** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY OBESITY HAS BECOME A WORLDWIDE PROBLEM GIVING RISE TO SERIOUS HEALTH ISSUES SUCH AS HYPERTENSION, TYPE-2 DIABETES, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES, AND CERTAIN TYPES OF CANCER. ONE THIRD OF THE ADULT POPULATION IN THE US IS OBESE AND 17% OF CHILDREN SUFFER FROM OBESITY. FUCOXANTHIN, A MARINE CAROTENOID WITH ANTI-OBESITY ACTIVITY, HAS POTENTIAL APPLICATION AS A BIOFUNCTIONAL INGREDIENT IN FOOD. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY IS TO EVALUATE THE ANTI-OBESITY EFFECT OF FUCOXANTHIN, WHEN SUPPLEMENTED INTO GOAT MILK YOGURT, ON WEIGHT LOSS IN OVERWEIGHT AND OBESE ADULTS. YOGURT TREATMENTS WILL BE SUPPLEMENTED WITH FUCOXANTHIN AT DIFFERENT CONCENTRATIONS (7.5 MG, 11.5 MG, OR 15.5 MG/170 G CUP OF YOGURT), AND THE CONTROL YOGURT (170 G/CUP) WILL HAVE NO FUCOXANTHIN. THE YOGURT MIXES WILL BE HEATED AT 80°C FOR 30 MIN, THEN COOLED TO 42°C, INOCULATED WITH STREPTOCOCCUS THERMOPHILUS AND LACTOBACILLUS BULGARICUS AT 2%, AND INCUBATED UNTIL PH REACHES 4.3- 4.5 (USUALLY IN 5 H). THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF YOGURTS AND THE QUANTITY OF FUCOXANTHIN IN TREATMENTS WILL BE ANALYZED. SEVENTY-TWO VOLUNTEERS, AGES 23-60 YEARS, WITH A BODY MASS INDEX (BMI) OF 25-40 KG/M2 WILL BE RECRUITED FOR THIS CLINICAL STUDY. THE SUBJECTS WILL BE GIVEN ONE SERVING OF CONTROL OR EXPERIMENTAL YOGURT PER DAY FOR 12 WEEKS. THE ANTHROPOMETRIC INDICES (BODY WEIGHT, HEIGHT, BMI, WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE, AND HIP CIRCUMFERENCE), BODY COMPOSITION, AND LIPID PROFILE (TRIGLYCERIDES, TOTAL CHOLESTEROL, HDL, AND LDL) OF THE SUBJECTS WILL BE MEASURED. COMPARISON OF DATA BEFORE THE INITIATION OF THE STUDY AND AFTER THE INGESTION OF CONTROL AND TREATED YOGURTS WILL ELUCIDATE THE ANTI-OBESITY EFFECT OF FUCOXANTHIN ON HUMAN SUBJECTS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF HEALTHY FOODS TO BETTER SERVE THE NUTRITIONAL NEEDS OF SOCIETY IS IN LINE WITH THE USDA PRIORITY AREA OF DIET, NUTRITION AND PREVENTION OF CHRONIC DISEASES (A1344).

Prairie View A&M University

Investigators