The beneficial effect of tart cherry on plasma levels of inflammatory mediators (not recovery after exercise) : A systematic review and meta-analysis on randomized clinical trials

Funding Information: This systematic review and meta-analysis was financially supported by Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences (Grant number: 1400-04-100 ). We are extremely grateful to the data collection team at the Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Under- and overreporting of energy in a group of candidates for CABG surgery and its association with some anthropometric and sociodemographic factors, Tehran, Iran

Bahareh Amirkalali1, Mehdi Najafi2, Asal Ataie-Jafari1, Saeed Hosseini1, Ramin Heshmat11Nutrition Department, The Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Centre (EMRC) of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran; 2Tehran Heart Center, Tehran, IranIntroduction: Numerous studies have documented a high prevalence of misreporting energy intakes. This paper examines the prevalence of under- and overreporting of energy intake in a group of candidates for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and its association with body mass index (BMI) and some sociodemographic factors.Subjects and methods: Dietary assessment (using a food frequency questionnaire) and demographic evaluation of 449 CABG surgery candidates was performed. Weight and height was also measured. McCrory equation was used to identify inaccurate records of energy intake. With this equation, reporting energy intake less than 78% and more than 122% of predicted energy expenditure was considered as under- and overreporting, respectively.Results: Less than half of the participants reported energy intakes within the plausible limits. There were more overreporters than underreporters in this sample. The only significant association between misreporting and related factors was seen in BMI groups. As BMI increased, the number of underreporters increased significantly. Expressed as a percentage of total energy, mean carbohydrate intake was significantly lower and mean fat and protein intake was significantly higher in underreporters compared to overreporters.Conclusion: The high prevalence of misreporting suggests more research to examine the characteristics of misreporters. Calibrating data with these characteristics can help to improve intake estimates.Keywords: underreporting, overreporting, energy intake, CABG candidate

A population-based prospective study on obesity-related non-communicable diseases in northern Iran: rationale, study design, and baseline analysis

BackgroundIran is facing an epidemiological transition with the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases, such as obesity-related disorders and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). We conducted a population-based prospective study to assess the prevalence and incidence rates of CVDs and obesity-related metabolic disorders and to evaluate the predictive ability of various CVD risk assessment tools in an Iranian population.MethodWe enrolled 5,799 participants in Amol, a city in northern Iran, in 2009–2010 and carried out the first repeated measurement (RM) after seven years (2016–2017). For all participants, demographic, anthropometric, laboratory, hepatobiliary imaging, and electrocardiography data have been collected in the enrollment and the RM. After enrollment, all participants have been and will be followed up annually for 20 years, both actively and passively.ResultsWe adopted a multidisciplinary approach to overcome barriers to participation and achieved a 7-year follow-up success rate of 93.0% with an active follow-up of 5,394 participants aged 18–90 years. In the RM, about 64.0% of men and 81.2% of women were obese or overweight. In 2017, about 16.2% and 5.2% of men had moderate or severe non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, while women had a significantly higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome (35.9%), and type 2 diabetes mellitus (20.9%) than men. Of 160 deceased participants, 69 cases (43.1%) died due to CVDs over seven years.ConclusionThe most prevalent obesity-related chronic disease in the study was metabolic syndrome. Across the enrollment and RM phases, women exhibited a higher prevalence of obesity-related metabolic disorders. Focusing on obesity-related metabolic disorders in a population not represented previously and a multidisciplinary approach for enrolling and following up were the strengths of this study. The study outcomes offer an evidence base for future research and inform policies regarding non-communicable diseases in northern Iran

Comparison of harris benedict and Mifflin-ST Jeor equations with indirect calorimetry in evaluating resting energy expenditure

Background: An understanding of energy expenditure in hospitalized patients is necessary to determine optimal energy supply. The metabolic rate can be measured or estimated by equations, but estimation is by far the most common method. Aim: This study tests the degree of agreement between measured resting energy expenditure by indirect calorimetry and predicted resting energy expenditure by Harris Benedict and Mifflin-St Jeor equations. Patients were categorized according to sex and diagnosis. Settings and Design: Cross-sectional study. Materials and Methods: In 60 randomly selected patients, aged between 18 and 83 years, resting energy expenditure (REE) was measured by indirect calorimetry and compared with the predicted equations of Harris Benedict and Mifflin-St Jeor. Statistical Analysis: Statistical analysis was performed by using the method of Bland-Altman, one sample t-test and Pearson′s correlation. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between measured and predicted resting energy expenditure by both equations, in all cases as a whole and each group. The only statistically significant difference was seen between measured resting energy expenditure and its predicted equivalent by Mifflin-St equation when patients were categorized according to their sex. Limits of agreements were wide for both equations in all cases and each category so clinical significance was considerable. Conclusions: At a group level Harris-Benedict equation is suitable for predicting REE but at an individual level, both equations have wide limits of agreement and clinically important differences in REE would be obtained

A systematic review and meta-analysis of almond effect on C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 in adults

Background: The previous articles have shown that the almond might reduce the serum concentration of inflammatory mediators. Therefore, the studies reported in this article aimed to assess the almond effect on serum concentration of C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in adults. Method and materials: To find the related English-language studies, an electronic search was run in databases including Web of Science, PubMed, SCOPUS, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Cochrane library with no time limit (up to August 2022). The effect sizes were calculated based on the mean changes for both intervention and comparison groups. DerSimonian and Laird random-effects model was used to determine the summary of overall effects and their heterogeneity. Cochran's Q test and I-squared statistic were used to explore the statistical heterogeneity. Results: In total, eleven studies were included in this study. The overall estimate indicated that the almond consumption had no significant effect on serum CRP level (weighted mean difference (WMD) = −0.28 mg/l, 95 % confidence interval (CI): − 0.81, 0.25; p = 0.29). Regarding IL-6, almond consumption significantly decreased serum IL-6 level (WMD = −0.1 pg/ml, 95 % CI: −0.15, −0.05; p < 0.001). Conclusion: The overall results support the beneficial effects of almond consumption on serum concentration of IL-6; but even so, our study revealed that the almond consumption non-significantly reduced serum concentration of CRP. We still need more well-designed trials to confirm the beneficial effects of almond

Erythrocyte membrane fatty acid profile & serum cytokine levels in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Background & objectives: Fatty acids may affect the expression of genes, and this process is influenced by sex hormones. Cytokines are involved in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), so this study was aimed to assess the association of erythrocyte membrane fatty acids with three cytokines and markers of hepatic injury in NAFLD patients and to explore whether these associations were the same in both sexes. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 62 consecutive patients (32 men and 30 women) with NAFLD during the study period. Tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase were measured in a fasting serum sample, and Fibroscan was conducted for each individual. Gas chromatography was used to measure erythrocyte membrane fatty acids. Univariate and multiple linear regressions were used to analyze data. Results: In men, IL-6 had a significant (P <0.05) positive association with total ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). In women, TNF-α had a significant positive association with total ω-3 (P <0.05) and ω-6 (P <0.01) PUFAs, IL-6 had a significant (P <0.05) positive association with total monounsaturated fatty acids and MCP-1 had a significant positive association with total trans-fatty acids (P <0.05). No significant associations were observed between erythrocyte membrane fatty acids and liver enzymes or Fibroscan report in both sexes. In this study, women were significantly older than men [51 (42.75-55) vs 35.5 (29-52), P <0.01], so the associations were adjusted for age and other confounders. Interpretation & conclusions: Erythrocyte membrane fatty acid profile was not associated with serum liver enzymes or Fibroscan reports in NAFLD patients, but it had significant associations with serum TNF-α, IL-6 and MCP-1 and these associations were probably sex dependent