Commercial Runner peanut cultivars in the USA: Fatty acid composition

Though peanuts are classified as a high‐fat food, they possess good proportions of fatty acids deemed as heart healthy. The fatty acid compositions of Runner peanuts were determined for commercially grown cultivars over two recent crop years. GC‐FID analyses revealed that the fatty acid levels for Runner peanuts were significantly (p <0.05) different among the normal, mid‐, and high‐oleic peanuts investigated. Oleic acid‐to‐linoleic acid (O/L) ratios were found to be 1.93 ± 0.30, 5.25 ± 1.12, and 16.9 ± 5.20 for normal, mid‐, and high‐oleic peanut lipids, respectively. Tamrun OL01 possessed a fatty acid profile characteristic of a mid‐oleic cultivar. From the sample set (n = 151), mean % weights for oleic acid and linoleic acid were 52.09 ± 2.84 and 27.38 ± 2.60 in normal, 69.33 ± 3.18 and 13.66 ± 2.35 in mid‐oleic, and 78.45 ± 2.05 and 5.11 ± 1.67 in high‐oleic peanuts, respectively. Cluster analysis segregated cultivars based on fatty acids into normal, mid‐, and high‐oleic groups. Factorial analysis revealed that cultivar effects were significant (p <0.01) for all fatty acids, except for lignoceric acid. Cultivar effects were also highly significant (p <0.001) for O/L, IV, unsaturated/saturated fatty acid (U/S) ratio, and % saturation. Significant crop year effects were shown for palmitic, oleic, arachidic, gondoic, and lignoceric acids, as well as U/S ratio and % saturation. Healthy unsaturated fats accounted for ?80% in all crop years and cultivars.     

TSAT is a better predictor than ferritin of hemoglobin response to Epoetin alfa in US dialysis patients

Clinical guidelines recommend concurrent treatment of anemia in end‐stage renal disease with erythropoiesis‐stimulating agents (ESAs) and iron. However, there are mixed data about optimal iron supplementation. To help address this gap, the relationship between iron markers and hemoglobin (Hb) response to ESA (Epoetin alfa) dose was examined. Electronic medical records of 1902 US chronic hemodialysis patients were analyzed over a 12‐month period between June 2009 and June 2010. The analysis included patients who had at least one Hb value during each 4‐week interval for four consecutive intervals (k ? 2, k ? 1, k, and k + 1; k is the index interval), received at least one ESA dose during intervals k ? 1 or k, had at least one transferrin saturation (TSAT) value at interval k, and at least one ferritin value during intervals k ? 2, k ? 1, or k. Effect modification by TSAT and ferritin on Hb response was evaluated using the generalized estimating equations approach. Patients had a mean (standard deviation) age of 62 (15) years; 41% were Caucasian, 34% African American, 65% had hypertension, and 39% diabetes. Transferrin saturation, but not ferritin, had a statistically significant (P < 0.05) modifying effect on Hb response. Maximum Hb response was achieved when TSAT was 34%, with minimal incremental effect beyond these levels. Of the two standard clinical iron markers, TSAT should be used as the primary marker of the modifying effect of iron on Hb response to ESA. Long‐term safety of iron use to improve Hb response to ESA warrants further study.