Effects of a combined intervention with a lentil protein hydrolysate and a mixed training protocol on the lipid metabolism and hepatic markers of NAFLD in Zucker rats.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of metabolic alterations characterized by central obesity, dyslipidemia, elevated plasma glucose, insulin resistance (IR) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In this study, a combined intervention of a lentil protein hydrolysate and a mixed training protocol was assessed in an animal experimental model of genetic obesity and metabolic syndrome. Thirty-two male obese and 32 lean Zucker rats were divided into eight different experimental groups. Rats performed a mixed exercise protocol or had a sedentary lifestyle and were administered a lentil protein hydrolysate or placebo. Daily food intake, weekly body weight gain, plasma parameters of glucose and lipid metabolisms, body composition, hepatic weight, total fat content and fatty acid profile, as well as gene expression of lipogenic and lipolytic nuclear transcription factors and their target genes were measured. Obese Zucker rats exhibited higher body and liver weight and fat content than did their lean counterparts. Such alterations were related to modifications in aerobic capacity, plasma biochemical parameters of glucose and lipid metabolisms, hepatic fatty acid profile and gene expression of nuclear transcription factors SREBP1c, PPARα, LXR and associated lipogenic and lipolytic enzymes. The interventions tested did not affect body weight gain but improved aerobic capacity, reduced hepatomegalia and steatosis associated with NAFLD and relieved the adverse effects produced by this condition in glucose and lipid metabolisms through the modulation in the expression of different genes involved in diverse metabolic pathways.

A Multisite, Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial of Computerized Cognitive Remediation Therapy for Schizophrenia.

The effectiveness of cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) for the neuropsychological deficits seen in schizophrenia is supported by meta-analysis. However, a recent methodologically rigorous trial had negative findings. In this study, 130 chronic schizophrenic patients were randomly assigned to computerized CRT, an active computerized control condition (CC) or treatment as usual (TAU). Primary outcome measures were 2 ecologically valid batteries of executive function and memory, rated under blind conditions; other executive and memory tests and a measure of overall cognitive function were also employed. Carer ratings of executive and memory failures in daily life were obtained before and after treatment. Computerized CRT was found to produce improvement on the training tasks, but this did not transfer to gains on the primary outcome measures and most other neuropsychological tests in comparison to either CC or TAU conditions. Nor did the intervention result in benefits on carer ratings of daily life cognitive failures. According to this study, computerized CRT is not effective in schizophrenia. The use of both active and passive CCs suggests that nature of the control group is not an important factor influencing results.