Nutrition
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Surgical treatment is an important option for inducing remission in Crohn's disease (CD); indeed, the longer the disease duration, the higher the cumulative surgical rate. Previous studies have shown that the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease is associated with sarcopenia, a condition of reduced skeletal muscle mass. Here, we investigated the effect of preoperative sarcopenia on postoperative disease activity. ⋯ Our results suggest that to maximize the effect of surgical treatment for CD, an appropriate nutritional intervention should be performed before surgery, or surgery should be postponed until after the patient recovers from sarcopenia.
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Observational Study
Bioelectrical impedance vector analysis in patients on the waiting list for liver transplant: Associated factors and prognostic effects.
The aim of this study was to assess patients on the waiting list for liver transplant (LTx) according to bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (BIVA), as well as to verify the association between the placement of the vectors on the graph with clinical outcomes and identify the predictors to vector placement in quadrant 4 (Q4; indicating more hydration and less cellularity). ⋯ Patients on the waiting list for LTx with BIVA vectors placed in Q4, in the 50%, 75%, or 95% tolerance ellipses, presented a worse prognosis.
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Therapy for obesity and related comorbidities should be clinically effective, widely available and acceptable, and used in conjunction with an optimized lifestyle. Dieting is widely available and acceptable but has poorly sustained clinical efficacy. By contrast, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (GB) is highly effective but cost and safety concerns limit widespread use. In this article this we discuss the hypothesis that bolus jejunal feeding (BJ) via an enteral feeding tube simulates key features of GB with the potential for similar clinical benefits. We further hypothesize that a practical manner of providing BJ therapeutically is via an externally inapparent orojejunal feeding tube. ⋯ The hypotheses are testable in clinical studies. If validated, BJ could be used to induce the clinical benefits of GB, but without its costs or safety concerns.
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After a chronic intestinal injury, several intestinal cells switch their phenotype to activated myofibroblasts, which in turn release an abnormal amount of extracellular matrix proteins, leading to the onset of the fibrotic process. To date, no resolutive pharmacological treatments are available, and the identification of new therapeutic approaches represents a crucial goal to achieve. The onset, maintenance, and progression of inflammatory bowel disease are related to abnormal intestinal immune responses to environmental factors, including diet and intestinal microflora components. This study aimed to evaluate the potential antiinflammatory and antifibrotic effect of a biologically debittered olive cream and its probiotic oral administration in an experimental model of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced chronic colitis. ⋯ The concomitant oral administration of a diet enriched with biologically debittered olive cream and a specific probiotic strain (Lactiplantibacillus plantarum IMC513) can exert synergistic antiinflammatory and antifibrotic action in DSS-induced chronic colitis. Further studies are needed to define the cellular and molecular mechanisms modulated by olive cream compounds and by Lactiplantibacillus plantarum IMC513.
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Cholesterol metabolic disturbance increases the risk of various acquired diseases and affects public health. An apparent correlation between hypercholesterolemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) was confirmed recently. Bariatric surgery can induce durable and sufficient loss of body weight and T2DM remission. A previous study illustrated a cholesterol-lowering effect of sleeve gastrectomy (SG), but the intrinsic mechanism is still elusive. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of SG on hypercholesterolemia and hepatic cholesterol accumulation in a T2DM rat model. ⋯ SG alleviated hypercholesterolemia and hepatic cholesterol accumulation partially by inhibiting hepatic de novo cholesterogenesis.