Fluid Intake and Beverage Consumption Description and Their Association with Dietary Vitamins and Antioxidant Compounds in Italian Adults from the Mediterranean Healthy Eating, Aging and Lifestyles (MEAL) Study

The aim of the present study was to investigate the total water intake (TWI) from drinks and foods and to evaluate the correlation between the different types of drinks on energy and antioxidant intake. The cohort comprised 1602 individuals from the city of Catania in Southern Italy. A food frequency questionnaire was administered to assess dietary and water intake. The mean total water intake was 2.7 L; more than about two thirds of the sample met the European recommendations for water intake. Water and espresso coffee were the most consumed drinks. Alcohol beverages contributed about 3.0% of total energy intake, and sugar sweetened beverages contributed about 1.4%. All antioxidant vitamins were significantly correlated with TWI. However, a higher correlation was found for water from food rather than water from beverages, suggesting that major food contributors to antioxidant vitamin intake might be fruits and vegetables, rather than beverages other than water. A mild correlation was found between fruit juices and vitamin C; coffee, tea and alcohol, and niacin and polyphenols; and milk and vitamin B12. The findings from the present study show that our sample population has an adequate intake of TWI and that there is a healthy association between beverages and dietary antioxidants

Association between Dietary Phenolic Acids and Hypertension in a Mediterranean Cohort

Background: Certain foods rich in phenolic acids have been shown to reduce the risk of hypertension, but evidence from epidemiological studies focused on dietary phenolic acid intake is scarce. The aim of this study was to determine the association between dietary phenolic acid intake, as well as their major food sources, and hypertension in a Mediterranean cohort. Methods: Demographic and dietary data of 2044 adults living in Southern Italy were collected. Food frequency questionnaires and Phenol-Explorer were used to calculate dietary intake of polyphenols. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to test associations. Results: The mean intake of total phenolic acids in the cohort was 362.6 mg/day. Individuals in the highest quartile of phenolic acid intake (median intake = 522.2 mg/day) were less likely to have hypertension (OR (odds ratio) = 0.68, 95% CI (confidence interval): 0.46, 1.00). When taking into account individual subclasses of phenolic acids, only hydroxyphenylacetic acid was inversely associated with hypertension (highest vs. lowest quartile, OR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.40, 0.96). Among dietary sources of phenolic acids considered in the analysis, only beer was significantly inversely associated with hypertension (highest vs. lowest quartile, OR = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.15, 0.68). Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that dietary phenolic acids may be inversely associated with hypertension, irrespectively of their dietary source

INVERSE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CHOROIDAL THICKNESS AND RENAL RESISTANCE INDEX IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

Introduction: Alterations of the renal microcirculation have been documented in animal models of hypertensive renal damage. Traditionally, the retina has been considered the easiest accessible window to study the systemic microcirculation, even though the choroid is the most important vascular layer of the eye. The introduction in the past few years of advanced optical coherence tomography (OCT) techniques has greatly increased our understanding of the choroid. Although the renal resistive index (RRI) was initially considered to reflect intrarenal vascular pathological processes, this index is actually regarded as the result of complex interaction between renal and systemic vascular wall properties and hemodynamic factors, and it is endowed with prognostic implications.Aim: To analyse the relationships between choroidal thickness (CT) and RRI in a group of hypertensive patients. Methods: We enrolled 66 nondiabetic essential hypertensives (67% men; mean age: 52 ± 12 years), consecutively attending our Hypertension Centre. Results: The glomerular filtration rate (GFR) estimated by the CKD-EPI equation was 78 ± 2 ml/min/1.73 m2, and the RRI 0.64 ± 0.07. Splitting the study population into 2 groups on the basis of the 75th percentile of the distribution of RRI, we found lower choroidal thickness in the group with greater values of RRI (all p.001; Figure 3). We observed also significant inverse correlations between CT and RRI, that held even after adjustment for GFR, age and gender (Table 3). Conclusions: Our findings confirm the close relationships between changes in the ocular microcirculation and renal dysfunction and suggest that intrarenal hemodynamic alterations are involved in these relationships