Nationwide survey of Helicobacter pylori seropositivity and gastric atrophy in Zambia.

Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a common bacterial infection which predominately drives upper gastrointestinal pathology. We carried out a nationwide serological survey in response to the deficiency of robust African data on H.

Dietary intake of dicarbonyl compounds and changes in body weight over time in a large cohort of European adults.

Dicarbonyl compounds are highly reactive precursors of advanced glycation end products (AGE), produced endogenously, present in certain foods and formed during food processing. AGE contribute to the development of adverse metabolic outcomes, but health effects of dietary dicarbonyls are largely unexplored. We investigated associations between three dietary dicarbonyl compounds, methylglyoxal (MGO), glyoxal (GO) and 3-deoxyglucosone (3-DG), and body weight changes in European adults.

Randomised clinical trial: efficacy and safety of H. pylori eradication treatment with and without Saccharomyces boulardii supplementation.

Background: Standard triple therapy is commonly prescribed Helicobacter pylori eradication regimen in Europe. However, the world is witnessing declines in eradication success. It is crucial to find better treatment options.

Association between salt intake and gastric atrophy by Helicobacter pylori infection: first results from the Epidemiological Investigation of Gastric Malignancy (ENIGMA).

Purpose: Gastric atrophy (GA), usually linked to chronic infection with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), may over time evolve into gastric malignancy. Besides H.

Dietary Advanced Glycation End-Products and Colorectal Cancer Risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study.

Dietary advanced glycation end-products (dAGEs) have been hypothesized to be associated with a higher risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) by promoting inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, and oxidative stress in the colonic epithelium. However, evidence from prospective cohort studies is scarce and inconclusive. We evaluated CRC risk associated with the intake of dAGEs in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

Dietary intake of advanced glycation endproducts and risk of hepatobiliary cancers: A multinational cohort study.

Advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) may contribute to liver carcinogenesis because of their proinflammatory and prooxidative properties. Diet is a major source of AGEs, but there is sparse human evidence on the role of AGEs intake in liver cancer etiology. We examined the association between dietary AGEs and the risk of hepatobiliary cancers in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition prospective cohort (n = 450 111).

Adolescents' dietary polyphenol intake in relation to serum total antioxidant capacity: the HELENA study.

We evaluated the association between intake of total polyphenols, polyphenol classes and the 10 most consumed individual polyphenols with serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in 749 European adolescents (53% girls; 15% overweight; 12.5-17.5 years-old) from the cross-sectional HELENA study of 2006-2007.

Total Polyphenol Intake Is Inversely Associated with a Pro/Anti-Inflammatory Biomarker Ratio in European Adolescents of the HELENA Study.

Background: Although high dietary polyphenol intake is negatively associated with risk of certain inflammation-associated chronic diseases, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood and few studies have explored this in adolescents.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the association between intakes of total polyphenols, polyphenol classes, and the 10 most commonly consumed individual polyphenols with inflammatory biomarkers in the blood of European adolescents.

Methods: In the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence (HELENA) Study, 526 adolescents (54% girls; 12.

Polyphenol intake and metabolic syndrome risk in European adolescents: the HELENA study.

Purpose: The role of polyphenol intake during adolescence to prevent metabolic syndrome (MetS) is little explored. This study aimed to evaluate the association between intake of total polyphenols, polyphenol classes and the 10 most consumed individual polyphenols with MetS risk in European adolescents.

Methods: Of the cross-sectional HELENA study, 657 adolescents (54% girls; 14.

Estimated dietary intake of polyphenols in European adolescents: the HELENA study.

Purpose: Knowledge about polyphenols intakes and their determinants among adolescents might be helpful for planning targeted prevention strategies at an early age.

Methods: In the European multicenter cross-sectional HELENA study of 2006-2007, 2428 subjects (47% boys) had data on dietary intake of polyphenols from 2 non-consecutive 24 h recalls via linking with the Phenol-Explorer database. Differences by sex, age, country, BMI, maternal education, paternal education, family affluence, smoking status, alcohol use, and physical activity were explored by linear regression.

A new food-composition database for 437 polyphenols in 19,899 raw and prepared foods used to estimate polyphenol intakes in adults from 10 European countries.

Background: Accurate assessment of polyphenol intakes is needed in epidemiologic research in order to study their health effects, and this can be particularly challenging in international study settings.

Objective: The purpose of this work is to describe the procedures to prepare a comprehensive polyphenol food-composition database that was used to calculate standardized polyphenol intakes from 24-h diet recalls (24HDRs) and dietary questionnaires (DQs) in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

Design: With the use of the comparable food classification and facet-descriptor system of the computerized 24HDR program EPIC-Soft (renamed GloboDiet), foods reported in the 24HDR (n = 74,626) were first aggregated following a stepwise process.

Polyphenols: dietary assessment and role in the prevention of cancers.

Purpose Of Review: Polyphenols are a large and diverse family of phytochemicals widely consumed by humans. Here we summarize the latest epidemiological evidence for associations between cancer risk and polyphenol intake, taking into account difficulties in the accurate estimation of exposure.

Recent Findings: Flavonoids are the most studied subgroup of polyphenols with regard to cancer risk.

Adapting the standardised computer- and interview-based 24 h dietary recall method (GloboDiet) for dietary monitoring in Latin America.

Objective: The present study describes the procedure and approaches needed to adapt and harmonise the GloboDiet methodology, a computer- and interview-based 24 h dietary recall, for use in two Latin American pilot countries, Brazil and Mexico.

Design: About seventy common and country-specific databases on foods, recipes, dietary supplements, quantification methods and coefficients were customised and translated following standardised guidelines, starting from existing Spanish and Portuguese versions.

Setting: Brazil and Mexico.

Compilation of a standardised international folate database for EPIC.

This paper describes the methodology applied for compiling an "international end-user" folate database. This work benefits from the unique dataset offered by the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) (N=520,000 subjects in 23 centres). Compilation was done in four steps: (1) identify folate-free foods then find folate values for (2) folate-rich foods common across EPIC countries, (3) the remaining "common" foods, and (4) "country-specific" foods.

Dietary polyphenol intake in Europe: the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

Background/objectives: Polyphenols are plant secondary metabolites with a large variability in their chemical structure and dietary occurrence that have been associated with some protective effects against several chronic diseases. To date, limited data exist on intake of polyphenols in populations. The current cross-sectional analysis aimed at estimating dietary intakes of all currently known individual polyphenols and total intake per class and subclass, and to identify their main food sources in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort.

Effects of food processing on polyphenol contents: a systematic analysis using Phenol-Explorer data.

Scope: The Phenol-Explorer web database (http://www.phenol-explorer.eu) was recently updated with new data on polyphenol retention due to food processing.

Usage of plant food supplements across six European countries: findings from the PlantLIBRA consumer survey.

Background: The popularity of botanical products is on the rise in Europe, with consumers using them to complement their diets or to maintain health, and products are taken in many different forms (e.g. teas, juices, herbal medicinal products, plant food supplements (PFS)).

Quality assurance of the international computerised 24 h dietary recall method (EPIC-Soft).

The interview-administered 24 h dietary recall (24-HDR) EPIC-Soft® has a series of controls to guarantee the quality of dietary data across countries. These comprise all steps that are part of fieldwork preparation, data collection and data management; however, a complete characterisation of these quality controls is still lacking. The present paper describes in detail the quality controls applied in EPIC-Soft, which are, to a large extent, built on the basis of the EPIC-Soft error model and are present in three phases: (1) before, (2) during and (3) after the 24-HDR interviews.

Dietary intakes and food sources of phenolic acids in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

Phenolic acids are secondary plant metabolites that may have protective effects against oxidative stress, inflammation and cancer in experimental studies. To date, limited data exist on the quantitative intake of phenolic acids. We estimated the intake of phenolic acids and their food sources and associated lifestyle factors in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

Dietary acrylamide intake of adults in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition differs greatly according to geographical region.

Purpose: Methodological differences in assessing dietary acrylamide (AA) often hamper comparisons of intake across populations. Our aim was to describe the mean dietary AA intake in 27 centers of 10 European countries according to selected lifestyle characteristics and its contributing food sources in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

Methods: In this cross-sectional analysis, 36 994 men and women, aged 35-74 years completed a single, standardized 24-hour dietary recall using EPIC-Soft.

Dietary flavonoid and lignan intake and gastric adenocarcinoma risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

Background: Several experimental studies have suggested potential anticarcinogenic effects of flavonoids, although epidemiologic evidence for the impact of dietary flavonoids on risk of gastric cancer (GC) is limited.

Objective: We investigated the association between intake of dietary flavonoids and lignans and incident GC.

Design: The study followed 477,312 subjects (29.

Differences in dietary intakes, food sources and determinants of total flavonoids between Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

A greater adherence to the traditional Mediterranean (MED) diet is associated with a reduced risk of developing chronic diseases. This dietary pattern is based on higher consumption of plant products that are rich in flavonoids. We compared the total flavonoid dietary intakes, their food sources and various lifestyle factors between MED and non-MED countries participating in the EPIC study.

Venous thromboprophylaxis in general surgery ward admissions: strategies for improvement.

Objective: To estimate the adherence to institutional venous thromboprophylaxis clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) in general surgery patients and to assess the effectiveness of a multi-strategy improvement intervention.

Design: A prospective before-after study.

Setting: Two teaching hospitals located in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Intake estimation of total and individual flavan-3-ols, proanthocyanidins and theaflavins, their food sources and determinants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

Epidemiological studies suggest health-protective effects of flavan-3-ols and their derived compounds on chronic diseases. The present study aimed to estimate dietary flavan-3-ol, proanthocyanidin (PA) and theaflavin intakes, their food sources and potential determinants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) calibration cohort. Dietary data were collected using a standardised 24 h dietary recall software administered to 36 037 subjects aged 35-74 years.