Nutrition
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Development of a cross-over randomized trial method to determine the acceptability and safety of novel ready-to-use therapeutic foods.
To develop a method for determining the acceptability and safety of ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF) before clinical trialing. Acceptability was defined using a combination of three consumption, nine safety, and six preference criteria. These were used to compare a soy/maize/sorghum RUTF (SMS-RUTFh), designed for the rehabilitation of human immunodeficiency virus/tuberculosis (HIV/TB) wasted adults, with a peanut-butter/milk-powder paste (P-RUTF; brand: Plumpy'nut) designed for pediatric treatment. ⋯ SMS-RUTFh appears to be acceptable and can be safely clinically trialed, if close monitoring of vomiting and nausea is included. The method reported here is a useful and feasible approach for testing the acceptability of ready-to-use foods in low income countries.
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To evaluate homocysteine and total cysteine levels in prepubertal children and to determine the association between these levels and obesity, increased waist circumference, glucose levels, and lipid profile alterations. ⋯ The association of abdominal obesity in prepuberty with levels of homocysteine and cysteine found in this study of a prepubertal population could be an early and independent predictor of cardiovascular risk.
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We investigated whether a reduced iso-α acid derived from an extract of Humulus lupulus L., META060, had an effect on weight gain, body composition, and metabolism in a high-fat-diet (HFD) fed mouse model. ⋯ META060 has potential therapeutic value for managing obesity and insulin resistance, and further research into the mechanism of action is warranted.
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Endovascular injury induced by balloon withdrawal leads to the increased activation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in the vascular wall allowing the proliferated smooth muscle cells (SMCs) to digest the surrounding extracellular matrix and migrate from the media into the intima leading to the intimal thickening. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of Nelumbo nucifera leaf extract (NL) on intimal thickening of rat carotid artery injured by balloon catheter and on the proliferation and migration of cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) induced by tumor necrosis factor-α. ⋯ Thus, the results suggest that NL can be considered of therapeutic value in the prevention of atherosclerosis because restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty can be considered a model of "accelerated atherosclerosis."
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Malnutrition continues to be under-recognized and undertreated in the hospitalized setting. Although no "gold standard" for the diagnosis of malnutrition exists, the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) is a commonly used malnutrition assessment tool. The study aim was to explore the reporting of inter-rater reliability (IRR) of the SGA when used as a nutritional assessment tool in the published literature. ⋯ The IRR is rarely reported in the published literature and has not yet been reported across experience levels.