1,721,006 research outputs found
Exploring fatty acid effects in celiac disease: potential therapeutic avenues
Background: Fatty acids (FAs) play pivotal roles in modulating inflammatory pathways in celiac disease (CD). The present study explored the relationship between serum FAs levels and the expression of both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in adult and pediatric patients with CD. Methods: Serum FA levels in 20 treated CD patients (11 children, 9 adults) and 20 healthy controls (10 children, 10 adults) were analyzed using gas chromatography. Cytokine gene expression (IL-6, TNF-α, IL-10, IL-12, TGFβ, NF-κB) was assessed through quantitative real-time PCR. Results: Myristoleic acid levels decreased in children with CD (p = 0.03) but increased in adults (p = 0.04). Elevated IL-6 mRNA expression was found in both pediatric (p = 0.01) and adult (p = 0.04) groups. TNF-α expression was significantly higher in adults (p = 0.01). In children, IL-10 mRNA levels positively correlated with palmitic acid (p = 0.01, r = 0.73), and TGF-β correlated with myristoleic acid (p = 0.03, r = 0.63). In adults, IL-10 positively correlated with dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (p = 0.04, r = 0.68) and negatively with linoleic acid (p = 0.02, r = -0.72). These age-related differences may reflect variations in disease duration, metabolic and developmental factors, dietary intake, and gut microbiota composition. Conclusion: These findings suggest that FAs could be therapeutic targets for improving CD management across different age groups
Biomarkers to Monitor Adherence to Gluten-Free Diet by Celiac Disease Patients: Gluten Immunogenic Peptides and Urinary miRNAs
Celiac disease (CD) is a multifactorial autoimmune enteropathy with a prevalence greater than 1% in the pediatric population. The only therapy for CD patients is a strict gluten-free diet (GFD). Gluten-free food contamination by other cereals during packaging and cooking or accidental ingestion of gluten may cause several intestinal and extraintestinal symptoms in CD patients. Therefore, the monitoring of gluten contamination in food and assessing the level of ingested gluten by analytical biomarkers has been of great interest in recent years. To this aim, small gluten immunogenic peptides (GIPs) obtained by the hydrolysis of gluten and present in urine and feces have been studied as biomarkers of gluten intake and to monitor adherence to GFD by CD patients. More recently, the use of circulating, fecal and urinary miRNAs has emerged as a novel diagnostic tool that can be potentially applied to assess adherence to GFD. Moreover, the presence of GIPs and miRNAs in both feces and urine suggests a similar excretion modality and the possibility of using urinary miRNAs, similarly to GIPs, as potential biomarkers of GFD in CD patients
Assessment of salivary microbiota profile as a potential diagnostic tool for pediatric celiac disease
The association between oral dysbiosis and celiac disease (CD) remains poorly understood, as does the impact of CD-associated dysbiosis on disease development or exacerbation. This study aims to investigate alterations in salivary microbial composition among children with CD. In this cross-sectional study, saliva samples from 12 children with active CD (A-CD group), 14 children with CD on a gluten-free diet (GFD), and 10 healthy control (HC) children were analyzed using DNA sequencing targeting the 16S ribosomal RNA. Both patients in A-CD and GFD groups showed a significant increase (p = 0.0001) in the Bacteroidetes phylum, while the Actinobacteria phylum showed a significant decrease (p = 0.0001). Notably, the Rothia genus and R.aeria also demonstrated a significant decrease (p = 0.0001) within the both CD groups as compare to HC. Additionally, the control group displayed a significant increase (p = 0.006) in R.mucilaginosa species compared to both CD patient groups. Distinct bacterial strains were abundant in the saliva of patients with active CD, indicating a unique composition of the salivary microbiome in individuals with CD. These findings suggest that our approach to assessing salivary microbiota changes may contribute to developing noninvasive methods for diagnosing and treating CD
Influence of low FODMAP-gluten free diet on gut microbiota alterations and symptom severity in Iranian patients with irritable bowel syndrome
Background and objective: Recently, dietary restriction of fermentable carbohydrates (a low-FODMAP diet) in combination with a gluten-free diet (GFD) has been proposed to reduce the symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients. Different studies reported that IBS has been associated with dysbiosis in the gut microbiota. Additionally, a few studies have reported inflammation in the gastrointestinal (GI) system of adults with IBS. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of low FODMAP-gluten free diet (LF-GFD) on clinical symptoms, intestinal microbiota diversity, and fecal calprotectin (FC) level in Iranian patients with IBS. Design: In this clinical trial study, 42 patients with IBS (Rome IV criteria) underwent LF-GFD intervention for 6 weeks. Symptoms were assessed using the IBS symptom severity scoring (IBS-SSS), and fecal samples were collected at baseline and after intervention and analyzed by quantitative 16 S rRNA PCR assay. The diversity of gut microbiota compared before and after 6 weeks of dietary intervention. FC was also analyzed by the ELISA method. Results: Thirty patients (mean age 37.8 ± 10.7 years) completed the 6-week diet. The IBS-SSS was significantly (P = 0.001) reduced after LF-GFD intervention compared to the baseline. Significant microbial differences before and after intervention were noticed in fecal samples. A significant increase was found in Bacteroidetes, and the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio was significantly (P = 0.001) decreased after the dietary intervention. The value of FC was significantly decreased after 6 weeks of dietary intervention (P = 0.001). Conclusions: Our study suggests that patients with IBS under an LF-GFD had a significant improvement in IBS symptoms severity, with reduced FC level following normalization of their gut microbiota composition. Further rigorous trials are needed to establish a long-term efficacy and safety of this dietary intervention for personalized nutrition in IBS. Clinical Trial Registry Number: IRCT20100524004010N26. [Figure not available: see fulltext.
Celiac disease: Epidemiology, Genetic and Clinical Behavior in Iran
Mulder, C.J.J. [Promotor]Zali, M.R. [Promotor
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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