Overview
Dr Rebecca Dewhurst-Trigg graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Exercise and Sports Science from the University of Exeter which included time spent studying at Massey University, New Zealand. She then completed her MSc by Research in Sport and Health Science, also at the University of Exeter, where her thesis focused on investigating the effect of dietary nitrate supplementation on team sport performance.
Rebecca then completed her PhD at Loughborough University which investigated the nutritional modulation of inflammation, immune function and metabolic health. Her thesis specifically focused on exploring the effect of short-term excessive dietary fat intake on subcutaneous white adipose tissue nuclear factor-kappaB inflammatory signalling.
Following her PhD, Rebecca joined the research groups of Dr Martin Eichmann and Dr Chloe Rackham (2021-2023) at the University of Exeter as a full-time postdoctoral research associate (PDRA) and worked part-time split between both groups. One project focused on investigating T cell immunology in Type 1 diabetes (T1D) and the other project focused on improving islet survival, function, inflammation and transplantation outcomes using mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSC), respectively.
Rebecca is currently (2023) working as a PDRA with Dr Chloe Rackham on a research project aimed at exploring the islet-protective role for native pancreatic MSCs in health and T1D.
ORCiD: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8940-1094
Qualifications
2013-2016 BSc (Hons) Exercise and Sports Science, University of Exeter
2016-2017 MSc by Research Sport and Health Science, University of Exeter
Thesis title: The effect of dietary nitrate supplementation on agility, linear sprint and vertial jump performance
2017-2020 PhD, School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University
Thesis title: The effect of short-term excessive dietary fat intake on subcutaneous white adipose tissue nuclear factor-kappaB inflammatory signalling
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Research
Research interests
Rebecca’s broad research interests lie within improving public health by understanding the molecular events underpinning health and disease as well as the role of interventions such as therapeutics, nutrition, and/or exercise in disease risk and disease prevention.
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Publications
Journal articles
Dewhurst-Trigg R, Wadley AJ, Woods RM, Sherar LB, Bishop NC, Hulston CJ, Markey O (2020). Short-term High-fat Overfeeding Does Not Induce NF-κB Inflammatory Signaling in Subcutaneous White Adipose Tissue.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab,
105(7).
Abstract:
Short-term High-fat Overfeeding Does Not Induce NF-κB Inflammatory Signaling in Subcutaneous White Adipose Tissue.
CONTEXT: it is unclear how white adipose tissue (WAT) inflammatory signaling proteins respond during the early stages of overnutrition. OBJECTIVE: to investigate the effect of short-term, high-fat overfeeding on fasting abdominal subcutaneous WAT total content and phosphorylation of proteins involved in nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) inflammatory signaling, systemic metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers. DESIGN: Individuals consumed a high-fat (65% total energy from total fat), high-energy (50% above estimated energy requirements) diet for 7 days. RESULTS: Fifteen participants (aged 27 ± 1 years; body mass index 24.4 ± 0.6 kg/m2) completed the study. Body mass increased following high-fat overfeeding (+1.2 ± 0.2 kg; P < 0.0001). However, total content and phosphorylation of proteins involved in NF-κB inflammatory signaling were unchanged following the intervention. Fasting serum glucose (+0.2 ± 0.0 mmol/L), total cholesterol (+0.4 ± 0.1 mmol/L), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (+0.3 ± 0.1 mmol/L), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (+0.2 ± 0.0 mmol/L), and lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP; +4.7 ± 2.1 µg/mL) increased, whereas triacylglycerol concentrations (-0.2 ± 0.1 mmol/L) decreased following overfeeding (all P < 0.05). Systemic biomarkers (insulin, soluble cluster of differentiation 14 [CD14], C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1) and the proportion and concentration of circulating CD14+ monocytes were unaffected by overfeeding. CONCLUSION: Acute lipid oversupply did not impact on total content or phosphorylation of proteins involved in WAT NF-κB inflammatory signaling, despite modest weight gain and metabolic alterations. Systemic LBP, which is implicated in the progression of low-grade inflammation during the development of obesity, increased in response to a 7-day high-fat overfeeding period.
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Dewhurst-Trigg R, Hulston CJ, Markey O (2020). The effect of quantity and quality of dietary fat intake on subcutaneous white adipose tissue inflammatory responses.
Proc Nutr Soc, 1-15.
Abstract:
The effect of quantity and quality of dietary fat intake on subcutaneous white adipose tissue inflammatory responses.
The global prevalence of obesity and obesity-associated cardiometabolic diseases is a significant public health burden. Chronic low-grade inflammation in metabolic tissues such as white adipose tissue (WAT) is linked to obesity and may play a role in disease progression. The overconsumption of dietary fat has been suggested to modulate the WAT inflammatory environment. It is also recognised that fats varying in degree of fatty acid saturation may elicit differential WAT inflammatory responses. This information has originated predominantly from animal or cell models and translation into human participants in vivo remains limited. This review will summarise human intervention studies investigating the effect of dietary fat quantity and quality on subcutaneous WAT inflammation, with a specific focus on the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/NF-κB and nucleotide-binding and oligomerisation domain-like receptor, leucine-rich repeat and pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome molecular signalling pathways. Overall, firm conclusions are hard to draw regarding the effect of dietary fat quantity and quality on WAT inflammatory responses due to the heterogeneity of study designs, diet composition and participant cohorts recruited. Previous studies have predominantly focused on measures of WAT gene expression. It is suggested that future work includes measures of WAT total content and phosphorylation of proteins involved in TLR4/NF-κB and NLRP3 signalling as this is more representative of alterations in WAT physiological function. Understanding pathways linking the intake of total fat and specific fatty acids with WAT metabolic-inflammatory responses may have important implications for public health by informing dietary guidelines aimed at cardiometabolic risk reduction.
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Dewhurst-Trigg R, Yeates T, Blackwell JR, Thompson C, Linoby A, Morgan PT, Clarke I, Connolly LJ, Wylie LJ, Winyard PG, et al (2018). Lowering of blood pressure after nitrate-rich vegetable consumption is abolished with the co-ingestion of thiocyanate-rich vegetables in healthy normotensive males.
Nitric Oxide,
74, 39-46.
Abstract:
Lowering of blood pressure after nitrate-rich vegetable consumption is abolished with the co-ingestion of thiocyanate-rich vegetables in healthy normotensive males.
A diet rich in vegetables is known to provide cardioprotection. However, it is unclear how the consumption of different vegetables might interact to influence vascular health. This study tested the hypothesis that nitrate-rich vegetable consumption would lower systolic blood pressure but that this effect would be abolished when nitrate-rich and thiocyanate-rich vegetables are co-ingested. On four separate occasions, and in a randomized cross-over design, eleven healthy males reported to the laboratory and consumed a 750 mL vegetable smoothie that was either: low in nitrate (∼0.3 mmol) and thiocyanate (∼5 μmol), low in nitrate and high in thiocyanate (∼72 μmol), high in nitrate (∼4 mmol) and low in thiocyanate and high in nitrate and thiocyanate. Blood pressure as well as plasma and salivary [thiocyanate], [nitrate] and [nitrite] were assessed before and 3 h after smoothie consumption. Plasma [nitrate] and [nitrite] and salivary [nitrate] were not different after consuming the two high-nitrate smoothies, but salivary [nitrite] was higher after consuming the high-nitrate low-thiocyanate smoothie (1183 ± 625 μM) compared to the high-nitrate high-thiocyanate smoothie (941 ± 532 μM; P
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Hulston CJ, Woods RM, Dewhurst-Trigg R, Parry SA, Gagnon S, Baker L, James LJ, Markey O, Martin NRW, Ferguson RA, et al (2018). Resistance exercise stimulates mixed muscle protein synthesis in lean and obese young adults.
Physiol Rep,
6(14).
Abstract:
Resistance exercise stimulates mixed muscle protein synthesis in lean and obese young adults.
Obese individuals exhibit a diminished muscle protein synthesis response to nutrient stimulation when compared with their lean counterparts. However, the effect of obesity on exercise-stimulated muscle protein synthesis remains unknown. Nine lean (23.5 ± 0.6 kg/m2 ) and 8 obese (33.6 ± 1.2 kg/m2 ) physically active young adults participated in a study that determined muscle protein synthesis and intracellular signaling at rest and following an acute bout of resistance exercise. Mixed muscle protein synthesis was determined by combining stable isotope tracer ([13 C6 ]phenylalanine) infusion with serial biopsies of the vastus lateralis. A unilateral leg resistance exercise model was adopted so that resting and postexercise measurements of muscle protein synthesis could be obtained simultaneously. Obesity was associated with higher basal levels of serum insulin (P
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Conferences
Rackham CL, Dewhurst-Trigg RE, Hopkinson JR, Morgan NG, Richardson SJ, Jones PM (2022). Mesenchymal stromal cells and their secretory factors reduce the inflammatory crosstalk between pancreatic islets and endothelial cells.
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Dewhurst-Trigg R, Woods RM, Hulston CJ, Markey O (2020). Impact of high-fat overfeeding on white adipose tissue and systemic metabolic and inflammatory responses.
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External Engagement and Impact
Awards
- Nutrition Society UK Postgraduate Competition Winner 2019
- Undergraduate Free Communication Presentation Award, BASES Student Conference 2016
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