Mediterranean diet and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: the need of extended and comprehensive interventions.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is mostly related to increased BMI and sedentary life, even if it not directly attributable only to these or to single specific factors. Unhealthy lifestyle and obesity are the most probable causes, also in non-diabetic and without alcohol abuse patients, even if lean individuals can be involved. NAFLD treatment is currently warranted and driven by comprehensive lifestyle intervention, a valuable objective that is more often wished for than actually achieved. The aim is to re-assess the effectiveness of an intervention focused to increase the Adherence to Mediterranean Diet Score (AMDS) and the level of physical exercise, investigating the factors associated with failure and reporting the time that must elapse before such intervention becomes effective. METHODS: The study included 90 (F 46, M 44) non-alcoholic non-diabetic patients, aged 50.13 ± 13.68 years, BMI 31.01 ± 5.18 with evidence of fatty liver by ultrasound. RESULTS: A significant decrease of Bright Liver Score (BLS) was observed only after 6 months of intervention: differently, at the first and third month of monitoring fatty liver changes were still not significant. By a multiple linear regression model Adherence to Mediterranean Diet change (p:0.015) and body mass index changes (p:<0.0001) independently explain the variance of decrease of fatty liver involvement (R2 = 0.519; p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Adherence to Mediterranean Diet is a significant predictor of changes in the fat content of the liver in overweight patients with NAFLD. The effect of the diet is gradual and favorable and it is independent of other lifestyle changes.

Renal resistive index and parathyroid hormone relationship with renal function in nondiabetic patients.

INTRODUCTION: The renal resistive index (RRI) reflects intrarenal vascular resistance and stiffness, which are associated with chronic kidney disease. The links connecting renal function, intrarenal arterial resistance, and parathyroid hormone (PTH) with hypertension and metabolic factors remain elusive. The aim of this study is to investigate the possible relationship of RRI with glomerular filtration rate, PTH, hypertension, obesity (body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio), bioelectrical impedance analysis in body composition assessment, serum lipids, and insulin resistance assessed by homoeostasis model insulin resistance index. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study was carried out on 387 (246 women, 141 men) nondiabetic patients, between >25 and <75 years, referred to an Internal Medicine Clinic and Day Hospital for essential hypertension, overweightness-obesity, and/or dyslipidemia. Lower salt/lower calorie Mediterranean diet, physical activity increase, smoking withdrawal, and lifestyle counseling, provided by a health psychologist support, were prescribed. RESULTS: Higher hypertension risk, present in 42.5% of the overall group of eligible patients (164/387), is associated with high PTH and high RRI, along with greater renal insufficiency, insulin resistance, and obesity. There is a straight linear relationship of RRI to PTH (0.202; p=0.009) in arterial hypertension, which is not observed in normal blood pressure patients. By gender-adjusted multiple linear regression analysis, it was found that fat mass, waist-to-hip ratio, and PTH account significantly for 62.3% of the variance to RRI in hypertensive patients. CONCLUSION: Increased arterial stiffness and intrarenal arterial resistance are associated with higher PTH in arterial hypertension; obesity (defined by greater fat mass and waist-to-hip ratio) and PTH are the independent conditions that account significantly for higher RRI.

Adenovirus-36 seropositivity enhances effects of nutritional intervention on obesity, bright liver, and insulin resistance.

BACKGROUND: Obesity and liver steatosis are both currently attributed to inappropriate lifestyle and nutrition. Higher prevalence of human adenovirus Ad36 seropositivity (Ad36+) is reported only in obesity. AIMS: To investigate whether a lifestyle-nutritional intervention achieves different outcomes in NAFLD patients, i.e., if is blunted or enhanced according to Ad36 seropositivity status. METHODS: One-year nutritional intervention was planned and accomplished for 62 non-alcoholic fatty liver disease overweight-obese patients, studied by liver ultrasound, evaluating Bright Liver Score (BLS), by Homeostatic Model assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA), by body composition and Ad36+ assay. Lower salt/lower calories Mediterranean diet, physical activity increase, smoking withdrawal and lifestyle counseling, provided by a health psychologist, were given. RESULTS: Ad36 seropositive patients have baseline greater BMI with the same level of BLS. Different prevalence of post-interventional response, significantly greater among Ad36+ patients, is observed: greater decrease of obesity, assessed by BMI, greater reduction of insulin resistance, assessed by HOMA and higher prevalence of bright liver disappearance. A BMI-adjusted multiple linear regression model explains significantly 23.8% (p < 0.04) of the variance; significant predictive variables are Ad36 seropositivity (p < 0.012) and fat mass loss (p < 0.011) accounting for the variance of the occurrence of bright liver disappearance. CONCLUSIONS: Ad36 previous infection is significantly associated with enhanced weight loss, bright liver disappearance, and recovery of insulin sensitivity through the chosen tailored nutritional interventional treatment. Nonetheless, Ad36 seronegative NAFLD patients' fatty liver pattern improves, at a lower extent, also without significant weight loss: an effect of dietary changes profile, Mediterranean diet, not only of lowered food caloric intake, is conceivably operating.

Elective coronary stent patients: preinterventional functional status and clinical-instrumental assessment.

The functional status of ischemic heart disease (IHD) is currently assessed using the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ), a tool for monitoring and predicting the patient's prognosis. Illness perceptions (IP) are associated with IHD behavioral risk factors. The aim of the study was to find whether different IP, as evaluated by the IP Questionnaire (IPQr), can predict any of the features of the SAQ, i.e., to determine whether the SAQ is influenced and/or biased by illness perceptions. Moreover, whether New York Heart Association class and Ejection Fraction (EF%) are predictors of IHD severity measured as need of subsequent stenting procedures was also assessed. Eighty IHD patients eligible for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and drug-eluting stent implant were asked to complete the IPQr and the SAQ. Laboratory analyses, echocardiography, and coronary diagnostic and interventional procedures were performed concurrently. Physical limitations of the SAQ are predicted by IPQr emotional representation. Ischemic heart disease functional status is regulated by illness perceptions and beliefs. Thus, some of the inferences drawn from the SAQ regarding IHD prognosis and even interventional indications may be biased and compromise the prognostic reliability of the SAQ information on physical function. This can also have consequences for therapeutic indications.