However, the activity of LCAT was increased in HDL3 in the ≥6- vs. 1-portion comparison (p < 0.05), which was driven by the ~8% increase in its activity following the ≥6-portion intervention (p < 0.001).
However, in HDL3, the activity of PON-1 significantly increased in the ≥6- vs. 1-portion comparison (p < 0.05), which was driven by the ~13% increase in its activity following the ≥6-portion intervention (p ≤ 0.001), despite the ~4% increase in its activity following the 1-portion intervention (p = 0.014).
In serum, LCAT activity was unchanged in the ≥6- vs. 1-portion comparisons (p > 0.05; Table 4).
Following intervention, total energy was not different in the ≥6- vs. 1-portion comparisons (p > 0.05; Table 2).
In HDL2, PON-1 activity was unchanged in the ≥6- vs. 1-portion comparisons (p < 0.05) and following the 1 and ≥6-portion interventions (p > 0.05 for both comparisons).
In HDL2, the activity of LCAT was unchanged in the ≥6- vs. 1-portion comparisons (p > 0.05) and following the 1 and ≥6-portion interventions (p > 0.05 for both comparisons).
Following intervention, serum-PON-1 activity was unchanged in the ≥6- vs. 1-portion comparisons (p > 0.05; Table 4), however, serum-PON-1 activity increased by ~7% (p ≥ 0.001) following the ≥6-portion intervention.
Following intervention, serum hsCRP and serum-, HDL2- and HDL3-SAA were similar in the ≥6- vs. 1-portion comparisons (p < 0.05 for all comparisons; Table 4) and although SAA decreased by ~32% following the ≥6-portion intervention in HDL3, this was not significant (p = 0.133).
Nevertheless, earlier maturation of the middle portion in comparison with the inferior portion may seem to contradict the known rule of the caudo-cephalic direction of the myelin progression (Yakovlev and Lecours 1967; Flechsig 1920).
Among the 957 differentially expressed protein-coding genes (DEGs), 223 were up-regulated, while 734 were down-regulated in the plumulaceous portion in comparison to the pennaceous portion (Fig. 4a, Additional file 6: Table S5).
VAS ratings for habitual portion size comparisons were summarised with means and 95% CI, where a 50 mm value was considered to signify 'same size as usual portion'.
