Food selection based on high total antioxidant capacity improves endothelial function in a low cardiovascular risk population.

Background And Aims: Oxidative stress has been advocated as a major cause for cardiovascular disease (CVD), and low plasma antioxidant concentrations are associated with endothelial dysfunction, the first step towards atherosclerosis. However, although the antioxidant content in fruits and vegetables may explain at least in part their protective effect against CVD, supplementation with antioxidant vitamins fails to improve endothelial function and reduce CVD risk. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of a diet rich in antioxidants on endothelial function measured by flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) in volunteers at low cardiovascular risk.

Ability of a high-total antioxidant capacity diet to increase stool weight and bowel antioxidant status in human subjects.

There is limited knowledge about the possible effect of unabsorbed dietary antioxidants that reach the large intestine on bowel habits. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a dietary recommendation directed to increase diet total antioxidant capacity (TAC) is able to affect gut function in human subjects. In this cross-over intervention, nineteen subjects followed a high-TAC (HT) and a low-TAC (LT) diet for 2 weeks, which were comparable for energy, macronutrient, total dietary fibre and alcohol contents.

The increase in plasma PAI-1 associated with insulin resistance may be mediated by the presence of hepatic steatosis.

Objective: Recent evidence suggests that plasminogen-activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) is abundantly produced by the fatty liver, but it is unclear whether hepatic steatosis (HS) can mediate the increase in plasma PAI-1 induced by insulin resistance/compensatory hyperinsulinemia (IR/CH).

Methods And Results: To address this issue, we cross-sectionally evaluated IR/CH as area under the curve of plasma insulin (AUC-PI) concentrations during OGTT, metabolic profile, and ultrasound degree of HS in 235 healthy volunteers (132M, age: 60+/-7 years) with normal transaminase concentrations. Circulating PAI-1 was increased in subjects with classical features of IR/CH (overweight, high fasting and post-OGTT insulin and glucose, high triglycerides (TG), and low HDL-cholesterol), and significantly correlated to prevalence and degree of HS, but not to alcohol intake.

Intervention study with a high or low antioxidant capacity diet: effects on circulating beta-carotene.

Background And Objectives: A cross-sectional observation suggests that total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of the diet positively affects plasma concentrations of beta-carotene independent of beta-carotene intake. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of two dietary strategies, designed to be comparable in fruits, vegetables, fibre, alcohol and beta-carotene intake but substantially different in their TAC, on changes in antioxidant intake and antioxidant status, and in particular in circulating beta-carotene concentrations.

Subjects: A randomized cross-over intervention trial involving 33 healthy participants and consisting of two 14-day dietary periods (high TAC diet, HT; low TAC diet, LT) with a 14-day washout in between was conducted.

Intake of the plant lignans matairesinol, secoisolariciresinol, pinoresinol, and lariciresinol in relation to vascular inflammation and endothelial dysfunction in middle age-elderly men and post-menopausal women living in Northern Italy.

Background And Aims: It has been suggested that lignan intake may decrease the risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) by modifying traditional risk factors as well as aortic stiffness. However, the role of dietary lignans on the vascular system is largely unknown. The objective was to investigate whether dietary intake of plant lignans in a free-living population was associated with markers of vascular inflammation and function.

Food selection based on total antioxidant capacity can modify antioxidant intake, systemic inflammation, and liver function without altering markers of oxidative stress.

Background: It is unknown whether diets with a high dietary total antioxidant capacity (TAC) can modify oxidative stress, low-grade inflammation, or liver dysfunction, all of which are risk factors for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Objective: We studied the effect of high- and low-TAC (HT and LT, respectively) diets on markers of antioxidant status, systemic inflammation, and liver dysfunction.

Design: In a crossover intervention, 33 healthy adults (19 men, 14 women) received the HT and LT diets for 2 wk each.

ADMA is independently related to flow-mediated vasodilation in subjects at low cardiovascular risk.

Background: Increased plasma concentrations of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) contribute to impair endothelial function in patients with established cardiovascular disease (CVD) and/or individuals with clinical syndromes known to increase CVD. However, the impact of ADMA on endothelial function in apparently healthy individuals has not been determined.

Materials And Methods: To address this issue, we measured endothelial-dependent vasodilatation in response to forearm ischaemia (flow-mediated vasodilatation, FMD) in 111 non-smoking, healthy volunteers with low CVD risk by the Framingham risk equation.

Development and validation of a food frequency questionnaire for the assessment of dietary total antioxidant capacity.

The total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of the diet may be an important tool to monitor the protective effect of plant foods in epidemiological studies. We developed a semi-quantitative FFQ for the assessment of dietary TAC by 3 different assays, i.e.

The total antioxidant capacity of the diet is an independent predictor of plasma beta-carotene.

Objective: To investigate the contribution of the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of the diet to plasma concentrations of beta-carotene.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Department of Public Health and Department of Internal Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Parma.

Dietary glycemic index and liver steatosis.

Background: Insulin resistance (IR) and liver steatosis (LS) are interlinked metabolic derangements whose prevalence is rapidly increasing, but the effect of dietary carbohydrate quality on LS is unknown.

Objective: The objective was to describe the relation of IR and LS to total carbohydrate, total dietary fiber, and the glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load of the diet.

Design: The study was a cross-sectional evaluation of 247 apparently healthy subjects who had no evidence of viral, toxic, or autoimmune hepatitis and who were unselected for alcohol intake.

Relation of plasma insulin levels to forearm flow-mediated dilatation in healthy volunteers.

Although several observations suggest that insulin resistance/compensatory hyperinsulinemia (IR/CH) has a direct effect on endothelial function, independently of the metabolic abnormalities associated with the defect in insulin action, this relation has not been evaluated in apparently healthy individuals. To address this issue, we measured endothelial-dependent vasodilation in response to forearm ischemia (flow-mediated dilation [FMD]) in 47 nonsmoking, healthy volunteers without known risk factors for atherosclerosis. Measurements were also made of multiple anthropometric, metabolic, and hemodynamic variables related to IR/CH.

Insulin resistance/compensatory hyperinsulinemia predict carotid intimal medial thickness in patients with essential hypertension.

Background And Aim: Approximately 50% of subjects with essential hypertension (EH) are insulin resistant, and this defect in insulin action could contribute to increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in these patients. To test this hypothesis, we attempted to see if there was a link between insulin resistance (IR) and carotid intimal medial thickness (IMT), an early index of CVD, in patients with essential hypertension.

Methods And Results: Ultrasound quantification of carotid IMT was performed in 79 hypertensive patients, and 63 patients (31 m and 32 f), defined as being free of plaque (IMT < 1.

Hyperinsulinemia predicts hepatic fat content in healthy individuals with normal transaminase concentrations.

Although the prevalence of insulin resistance (IR) and compensatory hyperinsulinemia (CH) is increased in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, the role of IR/CH in regulation of hepatic fat content in healthy volunteers with normal concentrations of alanine transaminase (ALT) has not been defined. To address this issue, hepatic fat content was quantified by ultrasound in 69 (30 men, 39 women) healthy individuals, without known risk factors for liver disease and with plasma ALT concentrations of less than 30 U/L. Experimental variables quantified included body mass index, waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and fasting plasma glucose, fasting plasma insulin (FPI), and lipid concentrations.

Relationship between leptin, insulin, body composition and liver steatosis in non-diabetic moderate drinkers with normal transaminase levels.

Objective: Obesity and insulin resistance play a major role in the development of liver steatosis (LS), but also relative leptin resistance has been reported to correlate with LS in humans. Our objective was to investigate the relationship between serum leptin, insulin, obesity and LS in non-diabetic males (n = 74) and postmenopausal females (n = 50) with normal transaminase levels and low-to-moderate alcohol intake.

Methods: A medical history to retrieve information about health status, current medications, alcohol consumption and history of viral or toxic hepatitis; a physical examination including height, weight, waist circumference and blood pressure; a fasting blood draw for the determination of glucose, insulin, leptin, lipid profile, transaminases and uric acid; an oral glucose tolerance test to exclude type 2 diabetes; a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan to assess fat mass (FM) and lean body mass (LBM), and an echography of the liver to assess LS.

Total antioxidant capacity of the diet is inversely and independently related to plasma concentration of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in adult Italian subjects.

Inflammation, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, is associated with low plasma levels of antioxidant vitamins. In addition to vitamins, other antioxidants modulate the synthesis of inflammatory markers in vitro and contribute to the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of a diet. However, the relationship between dietary TAC and markers of inflammation has never been evaluated in vivo.

Pulmonary complications in diabetes mellitus: the role of glycemic control.

Insulin deficiency induces an increase in blood glucose levels that, in long run, becomes toxic for many organs and systems. Microangiopathy and derangements in the immune function are known consequences of hyperglycemia, but the way in which these systemic alterations may affect pulmonary function has been scarcely investigated. Although confirmation from large clinical trials is still to come, the diabetic disease seems to hit the pulmonary microcirculation as any other organ by increasing vessel wall thickness and impairing gas exchange, which leads to a measurable loss of function and respiratory efficiency.

What is the contribution of differences in three measures of tumor necrosis factor-alpha activity to insulin resistance in healthy volunteers?

To address the potential role that tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) might play in modulation of insulin resistance in healthy, nondiabetic individuals, we compared plasma TNF-alpha and soluble TNF-alpha receptor 2 (sTNF-R2) concentrations, as well as TNF-alpha polymorphisms, in 94 healthy individuals, stratified into insulin-resistant (IR) and insulin-sensitive (IS) groups based on their plasma insulin concentrations 120 minutes after oral glucose on 2 occasions (1993 and 2000). The IR group (n = 50; 29 men and 21 women) was in the upper quartile and the IS group (n = 44; 24 men and 20 women) in the lowest quartile of the distribution of post-glucose challenge insulin concentrations in a large unselected population (>50 v <23 microU/mL). The IR group had significantly higher values for body mass index, waist-to-hip girth, fasting and post-glucose challenge insulin concentrations, and fasting triglyceride concentrations, and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations as compared to the IS group.

Investigating the role of natural phyto-oestrogens on bone health in postmenopausal women.

Research on the bone effects of natural phyto-oestrogens after menopause is at a relatively early stage. Published studies are few, difficult to compare and often inconclusive, due in part to design weaknesses. Currently, many questions remain to be answered including to what extent a safe daily intake may prevent postmenopausal bone loss.

Bone resorption in anorexia nervosa and rehabilitated patients.

Objective: To assess the impact of anorexia nervosa and that of nutritional rehabilitation on bone resorption.

Design: Cross-sectional, observational study.

Setting: Rome, Italy

Subjects: Twenty-eight female patients affected by anorexia nervosa (AN, BMI View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Urinary collagen cross-links as biochemical markers of growth: an evaluation of biological variables.

Aim: To investigate the validity of urinary pyridinium cross-links (pyridinoline and deoxypyridinoline) as markers of growth in healthy children.

Methods: Three pilot studies (P1-P3) were conducted to investigate the time of day, the minimal duration within a day, and how many times per week urine samples needed to be collected to obtain representative values of cross-link excretion in normal children 3-5 years of age. The results were used to design a 4-month longitudinal protocol to evaluate whether pyridinium cross-links could be used as markers of growth velocity.

Urinary excretion of pyridinium crosslinks in short children treated with growth hormone.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of growth hormone (GH) treatment on bone resorption in children with GH deficiency and those with idiopathic short stature. The study population included seven children with subnormal spontaneous GH secretion and 13 children with idiopathic short stature, all of them pre-pubertal. Anthropometric measurements, free, protein-bound and total urinary pyridinoline (Pyd) and deoxypyridinoline (Dpd), serum GH, and serum immunoreactive PTH were measured at baseline and months 1, 3, 6 and 12 of GH treatment.

Calcium, physical activity and bone health--building bones for a stronger future.

Adequate provision of nutrients composing the bone matrix and regulating bone metabolism should be provided from birth in order to achieve maximal bone mass, compatible with individual genetic background, and to prevent osteoporosis later in life. Low calcium intake (<250 mg day(-1)) in children is associated with both a reduced bone mineral content and hyperparathyroidism. Optimal calcium intake is, however, still a matter of controversy.