Thesis (Ph. D.)--Chemical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2004. / Lucian A. Lucia, Committee Member; Spyros G. Pavlostathis, Committee Member; Sujit Banerjee, Committee Chair; Yulin Deng, Committee Member; Howard L. Empie, Committee Member. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-155).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Nutritional Sciences." Includes bibliographical references (p. 149-161).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-141). Also available in print.

Thesis (doctoral)--Tallinn Technical University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-64).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 148-173). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on Feb. 12, 2010 ). The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Dr. Robert L. Kallenbach, Thesis Supervisor. Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Pharmacology and Pharmacy / Master / Master of Philosophy

Background and objectives: Growing bodies of evidence demonstrate that adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (A-FABP) mediates the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis through its direct impacts on macrophages. Loss-of-function study was conducted by utilizing peritoneal macrophages derived from A-FABP knockout (KO) mice, to investigate the role of A-FABP in autophagy and macrophage foam cell formation. Key findings: 1. No morphological changes between the peritoneal macrophages derived from A-FABP knockout (KO) or their wild-type (WT) littermates. 2. Foam cell formation was successfully induced by the treatment of acetylated low-density lipoproteins (LDL) in peritoneal macrophages derived from A-FABP WT and KO mice. 3. LDL treatment induces autophagy in peritoneal macrophages from both A-FABP WT and KO mice. 4. The extent of LDL-induced autophagy is reduced in peritoneal macrophages of WT mice and is accompanied by increased lipid droplet accumulation when compared with A-FABP KO mice. Conclusions: A-FABP is a suppressor of autophagy and contributes to the attenuation of cholesterol efflux, subsequently resulting in enhancement of lipid droplets accumulation in peritoneal macrophages. A-FABP mediates the formation of macrophage foam cell via the suppression of autophagy. The results suggest that A-FABP is a potential therapeutic target to suspend the progression of atherosclerosis and remit the atherosclerotic lesion. / published_or_final_version / Medicine / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

Background Many studies in western countries have suggested a positive association between intake of trans fatty acid (TFA) and risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). In Asia, although intake of TFA was relatively low, it evidenced an increasing trend which was accompanied with an increasing prevalence of CVDs among the population. There was currently no systematic review on the relationship between intake of TFA and CVDs in Asian population. This systematic review was aimed to synthesize the association between intake of TFA and the risk of CVDs in Asian population from published literature. Methods Both English and Chinese literature published before 1st January 2014were retrieved from PubMed, Medline, Google scholaand CNKI with a combination of keywords. Studies that reported the associations between intake of TFA and CVD-related risks and those conducted among Asian population were included. The quality of eligible literature included in the review was assessed based on STROBE. Findings regarding the associations between intake of TFA and risk of CVDs were extracted and synthesized through comparing and evaluating the quality of findings across the included studies. Results Of the 378 articles retrieved from the datasets, nine studies were eligible to be included in this systematic review. The nine studies covered six Asian countries including Iran, China, Korea, Japan, Israel and India. Seven of nine studies indicated a positive association between intake of TFA and risk of CVDs while the other two reported no significant association. However, none of the included studies were interventional studies and only one was prospective cohort study. Conclusion The findings that more intake of TFA was associated with increased risk of CVDs in Asian population were consistent with that in the western population. Specific regulations to restrict the use of TFA and interventions to promote public awareness of the health effects of TFA are recommended in Asian countries. Due to limited eligible studies that covered only six Asian countries, there remains cautious to generalize the findings to other Asian countries. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

published_or_final_version / Chemistry / Master / Master of Philosophy