High nut consumption has been previously associated with decreased prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) regardless of race and dietary patterns.
The aim of this study was to assess whether changes ...in nut consumption over a 1-y follow-up are associated with changes in features of MetS in a middle-aged and older Spanish population at high cardiovascular disease risk.
This prospective 1-y follow-up cohort study, conducted in the framework of the PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea (PREDIMED)-Plus randomized trial, included 5800 men and women (55–75 y old) with overweight/obesity BMI (in kg/m2) ≥27 and <40 and MetS. Nut consumption (almonds, pistachios, walnuts, and other nuts) was assessed using data from a validated FFQ. The primary outcome was the change from baseline to 1 y in features of MetS waist circumference (WC), glycemia, HDL cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), and systolic and diastolic blood pressure and excess weight (body weight and BMI) according to tertiles of change in nut consumption. Secondary outcomes included changes in dietary and lifestyle characteristics. A generalized linear model was used to compare 1-y changes in features of MetS, weight, dietary intakes, and lifestyle characteristics across tertiles of change in nut consumption.
As nut consumption increased, between each tertile there was a significant decrease in WC, TG, systolic blood pressure, weight, and BMI (P < 0.05), and a significant increase in HDL cholesterol (only in women, P = 0.044). The interaction effect between time and group was significant for total energy intake (P < 0.001), adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) (P < 0.001), and nut consumption (P < 0.001). Across tertiles of increasing nut consumption there was a significant increase in extra virgin olive oil intake and adherence to the MedDiet; change in energy intake, on the other hand, was inversely related to consumption of nuts.
Features of MetS and excess weight were inversely associated with nut consumption after a 1-y follow-up in the PREDIMED-Plus study cohort. This trial was registered at isrctn.com as ISRCTN89898870.
The prevalence of hyperuricemia has increased substantially in recent decades. It has been suggested that it is an independent risk factor for weight gain, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, ...metabolic syndrome (MetS), and cardiovascular disease. Results from epidemiological studies conducted in different study populations have suggested that high consumption of dairy products is associated with a lower risk of developing hyperuricemia. However, this association is still unclear. The aim of the present study is to explore the association of the consumption of total dairy products and their subtypes with the risk of hyperuricemia in an elderly Mediterranean population with MetS.
Baseline cross-sectional analyses were conducted on 6329 men/women (mean age 65 years) with overweight/obesity and MetS from the PREDIMED-Plus cohort. Dairy consumption was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire. Multivariable-adjusted Cox regressions were fitted to analyze the association of quartiles of consumption of total dairy products and their subtypes with the prevalence of hyperuricemia. Participants in the upper quartile of the consumption of total dairy products (multiadjusted prevalence ratio (PR) = 0.84; 95% CI: 0.75–0.94; P-trend 0.02), low-fat dairy products (PR = 0.79; 95% CI: 0.70–0.89; P-trend <0.001), total milk (PR = 0.81; 95% CI: 0.73–0.90; P-trend<0.001), low-fat milk (PR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.72–0.89; P-trend<0.001, respectively), low-fat yogurt (PR = 0.89; 95% CI: 0.80–0.98; P-trend 0.051), and cheese (PR = 0.86; 95% CI: 0.77–0.96; P-trend 0.003) presented a lower prevalence of hyperuricemia. Whole-fat dairy, fermented dairy, and yogurt consumption were not associated with hyperuricemia.
High consumption of total dairy products, total milk, low-fat dairy products, low-fat milk, low-fat yogurt, and cheese is associated with a lower risk of hyperuricemia.
•Total dairy product consumption is associated with a lower prevalence risk of hyperuricemia.•Milk, low-fat yogurt, and cheese consumption is associated with a lower prevalence risk of hyperuricemia.•Consumption of whole-fat dairy products and the different subtypes is not associated with hyperuricemia.
The validity of a cardiovascular risk self-screening method was assessed. The results obtained for self-measurement of blood pressure, a point-of-care system's assessment of lipid profile and ...glycated hemoglobin, and a self-administered questionnaire (sex, age, diabetes, tobacco consumption) were compared with the standard screening (gold standard) conducted by a health professional.
Crossover clinical trial on a population-based sample from Girona (north-eastern Spain), aged 35-74, with no cardiovascular disease at recruitment. Participants were randomized to one of the two risk assessment sequences (standard screening followed by self-screening or vice versa). Cardiovascular risk was estimated with the Framingham-REGICOR function. Concordance between methods was estimated with the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were estimated, considering 5% cardiovascular risk as the cutoff point. ClinicalTrials.gov Registration #NCT02373319. Clinical Research Ethic Committee of the Parc de Salut Mar Registration #2014/5815/I.
The median cardiovascular risk in men was 2.56 (interquartile range: 1.42-4.35) estimated by standard methods and 2.25 (1.28-4.07) by self-screening with ICC=0.92 (95% CI: 0.90-0.93). In women, the cardiovascular risk was 1.14 (0.61-2.10) by standard methods and 1.10 (0.56-2.00) by self-screening, with ICC=0.89 (0.87-0.90). The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for the self-screening method were 0.74 (0.63-0.82), 0.97 (0.95-0.99), 0.86 (0.77-0.93), and 0.94 (0.91-0.96), respectively, in men. In women, these values were 0.50 (0.30-0.70), 0.99 (0.98-1), 0.81 (0.54-0.96), and 0.97 (0.95-0.99), respectively.
The self-screening method for assessing cardiovascular risk provided similar results to the standard method. Self-screening had high clinical performance to rule out intermediate or high cardiovascular risk.
Background
Helping consumers to improve the nutritional quality of their diet is a key public health action to prevent cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The modified version of the Food Standard Agency ...Nutrient Profiling System Dietary Index (FSAm-NPS DI) underpinning the Nutri-Score front-of-pack label has been used in public health strategies to address the deleterious consequences of poor diets. This study aimed to assess the association between the FSAm-NPS DI and some CVD risk factors including body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, plasma glucose levels, triglyceride levels, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and diastolic and systolic blood pressure.
Materials and Methods
Dietary intake was assessed at baseline and after 1 year of follow-up using a 143-item validated semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire. Dietary indices based on FSAm-NPS applied at an individual level were computed to characterize the diet quality of 5,921 participants aged 55–75 years with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome from the PREDIMED-plus cohort. Associations between the FSAm-NPS DI and CVD risk factors were assessed using linear regression models.
Results
Compared to participants with a higher nutritional quality of diet (measured by a lower FSAm-NPS DI at baseline or a decrease in FSAm-NPS DI after 1 year), those participants with a lower nutritional quality of diet (higher FSAm-NPS DI or an increase in score) showed a significant increase in the levels of plasma glucose, triglycerides, diastolic blood pressure, BMI, and waist circumference (β coefficient 95% confidence interval;
P
for trend) (1.67 0.43, 2.90; <0.001; 6.27 2.46, 10.09; <0.001; 0.56 0.08, 1.05; 0.001; 0.51 0.41, 0.60; <0.001; 1.19 0.89, 1.50; <0.001, respectively). No significant associations in relation to changes in HDL and LDL-cholesterol nor with systolic blood pressure were shown.
Conclusion
This prospective cohort study suggests that the consumption of food items with a higher FSAm-NPS DI is associated with increased levels of several major risk factors for CVD including adiposity, fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides, and diastolic blood pressure. However, results must be cautiously interpreted because no significant prospective associations were identified for critical CVD risk factors, such as HDL and LDL-cholesterol, and systolic blood pressure.
Scope
Dairy consumption has been suggested to impact cognition; however, evidence is limited and inconsistent. This study aims to longitudinally assess the association between dairy consumption with ...cognitive changes in an older Spanish population at high cardiovascular disease risk.
Methods and results
Four thousand six hundred sixty eight participants aged 55–75 years, completed a validated food frequency questionnaire at baseline and a neuropsychological battery of tests at baseline and 2‐year follow‐up. Multivariable linear regression models are used, scaled by 100 (i.e., the units of β correspond to 1 SD/100), to assess associations between baseline tertile daily consumption and 2‐year changes in cognitive performance. Participants in the highest tertile of total milk and whole‐fat milk consumption have a greater decline in global cognitive function (β: –4.71, 95% CI: –8.74 to –0.69, p‐trend = 0.020 and β: –6.64, 95% CI: –10.81 to –2.47, p‐trend = 0.002, respectively) compared to those in the lowest tertile. No associations are observed between low fat milk, yogurt, cheese or fermented dairy consumption, and changes in cognitive performance.
Conclusion
Results suggest there are no clear prospective associations between consumption of most commonly consumed dairy products and cognition, although there may be an association with a greater rate of cognitive decline over a 2‐year period in older adults at high cardiovascular disease risk for whole‐fat milk.
Higher intakes of milk, in particular whole‐fat milk, may be associated with a greater rate of cognitive decline. This is observed in a large cohort of older Spanish adults at risk for heart disease. Participants are followed for 2‐years and during this time completed validated food frequency questionnaires and a comprehensive set of cognitive tests. No associations are observed with cognitive performance when analyzing dairy products by subtypes, including fermented dairy or low‐fat dairy.
The presence of natural killer cells in the colon mucosa of patients with ulcerative colitis has not been studied, therefore, the study was designed to investigate the densities of cells expressing ...CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD56+ and the new CD94+ in colon mucosa of active and inactive ulcerative colitis patients.
Twenty ulcerative colitis patients, 10 with active disease and 10 with inactive disease, and 10 subjects with a histologically normal rectal mucosa were used as patients and controls. Additionally, a subgroup of 6 patients with active proctitis has been studied. Two biopsy specimens from rectal mucosa were taken for all patients and controls. Two biopsy specimens of proximal colon mucosa of the subgroup of 6 patients were also taken. One biopsy was processed for immunohistochemical studies and another for histologic study.
The densities of CD3+, CD16+, CD56+ and CD 94+ were significantly increased in active ulcerative colitis patients compared to inactive subjects (P < 0.001). The increase in the CD4+ and CD8+ was not statistically significant. Patients with inactive ulcerative colitis also presented increased numbers of CD3+, CD56+ and CD94+ cells compared to controls (P < 0.001). In the subgroup of proctitis, the densities of cells expressing all the antigens were significantly lower in the normal mucosa compared to the affected colon (P < 0.001). No differences in the number of lamina propria DC1a+ cells between patients and controls were found.
These findings suggest that natural killer cells are increased in active ulcerative colitis subjects and that the affected mucosa of ulcerative colitis patients with inactive disease is in state of "latent" inflammation. On the other hand, the normal looking mucosa from active ulcerative colitis patients does not differ from the mucosa of control subjects. Therefore, it seems that in ulcerative colitis the immunological alterations are limited to the affected mucosa.
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