Assessing the Consumption of Ultra-Processed Foods in People with Diabetes: Is a Specific NOVA Questionnaire Always Necessary?

Background/objectives: Despite the accumulating evidence on the detrimental impact of UPFs on health, a common limit of the available studies concerns the instruments used to collect information about the consumption of processed foods. Recently, a specific NOVA-FFQ was proposed for the evaluation of ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption, but it does not allow the simultaneous assessment of energy and nutrient intake. We evaluate the concordance between the NOVA-FFQ and a common questionnaire (EPIC-FFQ) when assessing (1) the intake of foods with different degrees of processing and (2) the relationship between diet composition and cardiometabolic profile.

Novel sigma 1-antagonists with -(+)-normetazocine scaffold: synthesis, molecular modeling, and antinociceptive effect.

Inflammatory pain represents one of the unmet clinical needs for patients, as conventional therapies cause several side effects. Recently, new targets involved in inflammatory pain modulation have been identified, including the sigma-1 receptor (σ1R). Selective σ1R antagonists have demonstrated analgesic efficacy in acute and chronic inflammatory pain models.

Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Novel (-)-cis-N-Normetazocine Derivatives: In Vitro and Molecular Modeling Insights.

Suitable structural modifications of the functional groups at N-substituent of (-)-cis-N-normetazocine nucleus modulate the affinity and activity profile of related ligands toward opioid receptors. Our research group has developed several compounds and the most interesting ligands, LP1 and LP2, exhibited a dual-target profile for mu-opioid receptor (MOR) and delta-opioid receptor (DOR). Recent structure-affinity relationship studies led to the discovery of novel LP2 analogs (compounds 1 and 2), which demonstrated high MOR affinity in the nanomolar range.

Mast Cells in Allergic and Non-Allergic Upper Airways Diseases: Sentinel in the Watchtower.

Mast cells are immune system cells with the most disparate functions, but are also among the least understood. Mast cells are implicated in several known pathological processes, tissue homeostasis, and wound repair. However, they owe their notoriety to allergic diseases, of which they represent the effector cell par excellence.