Nutrition
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Experimental and epidemiologic data have confirmed that undernutrition or overnutrition during critical periods of life can result in metabolic dysfunction, leading to the development of obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes, later in life. These studies have contributed to the concept of the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD), which involves metabolic programming patterns. Beyond the earlier phases of development, puberty can be an additional period of plasticity, during which any insult can lead to changes in metabolism. ⋯ Additionally, the pancreatic islets appear to play a decisive role in the setup and maintenance of these metabolic dysfunctions as key targets of metabolic programming, and epigenetic mechanisms may underlie these changes. Moreover, studies have indicated the possibility that deprogramming renders the islets able to recover their functioning after malprogramming. In this review, we discuss the key roles of the pancreatic islets as targets of malprogramming; however, we also discuss their roles as important targets for the treatment and prevention of metabolic diseases.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
The protein type within a hypocaloric diet affects obesity-related inflammation: the RESMENA project.
The aim of this study was to compare the effect of two energy-restricted, differing with regard to protein content, on the inflammation state of obese individuals with features of metabolic syndrome. ⋯ Our results suggest that the type of protein consumed (more than the total protein consumed) within an energy-restricted diet influences the inflammation status associated with obesity-related comorbidities.
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Exposure to refined carbohydrates has been found to be associated with disorders such as increased blood pressure, retinopathy, adipose tissue inflammation, glucose intolerance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, poor metabolic profile, esophageal adenocarcinoma, and small intestine, prostate, pleural, and pancreatic cancers. Additionally, recent studies have demonstrated that ingestion of refined carbohydrates is related to secretion of cytokines and chemokines. However, to our knowledge, there is still no data on the relationship between refined carbohydrate consumption and allergic disorders ranging from bronchopulmonary to skin diseases. Therefore, the purpose of this review was to evaluate whether consumption of refined carbohydrates plays a role in allergic diseases.
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India has the highest prevalence of severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Severe anemia is one of the comorbidities responsible for increased mortality in severely malnourished children, yet it has not received the attention it should. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence and type of anemia and to evaluate the possible etiologies for severe anemia, in these children. ⋯ A high incidence of severe anemia in SAM with a large proportion (25%) requiring blood transfusion is a pointer toward nutritional anemia being a very common comorbidity of SAM requiring hospital admission. Because megaloblastic anemia closely followed microcytic anemia, supplementation with vitamin B12 in addition to iron and folic acid would be recommended.
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Chronic low-grade inflammation in obesity is characterized by macrophage accumulation in white adipose tissue and adipokine production deregulation. Obesity also is characterized by oxidative stress related to inflammatory signaling. The aim of this study was to analyze whether dietary supplementation with a rice bran enzymatic extract (RBEE), rich in bioactive compounds with antioxidant and hypocholesterolemic properties, would ameliorate the inflammatory state existing in visceral adipose tissue of obese Zucker rats. ⋯ Chronic administration of a novel water-soluble RBEE, rich in polyphenols, tocotrienols and γ-oryzanol, could be a suitable treatment to ameliorate the obesity-associated proinflammatory response.