ability of tetrahydrofolate to participate in the hydroxylation of collagen proline in vitro, that when both ascorbate and folate are present, the latter may, in some measure, share in the role of reducing agent in the hydroxylation of peptidyl proline in vivo.

1. The effects of a high-(HF) and a low-(LF) fibre diet on porto-arterial plasma concentration differences and plasma levels of urea and ammonia-nitrogen were compared in six Swedish Landrace x Yorkshire pigs (30–52 kg). Portal and arterial blood samples were drawn during 8 h following two consecutive meals, given at 08.00 and 16.00 hours.

2. The HF diet, in comparison with the LF diet, was found to produce significantly lower portal plasma urea levels. However, concomitant arterial plasma levels were equally depressed, consequently leaving the porto-arterial urea differences unchanged.

3. In no instance during the 16 h studied could negative porto-arterial urea differences clearly be observed. It was thus concluded that none of the diets induced an important net flux of plasma urea directly from the circulation into the gastrointestinal tract.

4. The significantly lower circulating plasma urea levels that were observed when the pigs received the HF diet were also associated with significantly lower urinary excretions of urea.

5. The HF and LF diets had similar effects on portal and arterial plasma levels of ammonia-N. This was also true with regard to porto-arterial ammonia-N differences.

Population-based surveys commonly use point-of-care (POC) methods with capillary blood samples for estimating Hb concentrations; these estimates need to be validated by comparison with reference methods using venous blood. In a cross-sectional study in 748 participants (17–86 years, 708 women, Hb: 5·1 to 18·2 g/dl) from Hyderabad, India, we validated Hb measured from a pooled capillary blood sample by a POC autoanalyser (Horiba ABX Micros 60OT, Hb-C-AA) by comparison with venous blood Hb measured by two reference methods: POC autoanalyser (Hb-V-AA) and cyanmethemoglobin method (Hb-V-CM). These comparisons also allowed estimation of blood sample-related and equipment-related differences in the Hb estimates. We also conducted a longitudinal study in 426 participants (17–21 years) to measure differences in the Hb response to iron folate (IFA) treatment by the capillary blood POC method compared with the reference methods. In the cross-sectional study, Bland–Altman analyses showed trivial differences between source of blood (Hb-C-AA and Hb-V-AA; mean difference, limits of agreement: 0·1, −0·8 to 1·0 g/dl) and between analytical methods (Hb-V-AA and Hb-V-CM; mean difference, limits of agreement: < 0·1, −1·8 to 1·8 g/dl). Cross-sectional anaemia prevalence estimated using Hb-C-AA did not differ significantly from Hb-V-CM or Hb-V-AA. In the longitudinal study, the Hb increment in response to IFA intervention was not different when using Hb-C-AA (1·6 ± 1·7 g/dl) compared with Hb-V-AA (1·7 ± 1·7 g/dl) and Hb-V-CM (1·7 ± 1·7 g/dl). The pooled capillary blood–autoanalyzer method (Hb-C-AA) offers a practical and accurate way forward for POC screening of anaemia.

1. The lipolysis of cow's milk fat by salivary lipase (EC 3.1.1.3) in the preruminant calf has been studied in vitro by a simulated abomasal digestion, and also in vivo by examining the abomasal effluent collected over 12 h after giving whole milk to a calf.

2. In the in vitro experiment the liquid drained from the clot contained a higher proportion of short-chain fatty acids than the abomasal effluent in the in vivo experiment. This was considered to indicate the absorption of short-chain free fatty acids from within the abomasum.

3. Preferential release of short-chain fatty acids both in vitro and in vivo was observed.

4. The outflow of butyric acid from the abomasum of the calf was initially rapid, but had levelled off at approximately 6 h, whereas the outflow of a typical long-chain fatty acid (palmitic) was fairly constant over the 12 h.

Butyric acid predominated in the free fatty acids of abomasal effluent 0.5 h after feeding (668 mmol/mol total free fatty acids) but had become a minor component by 12 h (15 mmol/mol total free fatty acids).

5. The mean amounts of free and esterified fatty acids (mmol/mol fatty acid ingested) present in the abomasal effluent from the 12 h collection period were: triglyceride 465, diglyceride 215, monoglyceride 68, free fatty acid 252. These values showed that only one-third of esterified fatty acids ingested are lipolysed to absorbable products by salivary lipase.

β-Glucan has been reported for its health benefits on blood lipids in hypercholesterolaemic individuals for years. However, people have paid little attention to the effects of β-glucan in populations with mild hypercholesterolaemia as well as the various delivering matrices. Our objective was to perform a meta-analysis to analyse the effects of β-glucan with different delivering matrices in mildly hypercholesterolaemic individuals. After conducting a comprehensive search in Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane Library, a total of twenty-one randomised controlled trials involving 1120 participants were identified to measure the pooled effect. The overall results indicated that consuming a dose of ≥3 g/d of β-glucan for at least 3 weeks could significantly reduce total cholesterol (TC) (−0·27 mmol/l, 95 % CI −0·33, −0·21, P < 0·001) and LDL-cholesterol (−0·26 mmol/l, 95% CI −0·32, −0·20, P < 0·001) compared with the control group in mildly hypercholesterolaemic individuals, while no significant difference was observed in TAG (−0·03 mmol/l, 95% CI −0·11, 0·06, P = 0·521) and HDL-cholesterol (0·01 mmol/l, 95% CI −0·03, 0·04, P = 0·777). There was evidence for modest unexplained heterogeneity in the meta-analysis. In conclusion, β-glucan can significantly reduce risk factors like TC and LDL-cholesterol for CVD in mildly hypercholesterolaemic individuals; furthermore, it appears that the effects of food matrices with both ‘solid products’ and ‘liquid products’ where β-glucan was incorporated into were ranked as the best way to exert its beneficial properties, while ‘liquid’ and ‘solid’ products were ranked as the second and third positions, respectively.

This study evaluated the association between ultra-processed foods (UPF) on serum IL-6 and to investigate the mediation role of adiposity. Participants were 524 adults from the EPITeen Cohort (Porto, Portugal) and 2888 participants from the 1982 Pelotas Birth Cohort (Pelotas, Brazil). Dietary intake was collected using FFQ when participants were 21 years of age in the EPITeen and 23 years in the Pelotas Cohort. Serum IL-6 and body fat mass were evaluated when participants were 27 and 30 years old in the EPITeen and Pelotas, respectively. Generalised linear models were fitted to test main associations. Mediation of body fat mass was estimated using G-computation. After adjustment for socio-economic and behaviour variables, among females from the EPITeen, the concentration of IL-6 (pg/ml) increased with increasing intake of UPF from 1·31 (95 % CI 0·95, 1·82) in the first UPF quartile to 2·20 (95 % CI 1·60, 3·01) and 2·64 (95 % CI 1·89, 3·69) for the third and fourth UPF quartiles, respectively. A similar result was found among males in the Pelotas Cohort, IL-6 increased from 1·40 (95 % CI 1·32, 1·49) in the first UPF quartile to 1·50 (95 % CI 1·41, 1·59) and 1·59 (95 % CI 1·49, 1·70) in the two highest UPF quartiles. The P-value for the linear trend was < 0·01 in both findings. The indirect effect through fat mass was NS. Our findings suggest that the consumption of UPF was associated with an increase in IL-6 concentration; however, this association was not explained by adiposity.

The effects of dietary supplementation with either sucrose or starch (50 g/kg regular food for 2 weeks) on central 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT; serotonin) release were investigated in freely-moving rats. It has been suggested that the amount of transmitter that serotoninergic neurons release might be altered by food intake. We monitored the effects of sucrose and starch on concentrations of extracellular 5HT, its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5HIAA), γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and dopamine in the hippocampus, using in vivo microdialysis. The major finding was that baseline levels of extracellular hippocampal 5HT in rats with ad libitum access to food supplemented with sucrose were significantly higher compared with the starch control group. We then verified that sucrose supplementation affected the potency of S(+)fenfluramine to increase hippocampal 5HT levels. In both groups of rats, acute intraperitoneal injection (1 mg/kg) of this anorectic drug induced a response curve of the extracellular hippocampal 5HT levels, with a shape that corresponded with earlier data for different brain areas often using up to 10-fold higher doses of S(+)fenfluramine. Nevertheless, we showed that throughout the experiment the absolute values of the sucrose response curve remained higher than in the starch group. On the other hand, S(+)fenfluramine exerted longer lasting effects in the starch group, as compared with the sucrose group. Significant decreases in levels of extracellular hippocampal 5HIAA levels following S(+)fenfluramine administration were simultaneously observed. A practical implication of the present findings is that dietary sucrose may bias the results of studies investigating brain serotoninergic mechanisms and the effects of (anorectic) drugs interacting with 5HT systems in the hippocampus.

The expression of oestrogen receptors (ERα and ERβ) in the prostate and uterus tissues of Wistar rats supplied for 8 weeks with a diet rich in sesame (Sesamum indicum) pericarp (30 %) was monitored. Eight male rats, aged 6 weeks, were divided into a control group fed on a normal diet, and an experimental one, provided with the normal diet enriched with 30 % sesame pericarp. A similar experiment was performed with female rats. At the end of the experiment, the prostate and uterus tissues were surgically removed and kept at − 80°C for up to 2 months. Western blotting and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) methods were used in order to investigate the levels of receptor proteins and mRNA. Significant increase in the expression of ERβ in prostate and uterus was evident in both methods, while the magnitude of the observed alteration depended on the applied method. No statistically significant change was observed in the expression of ERα in uterus. In prostate, although the increase was more evident when investigated by means of qRT-PCR, the difference in expression of ERα was not statistically significant. In both tissues, a shift of the ratio of ERα:ERβ in favour of ERβ was evident, indicating, according to existing literature, a beneficial effect of the diet provided upon the health status of the organisms. It is suggested that this effect is attributed to the lignans present in the pericarp which exert phyto-oestrogenic activity.

Pancreatic insufficiency cystic fibrosis (CF) patients receive vitamin E supplementation according to CF-specific recommendations in order to prevent deficiencies. It has been suggested that higher serum α-tocopherol levels could have protective effects on pulmonary function (PF) in patients with CF. Whether current recommendations are indeed optimal for preventing deficiency and whether vitamin E has therapeutic benefits are subjects of debate. Therefore, we studied vitamin E intake as well as the long-term effects of vitamin E intake, the coefficient of fat absorption (CFA) and IgG on α-tocopherol levels. We also examined the long-term effects of serum α-tocopherol and serum IgG on forced expiratory volume in 1 s expressed as percentage of predicted (FEV1% pred.) in paediatric CF patients during a 7-year follow-up period. We found that CF patients failed to meet the CF-specific vitamin E recommendations, but serum α-tocopherol below the 2·5th percentile was found in only twenty-three of the 1022 measurements (2 %). Furthermore, no clear effect of vitamin E intake or the CFA on serum α-tocopherol was found (both P≥ 0·103). FEV1% pred. was longitudinally inversely associated with age (P< 0·001) and serum IgG (P= 0·003), but it was not related to serum α-tocopherol levels. We concluded that in the present large sample of children and adolescents with CF, vitamin E intake was lower than recommended, but serum α-tocopherol deficiency was rare. We found no evidence that higher serum α-tocopherol levels had protective effects on PF. Adjustment of the recommendations to the real-life intake of these patients may be considered.

Fish consumption is associated with reduced risk of CVD, which may be partly mediated by alterations in plasma lipids, such as HDL-cholesterol. However, comprehensive analyses of associations between fatty fish consumption and lipoprotein subclass profile are limited and show inconsistent results. Therefore, the aim of the present exploratory study was to investigate the association between fatty fish consumption and lipoprotein subclass particle concentrations and composition, with an emphasis on HDL. We performed a comprehensive plasma metabolite profiling in 517 healthy adults, using a targeted high-throughput NMR spectroscopy platform. The participants were divided into tertiles based on consumption of fatty fish, reported through a validated FFQ. We compared the concentration of metabolites between the participants in the lowest and highest tertiles of fatty fish consumption. We show that high consumers of fatty fish (>223 g/week, median intake 294 g/week) had higher particle concentrations and content of total lipids, free cholesterol and phospholipids in large and extra-large HDL particles and higher content of total cholesterol, cholesteryl esters and TAG in large HDL particles than low consumers (<107 g/week, median intake 58 g/week). Using fatty fish consumption as a continuous variable, we found that fatty fish consumption was associated with lower levels of the inflammation marker glycoprotein acetyls. In conclusion, high consumers of fatty fish seem to have a more favourable HDL-cholesterol-related lipoprotein profile and anti-inflammatory phenotype than low consumers of fatty fish. Thus, these data support the current Norwegian dietary recommendations for fish consumption regarding CVD risk.

Bitter melon (Momordica charantia L.) has been shown to have various health-promoting activities, including antidiabetic and hypoglycaemic effects. Improvement in insulin sensitivity and increase in glucose utilisation in peripheral tissues have been reported, but the effect on insulin secretion from pancreatic β-cells remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the effect of bitter melon fruit on insulin secretion from β-cells and the underlying mechanism. The green fruit of bitter melon was freeze-dried and extracted with methanol. The bitter melon fruit extract (BMFE) was fractionated using ethyl acetate (fraction A), n-butanol (fraction B) and water (fraction C). Insulin secretory capacity from INS-1 rat insulinoma cell line and rat pancreatic islets, as well as glucose tolerance in rats by oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), was measured using BMFE and fractions. ATP production in β-cells was also examined. BMFE augmented insulin secretion from INS-1 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The significant augmentation of insulin secretion was independent of the glucose dose. Fraction A (i.e. hydrophobic fraction), but not fractions B and C, augmented insulin secretion significantly at the same level as that by BMFE. This finding was also observed in pancreatic islets. In OGTT, BMFE and fraction A decreased blood glucose levels and increased serum insulin levels after glucose loading. The decrease in blood glucose levels was also observed in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. In addition, BMFE and fraction A increased the ATP content in β-cells. We concluded that hydrophobic components of BMFE increase ATP production and augment insulin secretion from β-cells, consequently decreasing blood glucose levels.

The short-term effect of soya protein, polydextrose and their combination on energy intake (EI) was investigated in Chinese. In total, twenty-seven healthy, normotensive and lean Chinese men aged 21–40 years were given four different soyabean curd preloads with or without polydextrose. The study was a repeated-measure, randomised, cross-over design. The consumption of high-protein soyabean curd alone or in addition with polydextrose as a preload led to greater reduction in EI at a subsequent meal. A similar observation was also found after intake of low-protein soyabean curd with polydextrose. The gut hormone responses mirrored the reduction in food intake. It appears that incorporation of polydextrose either with low- or high-protein soyabean curd could be a potential strategy to reduce EI and assist with weight management. The popular consumption of soyabean curd in Chinese makes it an ideal vehicle for incorporation of polydextrose. This evidence-based dietary approach can serve as a guideline for developing functional foods for weight reduction and weight maintenance.

We previously demonstrated that intra-uterine growth-restricted (IUGR) Yucatan miniature pigs develop modestly elevated blood pressure (BP) as young adults. The present study evaluated the effects of a post-weaning Western-style, high-salt-fat-sugar (HSFS) diet on early programming of BP. IUGR piglets (3 d old, 0·77 (sem 0·04) kg, n 6) were paired with normal weight (NW) same-sex littermates (1·14 (sem 0·03) kg, n 6) and fed milk replacer for 4 weeks. A third littermate was left with the sow (SF; 1·01 (sem 0·05) kg, n 6). When 4 weeks old, all pigs were placed on a HSFS diet ad libitum for 5 h/d. When 11 months old, telemeters were implanted to measure BP in pigs before (4·5 % NaCl) and after (0·5 % NaCl) a 7 d reduced salt challenge. At necropsy, nephron numbers were determined. Before sexual maturity, IUGR pigs had greater relative feed intake (P < 0·05), and experienced catch-up growth with greater adiposity, with correlations between adiposity and BP (P < 0·05). Adult IUGR pigs had 26–34 % fewer nephrons and higher diastolic BP (107·7 (sem 4·9) mmHg, P = 0·044) than NW (97·2 (sem 1·8) mmHg) and SF (98·9 (sem 5·3) mmHg) pigs. Systolic BP was similar among the three groups, but was significantly elevated compared with levels previously reported for a control diet. Salt restriction reduced BP in all groups (P < 0·05), but with no differences (P>0·05) in the degree of salt sensitivity among groups. In conclusion, a post-weaning Western-style diet exacerbates early programming of diastolic BP in Yucatan miniature swine, whereas systolic BP is more sensitive to postnatal diet.