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Coffee consumption is inversely associated with the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). A gap in the literature still exists concerning the intestinal mechanisms that are involved in the protective effect of coffee consumption towards NAFLD. In this study, twenty-four C57BL/6J mice were divided into three groups each receiving a standard diet, a high-fat diet (HFD) or an HFD plus decaffeinated coffee (HFD+COFFEE) for 12 weeks. Coffee supplementation reduced HFD-induced liver macrovesicular steatosis (P P P PPAR- α(P P ABCA1) and subfamily G1 (ABCG1) (P P P P Alcaligenaceaein the faeces (P

Background Calcium (Ca2+) and vitamin D (VitD) play an important role in child health. We evaluated the daily intake of Ca2+ and VitD in healthy children. Moreover, we demonstrate the efficacy of Ca2+ and VitD supplementation. Methods Daily Ca2 + and VitD intake was evaluated in consecutive healthy children through a validated questionnaire. Subjects with 2+ and VitD were invited to participate in a prospective randomized trial with 2 groups of nutritional intervention: Group 1, dietary counseling aiming to optimize daily Ca2+ and VitD intake plus administration of a commercially available Ca2 + and VitD supplementation product; Group 2, dietary counseling alone. At the enrollment (T0) and after 4 months (T1) serum 25(OH) Vitamin D levels were assessed. Results We evaluated 150 healthy children (male 50%, mean age 10 years); at baseline a low VitD intake was observed in all subjects (median 0.79 μg/die, IQR 1.78; range 0.01-5.02); this condition was associated with Ca2+ intake Conclusions Adequate Ca2+ and VitD intakes are difficult to obtain through dietary counseling alone in pediatric subjects. Oral supplementation with of Ca2+ and VitD is a reliable strategy to prevent this condition. Trial registration The study was registered in Clinical Trials Protocol Registration System (ID number: NCT01638494).

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to measure the oxidative and antioxidant biochemical parameters in the serum of Italian patients with age-related maculopathy (ARM) and in a similar age control group from the same area, in order to determine the weight of oxidative status as risk factor in the early stage of macular degeneration onwards. DESIGN AND METHODS: Forty-eight ARM patients (19 early and 29 late form) and 46 normal subjects, similar for age, sex and life-style, were studied. A series of serum and/or plasma antioxidants (vitamins C, E, A, total and individual carotenoids, zinc, total plasma antioxidant capacity--TRAP) and oxidative parameters (reactive oxygen metabolites--ROM, oxidized-low-density lipoprotein antibodies-anti-Ox-LDL) were evaluated in both groups, also with regard to age and disease stage. RESULTS: Levels of vitamins C, E, total carotenoids and beta-cryptoxanthine were lower in late ARM than in early ARM (p

Publisher Summary Minor nucleosides have attracted a great deal of attention over the past decade, because their concentration in body fluids has been shown to be highly suggestive of the presence of neoplasias. Various groups have analyzed the composition of minor nucleosides in a number of RNAs and details are provided elsewhere in this treatise. Schlimme's group has described a method based on an on-line multi column high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for selective clean-up and analysis of major and minor nibonucleosides in body fluids, including serum. This method has the advantage of reducing the total time of the analysis as it lends itself to automation, and it avoids the lyophilization step. With a liquid chromatographic method, pseudouridine and uric acid are separated on a cation-exchange resin, such that diluted native urine and deproteinized serum can be directly analyzed: untreated samples of biological fluid are injected directly in to the HPLC columns. The method permits the continuous and reliable analysis of a large number of samples as is typical in clinical laboratories.

Fresh human blood samples were collected from healthy controls and splenectomized and unsplenectomized patients with hereditary spherocytosis due to band 3 or ankyrin and spectrin deficiency. The erythrocytes were separated into age-related fractions using self-forming Percoll density gradients. Membrane proteins were analysed by 2D electrophoresis and identified by mass spectrometry.Annexin VII was present in reticulocytes but was then lost as the cells matured. A different pattern was found in band 3-deficient samples: annexin VII was in fact present in both mature and immature red cell membranes. Cytoskeletal anomalies may then influence the turn-over of annexin VII during erythrocyte maturation.