Dr Baukje de Roos - Lipids and Atherosclerosis
Research Focus
Cardioavascular disease (CVD) is rapidly becoming a primary cause of death worldwide, thus identification of dietary compounds that most effectively prevent CVD is critical. Compelling evidence from metabolic studies, prospective cohort studies and clinical trials in the past decades indicates that at least 2 dietary strategies relating to fat intake are effective in preventing CVD: substitute non-hydrogenated unsaturated fats for saturated and trans-fats, and increase the consumption of omega-3 fatty acids from fish, fish oil supplements and plant sources. However, as structurally similar fatty acids or plant polyphenols often elicit differential effects on pathways involved in CVD development, we need to understand more about their mechanisms of action.
My research program assesses novel mechanisms through which dietary fats and fatty acids (like conjugated linoleic acids from dairy products and omega-3 fatty acids from fish) as well as bioactive plant polyphenols affect the development of CVD. This is achieved not only by measuring their effect on validated risk markers (for example serum lipid levels, haematological function, blood pressure) but also by assessing their effect on novel risk markers that are currently being identified through novel nutrigenomics technologies. Based on this work I was recently asked to join an ILSI (International Life Sciences Institute in Brussels) task force to evaluate the usefulness of such emerging technologies for efficacy demonstration of (novel) food products.
Recent Grant Income
2010-2013. Industrial PhD studentship on the development of novel anti-inflammation and anti-platelet markers to measure the efficacy of bioactive food compounds (funded by Provexis).
2009-2012. Industrial PhD studentship on the effects of CLA on platelet function, markers of haemostasis and inflammation in humans (main applicant, collaboration with Dr Isobel Ford, funded by Lipid Nutrition, the Netherlands).
2007-2011. Rowett-IFR PhD studentship on the impact of dietary polyphenols on platelets – integrating proteomic and functional analyses (main applicant, collaboration with Professor Garry Duthie (RINH) and Dr. Paul Kroon (IFR, Norwich)).
2007-2009. 2-year post-doctoral fellowship from the Spanish Government (Department of Science and Education) on the bioactivity of olive oil polyphenols (co-applicant, collaboration with Dr. Guillermo Rodriguez Guttierez (Instituto de la Grasa, Sevilla, Spain) and Professor Garry Duthie (RINH)).
2008-2011. BHF PhD studentship to determine the possible role for endocannabinoids in the cellular mechanisms of the anti-atherosclerotic effects of eicosapentanoic acid (co-applicant, collaboration with Professor Cherry Wainwright and Dr Helen Vosper, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen).
2007-2008. NuGO PPS funding to perform Phase II of a “proof of principle” study to determine analytical variability in plasma, platelet and lymphycyte proteomics, transcriptomics,a and metabolomics in human samples during baseline and after a fasting challenge (main applicant, co-applicants include Dr. Susan Duthie (RINH), Dr. Ruan Elliot, Abbigael Polley, Dr. Francis Mulholland (Institute of Food Research), Professor Edwin Mariman (University of Maastricht, the Netherlands), Carolin Heim and Professor Hannelore Daniel (Technical University Munich, Germany).
Additional responsibilities
- Board Member of the Scottish Cardiovascular Forum
- Editor for journal Frontiers in Nutrigenomics
- Member of Human Studies Management Committee
- Member of Ethics Research Committee
Policy Briefings
Latest Publications
De Roos B (2011) Mechanisms of fish oil modulated inflammation and health. In: Bioactive Foods and Supplements in Health Promotion. Editor: Ronald Ross Watson, University of Arizona, USA. Published by Elsevier.
De Roos B (2011) Use of proteomic tools for functional food development. In: Functional Foods: A Systematic Approach. Editor: Vatsala Maitin (Texas State University, USA).
Duthie S, Horgan G, de Roos B, Rucklidge G, Reid M, Duncan G, Pirie, L, Basten G, Powers H (2010) Blood folate status and expression of proteins involved in immune function, inflammation and coagulation: biochemical and proteomic changes in the plasma of humans in response to long-term synthetic folic acid supplementation. J Proteom Res 9:1941-1950.
Ostertag LM, O' Kennedy N, Kroon PA, Duthie GG, de Roos B (2010) Impact of dietary polyphenols on human platelet function – a critical review of controlled dietary intervention studies. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research 54: 60-81
De Roos B (2010) Application of Proteomics in Nutrition Research. In: Genomics, Proteomics and Metabolomics in Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods. Editors: Professor Debasis Bagchi and Dr. Francis C. Lau. Published by Blackwell Publishing.
De Roos B, Arbones-Mainar JM and Rodriguez Gutiérrez G (2010) The effects of olive oils on hepatic lipid metabolism and antioxidant defense mechanisms: insights from proteomics studies. In: Olives and Olive Oil in Health and Disease Prevention. Editors: Victor R Preedy (King’s College London, University of London, UK) and Ronald Ross Watson (University of Arizona, USA).