Nutritional intervention as exclusive treatment, with a loss of at least 5% of initial weight, is effective in the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by a wide range of clinical manifestations, including obesity, hyperphagia, and behavioral problems. Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis strain BPL1 has been shown to improve central adiposity in adults with simple obesity. To evaluate BPL1′s effects in children with PWS, we performed a randomized crossover trial among 39 patients (mean age 10.4 years). Participants were randomized to placebo–BPL1 (n = 19) or BPL1–placebo (n = 20) sequences and underwent a 12-week period with placebo/BPL1 treatments, a 12-week washout period, and a 12-week period with the crossover treatment. Thirty-five subjects completed the study. The main outcome was changes in adiposity, measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Secondary outcomes included lipid and glucose metabolism, hyperphagia, and mental health symptoms. Generalized linear modeling was applied to assess differences between treatments. While BPL1 did not modify total fat mass compared to placebo, BPL1 decreased abdominal adiposity in a subgroup of patients older than 4.5 years (n = 28). BPL1 improved fasting insulin concentration and insulin sensitivity. Furthermore, we observed modest improvements in some mental health symptoms. A follow-up trial with a longer treatment period is warranted to determine whether BPL1 supplementation can provide a long-term therapeutic approach for children with PWS (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03548480).

Increased blood pressure levels and less favorable lipid profiles are found among offspring of hypertensive parents, where low levels of HDL-C were the most relevant finding regardless of anthropometric or nutritional variables.

ObjetivoO objetivo desse estudo foi avaliar o consumo alimentar de portadores de Doença Hepática Gordurosa Não Alcoólica, comparar com as recomendações nutricionais diárias e analisar a correlação da dieta com a presença de Síndrome Metabólica e com a gravidade da doença, uma vez que estudos sobre os hábitos alimentares dos portadores de Doença Hepática Gordurosa Não Alcoólica ainda são escassos na literatura. MétodosNesse estudo foram avaliados, inicialmente, 158 pacientes com diagnóstico de Doença Hepática Gordurosa Não Alcoólica. Analisou-se exames laboratoriais, biópsia hepática, dados antropométricos e consumo dietético (registro alimentar de três dias). Dentre os pacientes avaliados, alguns já haviam sido orientados nutricionalmente e foram divididos em dois grupos: "sem dieta" e "com dieta". Para o cálculo de comparações de médias entre os grupos estudados, empregou-se o teste t de Student, considerando o nível de significância de 5% (α≤0,05).

No abstract

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is the major cause of death in our country and occurs at earlier ages than that observed in the United States of America 1,2 .The initial results of the Framingham Study have associated serum cholesterol level, smoking, and arterial hypertension with ischemic heart disease 3 . More recently, the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP III, USA) 4 published the recommendations for estimating absolute coronary risk, considering the total cholesterol level, age, HDL-C level, values of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and smoking habit, with different scores for men and women.In the past decade, several studies suggested that a more active lifestyle and higher consumption of fish could be beneficial, because they resulted in a lower incidence of cardiovascular events, a better lipid profile, and a reduction in blood pressure and in thrombotic risk [5][6][7][8] .Among the Eskimos in Greenland and the Japanese of Kohama Island, lower levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides and an extremely low incidence of coronary heart disease were observed as compared with those in the populations living on the continent 9-11 .In Brazil, epidemiological data of the Ministry of Health for the City of Belém, in the State of Pará 12 , showed that mortality due to cardiovascular disease was the major cause of death in that city despite the proximity to rivers and forests, and the high consumption of fish and typical fruits in that region.This study aimed at comparing the cardiovascular risk of the urban population of Belém in the State of Pará with that of an Amazonian riverside population (village of Vigia) living mainly on fish and with very scarce contact with large urban centers. MethodsThe study sample comprised 100 individuals of both sexes with no personal antecedents of heart disease or diabetes, whose ages ranged from 35 to 65 years, 50 in each municipality. They signed a written consent required by the Objective -To compare the lipid profiles and coronary heart disease risks of 2 Brazilian Amazonian populations as follows: a riverside population (village of Vigia) and an urban population (city of Belém in the state of Pará).Methods -Fifty individuals controlled for age and sex were assessed in each region, and the major risk factors for coronary heart disease were analyzed. Results -According to the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP III) and using the

The demand of social skills interventions for people with ASD has grown in recent years. The main goal of this research was to study social skills: “responding to interaction” and “initiating interaction”, and to capture whether there were differences between an initial and a final session in a program for children with ASD. Additionally, we aimed to compare social skills patterns according to the VIQ level. The sample (N = 20) was divided into 2 subgroups depending on whether the VIQ was > 90 or < 90. We employed a mixed methods approach based on a systematic observation of social behaviors. The observational design was nomothetic, follow-up, and multidimensional. Once we confirmed inter-observer reliability for the ad hoc observational instrument we performed descriptive statistics and polar coordinate analysis using LINCE software. The results show high intragroup and intergroup variability. In general, participants with VIQ < 90 showed a better improvement in responding to interaction, whereas participants with VIQ > 90 showed more complex patterns to initiate interactions. The polar coordinate technique was useful for detecting significant relationships between autism’s social micro-behaviors. Results and information obtained through observational methodology could allow professionals to understand communication and interaction of participants.

Background Insulin resistance (IR), assessed by different criteria, is an important factor in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). More recently with the characterization of this metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), one of the proposed criteria for this diagnosis has been the determination of the homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship of HOMA-IR>2.5 with clinical, metabolic, biochemical and histological data obtained in non-diabetic patients diagnosed with NAFLD by liver biopsy. Methods: Cross-sectional, retrospective study was carried out with data from 174 adult individuals of both genders with non-diabetics NAFLD, without obvious signs of portal hypertension. The body mass index (BMI) was classified according to the World Health Organization (1998), and the metabolic syndrome by the criteria of NCEP-ATP-III. Biochemical tests were evaluated using an automated method and insulinemia through immunofluorometric assay. Histological findings were classified according to Kleiner et al. (2005). Results: The mean age of the studied population was 53.6±11.2 years, with 60.3% being female. The average BMI was 30.3 kg/m2 and 75.9% of the patients had increased waist circumference. Among evaluated metabolic parameters, there was a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) in patients with HOMA-IR>2.5, with no statistical difference in relation to BMI between studied groups. Values of liver enzymes and serum ferritin were significantly higher in patients with this marker of IR, who had a higher prevalence of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and advanced liver fibrosis. In the multivariate analysis, the clinical diagnosis of MS, hyperferritinemia and the presence of NASH in the liver biopsy were the factors independently associated with the presence of altered HOMA-IR. Conclusion: HOMA-IR values >2.5 identify patients with NAFLD with distinct clinical and metabolic characteristics and with a greater potential for disease progression, which validates this parameter in the identification of patients with MAFLD.