Effects of Mediterranean diet in patients with recurring colds and frequent complications.

INTRODUCTION: In recent years, traditional diets enriched with fresh plant-based foods have been gradually abandoned, increasing the consumption of animal foods and highly processed food. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of a nutritional intervention with a Traditional Mediterranean Diet in patients with recurring colds (RC) and frequent inflammatory complications (IC). METHODS: Prospective before-after comparison study of 63 girls and 65 boys aged 1-5 years were included over a year in the nutritional programme "Learning to eat from the Mediterranean". We studied clinical and therapeutic variables and various anthropometric parameters. RESULTS: All the studied indicators (number of catarrhal episodes CB, degree of intensity, emergency and hospital admissions) showed a positive and statistically significant evolution, evidenced from the first weeks of starting treatment, until the end of the year, after which 53.9% of patients had no CB, 25% had only one, and 16.4% had two episodes, compared to the 4.64 episodes on average in the previous year. Antibiotic use decreased by 87.4%, from 3.85±1.27 times/patient/year to 0.49±0.79 (p<0.001). Symptomatic treatment decreased by 56.7%, from 7.03±2.76 to 3.05±1.69 (p<0.001). The satisfaction of the families was very high. The Kidmed index, which assesses the quality of the Mediterranean Diet, increased from 7.8 to 10.9 points. CONCLUSION: The adoption of a Traditional Mediterranean Diet could be a major contribution to the improvement of patients with recurring colds and frequent inflammatory complications.

Mediterranean diet and childhood asthma.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of bronchial hyperreactivity has increased to one-third of the population in developed countries, which requires the adoption of preventive and therapeutic measures. The objective of the present study was to assess the effects of a traditional Mediterranean diet on patients diagnosed with childhood asthma and determine if there is a beneficial effect from this dietary intervention. METHODS: Prospective before-after comparison study of 50 girls and 54 boys aged 1-5 years, who were enrolled in the 1-year programme "Learning to Eat from the Mediterranean", designed to promote the adoption of a traditional Mediterranean diet. We studied the clinical and therapeutic variables and anthropometric measurements. RESULTS: All studied symptomatic indicators (number and intensity of asthmatic attack, infections and hospital admissions) showed a positive and statistically significant evolution of bronchial hyperreactivity from the first weeks of the intervention onwards. Throughout the treatment, 32.2% of patients remained free of crisis, 35.3% of the patients only had one attack throughout the year and 24.9% had two episodes, compared to 4.73 episodes on average in the previous year. The use of inhaled corticosteroids markedly decreased from 3.92 ± 1.61 to 1.11 ± 1.09 times per patient per year (P<0.001) and that of inhaled bronchodilators decreased from 4.14 ± 1.61 to 1.12 ± 1.40 (P<0.001). As a result, the families involved in the programme reported a high level of satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: The adoption of a traditional Mediterranean diet could contribute significantly to the improvement of patients diagnosed with childhood asthma.

Intensive follow-up strategies improve outcomes in nonmetastatic colorectal cancer patients after curative surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: A wide variety of follow-up strategies are used for patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) after curative surgery. The aim of this study is to review the evidence of the impact of different follow-up strategies in patients with nonmetastatic CRC after curative surgery, in relation to overall survival and other outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A systematic search of PubMed, EMBASE, SCOPUS and ISI Web of Knowledge up to June 2014 was carried out. Eligible studies were all randomized clinical trials comparing the effectiveness of different follow-up strategies after curative resection in nonmetastatic CRC. RESULTS: Eleven studies with n = 4055 participants were included in a meta-analysis. A significant improvement in overall survival was observed in patients with more intensive follow-up strategies [hazard ratio = 0.75; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.66-0.86]. A higher probability of detection of asymptomatic recurrences [relative risk (RR) = 2.59; 95% CI 1.66-4.06], curative surgery attempted at recurrences (RR = 1.98; 95% CI 1.51-2.60), survival after recurrences (RR = 2.13; 95% CI 1.24-3.69), and a shorter time in detecting recurrences (mean difference = -5.23 months; 95% CI -9.58 to -0.88) was observed in the intervention group. There were no significant differences in the total tumor recurrences, nor in the mortality related to disease. CONCLUSION: Intensive follow-up strategies improve overall survival, increase the detection of asymptomatic recurrences and curative surgery attempted at recurrence, and are associated with a shorter time in detecting recurrences. This more intensive follow-up could not be associated with an improvement in cancer-specific survival nor with an increased detection of total tumor recurrences. Follow-up with serum carcinoembryonic antigen and colonoscopies are related to an increase in overall survival.

Undernutrition upregulates fumarate hydratase in the rat nucleus accumbens.

Previous comparative studies of fumarate hydratase (FH) protein density revealed that the enzyme was overexpressed in the striatum of rodents that are less influenced by rewarding stimuli, from cocaine to food. Therefore, we recently proposed FH as a potential striatal biomarker of brain reward deficiency and addiction vulnerability. This work has been focused to investigate FH activity in the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc) of undernourished rats, taking into account that malnutrition has been related to increased responsiveness to food and drug reward. To this end, we have studied adult female Wistar rats severely food restricted from the 16th day of intrauterine life until adulthood. Animals were sacrificed to dissect the NAc and obtain mitochondrial and cytosolic fractions after homogenisation and centrifugation. FH activity was measured by conversion of malate to fumarate, and protein levels were compared by Western blot analysis when fractions showed differences in activity. Undernutrition did not change cytosolic FH activity but led to a marked increase of mitochondrial FH activity (72 %) and protein content (50 %) in the NAc. This change was in the opposite direction that one would predict if it was related to addiction vulnerability of some kind, but strongly suggests that mitochondrial FH needs to be at some optimal level for normal reward responsiveness.

[Hyperglycerolemia, a pseudo-hypertriglyceridemia: a case report]. / Hiperglicerolemia, una seudohipertrigliceridemia: a propósito de un niño de 6 años de edad.

Recent recommendations from the National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults, considered that an increase in serum triglyceride levels is an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease. Most enzymatic methods used in routine laboratories do not involve a glycerol blank and determine both glycerol and triglycerides. Patients with glycerol-kinase deficiency or decreased ability to oxidize glycerol may be diagnosed with a pseudo-hypertriglyceridemia. We report a case of a child with a pseudo hypertriglyceridemia (falsely elevated triglycerides) due to a hyperglycerolemia.

Transient c-fos expression accompanies naturally occurring cell death in the developing interhemispheric cortex of the rat.

We have searched for the possible correlation of naturally occurring cell death with spontaneously enhanced c-fos expression in the developing cerebral cortex of normal Wistar albino rats. During the late prenatal and early postnatal period, cells with irregular contours and intracytoplasmic electron-dense granules (granule-containing cells) were apparent in the interhemispheric cortex, including the anterior cingulate and the retrosplenial cortices. These cells were loosely packed within the cortical layers derived from the cortical plate. Having excluded the possibility that these cells could be phagocytes by immunocytochemical experiments, we propose that they are cells in different phases of a process of autophagic degeneration and death. Images of extreme nuclear pyknosis were also apparent in identical locations. Cells showing immunoreactivity for c-Fos protein appeared in the same cortical areas. The immunoreactive cells were very abundant in the retrosplenial cortex, but were also present in the anterior cingulate cortex. These cells showed markedly irregular contours and large, densely immunoreactive intracytoplasmic inclusions; these images were similar to those of granule-containing cells revealed by conventional stains. The immunoreactivity for c-Fos protein was ephemeral, occurring exclusively during embryonic days 20 and 21, but granule-containing cells were observed for a longer period. The present results provide evidence, albeit indirect, that c-fos expression may occur in certain neural cells at the onset of a process of death by autophagia, and suggest a possible involvement of the proto-oncogene c-fos in certain forms of naturally occurring neuronal death.

Transient expression of c-fos during the development of the rat cerebral cortex.

The present study has explored with immunocytochemical methods the expression of the proto-oncogene c-fos during the pre- and postnatal development of the cerebral cortex of the rat. The immunostaining of the Fos protein follows a strikingly precise spatiotemporal pattern: it occurs uniquely within layer VIb of the developing cerebral cortex, and is transient, lasting only from embryonic day 20 until postnatal day 1. The expression of c-fos in layer VIb may be related to the dynamic changes that occur at this level during development.

Implication of low level inflammation in the insulin resistance of adipose tissue at late pregnancy.

Insulin resistance is a characteristic of late pregnancy, and adipose tissue is one of the tissues that most actively contributes to the reduced maternal insulin sensitivity. There is evidence that pregnancy is a condition of moderate inflammation, although the physiological role of this low-grade inflammation remains unclear. The present study was designed to validate whether low-grade inflammation plays a role in the development of insulin resistance in adipose tissue during late pregnancy. To this end, we analyzed proinflammatory adipokines and kinases in lumbar adipose tissue of nonpregnant and late pregnant rats at d 18 and 20 of gestation. We found that circulating and tissue levels of adipokines, such as IL-1ß, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, and TNF-α, were increased at late pregnancy, which correlated with insulin resistance. The observed increase in adipokines coincided with an enhanced activation of p38 MAPK in adipose tissue. Treatment of pregnant rats with the p38 MAPK inhibitor SB 202190 increased insulin-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor (IR) and IR substrate-1 in adipose tissue, which was paralleled by a reduction of IR substrate-1 serine phosphorylation and an enhancement of the metabolic actions of insulin. These results indicate that activation of p38 MAPK in adipose tissue contributes to adipose tissue insulin resistance at late pregnancy. Furthermore, the results of the present study support the hypothesis that physiological low-grade inflammation in the maternal organism is relevant to the development of pregnancy-associated insulin resistance.