Chronic inflammatory liver diseases and coffee intake

To review the healthy protective effects of coffee against several metabolic diseases and some types of cancer. In this short review, the possible preventive and/or therapeutic actions of coffee on liver function is focused

Food-Based dietary guidelines around the World: Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Countries

In Eastern Mediterranean countries, undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies coexist with overnutrition-related diseases, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Many Mediterranean countries have produced Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDGs) to provide the general population with indications for healthy nutrition and lifestyles. This narrative review analyses Eastern Mediterranean countries' FBDGs and discusses their pictorial representations, food groupings and associated messages on healthy eating and behaviours. In 2012, both the WHO and the Arab Center for Nutrition developed specific dietary guidelines for Arab countries. In addition, seven countries, representing 29% of the Eastern Mediterranean Region population, designated their national FBDGs. At the moment several of these guidelines are available only in the English language. In summary, Eastern Mediterranean FBDGs mainly focus on food safety, not all are available in the local Arabic language, and they do not provide specific suggestions for the large number of foreign workers and migrants

Six novel mutations in the proopiomelanocortin and melanocortin receptor 4 genes in severely obese adults living in southern Italy.

BACKGROUND: The genetic characterization of obese individuals could clarify the molecular mechanisms underlying body weight regulation and lead to targeted therapy. Here we report variants of the proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and melanocortin receptor 4 (MC4R) genes detected in severely obese adults living in southern Italy. METHODS: A total of 196 unrelated nondiabetic severely obese individuals [111 females and 85 males; mean (SD) age, 32.2 (11.5) years; mean body mass index, 48.8 (8.1) kg/m(2)] and 100 normal-weight healthy volunteers (34 males and 66 females) entered the study. POMC and MC4R were genotyped by sequencing analysis. Leptin, insulin, glucose, and the lipid profile were measured in fasting serum samples. We used the protein truncation test to verify the stop-codon mutation. Anthropometric measurements, sitting blood pressure, and heart rate were also recorded. RESULTS: Of the obese participants, 1.5% had mutations in POMC exon 3 (new mutations, P231L and E244X; known, R236G) and 2.5% had MC4R mutations (new mutations, W174C, Q43X, S19fsX51, and I317V; known, A175T). These mutations were not present in the controls. Gene polymorphisms were identified in similar percentages of severely obese and nonobese individuals, i.e., respectively, 52.5% and 51% (POMC) and 1% and 2% (MC4R). CONCLUSIONS: We detected 2 new POMC mutations and 4 new MC4R mutations in a large number of severely obese adults living in southern Italy. These mutations, not present in normal-weight individuals, are further evidence that defects in the melanocortin pathway are related to severe obesity