Development and validation of a neural network for NAFLD diagnosis.

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) affects about 20-30% of the adult population in developed countries and is an increasingly important cause of hepatocellular carcinoma. Liver ultrasound (US) is widely used as a noninvasive method to diagnose NAFLD. However, the intensive use of US is not cost-effective and increases the burden on the healthcare system.

Selecting the best machine learning algorithm to support the diagnosis of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A meta learner study.

Background & Aims: Liver ultrasound scan (US) use in diagnosing Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) causes costs and waiting lists overloads. We aimed to compare various Machine learning algorithms with a Meta learner approach to find the best of these as a predictor of NAFLD.

Methods: The study included 2970 subjects, 2920 constituting the training set and 50, randomly selected, used in the test phase, performing cross-validation.

Dietary inflammatory index and mortality: a cohort longitudinal study in a Mediterranean area.

Background: Higher Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII®) scores are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. However, little is known about the effects of DII on mortality in Mediterranean countries. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to investigate the potential association between DII scores and overall, cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality in people living in a Mediterranean area.

Fatty liver and mortality: a cohort population study in South Italy.

Objective: Alcoholic fatty liver (AFLD) and non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD) are two common conditions. However, if they can increase the risk of death is poorly explored. We therefore aimed to investigate the potential association between the presence and severity of liver steatosis and mortality in a large sample of older people.

Effectiveness of two physical activity programs on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. a randomized controlled clinical trial.

Introduction: To estimate the effectiveness of two physical activity programs on NAFLD.

Methods: Participants come from a survey conducted in southern Italy. Subjects with moderate or severe NAFLD were invited to participate.

Reducing NAFLD-screening time: A comparative study of eight diagnostic methods offering an alternative to ultrasound scans.

Background & Aims: The use of ultrasound scan (US) in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) screening overloads US waiting lists. We hypothesized and tested a hybrid two-step method, consisting of applying a formula, to exclude subjects at low risk, before US.

Methods: The sample included 2970 males and females (937 with NAFLD) diagnosed by US.

Menopause Does Not Affect Fatty Liver Severity In Women: A Population Study in a Mediterranean Area.

Background And Objective: Estrogens could protect the liver from fatty degeneration, but there is little information about whether menopause is associated with the severity of alcoholic (AFL) and non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL). Our aim was to evaluate the distribution of fatty liver detected by ultrasound in pre- and post-menopausal women and the factors associated with these conditions.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the years from menopause were investigated through selfreported information.

Effect of a Low Glycemic Index Mediterranean Diet on Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. A Randomized Controlled Clinici Trial.

Introduction: Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is currently the most common form of liver disease worldwide affecting all ages and ethnic groups and it has become a consistent threat even in young people. Our aim was to estimate the effect of a Low Glycemic Index Mediterranean Diet (LGIMD) on the NAFLD score as measured by a Liver Ultrasonography (LUS).

Design: NUTRIzione in EPAtologia (NUTRIEPA) is a population-based Double-Blind RCT.

Ultrasound evaluation and correlates of fatty liver disease: a population study in a Mediterranean area.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the distribution of fatty liver-nonalcoholic (NAFL) and alcoholic (AFL)-and its association with metabolic syndrome and its components in a population sample from a Mediterranean area.

Methods: A sample of 2974 subjects (1679 males, 1295 females, age range 30-89 years) was randomly drawn from the population of a town in southern Italy. The survey visit included a validated semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire, anthropometric measurements, a blood sample taken in the morning after overnight fasting, as well as abdominal ultrasound examination to evaluate liver fat with a standardized scoring system.

Inulin-enriched pasta improves intestinal permeability and modifies the circulating levels of zonulin and glucagon-like peptide 2 in healthy young volunteers.

Apart from the intestinal environment, inulin induces physiological effects, which includes a reduction in glucose and lipid concentrations and modulation of gastrointestinal motility through the release of different peptides. We hypothesized that inulin-enriched pasta may also improve small intestine permeability in relation to zonulin and glucagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2) levels in healthy young subjects. Twenty healthy, young male volunteers completed a randomized, double-blind crossover study consisting of a 2-week run-in period and two 5-week study periods (11% inulin-enriched or control pasta), with an 8-week washout period in between.

Increased serum levels of lipogenic enzymes in patients with severe liver steatosis.

Background: Lipid metabolism is altered in subjects with liver steatosis. FAS is a key enzyme in de novo lipogenesis and both FAS gene expression and enzymatic activity are primarily regulated by metabolic signals in the liver. Lipoprotein lipase (LPL), the rate-limiting enzyme for the hydrolysis of core triglycerides, plays a pivotal role in lipid metabolism.

Effects of a diet with inulin-enriched pasta on gut peptides and gastric emptying rates in healthy young volunteers.

Aim: Our group has previously shown that the administration of pasta enriched along with the prebiotic inulin induces a significant reduction in triglyceride and glucose levels with a significant delay in gastric emptying (GE) rates. This protective effect may occur by affecting the release of a number of gut peptides involved in the control of gastrointestinal motility. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of inulin-enriched pasta on the circulating levels of neurotensin (NT), somatostatin (SS), and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in relation to the GE time in young healthy subjects.

Effects of a hypocaloric diet on obesity biomarkers: prevention of low-grade inflammation since childhood.

Body mass index (BMI), serum cytokines and serum obesity markers were evaluated in 33 obese children before, during and after a hypocaloric diet. The cytometric bead array "human inflammatory kit" was used for the evaluation of serum interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, IL-10 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. On the other hand, the following obesity biomarkers were evaluated by means of a flowcytomix-human obesity 9 plex kit: Soluble Isoform of CD40 Ligand; Soluble Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1; Leptin; Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein 1; Myeloperoxidase; Osteoprotegerin; Resistin and Soluble TNF-receptors.

Metabolic effects of a diet with inulin-enriched pasta in healthy young volunteers.

Different lines of evidence suggest that higher intake of fiber may somehow protect against metabolic syndrome. The prebiotic inulin has widely been studied in relation to its putative beneficial effects on lipid and glucose metabolism. Therefore, adding inulin to diet may be a suitable strategy to prevent metabolic syndrome.

Relationship among fatty liver, adipose tissue distribution and metabolic profile in moderately obese children: an ultrasonographic study.

We examined the relationship between moderate obesity and glucose metabolism, insulin sensitivity and suspected fatty liver in children. We measured body mass index (BMI), z-score BMI, caliper skinfold thickness, waist and hip circumference in 94 participants (mean age 9.7 +/-2.

Inulin-enriched pasta affects lipid profile and Lp(a) concentrations in Italian young healthy male volunteers.

Background: Inulin has been suggested to have beneficial effects on lipids, especially on triglyceridemia. Few data are available about the effects of inulin on Lipoprotein(a), a low-density lipoprotein-like particle considered as an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis. Adding inulin to pasta could be a preventive strategy for delaying the onset of atherosclerosis.

Early pathogenesis of atherosclerosis: the childhood obesity.

Obesity represents a chronic inflammatory status and adipocytes release either cytokines or an array of adipokines such as leptin, endowed with immunomodulating and systemic activities. The involvement of cytokines in obesity as well as of the adipokine leptin is supported by the notion that weight reduction normalizes mediators of inflammation. In this framework, we will demonstrate that in obese children, subjected for a period of six months to a hypocaloric diet, reduction of major biochemical and anthropometric parameters correlates with a normalization of immune status.

Functional foods: salient features and clinical applications.

The term "functional food" refers to foods or ingredients of foods providing an additional physiological benefit beyond their basic nutritional needs. Health benefits are best obtained through a varied diet containing fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes and seeds. However, fortified foods and dietary supplements have been marketed and food industry have made functional food one of their current leading trends.

Gastric electrical activity in normal neonates during the first year of life: effect of feeding with breast milk and formula.

Background: To evaluate the effect of feeding with milk on the gastrointestinal tract, we studied gastric electrical activity in 27 healthy fullterm newborns (15 formula-fed newborns and 12 breast-fed newborns) during the first 6 months of life.

Methods: Three-hour electrogastrography (EGG) recordings were performed, using portable equipment, from the third to fifth day after birth until 6 months, at 3-month intervals. The EGG parameters were calculated as raw and integrated data, the latter as AUC of the whole postprandial period.

Gastric electrical activity and gastric emptying in preterm newborns fed standard and hydrolysate formulas.

Background: Because infant formulas containing hydrolyzed cow milk protein are used to reduce feeding intolerance and to improve gastric emptying, the effect on gastrointestinal motility of a hydrolysate formula was compared with that of a standard preterm formula.

Methods: Thirty-six preterm newborns with a gestational age of 32.2 +/- 2.

Gastric emptying and orocecal transit time in pregnancy.

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of pregnancy on gastrointestinal function, we determined gastric emptying time, orocecal transit time, and fasting gastrointestinal hormone levels (cholecystokinin, gastrin, pancreatic polypeptide, neurotensin) in 11 women with mild dyspeptic symptoms during the first and third trimesters of their pregnancies, and again 4-6 months after delivery.

Methods: After the women ingested a disaccharide solution, orocecal transit time was determined by monitoring breath hydrogen concentrations at 10-min intervals, and values were compared with the postpartum value. Ultrasound examinations of gastric emptying were performed during the same intervals.

Protective effect of amtolmetin guacyl versus placebo diclofenac and misoprostol in healthy volunteers evaluated as gastric electrical activity in alcohol-induced stomach damage.

Amtolmetin guacyl (AMG) is a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID) of high therapeutic activity and free of damaging effects on the gastrointestinal tract. Since acute ulcer and nausea have been found to be associated with gastric dysrhythmias, cutaneous electrogastrography and ultrasonographic study of the gastric emptying time were performed simultaneously in 24 healthy volunteers before and for 180 min after a liquid meal with 0.5 g/kg body weight of alcohol in double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover studies.

Circulating cytokines and gastrin levels in asymptomatic subjects infected by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori).

The pathophysiology of hypergastrinemia in H. pylori infection has been largely investigated and different reports clearly show that the infected antrum has a marked inflammatory response with a suggestive local production of cytokines. Notwithstanding, a few data are available on the circulating levels of cytokines and gastrin in the asymptomatic people carrying H.

Effect of Helicobacter pylori infection on gastric emptying and gastrointestinal hormones in dyspeptic and healthy subjects.

There is no general agreement as regards the effect of Helicobacter pylori infection on gastric emptying in patients with functional dyspepsia. Food releases several gastrointestinal hormones, and some of these are known to contribute to the regulation of gastric emptying. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of H.

Gastric electrical activity and gastrointestinal hormones in dyspeptic patients.

Aims: To explore the patterns of gastric electrical activity, gastric emptying and gastrointestinal hormones in dyspeptic patients and relate them to Helicobacter pylori status.

Methods: Twenty-two patients with functional dyspepsia and 29 healthy volunteers underwent cutaneous electrogastrography and dynamic ultrasound before and after a test meal. All dyspeptic patients underwent endoscopy and biopsy; all subjects were examined for the presence of antibodies to H.