Therapeutic Effectiveness of Nutrition Therapy in Pediatric Patients with Chronic Liver Diseases Awaiting Liver Transplantation

Abstract It is important to prevent protein/calorie malnutrition in children with end stage liver diseases prior to transplantation. This study involved 34 patients between the ages of 10 and 156 months (mean value 25.69 months 32.2) (13 females and 21 males) on the liver transplant waiting list. Data collected as of three months before transplant and up to ten months after the procedure concerned gender, age, weight, height, Pediatric End Stage Liver Disease Score, baseline pathology, type of nutrition, type of transplant, immunosuppression, pulse steroid therapy, length of stay, and post transplant complications. Linear regression analysis showed that the length of hospital stay was 24.5 days more for females than for males, but also that intensive nutrition therapy shortens this stay for both female patients (P = 0.085) and younger patients (P = 0.023). The study population was divided into two groups according to the different nutritional therapies adopted. The Student’s t-test and Mann-Whitney test evidenced that the group receiving intensive nutrition therapy grew taller compared with the group following an oral diet (mean -1.37 and Prob = 0.043); that females grew taller compared to males (mean -1.65 +/- 0.56); and that there was an increase in height among the children in the group receiving intensive nutrition therapy despite the presence (-1.37 +/- 0.56) or absence (-14.8 +/- 5.44 and Prob = 0.035) of complications, and despite the administration (-1.03 +/- 0.33) or non administration (-1.48 +/- 0.55 and Prob = 0.019) of steroids. Intensive nutrition therapy enhances the velocity of growth in height and shortens the length of hospital stay, thus optimizing the final prognosis of the baseline pathology

Testosterone and aggressiveness.

Aggressiveness is an ancestral behavior common to all animal species. Its neurophysiological mechanisms are similar in all vertebrates. Males are generally more aggressive than females. In this review, aggressive behavior in rodents, monkeys, and man and the role of testosterone and brain serotonin levels have been considered. Interspecifi c aggressiveness in rats has been studied considering the mouse-killing behavior; the neonatal androgenization of females increases adult mousekilling as does the administration of testosterone in adults. Intraspecifi c aggressiveness was studied by putting two or more male rats (or mice) in the same cage; the condition of subjection or dominance is infl uenced by testosterone. In monkeys, testosterone is related to aggressiveness and dominance and, during the mating season, increases in testosterone levels and aggressive attitude are observed. In men, higher testosterone levels were obtained in perpetrators of violent crimes, in men from the army with antisocial behaviors, in subjects with impulsive behaviors, alcoholics and suicidals, in athletes using steroids, and during competitions. Aggressive and dominant behavior are distinguished. Testosterone infl uences both of these, even if man is usually inclined to affi rm his power without causing physical damage. Testosterone receptors are mainly in some hypothalamic neurons, where it is aromatized into estrogens, which determine the increase in aggressiveness. A relation between testosterone levels and diencephalic serotonin has been shown: in fact, the lack of serotonin increases aggressive behaviors both in animals and man. Testosterone also increases ADH levels in the medial amygdala, lateral hypothalamus, and preoptical medial area, involved in aggressive behaviors

The Nutraceutical Properties of Rhus coriaria Linn: Potential Application on Human Health and Aging Biomedicine

: Rhus coriaria Linn is a little plant growing in the Mediterranean basin, including Sicily, where it is known as Sicilian Sumac. Since antiquity, it has been used as a medicinal herb, considering its pharmacological properties and its recognized anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial effects. Multiple studies have highlighted that the beneficial properties of Sumac extracts depend on the abundance of phytochemicals such as polyphenols, fatty acids, minerals, and fibers. Despite its wide use as a spice, the literature on Sumac effects on humans' health and aging is still scarce. Considering its great nutraceutical potential, Sumac could be used to treat age-related diseases such as those in which the inflammatory process plays a crucial role in manifestation and progression. Thus, Sumac could be an interesting new insight in the biomedical field, especially in aging biomedicine

Nutrition, obesity and hormones

Obesity is a chronic pathological condition with a multifactorial aetiology, characterised by an excessive body fat accumulation with multiple organ-specific consequences. Emerging evidence highlights that obesity appears to be associated with multiple alterations in the endocrine system. However, the mechanisms underlying the interactions between obesity and this system remain still controversial. This review discusses the impact of obesity on various endocrine systems and, in particular, would provide a general overview on the biochemical changes that may occur in each of these axes in association with obesity

Reducing Visuospatial Pseudoneglect in Healthy Subjects by Active Video Gaming

Pseudoneglect phenomenon refers to a condition in which healthy subjects tend to perceive the left side of exactly bisected lines as being slightly longer than the right one. However, behavioural data showed that athletes practising an open-skill sport display less pseudoneglect than the general population. Given the fact that so-called exergames (also known as active video games) are platforms designed to fully mimic sport activity, this work intends to investigate whether and how a one-week training period of exergame open-skill sport can determine a similar decrease in pseudoneglect. Fifteen healthy participants (non-athletes) responded to a visuospatial attention task and a control memory task in basal conditions (t0: Pre-game) and after a short period (one week, one hour/day) of tennis exergaming (t1: Post-game). In the Post-game condition, subjects from this experimental group (ExerGame group: EG) reduced leftward space overestimation and made significantly fewer leftward errors compared to the Pre-game condition. Additionally, two other experimental groups were employed: one evaluated within the same conditions of the main experiment but using a non-exergame (Non-Exergame groups: NEG) and the other one without any video game stimulus (Sedentary group: SE). Our findings suggest that daily training of a tennis exergame seems to be able to improve visuospatial attention isotropy by reducing leftward space overestimation, whereas outcomes from non-exergaming and sedentary activity do not modify subjects’ performance

Alcohol and Nicotine Use among Adolescents: An Observational Study in a Sicilian Cohort of High School Students

In recent years, the mode of alcoholic intake known as binge drinking (BD) has become a common practice, especially among adolescents who, due to socio-environmental motives, tend to reach a rapid state of drunkenness. This drunkeness leads to alterations in brain areas responsible for executive functions and cognitive processes, as well as to the genesis of factors that predispose to lasting addiction. Likewise, nicotine leads to a comparable degree of addiction. On this basis, the aim of this research was to evaluate, on a cohort of 349 high school students (15-17 years old) in the province of Palermo, the following: (I) the drinking model of alcoholic beverages; (II) the use of nicotine and the degree of dependence; (III) the correlation between the consumption of alcoholic beverages and the use of nicotine. We employed the AUDIT-C test and the Fagerstrom test, two valid and standard instruments, in order to assess alcohol and nicotine use, respectively. Statistical analysis of the data showed that male and female students consumed alcohol prominently in a BD mode (77.2%, audit score (AS) 3.497, confidence interval (CI) 3.206-3.788; 69.6%, AS 2.793, CI 2.412-3.274) and nicotine (41.5%, Fagerstrom score (FS) 3.882, CI 3.519-4.245; 28%, FS 3.286, CI 2.547-4.024). Furthermore, a positive correlation between alcohol consumption and nicotine use was found for male (r = 0.6798, p < 0.0001) and female (r = 0.6572, p < 0.0001) students. This study provided further insights into the use of legal substances of abuse in adolescents, evidencing the obvious need for the promotion of specific school educational programs aimed at the wellbeing of youth populations

PLASMA MEMBRANE REDOX SYSTEM IN THE ERYTHROCYTES OF ROWERS: PILOT STUDY

Background: The oxidative stress results from a change in the physiological balance between oxidant and antioxidant species. The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to investigate the effects of long-term training in sports with high energy requirements on the redox balance which exists between the plasma vs. the erythrocytes; second, to study the activity of the PMRS (Plasma Membrane Redox System), which is a compensatory mechanism of cellular redox homeostasis, in the rowers’ erythrocytes in order to determine the rowers’ counteraction to oxidative stress. Methods: Venous blood samples was collected from rowers and control group; then FRAP (Ferric Reducing Activity Power) method has been used to determine the antioxidant capabilities both in the plasma and in the erythrocytes of 22 rowers vs. 26 sedentary subjects. For the same groups of subjects, the PMRS in erythrocytes has been also evaluated. Results: The plasmatic antioxidant activity was 21% lower in the group of rowers compared to the sedentary group (p = 0,02). In contrast, no significant differences were found in the reducing activity of the erythrocytes; however the erythrocytes of the rowers have shown values of the PMRS 35% higher than the untrained group (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Rowing induces a significant oxidative stress in the plasma corresponding to the high intensity training, while this effect lacks in erythrocytes. At the same time an increased quantity of the PMRS has been observed in the erythrocytes. In conclusion, in well trained athletes this not lead to established an oxidative stress condition because long-term training adaptatively improves the efficiency of the antioxidant syste

Follistatin as potential therapeutic target in prostate cancer

Follistatin is a single-chain glycosylated protein whose primary function consists in binding and neutralizing some members of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily such as activin and bone morphogenic proteins. Emerging evidence indicates that this molecule may also play a role in the malignant progression of several human tumors including prostate cancer. In particular, recent findings suggest that, in this tumor, follistatin may also contribute to the formation of bone metastasis through multiple mechanisms, some of which are not related to its specific activin or bone morphogenic proteins’ inhibitory activity. This review provides insight into the most recent advances in understanding the role of follistatin in the prostate cancer progression and discusses the clinical and therapeutic implications related to these findings

The control of abstinence in the treatment of alcohol dependence: the use of Acamprosate in relapse prevention

"The alcoholism can also deal with drug treatments." This is the message that emerges from the press conference of presentation of Campral, trade name of acamprosate, a neuromodulator specifically indicated in the maintenance of abstinence in alcohol-dependent patients.Alcoholism is a disease characterized by: craving, loss of control, tolerance and physical dependence.For many years the prevention of relapse in use of alcohol after detoxification was supported almost exclusively by psychosocial procedures and techniques with modest success. Treatment with acamprosate is a valid tool to complement psychotherapy as it does not cause addiction, abuse or withdrawal of its suspension and does not interfere with other medications that patients often alcoholics must take.To evaluate the effectiveness, our study evaluated the effects of Acamprosate compared to GHB in clinical-physiological and social health in a way indicators of a possible therapeutic success in terms of abstinence from alcohol and social reintegration. The hypothesis of the project is that pharmacotherapy anticraving with acamprosate integrated with psycho-social support, can reduce relapse in alcohol together with the reduction of the risk of abuse arising from the use of GHB. This work purports to be an account of 11 months of observation of patients treated with acamprosate. Results: A total of 36 patients were observed, of which 5, 4 men and 1 woman at the Ser.T Alcamo and 31, 21 men and 10 women at the Ser.T of Palermo. In the fight against alcoholism, this therapy with acamprosate offers significant potential: decreases, in fact, the incidence, severity and frequency of relapses (Fig. 1). As regards the craving, during the period of treatment with acamprosate, there has been a change, in the sense of reduction, of craving for alcohol: if before therapy was in 68% of cases, medium-high, becomes after 3-4 months after therapy in low-nil in 89% of patients observed. It has been recorded that, after 3-4 months after receiving acamprosate, the clinical picture of the patient is greatly improved by referring to biological markers (Fig. 2). Conclusions: The study shows that treatment with acamprosate is an exciting opportunity within a project of integrated care for the treatment of alcohol addiction. The acamprosate may also be used early in the pharmacological treatment of dependence on alcohol to prevent the appearance of excitability neuronal associated abstinence.On the other hand, its use must have a duration sufficient to allow neuronal excitability to normalize in the most enduring possible: the treatment, in fact, is recommended for one year. In any case, the use can be continued even in the face of relapses, with the aim to reduce the frequency or severity.In particular, the strong point seems to be the ability for the user to experience a new sense of normalcy and to remove the desire for significant periods of alcohol