EVIDENT 3 study: A randomized, controlled clinical trial to reduce inactivity and caloric intake in sedentary and overweight or obese people using a smartphone application study protocol

FUNDAMENTOS: La tecnología móvil, cuando se incluye dentro de las intervenciones de componentes múltiples, podría contribuir a una pérdida de peso más efectiva. El objetivo de este proyecto es evaluar el impacto de añadir el uso de la aplicación EVIDENT 3, diseñada para promover la salud a los hábitos de vida, a las estrategias de modificación tradicionales empleadas para la pérdida de peso. También se evaluarán otras conductas específicas (caminar, ingesta de calorías, tiempo sentado) y resultados (calidad de vida, marcadores inflamatorios, mediciones del envejecimiento arterial). MÉTODOS: Ensayo clínico aleatorio y multicéntrico con 2 grupos paralelos. El estudio se llevará a cabo en el ámbito de la atención primaria e incluirá 700 sujetos de 20 a 65 años, con un índice de masa corporal (27,5-40kg/m2), que están clínicamente clasificados como sedentarios. El resultado primario será la pérdida de peso. Los resultados secundarios incluirán cambios en la forma de caminar (pasos/d), el tiempo de permanencia sentado (min/sem), la ingesta calórica (kcal/d), la calidad de vida, el envejecimiento arterial (índice de aumento) y los niveles de marcadores proinflamatorios. Los resultados se medirán en la línea de base, después de 3 meses y después de 1 año. Los participantes serán asignados aleatoriamente al grupo de intervención (IG) o al grupo de control (CG). Ambos grupos recibirán el asesoramiento tradicional de estilo de vida de atención primaria antes de la asignación al azar. A los sujetos del IG se les prestará un teléfono inteligente y una banda inteligente por un período de 3 meses, correspondiente a la duración de la intervención. La aplicación del EVIDENTE 3 integra la información recogida por la banda inteligente sobre la actividad física y la información autodeclarada por los participantes sobre la ingesta diaria de alimentos. Utilizando esta información, la aplicación genera recomendaciones y objetivos personalizados para la pérdida de peso. DISCUSIÓN: Hay una gran diversidad en las aplicaciones utilizadas obteniendo diferentes resultados en la mejora del estilo de vida y la pérdida de peso. Las poblaciones estudiadas no son homogéneas y generan resultados diferentes. Los resultados de este estudio ayudarán a nuestra comprensión de la eficacia de las nuevas tecnologías, combinadas con el asesoramiento tradicional, para reducir la obesidad y permitir estilos de vida más saludables.INTRODUCTION: Mobile technology, when included within multicomponent interventions, could contribute to more effective weight loss. The objective of this project is to assess the impact of adding the use of the EVIDENT 3 application, designed to promote healthy living habits, to traditional modification strategies employed for weight loss. Other targeted behaviors (walking, caloric-intake, sitting time) and outcomes (quality of life, inflammatory markers, measurements of arterial aging) will also be evaluated. METHODS: Randomized, multicentre clinical trial with 2 parallel groups. The study will be conducted in the primary care setting and will include 700 subjects 20 to 65 years, with a body mass index (27.5–40kg/m2), who are clinically classified as sedentary. The primary outcome will be weight loss. Secondary outcomes will include change in walking (steps/d), sitting time (min/wk), caloric intake (kcal/d), quality of life, arterial aging (augmentation index), and pro-inflammatory marker levels. Outcomes will be measured at baseline, after 3 months, and after 1 year. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the intervention group (IG) or the control group (CG). Both groups will receive the traditional primary care lifestyle counseling prior to randomization. The subjects in the IG will be lent a smartphone and a smartband for a 3-month period, corresponding to the length of the intervention. The EVIDENT 3 application integrates the information collected by the smartband on physical activity and the self-reported information by participants on daily food intake. Using this information, the application generates recommendations and personalized goals for weight loss. DISCUSSION: There is a great diversity in the applications used obtaining different results on lifestyle improvement and weight loss. The populations studied are not homogeneous and generate different results. The results of this study will help our understanding of the efficacy of new technologies, combined with traditional counseling, towards reducing obesity and enabling healthier lifestyles.• Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación y el Instituto de Salud Carlos III/Europa y Fondo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER). Proyectos PI16/00101, PI16/00952, PI16/00765, PI16/00659, PI16/00421, PI16/00170 • Junta de Castilla y León. Ayuda GRS 1277/B/16peerReviewe

Effectiveness of a smartphone application for improving healthy lifestyles, a randomized clinical trial (EVIDENT II) : study protocol

Background: New technologies could facilitate changes in lifestyle and improve public health. However, no large randomized, controlled studies providing scientific evidence of the benefits of their use have been made. The aims of this study are to develop and validate a smartphone application, and to evaluate the effect of adding this tool to a standardized intervention designed to improve adherence to the Mediterranean diet and to physical activity. An evaluation is also made of the effect of modifying habits upon vascular structure and function, and therefore on arterial aging. Methods/Design: A randomized, double-blind, multicenter, parallel group clinical trial will be carried out. A total of 1215 subjects under 70 years of age from the EVIDENT trial will be included. Counseling common to both groups (control and intervention) will be provided on adaptation to the Mediterranean diet and on physical activity. The intervention group moreover will receive training on the use of a smartphone application designed to promote a healthy diet and increased physical activity, and will use the application for three months. The main study endpoints will be the changes in physical activity, assessed by accelerometer and the 7-day Physical Activity Recall (PAR) interview, and adaptation to the Mediterranean diet, as evaluated by an adherence questionnaire and a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Evaluation also will be made of vascular structure and function based on central arterial pressure, the radial augmentation index, pulse velocity, the cardio-ankle vascular index, and carotid intima-media thickness. Discussion: Confirmation that the new technologies are useful for promoting healthier lifestyles and that their effects are beneficial in terms of arterial aging will have important clinical implications, and may contribute to generalize their application in favor of improved population health. Trial registration: Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT0201601

Physical exercise, fitness and dietary pattern and their relationship with circadian blood pressure pattern, augmentation index and endothelial dysfunction biological markers: EVIDENT study protocol

Background: Healthy lifestyles may help to delay arterial aging. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship of physical activity and dietary pattern to the circadian pattern of blood pressure, central and peripheral blood pressure, pulse wave velocity, carotid intima-media thickness and biological markers of endothelial dysfunction in active and sedentary individuals without arteriosclerotic disease. Methods/Design Design: A cross-sectional multicenter study with six research groups. Subjects: From subjects of the PEPAF project cohort, in which 1,163 who were sedentary became active, 1,942 were sedentary and 2,346 were active. By stratified random sampling, 1,500 subjects will be included, 250 in each group. Primary measurements: We will evaluate height, weight, abdominal circumference, clinical and ambulatory blood pressure with the Radial Pulse Wave Acquisition Device (BPro), central blood pressure and augmentation index with Pulse Wave Application Software (A-Pulse) and SphymgoCor System Px (Pulse Wave Analysis), pulse wave velocity (PWV) with SphymgoCor System Px (Pulse Wave Velocity), nutritional pattern with a food intake frequency questionnaire, physical activity with the 7-day PAR questionnaire and accelerometer (Actigraph GT3X), physical fitness with the cycle ergometer (PWC-170), carotid intima-media thickness by ultrasound (Micromax), and endothelial dysfunction biological markers (endoglin and osteoprotegerin). Discussion: Determining that sustained physical activity and the change from sedentary to active as well as a healthy diet improve circadian pattern, arterial elasticity and carotid intima-media thickness may help to propose lifestyle intervention programs. These interventions could improve the cardiovascular risk profile in some parameters not routinely assessed with traditional risk scales. From the results of this study, interventional approaches could be obtained to delay vascular aging that combine physical exercise and diet

Correction : Chaparro et al. Incidence, Clinical Characteristics and Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Spain: Large-Scale Epidemiological Study. J. Clin. Med. 2021, 10, 2885

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...]

Incidence, Clinical Characteristics and Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Spain : Large-Scale Epidemiological Study

(1) Aims: To assess the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Spain, to describe the main epidemiological and clinical characteristics at diagnosis and the evolution of the disease, and to explore the use of drug treatments. (2) Methods: Prospective, population-based nationwide registry. Adult patients diagnosed with IBD-Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC) or IBD unclassified (IBD-U)-during 2017 in Spain were included and were followed-up for 1 year. (3) Results: We identified 3611 incident cases of IBD diagnosed during 2017 in 108 hospitals covering over 22 million inhabitants. The overall incidence (cases/100,000 person-years) was 16 for IBD, 7.5 for CD, 8 for UC, and 0.5 for IBD-U; 53% of patients were male and median age was 43 years (interquartile range = 31-56 years). During a median 12-month follow-up, 34% of patients were treated with systemic steroids, 25% with immunomodulators, 15% with biologics and 5.6% underwent surgery. The percentage of patients under these treatments was significantly higher in CD than UC and IBD-U. Use of systemic steroids and biologics was significantly higher in hospitals with high resources. In total, 28% of patients were hospitalized (35% CD and 22% UC patients, p < 0.01). (4) Conclusion: The incidence of IBD in Spain is rather high and similar to that reported in Northern Europe. IBD patients require substantial therapeutic resources, which are greater in CD and in hospitals with high resources, and much higher than previously reported. One third of patients are hospitalized in the first year after diagnosis and a relevant proportion undergo surgery

Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality

Evaluation of hepatitis C viral RNA persistence in HIV-infected patients with long-term sustained virological response by droplet digital PCR

Several studies have reported the persistence of HCV RNA in liver and/or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in spite of undetectable viremia in patients who have achieved sustained virological response (SVR). This event, defined as occult HCV infection, remains controversial and low titers of persistent virus may be underestimated because it has not yet been analyzed by a highly sensitive test such as droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). This method provides an alternate ultra-sensitive detection technique for very low numbers of copies of viral RNA or DNA. The aim of this study was to evaluate the persistence of HCV in HIV-coinfected patients with long-term SVR using ddPCR. For each patient, the presence of HCV RNA in serum and PBMCs at baseline was determined by nested RT-ddPCR. Patients with HCV RNA in PBMCs at baseline were followed until the end of the study. One hundred and twenty-three patients were analyzed for persistence of HCV RNA in serum and PBMCs. Persistence of HCV was not found in serum in any patient. HCV RNA was detected in PBMCs in one patient (0.81%; 95% CI: 0.04–3.94) and resolved spontaneously during follow-up. Persistence of HCV RNA in PBMCs is not a common event in HIV/HCV co-infected patients with long-term SVR evaluated by RT-ddPCR.This work was supported by the Fundación Progreso y Salud, Consejería de Salud de la Junta de Andalucía (grants for health research projects: refs. PI0036/2010; PI0187/2013), the Ministerio de Sanidad (RD12/0017/0012) integrated in the Plan Nacional de I + D + I, and cofinanced by the ISCIII-Subdirección General de Evaluación and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), the Fundación para la Investigación en Salud (FIS) del Instituto Carlos III (PI15/01017), and the Red de Investigación en SIDA de España ISCIII-RETIC (Grant Number: RD16/0025/0034). A. Rivero Juárez and M. Frías are the recipient of a Miguel Servet and Sara Borrell postdoctoral perfection grants by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades of Spain (CP18/00111) and (CD18/00091), respectively.Peer reviewe

Physical exercise, fitness and dietary pattern and their relationship with circadian blood pressure pattern, augmentation index and endothelial dysfunction biological markers : EVIDENT study protocol

Background: Healthy lifestyles may help to delay arterial aging. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship of physical activity and dietary pattern to the circadian pattern of blood pressure, central and peripheral blood pressure, pulse wave velocity, carotid intima-media thickness and biological markers of endothelial dysfunction in active and sedentary individuals without arteriosclerotic disease. Methods/Design Design: A cross-sectional multicenter study with six research groups. Subjects: From subjects of the PEPAF project cohort, in which 1,163 who were sedentary became active, 1,942 were sedentary and 2,346 were active. By stratified random sampling, 1,500 subjects will be included, 250 in each group. Primary measurements: We will evaluate height, weight, abdominal circumference, clinical and ambulatory blood pressure with the Radial Pulse Wave Acquisition Device (BPro), central blood pressure and augmentation index with Pulse Wave Application Software (A-Pulse) and SphymgoCor System Px (Pulse Wave Analysis), pulse wave velocity (PWV) with SphymgoCor System Px (Pulse Wave Velocity), nutritional pattern with a food intake frequency questionnaire, physical activity with the 7-day PAR questionnaire and accelerometer (Actigraph GT3X), physical fitness with the cycle ergometer (PWC-170), carotid intima-media thickness by ultrasound (Micromax), and endothelial dysfunction biological markers (endoglin and osteoprotegerin). Discussion: Determining that sustained physical activity and the change from sedentary to active as well as a healthy diet improve circadian pattern, arterial elasticity and carotid intima-media thickness may help to propose lifestyle intervention programs. These interventions could improve the cardiovascular risk profile in some parameters not routinely assessed with traditional risk scales. From the results of this study, interventional approaches could be obtained to delay vascular aging that combine physical exercise and diet

EVIDENT 3 Study: A randomized, controlled clinical trial to reduce inactivity and caloric intake in sedentary and overweight or obese people using a smartphone application Study protocol

[eng] Metrics Abstract Introduction: Mobile technology, when included within multicomponent interventions, could contribute to more effective weight loss. The objective of this project is to assess the impact of adding the use of the EVIDENT 3 application, designed to promote healthy living habits, to traditional modification strategies employed for weight loss. Other targeted behaviors (walking, caloric-intake, sitting time) and outcomes (quality of life, inflammatory markers, measurements of arterial aging) will also be evaluated. Methods: Randomized, multicentre clinical trial with 2 parallel groups. The study will be conducted in the primary care setting and will include 700 subjects 20 to 65 years, with a body mass index (27.5-40 kg/m2), who are clinically classified as sedentary. The primary outcome will be weight loss. Secondary outcomes will include change in walking (steps/d), sitting time (min/wk), caloric intake (kcal/d), quality of life, arterial aging (augmentation index), and pro-inflammatory marker levels. Outcomes will be measured at baseline, after 3 months, and after 1 year. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the intervention group (IG) or the control group (CG). Both groups will receive the traditional primary care lifestyle counseling prior to randomization. The subjects in the IG will be lent a smartphone and a smartband for a 3-month period, corresponding to the length of the intervention. The EVIDENT 3 application integrates the information collected by the smartband on physical activity and the self-reported information by participants on daily food intake. Using this information, the application generates recommendations and personalized goals for weight loss. Discussion: There is a great diversity in the applications used obtaining different results on lifestyle improvement and weight loss. The populations studied are not homogeneous and generate different results. The results of this study will help our understanding of the efficacy of new technologies, combined with traditional counseling, towards reducing obesity and enabling healthier lifestyles. Ethics and dissemination: The study was approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of the Health Area of Salamanca ("CREC of Health Area of Salamanca") on April 2016. A SPIRIT checklist is available for this protocol. The trial was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov provided by the US National Library of Medicine-number NCT03175614

Effectiveness of a smartphone application for improving healthy lifestyles, a randomized clinical trial (EVIDENT II) : study protocol

Background: New technologies could facilitate changes in lifestyle and improve public health. However, no large randomized, controlled studies providing scientific evidence of the benefits of their use have been made. The aims of this study are to develop and validate a smartphone application, and to evaluate the effect of adding this tool to a standardized intervention designed to improve adherence to the Mediterranean diet and to physical activity. An evaluation is also made of the effect of modifying habits upon vascular structure and function, and therefore on arterial aging. Methods/Design: A randomized, double-blind, multicenter, parallel group clinical trial will be carried out. A total of 1215 subjects under 70 years of age from the EVIDENT trial will be included. Counseling common to both groups (control and intervention) will be provided on adaptation to the Mediterranean diet and on physical activity. The intervention group moreover will receive training on the use of a smartphone application designed to promote a healthy diet and increased physical activity, and will use the application for three months. The main study endpoints will be the changes in physical activity, assessed by accelerometer and the 7-day Physical Activity Recall (PAR) interview, and adaptation to the Mediterranean diet, as evaluated by an adherence questionnaire and a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Evaluation also will be made of vascular structure and function based on central arterial pressure, the radial augmentation index, pulse velocity, the cardio-ankle vascular index, and carotid intima-media thickness. Discussion: Confirmation that the new technologies are useful for promoting healthier lifestyles and that their effects are beneficial in terms of arterial aging will have important clinical implications, and may contribute to generalize their application in favor of improved population health. Trial registration: Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT0201601