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Objectives: The consumption of whole grains is widely recognised as healthy and included in several national dietary guidelines. Despite that, the consumption of whole grain products remains sub-optimal. Methods: We developed a questionnaire investigating perceptions of price, taste, positive and negative health effects, sustainability and versatility of whole grains and the consumption frequency of whole grain food products. This questionnaire was administered to a sample of 1,014 individuals in Northern Italy. Results: We observed an overall positive attitude towards whole grain products, especially in relation to positive health effects, versatility and taste, that resulted in strong drivers for whole grain consumption. Age, gender and educational level were identified as influences on whole grain perceptions, especially for taste and positive health effects. Respondents were clustered according to the attitudes they expressed. Conclusion: The characteristics of these clusters could be used to customise future nutritional education programmes.

Background: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in childhood makes intervention imperative, and schools provide a privileged setting in which to undertake this work. Teachers have the potential to influence children's eating behaviour through nutrition education and by acting as positive role models. We conducted a case-control study in 14 primary schools in Italy to assess the impact of a nutrition training programme (NTP) for primary school teachers on school children's eating habits. Methods: From participating schools, 11 volunteer teachers attended the NTP (trained teachers; TT), and as a control, we identified a group of teachers (untrained teachers; UT) who did not attend the NTP but who were interested in participating in the study. The effect of NTP intervention was evaluated on 599 children in the TT group and 536 in the UT group, respectively, using the KidMed questionnaire to assess adherence to a Mediterranean diet. Results: Overall adherence to a Mediterranean diet was low in 24.3%, medium in 56.6% and high in 19.1% of the children's population, with an overall median score of 5 (-3 to 12). Compared with the UT group, children in the TT group had a significantly higher adherence to a Mediterranean diet (Wilcoxon test "p"-value = 0.012) and showed significantly healthier habits regarding fast-food consumption, the eating of sweets and breakfast composition. Conclusions: Study findings demonstrate the efficacy of an indirect intervention for primary school children through intensive nutrition training for teachers. When planning future nutrition education in primary school, the role models offered by teachers should drive the interventions developed.

Background: Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD), a novel term for Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), is associated with liver mitochondrial dysfunction. We previously demonstrated that mitochondrial respiratory capacity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was significantly reduced in patients with MASLD compared to non-MASLD controls. For MASLD treatment, guidelines recommend behavioral and dietary changes to reduce body weight. A recent 12-month clinical trial demonstrated that ameliorating patients' lifestyles through improved adherence to the Mediterranean diet and encouraged physical activity results in MASLD remission or regression. Methods: As a sub-study of the 12-month clinical trial, we evaluated the effects of the Mediterranean diet-oriented intervention on PBMC mitochondrial DNA content and respiratory parameters and on various biomarkers associated with MASLD. Results: Contrary to what was found at the baseline, after twelve months of intervention, systemic inflammatory and bioenergetics parameters did not differ between MASLD patients (N = 15) and control subjects (N = 17). PBMCs from MASLD subjects showed rescued basal respiration, ATP-linked respiration, maximal respiration, and spare respiratory capacity. The observed recovery coincided with a significant increase in the patients' adherence to the Mediterranean diet (Medscore). Conclusions: Our findings indicate that a Mediterranean diet-oriented intervention, without calorie reduction, preserves blood cell mitochondrial function in MASLD subjects. Thus, PBMC bioenergetics-based assays might be taken into account not only for diagnosing but also for monitoring therapeutic responses in MASLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescence is a central phase for the development of a person's identity, involving complex multidimensional changes and increasing vulnerability to distress. This study aimed to investigate the psychological well-being of adolescent students in Brescia (Northern Italy), two years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey investigated the extent and the reasons reported by high school students (13–21 years) for their emotional distress (ED), also considering other factors such as physical activity, nutrition, sleep and smartphone overuse. The main reasons for ED were classified through a qualitative analysis of the free-text answers. A total of 1686 students agreed to participate, and 50% showed a presence of ED. According to a multiple logistic analysis, adolescents were more at risk of ED if they were female (AdjOR 2.3), older (AdjOR 1.6), slept less than 8 h (AdjOR 1.5), perceived increased anxiety (AdjOR 3.4), and adopted certain eating behaviors, e.g., comfort food consumption (AdjOR 2.0). According to free-text answers, the main reasons for ED were "school pressure", "relationships with family and peers", "negative emotional states" and "the pandemic". The results show a high level of ED among adolescents, and the reported reasons may help to better address their psychological needs after the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The celiac disease (CD) diagnosis sometimes is challenging and diagnostic process cannot always follow a simple algorithm but it requires a close collaboration between histo-pathologists, clinicians, laboratory and genetic experts. The genetic predisposition for CD is related to HLA-DQ2 and/or DQ8 but other HLA haplotypes and non-HLA genes may be involved in genetic predisposition. In particular DQ7 may represent an additive and independent CD risk associated haplotype. We describe an unusual case of a female 42 year old with a previous diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma, who has a clinical presentation suggestive for CD with negativity for antitransglutaminase and anti-endomysium antibodies and HLA-DQ7 positivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HIV patients who drink excessive amounts of alcohol or who become infected with the hepatitis B virus have a high risk of death from liver disease. This was the conclusion of a study of 308 HIV patients who died, 35 of whom died of liver failure.

Abstract Background Intestinal mucosa is leaky in celiac disease (CD), and this alteration may involve changes in hydrophobicity of the mucus surface barrier in addition to alteration of the epithelial barrier. The aims of our study were i) to compare duodenal hydrophobicity as an index of mucus barrier integrity in CD patients studied before (n = 38) and during gluten- free diet (GFD, n = 68), and in control subjects (n = 90), and ii) to check for regional differences of hydrophobicity in the gastro-intestinal tract. Methods Hydrophobicity was assessed by measurement of contact angle (CA) (Rame Hart 100/10 goniometer) generated by a drop of water placed on intestinal mucosal biopsies. Results CA (mean ± SD) of distal duodenum was significantly lower in CD patients (56° ± 10°)) than in control subjects (69° ± 9°, p < 0.0001), and persisted abnormal in patients studied during gluten free diet (56° ± 9°; p < 0.005). CA was significantly higher (62° ± 9°) in histologically normal duodenal biopsies than in biopsies with Marsh 1-2 (58° ± 10°; p < 0.02) and Marsh 3 lesions (57° ± 10°; p < 0.02) in pooled results of all patients and controls studied. The order of hydrofobicity along the gastrointestinal tract in control subjects follows the pattern: gastric antrum > corpus > rectum > duodenum > oesophagus > ileum. Conclusions We conclude that the hydrophobicity of duodenal mucous layer is reduced in CD patients, and that the resulting decreased capacity to repel luminal contents may contribute to the increased intestinal permeability of CD. This alteration mirrors the severity of the mucosal lesions and is not completely reverted by gluten-free diet. Intestinal hydrophobicity exhibits regional differences in the human intestinal tract.