Intermittent supplementation with and galactooligosaccharides modulates Alzheimer's disease progression, gut microbiota, and colon short-chain fatty acid profiles in mice.

Background: Bidirectional communication and mutual regulation between the gastrointestinal tract and the CNS is facilitated through the gut-brain axis. Recent studies have found reduced diversity of the gut microbiota in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, and animal models suggest microbial involvement in amyloid beta peptide (Aβ) accumulation. Modulation of the gut microbiota by new-generation probiotics represents a novel treatment strategy to alleviate the symptoms and slow the progression of AD.

Multi-omics approach identifies gut microbiota variations associated with depression.

The gut microbiota plays a potential role in the pathophysiology of depression through the gut-brain axis. This cross-sectional study in 400 participants from the PREDIMED-Plus study investigates the interplay between gut microbiota and depression using a multi-omics approach. Depression was defined as antidepressant use or high Beck Depression Inventory-II scores.

The link between ultra-processed food consumption, fecal microbiota, and metabolomic profiles in older mediterranean adults at high cardiovascular risk.

Background: Ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption has been linked to adverse metabolic outcomes, potentially mediated by alterations in gut microbiota and metabolite production.

Objective: This study aims to explore the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between NOVA-classified UPF consumption, fecal microbiota, and fecal metabolome in a population of Mediterranean older adults at high cardiovascular risk.

Methods: A total of 385 individuals, aged between 55 and 75 years, were included in the study.

Faecal microbiota composition and impulsivity in a cohort of older adults with metabolic syndrome.

Impulsivity is an important determinant of human behaviour, affecting self-control, reasonable thinking and food choices. Recent evidence suggests a role for gut microbiota in human behaviour, but the relationship between gut microbiota and impulsive behaviours remains largely unexplored. To address this knowledge gap, the present study aims to explore the associations between faecal microbiota composition with trait and behavioural impulsivity, in a subcohort of the PREDIMED-Plus trial, including older adults presenting overweight/obesity.

Physical activity shifts gut microbiota structure in aged subjects with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome.

We aimed to identify how physical activity (PA), within the context of a Mediterranean diet, affects metabolic variables and gut microbiota in older individuals with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome. Observational analysis was conducted as part of the PREDIMED-Plus study with 152 males and 145 females with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome. General assessments, anthropometric and biochemical measurements, and gut microbial 16S rRNA sequencing data were analyzed at baseline and 1-year of follow-up.

Gut microbiota dynamics and association with chronic kidney disease: A longitudinal study within the PREDIMED-Plus trial.

Aims: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) represents a global health concern, disproportionately affecting the elderly with heightened cardiovascular risk. The emerging focus on the gut microbiota's role in CKD pathophysiology represents a pivotal area in nephrology; however, the evidence on this topic is limited. This observational prospective study, in the framework of the PREDIMED-Plus trial, investigates associations between gut microbiota composition and the 1-year trajectory of CKD in 343 participants aged 55-75 years with high cardiovascular risk.

Effect of 1-year lifestyle intervention with energy-reduced Mediterranean diet and physical activity promotion on the gut metabolome and microbiota: a randomized clinical trial.

Background: The health benefits of the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) have been linked to the presence of beneficial gut microbes and related metabolites. However, its impact on the fecal metabolome remains poorly understood.

Objectives: Our goal was to investigate the weight-loss effects of a 1-y lifestyle intervention based on an energy-reduced MedDiet coupled with physical activity (intervention group), compared with an ad libitum MedDiet (control group), on fecal metabolites, fecal microbiota, and their potential association with cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Microbial Phenolic Metabolites Are Associated with Improved Cognitive Health.

Scope: Diets rich in polyphenols has been associated with better cognitive performance. The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between microbial phenolic metabolites (MPM) in urine and cognition in the context of an older population at high cardiovascular risk.

Methods And Results: A cross-sectional analysis is conducted in 400 individuals of the PREDIMED-Plus study.

Carbohydrate quality, fecal microbiota and cardiometabolic health in older adults: a cohort study.

The impact of carbohydrate quality, measured by the carbohydrate quality index (CQI), on gut microbiota and health has been scarcely investigated. The aim of this study was to cross-sectionally and longitudinally explore the relationships between CQI, fecal microbiota, and cardiometabolic risk factors in an elderly Mediterranean population at high cardiovascular risk. At baseline and 1-year, CQI was assessed from food frequency questionnaires data, cardiometabolic risk factors were measured, and fecal microbiota profiled from 16S sequencing.

A Comparison of Methods of Gut Microbiota Transplantation for Preclinical Studies.

The experimental details reported in preclinical fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) protocols are highly inconsistent, variable, and/or incomplete. We therefore evaluated FMT from a human donor to antibiotic-induced microbial-depleted mice by exploring the effects of six techniques based on antibiotic (AB) or antibiotic + antimycotic (AB + T) gut decontamination, different administration routes, and different dosing intervals on the gut microbial population, assessed using 16S and 18S sequencing. In addition, we explored the effectiveness of FMT in terms of inflammation, physiological, and behavioral outcomes.

Gut microbiota in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a PREDIMED-Plus trial sub analysis.

To evaluate the changes in the gut microbiota associated with changes in the biochemical markers of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) after a lifestyle intervention with the Mediterranean diet. Participants ( = 297) from two centers of PREDIMED-Plus trial (Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea) were divided into three different groups based on the change tertile in the Hepatic Steatosis Index (HSI) or the Fibrosis-4 score (FIB-4) between baseline and one year of intervention. One-year changes in HSI were: tertile 1 (T1) (-24.

Increased ultra-processed food consumption is associated with worsening of cardiometabolic risk factors in adults with metabolic syndrome: Longitudinal analysis from a randomized trial.

Background And Aims: The association between changes in ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption and cardiometabolic risk (CMR) factors remains understudied. We evaluated the association between changes in UPF consumption over 12 months of follow-up and changes in CMR factors in adults diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.

Methods: We analysed data from 5373 adults (aged 55-75 years) participating in the PREDIMED-Plus trial.

Insights into oral microbiome and colorectal cancer - on the way of searching new perspectives.

Microbiome is a keystone polymicrobial community that coexist with human body in a beneficial relationship. These microorganisms enable the human body to maintain homeostasis and take part in mechanisms of defense against infection and in the absorption of nutrients. Even though microbiome is involved in physiologic processes that are beneficial to host health, it may also cause serious detrimental issues.

Nuts in the Prevention and Management of Type 2 Diabetes.

Diabetes is a continuously growing global concern affecting >10% of adults, which may be mitigated by modifiable lifestyle factors. Consumption of nuts and their inclusion in dietary patterns has been associated with a range of beneficial health outcomes. Diabetes guidelines recommend dietary patterns that incorporate nuts; however, specific recommendations related to nuts have been limited.

Association between ultra-processed food consumption and gut microbiota in senior subjects with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome.

The production and consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) has increased considerably during the last years worldwide. Collective evidence shows the association between UPF consumption and adverse health outcomes, including inflammatory gastro-intestinal disorders and obesity. The gut microbiota has been suggested as potential mediator of the effects of UPF consumption on metabolism and health.

Circulating carotenoids are associated with favorable lipid and fatty acid profiles in an older population at high cardiovascular risk.

Carotenoid intake has been reported to be associated with improved cardiovascular health, but there is little information on actual plasma concentrations of these compounds as biomarkers of cardiometabolic risk. The objective was to investigate the association between circulating plasma carotenoids and different cardiometabolic risk factors and the plasma fatty acid profile. This is a cross-sectional evaluation of baseline data conducted in a subcohort (106 women and 124 men) of an ongoing multi-factorial lifestyle trial for primary cardiovascular prevention.

Arginine catabolism metabolites and atrial fibrillation or heart failure risk: 2 case-control studies within the Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea (PREDIMED) trial.

Background: Arginine-derived metabolites are involved in oxidative and inflammatory processes related to endothelial functions and cardiovascular risks.

Objectives: We prospectively examined the associations of arginine catabolism metabolites with the risks of atrial fibrillation (AF) or heart failure (HF), and evaluated the potential modifications of these associations through Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) interventions in a large, primary-prevention trial.

Methods: Two nested, matched, case-control studies were designed within the Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea (PREDIMED) trial.

Taxonomic and Functional Fecal Microbiota Signatures Associated With Insulin Resistance in Non-Diabetic Subjects With Overweight/Obesity Within the Frame of the PREDIMED-Plus Study.

Objective: An altered gut microbiota has been associated with insulin resistance, a metabolic dysfunction consisting of cellular insulin signaling impairment. The aim of the present study is to determine the taxonomic and functional fecal microbiota signatures associated with HOMA-IR index in a population with high cardiovascular risk.

Methods: A total of 279 non-diabetic individuals (55-75 years aged) with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome were stratified according to tertiles of HOMA-IR index.

Effects of the Mediterranean Diet or Nut Consumption on Gut Microbiota Composition and Fecal Metabolites and their Relationship with Cardiometabolic Risk Factors.

Scope: To examine whether a Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) compared to the consumption of nuts in the context of a habitual non-MedDiet exerts a greater beneficial effect on gut microbiota and fecal metabolites; thus, contributing to explain major benefits on cardiometabolic risk factors.

Methods And Results: Fifty adults with Metabolic Syndrome are randomized to a controlled, crossover 2-months dietary-intervention trial with a 1-month wash-out period, following a MedDiet or consuming nuts (50 g day ). Microbiota composition is assessed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metabolites are measured using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-qTOF) platforms in a targeted metabolomics approach.

Effect on gut microbiota of a 1-y lifestyle intervention with Mediterranean diet compared with energy-reduced Mediterranean diet and physical activity promotion: PREDIMED-Plus Study.

Background: The Mediterranean diet is a well-recognized healthy diet that has shown to induce positive changes in gut microbiota. Lifestyle changes such as diet along with physical activity could aid in weight loss and improve cardiovascular risk factors.

Objectives: To investigate the effect of an intensive lifestyle weight loss intervention on gut microbiota.

Gut Microbiota Profile and Changes in Body Weight in Elderly Subjects with Overweight/Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome.

Gut microbiota is essential for the development of obesity and related comorbidities. However, studies describing the association between specific bacteria and obesity or weight loss reported discordant results. The present observational study, conducted within the frame of the PREDIMED-Plus clinical trial, aims to assess the association between fecal microbiota, body composition and weight loss, in response to a 12-month lifestyle intervention in a subsample of 372 individuals (age 55-75) with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome.