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Topic Review
Consensus on the Prevention of Vitamin D Deficiency
Vitamin D is crucial for musculoskeletal health, as it plays an important role in the regulation of bone and mineral metabolism, and it can prevent and cure nutritional rickets and osteomalacia. In addition, vitamin D receptor (VDR) expression in almost all human cells suggests, or even documents, a more widespread role of vitamin D for overall health, a notion that is supported by several experimental and epidemiological studies. While there still exist knowledge gaps and controversy regarding potential extra-skeletal effects of vitamin D, there is a wide consensus that the high worldwide prevalence of vitamin D deficiency is of concern and requires actions to improve this situation.
  • 684
  • 22 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Oleic Acid in Gut-Liver Axis
Oleic acid is not an essential fatty acid since it can be endogenously synthesized in humans. Stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) is the enzyme responsible for oleic acid production and, more generally, for the synthesis of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA). The saturated to monounsaturated fatty acid ratio affects the regulation of cell growth and differentiation, and alteration in this ratio has been implicated in a variety of diseases, such as liver dysfunction and intestinal inflammation. 
  • 683
  • 31 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Dietary Fibers in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are chronic, progressive, immune-mediated diseases of the intestinal tract. The main subtypes of IBDs are Chron’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). The etiology is still unclear, but there are genetic, environmental and host-related factors that contribute to the development of these diseases. Literature has shown that dietary therapy is the cornerstone of IBD treatment in terms of management of symptoms, relapse and care of the pathology. IBD patients show that microbiota dysbiosis and diet, especially dietary fiber, can modulate its composition. These patients are more at risk of energy protein malnutrition than the general population and are deficient in micronutrients. So far, no dietary component is considered responsible for IBD and there is not a specific therapeutic diet for it. 
  • 682
  • 02 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Effect of Spirulina Supplementation
Spirulina is a microalga that presents various important pro-health properties, for instance lowering blood pressure in the research. The study aims to appraise the efficacy of Spirulina administration on systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were retrieved by a systematic search of PubMed, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library databases from inception to June 2021 according to a standardized protocol. The effect size of each study was counted from mean and standard deviation before and after the intervention and shown as Un-standardized mean difference and 95% confidence interval. Sensitivity analyses were performed. Meta-analysis on 5 RCTs with 230 subjects was eligible. The amount of Spirulina ranged from 1 to 8 g per day, and intervention durations ranged from 2 to 12 weeks. Data analysis indicated that Spirulina supplementation led to a significant lowering of SBP (Mean Difference (MD): −4.59 mmHg, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): −8.20 to −0.99, I square statistic (I2) = 65%) and significant lowering of DBP (MD: −7.02 mmHg, CI: −8.86 to −5.18, I2 = 11%), particularly in a subgroup of hypertensive patients. Spirulina administration might have a supportive effect on the prevention and treatment of hypertension. More exact randomized controlled trials are needed to clarify the effect of Spirulina supplementation on blood pressure.
  • 681
  • 22 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Probiotics in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Prebiotics are food substances that the organism does not digest and which, once they reach the colon, favor the growth of bacterial species of the microbiota considered to produce beneficial effects for the human organism. Among the main benefits are improvement in intestinal motility, both in terms of frequency and of volume; reduction in LDL cholesterol and blood triglycerides; contribution to the synthesis of folic acid; improvement in the immunological function; and, thanks to butyric acid, a reduction in the risk of malignant tumors.
  • 679
  • 11 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Mitochondrial Dysfunction in the Brain
Inadequate energy production from mitochondria in neurons can lead to suboptimal signal transmission within the brain and other peripheral organs involved in energy homeostasis.
  • 679
  • 17 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Vitamin D Signaling
The vitamin D metabolite 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 is the natural, high-affinity ligand of the transcription factor vitamin D receptor (VDR). In many tissues and cell types, VDR binds in a ligand-dependent fashion to thousands of genomic loci and modulates, via local chromatin changes, the expression of hundreds of primary target genes. Thus, the epigenome and transcriptome of VDR-expressing cells is directly affected by vitamin D. Vitamin D target genes encode for proteins with a large variety of physiological functions, ranging from the control of calcium homeostasis, innate and adaptive immunity, to cellular differentiation.
  • 678
  • 12 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Obesity and Wound Healing
Chronic wounds represent nowadays a major challenge for both clinicians and researchers in the regenerative setting. Obesity represents one of the major comorbidities in patients affected by chronic ulcers and therefore diverse studies aimed at assessing possible links between these two morbid conditions are currently ongoing. In particular, adipose tissue has recently been described as having metabolic and endocrine functions rather than serving as a mere fat storage deposit. In this setting, adipose-derived stem cells, a peculiar subset of mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) located in adipose tissue, have been demonstrated to possess regenerative and immunological functions with a key role in regulating both adipocyte function and skin regeneration.
  • 678
  • 24 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Nutrients and Pathways Regulate Health
Both life span and health span are influenced by genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors. With the genetic influence on human life span estimated to be about 20–25%, epigenetic changes play an important role in modulating individual health status and aging. Thus, a main part of life expectance and healthy aging is determined by dietary habits and nutritional factors. Excessive or restricted food consumption have direct effects on health status. Moreover, some dietary interventions including a reduced intake of dietary calories without malnutrition, or a restriction of specific dietary component may promote health benefits and decrease the incidence of aging-related comorbidities, thus representing intriguing potential approaches to improve healthy aging. However, the relationship between nutrition, health and aging is still not fully understood as well as the mechanisms by which nutrients and nutritional status may affect health span and longevity in model organisms. The broad effect of different nutritional conditions on health span and longevity occurs through multiple mechanisms that involve evolutionary conserved nutrient-sensing pathways in tissues and organs. These pathways interacting each other include the evolutionary conserved key regulators mammalian target of rapamycin, AMP-activated protein kinase, insulin/insulin-like growth factor 1 pathway and sirtuins.
  • 677
  • 10 Dec 2020
Topic Review
5-10-Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase
The 5-10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) enzyme is vital for cellular homeostasis due to its key functions in the one-carbon cycle, which include methionine and folate metabolism, and protein, DNA, and RNA synthesis. 
  • 677
  • 14 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Fiber in Health and Disease
The etiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is complex but is thought to be linked to an intricate interaction between the host's immune system, resident gut microbiome and environment, i.e., diet. One dietary component that has a major impact on IBD risk and disease management is fiber. Fiber also has a significant impact on beneficially shaping gut microbiota composition and functional capacity. 
  • 676
  • 08 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Dietary Phosphorus
Phosphorus is one of the essential elements of the human body and is required for a diverse range of processes, such as ATP synthesis, signal transduction, and bone mineralization. Inorganic phosphate (Pi) plays a critical function in many tissues of the body: for example, as part of the hydroxyapatite in the skeleton and as a substrate for ATP synthesis. Pi is the main source of dietary phosphorus. Reduced bioavailability of Pi or excessive losses in the urine causes rickets and osteomalacia. 
  • 676
  • 28 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Applications of Cactus Pear (Opuntia spp.) Peel
Cactus pear is the fruit of the nopal cactus, is native to the arid and semi-arid regions of Mexico and Mesoamerica and has spread to many regions. This fruit is commonly known as cactus pera fruit, prickly pear, tuna (Mexico), higo (Colombia) higo chumbo (Spain), fico d’India, figue de barbarie (France), among others. Cactus pear by-products are rich in bioactive compounds such as phenolics, flavonoids, pigments, fibers, polysaccharides and fatty acids. They can provide many health benefits such as inhibition and protection against free radicals, cytotoxic activity against some cancer cell lines as well as the reduction of atherosclerosis and glycaemia. However, many studies have been performed by using the pear peel for multiple purposes such as for pigment extraction a preservative for margarine, as snacks, a dietary supplement with hypoglycemic properties and in wastewater treatment.
  • 676
  • 25 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Mediterranean Dietary Patterns During Pregnancy
Pregnancy outcomes for both mother and child are affected by many environmental factors. The importance of pregnancy for ‘early life programming’ in the first 1,000 days of life is well established and maternal nutrition is an important factor contributing to a favourable environment for developing offspring. Results show that being on a Mediterranean Diet during pregnancy is associated with favourable outcomes for both maternal and offspring health, particularly for gestational diabetes in mothers and congenital defects in offspring.
  • 674
  • 30 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Skeletal Muscle and Vitamin D
Vitamin D, unlike the micronutrients, vitamins A, E, and K, is largely obtained not from food but by the action of solar ultraviolet light on its precursor, 7-dehydrocholesterol, in skin. With the decline in UV light intensity in winter, most skin production of vitamin D occurs in summer. Since no defined storage organ or tissue has been found for vitamin D, it has been assumed that an adequate vitamin D status in winter can only be maintained by oral supplementation. Skeletal muscle cells have now been shown to provide an extravascular conservation site for 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which cycles between blood and muscle accounting for its long residence time in blood. In winter, this conservation mechanism appears to be upregulated by parathyroid hormone; a process that appears to have evolved to maintain adequate vitamin D status when vitamin D supply falls.
  • 673
  • 17 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Ultra-Processed Food Availability
UPF are described as “processed ingredients typically combined with the sophisticated use of additives to make them edible, palatable and habit forming”.
  • 673
  • 04 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Nutritional Value of Bee Pollen
Bee pollen (BP)’s richness in nutrients, such as proteins, vitamins, minerals, oligo-elements, and unsaturated fatty acids, is certain, along with the fact that it provides a moderate calorie intake as well as a good level of tolerance and safety, except for in the case of allergic reactions or external pollution, which remain manageable and predictable.
  • 673
  • 06 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Nutrition-Based Interventions and Menstrual Cycle
Despite the steady increase in female participation in sport over the last two decades, comprehensive research on interventions attenuating the influence of female menstrual physiology on performance remains scarce. Studies involving eumenorrheic women often only test in one menstrual phase to limit sex hormone variance, which may restrict the application of these findings to the rest of the menstrual cycle. The impacts of nutrition-based interventions on athletic performance throughout the menstrual cycle have not been fully elucidated. We addressed this gap by conducting a focused critical review of clinical studies that reported athletic outcomes as well as menstrual status for healthy eumenorrheic female participants. In total, 1443 articles were identified, and 23 articles were included.
  • 673
  • 08 Jul 2021
Topic Review
The Relationship between Iron and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, including ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), are chronic, relapsing inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Interactions between the environmental factors and commensal intestinal microflora in genetically predisposed individuals are considered the leading cause of an inappropriate immune response and as a result, the development of inflammatory disease. Iron is an indispensable nutrient for life. A lack of it leads to iron deficiency anaemia (IDA), which currently affects about 1.2 billion people worldwide. The primary means of IDA treatment is oral or parenteral iron supplementation. This can be burdened with numerous side effects such as oxidative stress, systemic and local-intestinal inflammation, dysbiosis, carcinogenic processes and gastrointestinal adverse events.
  • 672
  • 15 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Mediterranean Diet on Sleep
The Mediterranean diet is a plant-based, antioxidant-rich, unsaturated fat dietary pattern that has been consistently associated with lower rates of noncommunicable diseases and total mortality, so that it is considered one of the healthiest dietary patterns. Recent studies have demonstrated that another health parameter favorably influenced by the Mediterranean diet is sleep, which is an essential component of life. 
  • 671
  • 01 Aug 2022
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