Publications by authors named "Situlin R"

Diet plays a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of chronic diseases. In this regard, the Mediterranean diet has been widely shown to exert beneficial effects on cardiometabolic health. On the contrary, the Western diet, which has also been reported to be an acidogenic dietary pattern, elicits detrimental effects on both metabolic and cardiovascular (CV) health.

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Article Synopsis
  • Maintaining muscle mass and function in aging is vital for health, and bed rest (BR) experiments serve as a model to study muscle decline during inactivity.
  • This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated how bed rest affects muscle mass, strength, and function in elderly individuals, using data from studies published until April 2020.
  • The findings showed that short-term bed rest led to significant performance declines in muscles, although total body and muscle mass reductions were relatively small.
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Background: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between physical activity habits, physical performance and cognitive capacity in older adults' population of Italy and Slovenia.

Methods: Anthropometric characteristics and body composition bioelectrical impedance analysis were evaluated in 892 older adults (60-80 y). Aerobic capacity was measured using the 2-km walk test and handgrip and flexibility tests were performed.

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Purpose Of Review: Cachexia is a disease-related multifactorial syndrome characterized by inflammation, massive muscle protein catabolism and carbohydrate and lipid metabolism disorder.Several studies tried to define the impact of either nutrition or physical exercise (single approach strategy) or their combination (multimodal approach strategy) on prevention and/or treatment of muscle wasting in cachectic patients.

Recent Findings: Single approach strategies (i.

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In chronic diseases, hypoxia and physical inactivity are associated with atherosclerosis progression. In contrast, a lower mortality from coronary artery disease and stroke is observed in healthy humans residing at high altitude in hypoxic environments. Eleven young, male volunteers completed the following 10-day campaigns in a randomized order: hypoxic ambulatory, hypoxic bed rest and normoxic bed rest.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates the effects of potassium bicarbonate supplementation on various health markers in young males during periods of bed rest, focusing on protein metabolism, oxidative stress, and cell membrane lipids.
  • - Results showed that potassium bicarbonate increased urinary pH, boosted total glutathione levels, and improved protein balance, while maintaining a stable glutathione ratio.
  • - The findings suggest that alkalinization may help counteract negative effects associated with prolonged inactivity, potentially reducing oxidative stress and promoting a healthier inflammatory profile in cell membranes.
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Impulsivity, conceptualized as impulsive personality trait, poor inhibitory control and enhanced reward sensitivity, has been strongly linked to obesity. In particular, a disequilibrium between cognitive control and reward sensitivity has been observed in obese individuals in both behavioural and imaging studies. While this issue has been widely investigated in children and adults, it has received little attention in older adults.

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Objective: The optimal protein intake for elderly individuals who exercise regularly has not yet been clearly defined. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that protein intake level is associated with muscle strength in elderly elite athletes.

Methods: We evaluated 50 elite senior athletes (38 men and 12 women) participating in the European Master Games 2011 in an observational cross-sectional study.

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Purpose Of Review: In clinical management of acutely ill adults and children, continuous enteral feeding (CEF), being considered the most tolerable approach, in comparison to other temporal patterns of nutrient administration (i.e. intermittent, cyclic and bolus), is the most frequently applied method.

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Purpose Of Review: The optimal approach to improve protein metabolism in critical illness is not yet fully defined. Here, we have summarized recent literature dealing with the main catabolic and anabolic factors influencing protein kinetics in acute hypercatabolic patients.

Recent Findings: Protein/amino acid intake levels should be adapted to type and severity of illness, keeping in mind that energy overfeeding is associated with poor outcome.

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Background & Aims: Aging and experimental bed rest are associated with muscle atrophy and resistance to post-prandial stimulation of protein synthesis or anabolic resistance (AR). We have used in young and older adult volunteers, during short-term bed rest, a quick and non-invasive method, based on a single oral bolus of the stable isotope L[ring-H]phenylalanine (DPhe), to determine post-prandial AR, defined as ratio between irreversible hydroxylation and incorporation into body protein of ingested phenylalanine.

Methods: We compared in older (O, 59 ± 1 y) and young (Y, 23 ± 1 y) healthy male volunteers the effects of two-week bed rest on post-prandial protein kinetics, assessed during absorption of a standard ready-to-use oral nutritional supplement, through stable-labeled isotope amino acid DPhe, diluted in water, given as single oral load.

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Objective: Coffee consumption is negatively associated with risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular mortality. Coffee roasting can greatly modify the quality-quantitative characteristics of bioactive compounds. We compared the effects of two different roasting intensities of the same naturally low-caffeine Arabica coffee variety (Laurina) on glucose and lipid metabolism as well as oxidative stress.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study explored how genes related to sweet taste influence dental caries in a group of 647 adults from northeastern Italy.
  • It found that specific genetic variations in the TAS1R2 and GLUT2 genes were linked to higher levels of dental decay, measured by the DMFT index.
  • Additionally, while sugar intake alone wasn't significantly correlated with caries, a strong association was noted between preference for sweet foods and higher DMFT scores, suggesting that both genetics and taste preferences could predict caries risk.
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Objective: Increments in red blood cell count (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (Ht) levels are reportedly associated with higher insulin resistance (IR). Obesity may cause IR, but underlying factors remain incompletely defined, and interactions between obesity, hematological parameters and IR are incompletely understood. We therefore determined whether: 1) BMI and obesity per se are independently associated with higher RBC, hemoglobin and hematocrit; 2) hematological parameters independently predict insulin resistance in obese individuals.

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Background & Aims: Sarcopenic obesity may be defined by a high fat to fat-free mass (FM/FFM) ratio. Skeletal muscle may be negatively influenced by the pro-inflammatory milieu associated with visceral fat, while the loading effect induced by a heavier body mass index (BMI) may enhance muscle anabolism. Recently, a new anthropometric measure based on waist circumference (A Body Shape Index, ABSI) was developed.

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Purpose Of Review: The increased age observed in most countries, with the associated higher rates of chronic illnesses and cancer, and a diffuse sedentary lifestyle, will increase the number of patients with clinically relevant anabolic resistance, sarcopenia and its complications. The need for solutions to this major health issue is, therefore, pressing.

Recent Findings: The metabolic derangements and other consequences associated with sarcopenia can be slowed or even prevented by specific nutritional interventions.

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Background: We investigated the ability of pentoxifylline, a drug with hemorheological actions known to block tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) release, to modulate whole-body protein kinetics in undialyzed patients with chronic uremia.

Methods: Leucine rate of appearance (Ra) from proteolysis and leucine oxidation, a marker of net protein loss, were determined by infusing l-[1-13C]leucine and using the reciprocal pool model for calculations.

Results: Intravenous infusion of pentoxifylline in the postabsorptive state (1 mg/kg within 3 hours) decreased the intracellular leucine Ra from proteolysis by -16% +/- 4% versus -3% +/- 2% of saline (P = 0.

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Background & Aims: The lysosomal cathepsin system contributes to degrading cellular skeletal muscle proteins in many catabolic diseases. We have assessed the relationships between cathepsin B mRNA levels and the enzyme activity for this protease in the skeletal muscle of acutely ill patients with severe trauma (n=7) and in patients with a variety of chronic disease states (hemodialysis, n=3; nervous anorexia, n=1; type 2 diabetes, n=2; prolonged immobilization, n=1).

Methods: Muscle biopsies were taken from the vastus lateralis muscle in patients and controls to assess tissue levels of cathepsin B mRNA by competitive-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, cathepsin B proteolytic activity and myofibrillar protein content as alkali-soluble protein to DNA ratio (ASP/DNA).

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Carnitine is a conditionally essential metabolite that plays a critical role in cell physiology by participating in transesterification reactions and preventing organic acid accumulation. A number of disease states are characterized by carnitine depletion that may lead to metabolic and clinical disturbances. In maintenance hemodialysis, carnitine is lost through dialytic membranes, leading in selected patients to carnitine depletion with a relative increase of the esterified forms.

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Malnutrition and protein wasting are common features of chronically uremic patients, whether on conservative or dialysis treatment. Optimization of protein-energy intake is difficult because of anorexia, catabolic factors (acidosis, insulin resistance, cytokines, etc.) and intercurrent infections.

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Objective: To determine whether kinetic abnormalities in the onset of insulin action contribute to the insulin resistance in obesity-associated hypertension.

Design: We monitored the rate of increase in glucose infusion during 6 h of hyperinsulinemic (40 mU/m2 per min) euglycemic clamps in hypertensive and normotensive obese subjects. The two groups of hypertensive (n=9) and normotensive (n=9) subjects were matched for age (48+/-2 versus 45+/-5 years), sex (five males and four females versus four males and five females) and body mass index (42+/-3 versus 40+/-2 kg/m2).

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To investigate the relationship between decline in renal function and alterations of protein metabolism we determined the rate of whole-body protein turnover in a group of 15 postabsorptive chronically uremic patients (9 males and 6 females) with different levels of serum creatinine concentrations (average 5.7 +/- 0.4 (SE) mg x dl(-1); range 3.

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The pathogenesis of protein wasting in chronic renal failure is multifactorial. Potential mediators of protein catabolism in chronic uremia include anorexia, low protein-energy intake, increased cortisol and parathyroid hormone secretion, insulin resistance, metabolic acidosis and unidentified uremic toxins. In non-acidotic uremic patients the rate of protein turnover (that is, synthesis and degradation) has often been found to be decreased.

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The metabolic response to trauma and sepsis involves an increased loss of body proteins. Specific sites of changes of protein and amino acid metabolism have been identified. In skeletal muscle, the rate of proteolysis is accelerated greatly.

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