This study confirms the association between liver retinol and degree of NAFLD, underscoring the need for further research in this area, to identify which patients might benefit from supplementation of vitamin A.

The high inadequacy of retinol and beta-carotene nutritional status in the sample, with a higher inadequacy in those with NAFLD, suggests an increase in the utilization of vitamin A in this group related to the fight against the oxidative stress to what they are exposed to. The significant association between retinol and beta-carotene with IR supports the hypothesis that vitamin A may have a protector effect on IR pathogenesis.

No abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with oxidative stress and vitamin A possesses antioxidant activity. The objective of the present study was to investigate vitamin A nutritional status in chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), according to biochemical, functional and dietetic indicators correlating these findings with liver function, liver damage and death. Vitamin A nutritional status was analysed by serum retinol levels, dietetic indicators and functional indicators. A total of 140 patients with HCVrelated liver disease were enrolled. Vitamin A deficiency was detected in 54·3 % of all patients, and there was a progressive drop in serum retinol levels from chronic hepatitis C patients towards cirrhosis and HCC patients. Increased total bilirubin, liver transaminases and prothrombin time, presence of hepatic encephalopathy and ascites were related to reduced serum retinol levels, and values #0·78 mmol/l of serum retinol were associated with liver-related death. A high prevalence of inadequate intake of vitamin A was observed in all stages of chronic liver disease. The functional indicator was not an adequate parameter for evaluating the vitamin A nutritional status. Therefore, serum retinol concentration is related to severity of the disease, liver complications and mortality. The effectiveness of nutritional counselling and measures of intervention in this group in improving vitamin A nutritional status should be examined further in a controlled study.

Bariatric surgery proved to be effective in reducing total body mass and body fat at every time interval. However, dietary measures emphasizing adequate protein intake may be implemented in order to reduce loss of LBM and, coupled with frequent physical activity, may help curtail the impact the surgery has on morphological variables.

High prevalence of VAD in the preoperative period and in 30 and 180 postoperative days, even during supplementation, with higher inadequacy of beta-carotene in all the three studied time periods, probably occurred because of its bioconversion to retinol due to the increased demand to which those individuals were exposed. It is suggested that the oral intake supplementation does not present the expected impact, and the need of assessing the nutritional status of vitamin A in the pre- and postoperative Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is emphasized. High prevalence of VAD in T1, with severity in T2 and T3, corroborates the utilization of the cutoff of <1.05 micromol/L as a VAD marker in the studied segment and reinforces its utilization as a tool in clinical practice to identify VAD in morbid obese patients who underwent bariatric surgery.

No abstract

The Brazilian Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization recommend dietary counseling for patients with malnutrition during tuberculosis treatment. Patients under tuberculosis therapy (infected and not infected with HIV) were followed-up to evaluate the effectiveness of dietary counseling. Objective: describe the nutritional status of patients with tuberculosis. Methods: an observational follow-up study over a 180-day period of tuberculosis therapy in adults was conducted. Subjects were assessed for body composition (using BMI, TSF and MUAC parameters), serum biomarkers and offered dietary counseling. The data obtained at each visit (D15, D30, D60, D90, D120, D150, and D180) were analyzed, showing trajectories over time and central tendencies each time. Results: at baseline, the mean age was 41.1 (±13.4) years; they were predominantly male, with income lower than a local minimum wage and at least six years of schooling. Patients showed predominantly pulmonary tuberculosis. At baseline, all patients suffered from malnutrition. The overall energy malnutrition prevalence was of 70.6%. Anemia at baseline was observed in both groups (63.2%), however, it was significantly more pronounced in the HIV+. At the end, energy malnutrition was reduced to 57.1% (42.9% of HIV- and 71.4% of the HIV+). Micronutrients malnutrition was evident in 71.4% of the HIV- patients and 85.7% of HIV+ patients at the end of tuberculosis therapy. Using BMI (≤18.5 kg/m2cutoff) as an index of malnutrition, it was detected in 23.9% of the HIV- and 27.3% of the HIV+ patients at baseline, with no evident improvement over time; using TSF (≤11.4mm as cutoff) or MUAC (≤28.5cm as cutoff), malnutrition was detected in 70.1% and 85.3% of all patients, respectively. Nevertheless, combining all biomarkers, at the end of follow-up, all patients suffered from malnutrition. Conclusion: Although with a limited number of patients, the evidence does not support that dietary counseling is effective to recover from malnutrition in our population.