Nutrition
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Observational Study
Energy balance in obese, mechanically ventilated intensive care unit patients.
The aims of this study were, first, to compare the predicted (calculated) energy requirements based on standard equations with target energy requirement based on indirect calorimetry (IC) in critically ill, obese mechanically ventilated patients; and second, to compare actual energy intake to target energy requirements. ⋯ Predictive equations underestimated target energy needs in this population. Further, we found that feeding to goal was often delayed resulting in failure to meet both protein and energy intake goals.
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Comparative Study
A comparison of L-carnitine and several cardiovascular-related biomarkers between healthy vegetarians and omnivores.
A plant-based diet has been associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular (CV) diseases. This study aimed to determine the levels and correlations of CV-related biomarkers and the beneficial role of dietary habits. ⋯ Our results suggest that vegetarians have an elevated level of L-Car, which might be associated with endogenous biosynthesis and diet composition. Circulating L-Car might play an important role in CV protection, especially in vegetarians.
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Multicenter Study
Non-interventional, retrospective data of long-term home parenteral nutrition in patients with benign diseases: Analysis of a nurse register (SERECARE).
The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of home parenteral nutrition (HPN) service in patients with benign chronic intestinal failure (CIF). ⋯ The use of a structured register has proved to be a key strategy for monitoring the outcomes of long-term treatment, improving time efficiency, and preventing potential malpractice. To our knowledge, this is the largest survey ever documented; the results were consistent despite the heterogeneity of the centers because of duly applied standard rules and protocols.
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Alterations in amino acid and protein metabolism-particularly in skeletal muscle-are a key feature of cancer that contributes to the cachexia syndrome. Thus, skeletal muscle protein turnover is characterized by an exacerbated rate of protein degradation, promoted by an activation of different proteolytic systems that include the ubiquitin-proteasome and the autophagic-lysosomal pathways. These changes are promoted by both hormonal alterations and inflammatory mediators released as a result of the systemic inflammatory response induced by the tumor. ⋯ Different inflammatory mediators-either released by the tumor or by the patient's healthy cells-are responsible for the activation of these catabolic processes that take place in skeletal muscle and in other tissues/organs, such as liver or adipose tissues. Indeed, white adipose tissue is also subject to extensive wasting and "browning" of some of the white adipocytes into beige cells; therefore increasing the energetic inefficiency of the patient with cancer. Recently, an interest in the role of micromRNAs-either free or transported into exosomes-has been related to the events that take place in white adipose tissue during cancer cachexia.
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Intake of antioxidants may reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D) by reducing oxidative stress. However, it is unclear whether dietary non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity (NEAC), which represents the cumulative action of dietary antioxidants and their synergistic effects in foods, is associated with decreased T2D risk. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between dietary NEAC and T2D. ⋯ This finding suggests that dietary NEAC may not be appreciably associated with T2D in Japanese adults.