instruction:
Given a passage with a context and an answer, construct a question on the basis of the information present in the passage. Construct the question in such a way that (i) it is unambiguous, (ii) it is answerable from the passage, (iii) its answer is unique (iv) it answer uses text phrases from the passage. Avoid creating questions that (i) can't be answered correctly without actually understanding the passage and (ii) uses the same words or phrases given in the passage.
question:
Context: Guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) is an experimental dietary additive that might act as a creatine source in tissues with high-energy requirements. In this case study, we evaluated brain levels of creatine in white matter, gray matter, cerebellum, and thalamus during 8\xa0wk oral GAA administration in five healthy men and monitored the prevalence and severity of side effects of the intervention.', 'Volunteers were supplemented daily with 36\xa0mg/kg body weight (BW) of GAA for the first 4\xa0wk of the intervention; afterward GAA dosage was titrated ≤60\xa0mg/kg BW of GAA daily. At baseline, 4, and 8\xa0wk, the participants underwent brain magnetic resonance spectroscopy, clinical chemistry studies, and open-ended questionnaire for side-effect prevalence and severity.', 'Brain creatine levels increased in similar fashion in cerebellum, and white and gray matter after GAA supplementation, with an initial increase of 10.7% reported after 4\xa0wk, and additional upsurge (7.7%) from the weeks 4 to 8 follow-up (P\xa0<\xa00.05). Thalamus creatine levels decreased after 4\xa0wk for 6.5% (P\xa0=\xa00.02), and increased nonsignificantly after 8\xa0wk for 8% (P\xa0=\xa00.09). GAA induced an increase in N-acetylaspartate levels at 8-wk follow-up in all brain areas evaluated (P\xa0<\xa00.05). No participants reported any neurologic adverse event (e.g., seizures, tingling, convulsions) during the intervention.
Answer: Supplemental GAA led to a region-dependent increase of the creatine pool in the human brain. This might be relevant for restoring cellular bioenergetics in disorders characterized by low brain creatine and functional enzymatic machinery for creatine synthesis, including neurodegenerative diseases, brain tumors, or cerebrovascular disease.
answer:
Does dietary guanidinoacetic acid increase brain creatine levels in healthy men?


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Context: Stat6 signaling is active in cancer cells and IL-4-induced Stat6 activities or Stat6 activational phenotypes vary among cancer cells. This study aimed at investigating possible mechanism(s) involved in the formation of varying Stat6 activities/phenotypes.', "Stat6 regulatory genes, SOCS-1 and SHP-1, were examined for mRNA expression using RT-PCR, and their promoter DNA methylation was assayed by methylation-specific PCR in Stat6-phenotyped colon cancer cell lines. DNA methylation was then verified by sequencing. RT-PCR assay and Western blotting were used to detect the expression of SOCS-1 and SHP-1 after demethylation using 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine.", "Compared with Stat6(null) Caco-2 cells, Stat6(high) HT-29 cells showed decreased constitutive expression of SOCS-1 and SHP-1, which correlated with DNA hypermethylation in these genes' promoters. Interestingly, demethylation in HT-29 cells recovered the constitutive expression of SOCS-1 and SHP-1.
Answer: These findings suggest that DNA methylation controls the constitutive expression of negative Stat6 regulatory genes, which may affect Stat6 activities.
answer:
Does dNA methylation regulate constitutive expression of Stat6 regulatory genes SOCS-1 and SHP-1 in colon cancer cells?


question:
Context: Carotenoids may reduce the risk for diabetes mellitus, but little is known about the association of insulin resistance with serum carotenoids in non-diabetic subjects. This study aimed to investigate whether the homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index would be lower in the presence of high serum carotenoid concentrations in non-diabetic subjects.', 'A total of 812 subjects (256 males and 556 females) who had received health examinations in 2003 participated in the study. The associations of the serum-carotenoid concentrations and HOMA-IR were evaluated cross-sectionally. The multivariate-adjusted geometric means of HOMA-IR by the tertiles of the serum carotenoid concentration were calculated after adjusting for age, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, triacylglycerols, current tobacco use, regular alcohol intake, exercise habits and total energy intake. Associations among high HOMA-IR (3.0+mUxmmol/L2) across tertiles of serum carotenoid concentration were assessed by tests for logistic regression analysis.', 'In male subjects, the multivariate adjusted geometric mean of HOMA-IR was inversely associated with the serum beta-cryptoxanthin concentrations. In female subjects, an inverse association of the serum carotenoid concentration and HOMA-IR was observed in lycopene, beta-cryptoxanthin, and zeaxanthin. The confounding factor-adjusted odds ratios (OR) for high HOMA-IR on the highest tertiles of serum alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, and zeaxanthin were 0.18 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.06-0.52], 0.22 (95% CI: 0.07-0.67), 0.34 (95% CI: 0.12-0.96), and 0.30 (95% CI: 0.11-0.79), respectively, in male subjects. On the other hand, in female subjects, the adjusted OR for high HOMA-IR on the highest tertiles of serum lycopene and beta-cryptoxanthin were 0.39 (95% CI: 0.21-0.73) and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.28-0.95), respectively.
Answer: The serum antioxidant carotenoids were inversely associated with HOMA-estimated insulin resistance in non-diabetic subjects.
answer:

Is the homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance index inversely associated with serum carotenoids in non-diabetic subjects?