The association between enteral nutrition with survival of critical patients with COVID‐19

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) results in several complications and mortality in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Limited studies have investigated the effect of enteral nutrition (EN) on the survival of COVID‐19 patients in the ICU. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of EN with biochemical and pathological indices associated with mortality in ICU patients with COVID‐19. Methods: This case–control study was conducted on 240 patients with COVID‐19 hospitalized in the ICU including 120 eventual nonsurvived as the cases and 120 survived patients as the controls. All of the patients received EN as a high protein high volume or standard formula. Data on general information, anthropometric measurements, and the results of lab tests were collected. Results: The recovered patients received significantly more high protein (60.8% vs. 39.6%, p = .004) and high volume (61.6% vs. 42.3%, p = .005) formula compared to the nonsurvived group. Mortality was inversely associated with high volume (odds ratio [OR]: 0.45 confidence interval [CI]95%, p = .008) and high protein (OR: 0.42 CI95%, p = .003) formula. The results remained significant after adjusting for age and sex. Further adjustment for underlying diseases, smoking, body mass index, and the acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) score did not change the results. Conclusion: The findings of the study showed that there was a significant inverse association between mortality and high volume and high protein formula in patients with COVID‐19. Further investigation is warranted

Naturally nutrient rich (NNR) score and the risk of colorectal cancer: a case-control study

Background The association between colorectal cancer (CRC) and nutrients has been studied frequently. However, the association of nutrient density of diets with the risk of CRC has been less studied. This study aimed to investigate the association between CRC and naturally nutrient rich (NNR) score in Iranian adults.Method This case-control study included 160 patients with colorectal cancer and 320 controls aged 35–70 years in Tehran, Iran. Dietary intake was assessed using a 168-item food frequency questionnaire. The NNR score was obtained by calculating the average daily value of 14 nutrients including protein, vitamins A, C, D, E, B1, B2, B12, calcium, zinc, iron, folate, potassium and unsaturated fatty acids.Results Regarding dietary intake of the components of NNR score, the case group had a lower intake of polyunsaturated fat (15.41±4.44 vs 16.54±4.20 g/day, p=0.01), vitamin E (10.15±4.16 vs 13.1±5.33; p=0.001), vitamin B1 (2±0.86 vs 2.19±0.84 mg/day, p=0.03) and folate (516.45±96.59 vs 571.05±80.31; p=0.001) and a higher intake of oleic acid (8.21±5.46 vs 5.59±3.17 g/day, p=0.01) compared with the control group. Colorectal cancer risk was inversely associated with the NNR score after adjusting for the confounders (OR 0.92; 95% CI 0.88 to 0.97; p=0.03).Conclusion Low NNR scores may be linked to CRC. If confirmed by future longitudinal research, this result may help prevent CRC by recommending nutrient-rich diets