Publications by authors named "Franco Arturi"

Background And Objective: Binge eating disorder (BED) is the most frequent eating disorder, often confused with obesity, with which it shares several characteristics. Early identification could enable targeted therapeutic interventions. In this study, we propose a hybrid pipeline that, starting from plasma glucose data acquired during the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT), allows us to classify the two types of patients through computational modeling and artificial intelligence.

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Article Synopsis
  • An improper diet is widely recognized as harmful to health, and nutrition plays a key role in preventing non-communicable diseases, yet the significance of body composition research remains underappreciated.
  • The phenomenon of "osteosarcopenic obesity" particularly affects postmenopausal women and is linked to higher rates of frailty, driven by hormonal changes and the interplay of fat, muscle, and bone.
  • Emphasizing the need for personalized nutritional strategies, the text argues for a gender-specific approach to nutrition that targets visceral fat, enhances protein intake, and optimizes vitamin D levels to combat frailty syndrome effectively.
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Adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) and mast cells (MCs) play a role in immune responses. More recently, their involvement in tumor angiogenesis and chronic inflammatory conditions in patients with obesity has been discovered. Furthermore, a higher BMI (Body Mass Index) value corresponds to a higher inflammatory state.

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Elevated levels of the gut pro-hormone Proneurotensin (proNT) have been found to predict development of cardiovascular disease. However, it is still unknown whether higher proNT levels are associated with subclinical vascular damage. Herein, we investigated the relationship between higher proNT concentrations and augmented pulse pressure (PP) and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), indicators of increased arterial stiffness and subclinical atherosclerosis, respectively.

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Atrial fibrillation (AF) represents the most common supraventricular arrhythmia, with a prevalence of 1-3 % in the world population. Growing evidences show that AF plays an important role as a risk factor for the development of cognitive impairment (CoI) and dementia, depression and functional limitation. The purpose of the study is to evaluate, in a large cohort of elderly hospitalized patients with nonvalvular AF (NVAF) on direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) therapy, the prevalence of CoI, depression, and functional limitation, and to assess the different variables that may be detrimental or protective on the risk of CoI or functional limitation.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates the relationship between mean platelet volume (MPV) and cardiovascular issues, focusing on patients with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes (T2DM), and pre-diabetes.
  • - Researchers enrolled 400 hypertensive patients and used tests like the Oral Glucose Tolerance test (OGTT) and echocardiography to measure factors such as arterial stiffness and myocardial health.
  • - Findings indicate that MPV levels rise significantly in T2DM and pre-diabetes patients and correlate positively with increased arterial stiffness and early heart damage, suggesting MPV could be a new marker for cardiovascular risk.
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: The gene and its polymorphisms were identified as novel players in the regulation of food intake, potentially leading to obesity (OBE) and altered eating behaviors. Naltrexone/bupropion SR (NB) showed good efficacy and tolerability for treating OBE and altered eating behaviors associated with binge eating disorder (BED). This prospective study investigates the influence of gene polymorphism on NB treatment response in OBE and BED.

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Aim: To examine the association between 1-hour plasma glucose (PG) concentration and markers of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) assessed by transient elastography (TE).

Methods: We performed TE in 107 metabolically well-characterized non-diabetic White individuals. Controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) was used to quantify liver steatosis, while liver stiffness marker (LS) was used to evaluate fibrosis.

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Article Synopsis
  • Individuals with Binge Eating Disorder (BED) and Food Addiction (FA) may face impaired blood glucose responses due to frequent consumption of processed foods, potentially leading to cravings triggered by hypoglycemia.
  • In a study involving 200 participants, hypoglycemia was observed in a significant number, with those having BED experiencing more severe hypoglycemic events later during a glucose tolerance test.
  • The severity of food addiction was identified as a key predictor for experiencing early and reactive hypoglycemia, suggesting a link between eating psychopathology and metabolic disturbances in BED and FA.
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Hyperkalemia (HK) is a life-threatening condition that often occurs in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). High serum potassium (sKsK) is responsible for a higher risk of end-stage renal disease, arrhythmias and mortality. This risk increases in patients that discontinue cardio-nephroprotective renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitor (RAASi) therapy after developing HK.

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Dementia is a permanent illness characterized by mental instability, memory loss, and cognitive decline. Many studies have demonstrated an association between diabetes and cognitive dysfunction that proceeds in three steps, namely, diabetes-associated cognitive decrements, mild cognitive impairment (MCI; both non-amnesic MCI and amnesic MCI), and dementia [both vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD)]. Based on this association, this disease has been designated as type 3 diabetes mellitus.

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Diabetes is an increasing global health burden with the highest prevalence (24.0%) observed in elderly people. Older diabetic adults have a greater risk of hospitalization and several geriatric syndromes than older nondiabetic adults.

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The occurrence of obesity is an increasing issue worldwide, especially in industrialized countries. Weight loss is important both to treat obesity and to prevent the development of complications. Currently, several drugs are used to treat obesity, but their efficacy is modest.

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Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) can lead to cognitive impairment and depression affecting memory, attention, and executive functions. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment seems to be able to revert changes in brain networks and neuropsychological tests correlated to OSAS. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a 6-month treatment with CPAP on functional, humoral and cognitive parameters in a cohort of elderly OSAS patients with several comorbidities.

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Sacubitril/Valsartan (Sac-Val) has improved clinical prognosis in patients affected by heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Comorbidities have a crucial impact on clinical presentation and prognosis in HF patients. Cognitive impairment (CoI) and Depression are a very common comorbidity in patients with HF and is widely recognized as a specific determinant of chronic disability, and HF patients with poor physical functional performance in Short physical performance battery (SPPB) showed a worse prognosis.

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SARS-CoV-2, a novel coronavirus found in Wuhan (China) at the end of 2019, is the etiological agent of the current pandemic that is a heterogeneous disease, named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 affects primarily the lungs, but it can induce multi-organ involvement such as acute myocardial injury, myocarditis, thromboembolic eventsandrenal failure. Hypertension, chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus and obesity increase the risk of severe complications of COVID-19.

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Inflammation plays a key role in the pathogenesis/progression of atherosclerosis, and inflammatory molecules contribute to the progression of cardiovascular disease. Subjects with normal post-load glucose tolerance and 1-h post-load plasma glucose >155 mg/dL have an increased risk of subclinical target organ damage and incident diabetes. We aimed to test possible differences in immune-mediated inflammatory parameters in newly-diagnosed hypertensives with or without 1-h post-load hyperglycemia.

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Since December 2019, a new coronavirus, called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has spread around the world, causing the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. From the beginning, SARS-CoV-2 has put a strain on the health system. In fact, many patients have had severe forms of the disease with the need for hospitalization due to respiratory failure.

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Background: The effects of sacubitril/valsartan (sac/val) on metabolic parameters and insulin resistance (IR) in non-obese/prediabetic patients have not been previously described.

Aim: To evaluate the effects of sac/val on glycemic and metabolic parameters, Homeostatic Model Assessment of IR (HOMA-IR), and echocardiographic parameters in prediabetic patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).

Methods: Fifty-nine patients with HFrEF (EF < 35%) but without obesity and/or type 2 diabetes mellitus have been enrolled.

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Diabetes is one of the leading causes of kidney disease. Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a major cause of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) worldwide, and it is linked to an increase in cardiovascular (CV) risk. Diabetic nephropathy (DN) increases morbidity and mortality among people living with diabetes.

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Background and Objectives: Thyroid dysfunction is associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, but its role in the progression of liver damage in obese patients remains unclear. In addition, several case reports have suggested the existence of a levothyroxine-induced liver injury, which has been poorly investigated. Our aim was to verify whether a difference in the prevalence of liver fibrosis exists in a population of obese individuals taking Levothyroxine.

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Sacubitril/Valsartan (sac/val) has improved clinical prognosis in patients affected by heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). HF and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) frequently coexist, with a prevalence of T2DM of 35%-40% in patients with HF. T2DM is the third co-morbidities in patients with HF and a strong independent risk factor for the progression of HF.

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Background: Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is a clinical condition frequently diagnosed in clinical practice. In patients affected by HFrEF, sleep apnea (SA) can be detected among the most frequent comorbidities. Sacubitril-valsartan (sac/val) association has been proven to be effective in reducing disease progression and all-cause mortality in HFrEF patients.

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