Scope
To examine whether a Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) compared to the consumption of nuts in the context of a habitual non‐MedDiet exerts a greater beneficial effect on gut microbiota and fecal ...metabolites; thus, contributing to explain major benefits on cardiometabolic risk factors.
Methods and Results
Fifty adults with Metabolic Syndrome are randomized to a controlled, crossover 2‐months dietary‐intervention trial with a 1‐month wash‐out period, following a MedDiet or consuming nuts (50 g day‐1). Microbiota composition is assessed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metabolites are measured using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC‐qTOF) platforms in a targeted metabolomics approach.
Decreased glucose, insulin and the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA‐IR) is observed after the MedDiet compared to the nuts intervention. Relative abundances of Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 and an uncultured genera of Ruminococcaceae are significantly increased after the MedDiet compared to nuts supplementation. Changes in Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 are inversely associated with insulin levels and HOMA‐IR, while positively and negatively with changes in cholate and cadaverine, respectively.
Conclusions
Following a MedDiet, rather than nuts, induces a significant increase in Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 and improves the metabolic risk. This genera seems to affect the bile acid metabolism and cadaverine which may account for the improvement in insulin levels.
Following a Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) rather than a regular diet supplemented with nuts increases the abundance of Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 which is associated with MedDiet benefits on insulin metabolism, partially explained by fecal cholate increases and cadaverine decreases.
(1) Background: The microbiota-host cross-talk has been previously investigated, while its role in health is not yet clear. This study aimed to unravel the network of microbial-host interactions and ...correlate it with cardiometabolic risk factors. (2) Methods: A total of 47 adults with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome from the METADIET study were included in this cross-sectional analysis. Microbiota composition (151 genera) was assessed by 16S rRNA sequencing, fecal (m = 203) and plasma (m = 373) metabolites were profiled. An unsupervised sparse generalized canonical correlation analysis was used to construct a network of microbiota-metabolite interactions. A multi-omics score was derived for each cluster of the network and associated with cardiometabolic risk factors. (3) Results: Five multi-omics clusters were identified. Thirty-one fecal metabolites formed these clusters and were correlated with plasma sphingomyelins, lysophospholipids and medium to long-chain acylcarnitines. Seven genera from Ruminococcaceae and a member from the Desulfovibrionaceae family were correlated with fecal and plasma metabolites. Positive correlations were found between the multi-omics scores from two clusters with cholesterol and triglycerides levels. (4) Conclusions: We identified a correlated network between specific microbial genera and fecal/plasma metabolites in an adult population with metabolic syndrome, suggesting an interplay between gut microbiota and host lipid metabolism on cardiometabolic health.
Tumours exhibit significant heterogeneity in their molecular profiles across patients, largely influenced by the tissue of origin, where certain driver gene mutations are predominantly associated ...with specific cancer types. Here, we unveil an additional layer of complexity: some cancer types display anatomic location-specific mutation profiles akin to tissue-specificity.
To better understand this phenomenon, we concentrate on colon cancer. While prior studies have noted changes of the frequency of molecular alterations along the colon, the underlying reasons and whether those changes occur rather gradual or are distinct between the left and right colon, remain unclear. Developing and leveraging stringent statistical models on molecular data from 522 colorectal tumours from The Cancer Genome Atlas, we reveal disparities in molecular properties between the left and right colon affecting many genes. Interestingly, alterations in genes responsive to environmental cues and properties of the tumour ecosystem, including metabolites which we quantify in a cohort of 27 colorectal cancer patients, exhibit continuous trends along the colon.
Employing network methodologies, we uncover close interactions between metabolites and genes, including drivers of colon cancer, showing continuous abundance or alteration profiles. This underscores how anatomic biases in the composition and interactions within the tumour ecosystem help explaining gradients of carcinogenesis along the colon.
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•Many cancer types show high anatomic location-specificity in their driver gene mutation frequencies.•Some alterations follow continuous trends along the colon and others step-wise changes from the right to the left colon.•Environmental factors tend to follow continuous trends along the colon.•Gene-environmental interactions appear to contribute to the continuous changes of tumor properties along the colon.
Gut microbiota is essential for the development of obesity and related comorbidities. However, studies describing the association between specific bacteria and obesity or weight loss reported ...discordant results. The present observational study, conducted within the frame of the PREDIMED-Plus clinical trial, aims to assess the association between fecal microbiota, body composition and weight loss, in response to a 12-month lifestyle intervention in a subsample of 372 individuals (age 55-75) with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome. Participants were stratified by tertiles of baseline body mass index (BMI) and changes in body weight after 12-month intervention. General assessments, anthropometry and biochemical measurements, and stool samples were collected. 16S amplicon sequencing was performed on bacterial DNA extracted from stool samples and microbiota analyzed. Differential abundance analysis showed an enrichment of
,
UCG-001 and
, associated with a higher weight loss after 12-month of follow-up, whereas in the cross-sectional analysis,
and
were enriched in the lowest tertile of baseline BMI. Our findings suggest that fecal microbiota plays an important role in the control of body weight, supporting specific genera as potential target in personalized nutrition for obesity management. A more in-depth taxonomic identification method and the need of metabolic information encourages to further investigation.
In our study, we demonstrated the performance of antimicrobial coatings on properly functionalized and nanostructured 316L food-grade stainless steel pipelines. For the fabrication of these ...functional coatings, we employed facile and low-cost electrochemical techniques and surface modification processes. The development of a nanoporous structure on the 316L stainless steel surface was performed by following an electropolishing process in an electrolytic bath, at a constant anodic voltage of 40 V for 10 min, while the temperature was maintained between 0 and 10 °C. Subsequently, we incorporated on this nanostructure additional coatings with antimicrobial and bactericide properties, such as Ag nanoparticles, Ag films, or TiO
thin layers. These functional coatings were grown on the nanostructured substrate by following electroless process, electrochemical deposition, and atomic layer deposition (ALD) techniques. Then, we analyzed the antimicrobial efficiency of these functionalized materials against different biofilms types (
, and
). The results of the present study demonstrate that the nanostructuring and surface functionalization processes constitute a promising route to fabricate novel functional materials exhibiting highly efficient antimicrobial features. In fact, we have shown that our use of an appropriated association of TiO
layer and Ag nanoparticle coatings over the nanostructured 316L stainless steel exhibited an excellent antimicrobial behavior for all biofilms examined.
Background Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most common cancer in men worldwide. The standard non-surgical approach for localized PCa is radiotherapy (RT), but one of the limitations of high-dose ...RT is the potential increase in gastrointestinal and genitourinary toxicities. We present the protocol of the Microstyle study, a multicentre randomized two-arm crossover clinical trial. The primary outcome will be assessed at the end of 6-month intervention, by measuring the change in adherence to a healthy lifestyle score. The hypothesis is that modifying lifestyle we change microbiome and improve quality of life and decrease side effects of RT. Methods Study participants will be recruited among men undergoing RT in two Italian centers (Milan and Naples). We foresee to randomize 300 patients in two intervention arms: Intervention Group (IG) and Control Group (CG). Participants allocated to the IG will meet a dietitian and a physiotherapist before RT to receive personalized diet and exercise recommendations, according to their health status, to improve overall lifestyle and reduce side effects (bowel and/or urinary problems). Dietitian and physiotherapist will work together to set individualized goals to reduce or eliminate side effects and pain according to their health status. All participants (IG) will be given a pedometer device (steps counter) in order to monitor and to spur participants to increase physical activity and reduce sedentary behavior. Participants included in the CG will receive baseline general advice and materials available for patients undergoing RT. According to the cross-over design, the CG will cross to the intervention approach after 6-month, to actively enhance compliance towards suggested lifestyle recommendations for all patients. Discussion This trial is innovative in its design because we propose a lifestyle intervention during RT, that includes both dietary and physical activity counselling, as well as monitoring changes in microbiome and serum biomarkers. The promotion of healthy behaviour will be initiated before initiation of standard care, to achieve long lasting effects, controlling side effects, coping with feelings of anxiety and depression and improve efficacy of RT. Trial registration ClincalTrial.gov registration number: NCT05155618. Retrospectively registered on December 13, 2021. The first patient was enrolled on October 22, 2021. Keywords: Prostate cancer, Randomized controlled trial, Diet, Physical activity, Counseling, Quality of life, Body composition, Microbiome, Serum biomarkers, Radiotherapy
Objective- To examine the associations between baseline levels of fatty acids in blood cell membranes and their 1-year changes with the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in older adults at ...high cardiovascular disease risk. Approach and Results- This is a case-control study nested in the PREDIMED trial (Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea), with 136 CHD cases and 272 controls (matched on age, sex, body mass index, intervention group, and time of permanence in the study to the time event). We used gas chromatography to measure the proportion of 22 fatty acids in blood cell membranes at baseline and after 1 year. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs. After adjustment for classical CHD risk factors and multiple testing, 1 SD increase in baseline levels of C22:0, C24:0 and the sum of individual very long chain saturated fatty acids was associated with 56% (OR, 0.44 95% CI, 0.28-0.69), 59% (OR, 0.41 95% CI, 0.25-0.65), and 55% (OR, 0.45 95% CI, 0.29-0.70) a decreased odds of developing CHD, respectively. Baseline C20:1n9 was associated with higher odds of CHD (OR, 1.58 95% CI, 1.25-2.00). Conclusions- Higher levels of C22:0 and C24:0 were associated with a lower CHD incidence, whereas higher levels of C20:1n9 were associated with a higher risk. This study adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting potential differences in the cardiovascular disease effects of different types of circulating saturated fatty acids.
Abstract
Background
In the last years, evidence that dietary vitamin K could have a role in the cognitive domain has increased. However, data from large trials are limited. The objective of this ...study was to assess the association of 2 year changes in the dietary intake of vitamin K with cognitive function measured through neuropsychological performance tests.
Methods
In 5,533 participants of the multicentre PREDIMED-Plus study (48.1% women, age 65.1 ± 4.9 years with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome), we assessed the adjusted odds ratios of cognitive function decline according to 2 year changes in vitamin K intake. Participants answered a battery of cognitive function tests and Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQs) in order to estimate the vitamin K dietary intake.
Results
After adjusting for potential cofounders, the highest tertile of change of dietary vitamin K intake (median IQR; 194.4 μg/d 120.9, 373.1) was inversely associated with a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score ≤24 (OR 95% CI; 0.53 0.35, 0.79 P for trend = 0.002) compared with a decrease in the intake of vitamin K (median IQR; −97.8 μg/d −292.8, −51.5). A significant positive association between changes in dietary vitamin K intake and the semantic verbal fluency test scores (OR 95% CI; 0.69 0.51, 0.94 P for trend = 0.019) was found.
Conclusions
An increase of the intake of dietary vitamin K was associated with better cognitive function scores, independently of recognised risk factors for cognitive decline, in an older adult Mediterranean population with high cardiovascular risk.
In clinical practice, administration of low ozone (O3) dosages is a complementary therapy for many diseases, due to the capability of O3 to elicit an antioxidant response through the Nuclear Factor ...Erythroid 2-Related Factor 2 (Nrf2)-dependent pathway. Nrf2 is also involved in the adipogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells, and low O3 concentrations have been shown to stimulate lipid accumulation in human adipose-derived adult stem cells in vitro. Thus, O3 treatment is a promising procedure to improve the survival of explanted adipose tissue, whose reabsorption after fat grafting is a major problem in regenerative medicine. In this context, we carried out a pilot study to explore the potential of mild O3 treatment in preserving explanted murine adipose tissue in vitro. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy, Western blot, real-time polymerase chain reaction and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy were used. Exposure to low O3 concentrations down in the degradation of the explanted adipose tissue and induced a concomitant increase in the protein abundance of Nrf2 and in the expression of its target gene Hmox1. These findings provide a promising background for further studies aimed at the clinical application of O3 as an adjuvant treatment to improve fat engraftment.
Hypoglycaemia unawareness and severe hypoglycaemia can increase fear of hypoglycaemia and the risk of subsequent hypoglycaemic events. We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of insulin pump ...therapy with integrated continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and a suspend-before-low feature (Medtronic MiniMed 640G with SmartGuard) in hypoglycaemia-prone adults with type 1 diabetes.
SMILE was an open-label randomised controlled trial done in people aged 24-75 years with type 1 diabetes for 10 years or longer, HbA
values of 5·8-10·0% (40-86 mmol/mol), and at high risk of hypoglycaemia (recent severe hypoglycaemia or hypoglycaemia unawareness defined by a Clarke or Gold score ≥4). Participants were enrolled from 16 centres (eg, clinics, hospitals, or university medical centres) in Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and the UK. After baseline run-in phase (2 weeks), participants were randomly assigned to the MiniMed 640G pump (continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion) with self-monitoring of blood glucose (control group) or to the MiniMed 640G system with the suspend-before-low feature enabled (intervention group), for 6 months. The study statistician analysing the data was masked to group assignment until final database lock; because of the nature of the intervention, participants and treating clinicians could not be masked to group assignment. The primary outcome was the mean number of sensor hypoglycaemic events, defined as 55 mg/dL (3·1 mmol/L) or lower, and was analysed on an intention-to-treat basis in all randomly assigned participants. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02733991, and is completed.
Between Dec 7, 2016, and March 27, 2018, 153 participants with a mean age 48·2 12·4 years were randomly assigned: 77 to the control group (mean age 47·4 12·5 years) and 76 to the intervention group (mean age 49·0 12·2 years). After 6 months, the intervention group had significantly fewer hypoglycaemic events per participant per week (1·1 SD 1·2 vs 4·1 3·4 mean events, model-based treatment effect -2·9 95% CI -3·5 to -2·3; p<0·0001) and fewer severe hypoglycaemic events (instances requiring third-party assistance with carbohydrate or glucagon administration, or other resuscitative actions) overall (three vs 18; p=0·0036). The most common adverse events were hypoglycaemia (observed in ten 13% of 77 participants in the control group vs four 5% of 76 in the intervention group) and hyperglycaemia (observed in seven 9% of 77 vs seven 9% of 76). No serious adverse device effects or episodes of diabetic ketoacidosis were reported.
Insulin pump therapy with integrated CGM and a suspend-before-low feature reduced the frequency of sensor hypoglycaemic and severe hypoglycaemic events in hypoglycaemia-prone adults compared with use of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion without real-time CGM. These results suggest that this technology could be beneficial in this high-risk population.
Medtronic International Trading Sàrl and Medtronic Canada.
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