Relation of the Mediterranean diet with the incidence of gestational diabetes.

Background/objectives: Some studies document relationships of the incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) with individual components of the diet, but studies exploring relationships with patterns of eating are lacking. This observational study aimed to explore a possible relationship between the incidence of GDM and the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) pattern of eating.

Subjects/methods: In 10 Mediterranean countries, 1076 consecutive pregnant women underwent a 75-g OGTT at the 24th-32nd week of gestation, interpreted both by the ADA_2010 and the International Association of the Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG)_2012 criteria.

A composite risk assessment model to screen for gestational diabetes mellitus among Mediterranean women.

Objective: To determine whether clinical risk assessment for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) may preclude the need for universal screening with an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in situations of economic restraint.

Methods: Women with either GDM (n=119) or normal glucose tolerance (n=1249) were recruited from centers among 11 Mediterranean countries between August 1, 2010, and May 31, 2011. Outcome measures included anthropomorphic and biological data, obstetric outcomes, and infant outcomes.

Hyperglycaemia in pregnancy in Mediterranean women.

New diagnostic criteria have recently been proposed that will result in a higher proportion of individuals being diagnosed as suffering from gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) than previously. The present circum-Mediterranean study sets out to identify the relevance of the new criteria in this population. The study was a prospective, non-interventional, multicentre study in the Mediterranean region.

Study comparing the effect of pioglitazone in combination with either metformin or sulphonylureas on lipid profile and glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes (ECLA).

Objective: To explore whether the improvement of lipid profile and glycaemic control observed in randomized control trials with pioglitazone (PIO) is replicated under conditions of general clinical practice.

Research Design And Methods: We studied 2388 patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) not adequately controlled by monotherapy on either metformin (MET) or sulphonylurea (SU). Addition of a second drug, according to the treating physician's choice, resulted in three groups, PIO + MET, PIO + SU and MET + SU, followed for twelve months, while efficacy and safety parameters were measured at baseline, at six and at twelve months.

A hybrid Decision Support System for the risk assessment of retinopathy development as a long term complication of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus.

The aim of the present study is to design and develop a Decision Support System (DSS) closely coupled with an Electronic Medical Record (EMR), able to predict the risk of a Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) patient to develop retinopathy. The proposed system is able to store a wealth of information regarding the clinical state of the T1DM patient and continuously provide the health experts with predictions regarding the possible future complications that he may present. The DSS is a hybrid infrastructure combining a Feedforward Neural Network (FNN), a Classification and Regression Tree (CART) and a Rule Induction C5.

Circulating and liver tissue levels of retinol-binding protein-4 in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Aim: Retinol-binding protein-4 (RBP4) has been proposed as a new adipokine that regulates insulin action in muscles and the liver, and contributes to the pathogenesis of insulin resistance. As non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is related to insulin resistance, we aimed to evaluate RBP4 levels in the serum and liver of patients with NAFLD.

Methods: Serum RBP4 was measured in 30 NAFLD patients and 30 matched healthy controls.

Evidence that even "normal" albuminuria may denote incipient GFR reduction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Aims: In patients with diabetes and microalbuminuria, small changes of GFR could have been missed, due to the lack of sensitive methodology for GFR determination in clinical practice (creatinine based calculations). Therefore we explored the relation of the degree of albumin excretion with Cystatin C, which has been recently proved to be a better marker of GFR, compared to serum creatinine.

Methods: We studied 179 patients with type 2 diabetes, in whom renal function and microalbuminuria were evaluated.

Prevalence of glucose intolerance in patients with chronic hepatitis B or C: a prospective case-control study.

Despite several studies, the association of glucose intolerance with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) or C (CHC) virus infection remains controversial. We evaluated the prevalence of glucose intolerance by oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in patients with CHB or CHC in comparison with matched controls. In total, 189 consecutive outpatients with CHB or CHC and 189 subjects individually matched for age, sex and body mass index (BMI) were included.

Epidemiological evidence for the non-random clustering of the components of the metabolic syndrome: multicentre study of the Mediterranean Group for the Study of Diabetes.

Objective: To determine: (a) whether the components of metabolic syndrome (MetS) cluster more frequently than predicted by chance alone and (b) whether increased risk for MetS is associated also with values of each component below, but close to the cutoff points defining MetS.

Research Design And Methods: Anthropometrical and biochemical measurements were performed and a dietary questionnaire was filled-in in 1833 randomly selected non-diabetic subjects, 916 men and 917 women, 20-74 years old, in nine centres in five Mediterranean countries. The prevalence of MetS and of possible combinations of its individual components was measured.

The ORLIstat and CArdiovascular risk profile in patients with metabolic syndrome and type 2 DIAbetes (ORLICARDIA) Study.

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) is associated with a marked increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease, especially in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM).

Aim: To investigate the effect of orlistat plus hypocaloric diet (HCD) vs HCD alone on the cardiovascular risk profile in patients with both MetSyn (National Cholesterol Educational Program--NCEP--Adult Treatment Panel III definition) and type 2 DM.

Methods: This was a prospective, multicentre, open-label, randomized, controlled study.

Nutritional habits of subjects with Type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Mediterranean Basin: comparison with the non-diabetic population and the dietary recommendations. Multi-Centre Study of the Mediterranean Group for the Study of Diabetes (MGSD).

Aims/hypothesis: The aim of this study was to compare the nutritional habits of Type 2 diabetic patients among Mediterranean countries and also with those of their background population and with the nutritional recommendations of the Diabetes and Nutrition Study Group.

Methods: We did a cross-sectional study of 1833 non-diabetic subjects and 1895 patients with Type 2 diabetes, in nine centres in six Mediterranean countries. A dietary questionnaire validated against the 3-Day Diet Diary was used.

Dietary fat intake as risk factor for the development of diabetes: multinational, multicenter study of the Mediterranean Group for the Study of Diabetes (MGSD).

Objective: To investigate the role of dietary factors in the development of type 2 diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: In the context of the Multinational MGSD Nutrition Study, three groups of subjects were studied: 204 subjects with recently diagnosed diabetes (RDM), 42 subjects with undiagnosed diabetes (UDM) (American Diabetes Association criteria-fasting plasma glucose [FPG] > or =126 mg/dl), and 55 subjects with impaired fasting glucose (IFG) (FPG > or =110 and <126 mg/dl). Each group was compared with a control group of nondiabetic subjects, matched one by one for center, sex, age, and BMI.

Nutritional habits in the Mediterranean Basin. The macronutrient composition of diet and its relation with the traditional Mediterranean diet. Multi-centre study of the Mediterranean Group for the Study of Diabetes (MGSD).

Objective: To compare the nutritional habits among six Mediterranean countries and also with the various official recommendations and the 'Mediterranean diet' as originally described.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Settings: Three centres in Greece, two in Italy and one in Algeria, Bulgaria, Egypt and Yugoslavia.

Glycemic index in the diet of European outpatients with type 1 diabetes: relations to glycated hemoglobin and serum lipids.

Background: Little is known about the variation of the glycemic index (GI) in the diet of European outpatients with type 1 diabetes and how the GI of a commonly consumed diet is associated with metabolic control.

Objective: The present study examined the calculated dietary GI of European outpatients with type 1 diabetes for possible relations to glycated hemoglobin (Hb A(1c)) and serum lipid concentrations.

Design: The relation of the GI (calculated from a 3-d dietary record) to Hb A(1c), serum cholesterol (total, LDL, and HDL), and fasting triacylglycerol was analyzed in 2810 people with type 1 diabetes from the EURODIAB Complications Study.

Maximal post-prandial triglyceride increase reflects post-prandial hypertriglyceridaemia and is associated with the insulin resistance syndrome.

Aims: To assess the value of maximal post-prandial triglyceride increase after a high fat, low carbohydrate (CHO) test meal, as index of post-prandial hypertriglyceridaemia and its relation with insulin resistance.

Methods: Fifty non-diabetic subjects, 22 male and 28 female, aged 52.1+/-4.

Different risk factors of microangiopathy in patients with type I diabetes mellitus of short versus long duration. The EURODIAB IDDM Complications Study.

Aims/hypothesis: To identify factors associated with early development of and late protection from microvascular complications in subjects with Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus.

Methods: The frequency of microvascular complications and their relation to risk factors were studied in 300 Type I diabetic subjects with short duration of disease (< or = 5 years) compared with 1062 subjects with long duration (> or = 14 years). Microvascular disease was defined as the presence of either retinopathy (assessed from centrally-graded retinal photographs) or urinary albumin excretion rate of more than 20 micrograms/min.

Prevalence and management of hypertension in type 1 diabetes mellitus in Europe: the EURODIAB IDDM Complications Study.

Aim: To examine the prevalence of hypertension and the rates of hypertension awareness by investigating treatment and control among respondents to the EURODIAB IDDM Complications Study, and to explore the variation in hypertension management by age, sex and end-organ damage.

Methods: A cross-sectional study, examining 3250 randomly selected Type 1 diabetic patients from 31 diabetes clinics in 16 European countries between 1989 and 1990. Mean age was 32.

Nutritional intake of 2868 IDDM patients from 30 centres in Europe. EURODIAB IDDM Complications Study Group.

The EURODIAB IDDM Complications Study, a cross-sectional, clinic-based study, was designed to measure the prevalence of diabetic complications in stratified samples of European insulin-dependent diabetic (IDDM) patients. As diet may be related to diabetic complications, nutritional intake was analysed in the study population. The aims of this first nutritional paper are to describe the nutrient intake in 2868 IDDM patients from 30 centres in 16 countries throughout Europe, to investigate the degree of regional differences in nutrient intake and to compare current intakes with recommended levels.