scholarly journals Effects of Avocado Consumption on Gastrointestinal Microbial Metabolite Concentrations and Taxa Abundances: A Randomized, Controlled Trial (OR23-07-19)

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Thompson ◽  
Caitlyn Edwards ◽  
Ginger Reeser ◽  
Naiman Khan ◽  
Hannah Holscher
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Microbial Community Composition ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Relative Abundances ◽  
Hass Avocado ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Overweight Or Obesity

Abstract Objectives Avocados are rich in dietary fiber and monounsaturated fatty acids, nutrients that have been independently connected with metabolic health benefits and changes to the gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota. However, little is known regarding the impact of avocado consumption on GI microbial community composition and microbially-derived metabolites, particularly among adults with overweight or obesity. Methods Adults (n = 160) between 25–45 years of age with BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m2 were enrolled in an investigator-blinded, parallel arm, randomized, controlled trial. Participants consumed isocaloric meals with or without fresh Hass avocado once daily for 12-weeks. Compliance was evaluated with daily self-report records. Fecal microbially-derived metabolites, including acetate, propionate, butyrate, isovalerate, valerate, and isobutyrate were quantified using gas chromatography mass spectroscopy on a dry matter basis. Following fecal DNA extraction, microbial analyses were conducted by sequencing the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Sequence data were analyzed using DADA2 and QIIME version 2. Per protocol (PP; >80% meal consumption) and intent-to-treat (ITT) approaches were applied and generalized linear mixed models were assessed for treatment, time, and treatment by time interactions in SAS version 9.4. Results The intervention was completed by 88% (n = 140) of participants, average meal compliance among both groups was 90%, and 83% (n = 132) of participants met PP criteria. Microbiota analyses were completed for 156 ITT and 109 PP participants, respectively. ITT time by treatment analyses indicated that compared to control, avocado consumption increased acetate (P < 0.01) and total short-chain fatty acid (SCFA; P = 0.02) concentrations and increased the relative abundances of Faecalibacterium (P = 0.01). PP time by treatment analyses revealed that avocado consumption increased acetate concentrations (P < 0.01), increased the relative abundances of Lachnospira (P = 0.04), and trended to increase Faecalibacterium (P = 0.08). Conclusions Fresh Hass avocado intake increased the relative abundances of microbes capable of fiber fermentation and SCFA production among adults with overweight or obesity, providing valuable evidence for the impact of this nutrient dense food on the GI microbiota. Funding Sources Support for this research was provided by the Hass Avocado Board and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project 1009249.

scholarly journals The Impact of Fresh Hass Avocado on the Fecal Metabolome Among Adults with Overweight and Obesity: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 1593-1593
Author(s):  
Sharon Thompson ◽  
Ziyang Pan ◽  
Caitlyn Edwards ◽  
Ginger Reeser ◽  
Naiman Khan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Treatment Group ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
Type I ◽  
Gastrointestinal Microbiota ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Hass Avocado ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Objectives Avocados are nutrient-rich fruits that have been recently linked to beneficial alterations to the gastrointestinal microbiota. However, previous research on shifts in the fecal metabolome with avocado intake has largely been conducted in in vitro or preclinical models and little is known about their metabolomic impact in human subjects. Methods Adult participants (n = 109) 25–45 years of age with BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m2 were enrolled in an investigator-blinded, parallel arm, randomized, controlled trial. Participants consumed isocaloric meals with or without fresh Hass avocado once daily for 12-weeks and reported ≥ 80% meal consumption over the intervention period. Untargeted fecal metabolites were quantified in a subsample of participants (n = 48) using gas chromatography mass spectroscopy and were normalized by sample weight. Kruskal-Wallis tests and false discovery rate type I error correction were conducted and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was used to predict treatment group by fecal metabolite concentrations (RStudio, version 3.6.2). Results A total of 292 metabolites were identified at intervention follow-up. Of these, three metabolites differed significantly between treatment groups. Fecal concentrations of lanosterol (P = 0.0004, q = 0.04) and the fatty alcohols hexadecanol (P = 0.001, q = 0.04) and octadecanol (P = 0.001, q = 0.04), were greater in the group consuming avocado as compared to control. Seventeen additional metabolites, including nine fecal lipids, two fat soluble vitamin derivatives, and three monosaccharides/disaccharides differed at P &lt; 0.05 but did not meet the q &lt; 0.05 threshold. Treatment group assignment was predicted correctly in 70% of cases (R2 = 72%, Q2 = 33%) using the trained OPLS-DA model. Conclusions Fresh Hass avocado intake increased fecal lipid and sterol concentrations among healthy adults with overweight and obesity, demonstrating diet-related modifications to the fecal metabolome. Funding Sources Support for this research was provided by the Hass Avocado Board, the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project 1009249, and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture AFRI Predoctoral Fellowship, project 2018–07785.

scholarly journals Can Written Disclosure Reduce Psychological Distress and Increase Objectively Measured Injury Mobility of Student-Athletes? A Randomized Controlled Trial

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine Duncan ◽  
Yori Gidron ◽  
David Lavallee
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Written Disclosure ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Writing Group ◽  
Objectively Measured ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Growth Controls

Injured students-athletes took part in a randomized controlled trial to test whether written disclosure could reduce psychological distress and improve injury mobility. Writing took place alongside prescribed physical rehabilitation and consisted of three 20-minute writing sessions, once a week for three consecutive weeks. Participants in the experimental injury-writing group followed a structured form of written disclosure, called the guided disclosure protocol (GDP). They firstly, wrote about the onset of their injury in a chronological manner, secondly, they explicitly labelled their emotions and described the impact of the injury, finally they wrote about future coping and psychological growth. Controls wrote about nonemotional and noninjury related topics. In addition to self-report measures, a physiotherapist, blind to experimental condition, assessed mobility at the injury site. Although self-report indices remained unchanged, the GDP group evidenced a significant improvement in injury mobility compared to controls.

Investigating the Impact of Cognitive Training for Individuals With Bothersome Tinnitus: A Randomized Controlled Trial

2021 ◽  
pp. 019459982199474
Author(s):  
Maggie Xing ◽  
Dorina Kallogjeri ◽  
Jay F. Piccirillo
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Cognitive Training ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Functional Index ◽  
Open Label ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
The Impact

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive training in improving tinnitus bother and to identify predictors of patient response. Study Design Prospective open-label randomized controlled trial. Setting Online. Methods Participants were adults with subjective idiopathic nonpulsatile tinnitus causing significant tinnitus-related distress. The intervention group trained by using auditory-intensive exercises for 20 minutes per day, 5 days per week, for 8 weeks. The active control group trained on the same schedule with non–auditory intensive games. Surveys were completed at baseline, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks. Results A total of 64 participants completed the study. The median age was 63 years (range, 25-69) in the intervention group and 61 years (34-68) in the control group. Mixed model analysis revealed that within-subject change in Tinnitus Functional Index in the intervention group was not different than the control group, with marginal mean differences (95% CI): 0.24 (–11.20 to 10.7) and 2.17 (–8.50 to 12.83) at 8 weeks and 2.33 (–8.6 to 13.3) and 3.36 (–7.91 to 14.6) at 12 weeks, respectively. When the 2 study groups were compared, the control group had higher Tinnitus Functional Index scores than the intervention group by 10.5 points at baseline (95% CI, –0.92 to 29.89), 8.1 at 8 weeks (95% CI, –3.27 to 19.42), and 9.4 at 12 weeks (95% CI, –2.45 to 21.34). Conclusion Auditory-intensive cognitive training was not associated with changes in self-reported tinnitus bother. Given the potential for neuroplasticity to affect tinnitus, we believe that future studies on cognitive training for tinnitus remain relevant.

scholarly journals Community Health Workers as a Strategy to Tackle Psychosocial Suffering Due to Physical Distancing: A Randomized Controlled Trial

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 3097
Author(s):  
Dorien Vanden Bossche ◽  
Susan Lagaert ◽  
Sara Willems ◽  
Peter Decat
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Psychosocial Support ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Psychosocial Health ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
The Impact

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, many primary care professionals were overburdened and experienced difficulties reaching vulnerable patients and meeting the increased need for psychosocial support. This randomized controlled trial (RCT) tested whether a primary healthcare (PHC) based community health worker (CHW) intervention could tackle psychosocial suffering due to physical distancing measures in patients with limited social networks. Methods: CHWs provided 8 weeks of tailored psychosocial support to the intervention group. Control group patients received ‘care as usual’. The impact on feelings of emotional support, social isolation, social participation, anxiety and fear of COVID-19 were measured longitudinally using a face-to-face survey to determine their mean change from baseline. Self-rated change in psychosocial health at 8 weeks was determined. Results: We failed to find a significant effect of the intervention on the prespecified psychosocial health measures. However, the intervention did lead to significant improvement in self-rated change in psychosocial health. Conclusions: This study confirms partially the existing evidence on the effectiveness of CHW interventions as a strategy to address mental health in PHC in a COVID context. Further research is needed to elaborate the implementation of CHWs in PHC to reach vulnerable populations during and after health crises.

scholarly journals Effects of capillary refill time-vs. lactate-targeted fluid resuscitation on regional, microcirculatory and hypoxia-related perfusion parameters in septic shock: a randomized controlled trial

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Castro ◽  
Eduardo Kattan ◽  
Giorgio Ferri ◽  
Ronald Pairumani ◽  
Emilio Daniel Valenzuela ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Septic Shock ◽  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Fluid Resuscitation ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Tissue Perfusion ◽  
Capillary Refill Time ◽  
Capillary Refill ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Microcirculatory Flow ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Persistent hyperlactatemia has been considered as a signal of tissue hypoperfusion in septic shock patients, but multiple non-hypoperfusion-related pathogenic mechanisms could be involved. Therefore, pursuing lactate normalization may lead to the risk of fluid overload. Peripheral perfusion, assessed by the capillary refill time (CRT), could be an effective alternative resuscitation target as recently demonstrated by the ANDROMEDA-SHOCK trial. We designed the present randomized controlled trial to address the impact of a CRT-targeted (CRT-T) vs. a lactate-targeted (LAC-T) fluid resuscitation strategy on fluid balances within 24 h of septic shock diagnosis. In addition, we compared the effects of both strategies on organ dysfunction, regional and microcirculatory flow, and tissue hypoxia surrogates. Results Forty-two fluid-responsive septic shock patients were randomized into CRT-T or LAC-T groups. Fluids were administered until target achievement during the 6 h intervention period, or until safety criteria were met. CRT-T was aimed at CRT normalization (≤ 3 s), whereas in LAC-T the goal was lactate normalization (≤ 2 mmol/L) or a 20% decrease every 2 h. Multimodal perfusion monitoring included sublingual microcirculatory assessment; plasma-disappearance rate of indocyanine green; muscle oxygen saturation; central venous-arterial pCO2 gradient/ arterial-venous O2 content difference ratio; and lactate/pyruvate ratio. There was no difference between CRT-T vs. LAC-T in 6 h-fluid boluses (875 [375–2625] vs. 1500 [1000–2000], p = 0.3), or balances (982[249–2833] vs. 15,800 [740–6587, p = 0.2]). CRT-T was associated with a higher achievement of the predefined perfusion target (62 vs. 24, p = 0.03). No significant differences in perfusion-related variables or hypoxia surrogates were observed. Conclusions CRT-targeted fluid resuscitation was not superior to a lactate-targeted one on fluid administration or balances. However, it was associated with comparable effects on regional and microcirculatory flow parameters and hypoxia surrogates, and a faster achievement of the predefined resuscitation target. Our data suggest that stopping fluids in patients with CRT ≤ 3 s appears as safe in terms of tissue perfusion. Clinical Trials: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03762005 (Retrospectively registered on December 3rd 2018)

scholarly journals Effectiveness of Yoga Lifestyle on Lipid Metabolism in a Vulnerable Population—A Community Based Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

Medicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Raghuram Nagarathna ◽  
Saurabh Kumar ◽  
Akshay Anand ◽  
Ishwara N. Acharya ◽  
Amit Kumar Singh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Density Lipoprotein ◽  
Lipid Profiles ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Yoga Group ◽  
The Impact

Background: Dyslipidemia poses a high risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke in Type 2 diabetes (T2DM). There are no studies on the impact of a validated integrated yoga lifestyle protocol on lipid profiles in a high-risk diabetes population. Methods: Here, we report the results of lipid profile values of 11,254 (yoga 5932 and control 5322) adults (20–70 years) of both genders with high risk (≥60 on Indian diabetes risk score) for diabetes from a nationwide rural and urban community-based two group (yoga and conventional management) cluster randomized controlled trial. The yoga group practiced a validated integrated yoga lifestyle protocol (DYP) in nine day camps followed by daily one-hour practice. Biochemical profiling included glycated hemoglobin and lipid profiles before and after three months. Results: There was a significant difference between groups (p < 0.001 ANCOVA) with improved serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein in the yoga group compared to the control group. Further, the regulatory effect of yoga was noted with a significant decrease or increase in those with high or low values of lipids, respectively, with marginal or no change in those within the normal range. Conclusion: Yoga lifestyle improves and regulates (lowered if high, increased if low) the blood lipid levels in both genders of prediabetic and diabetic individuals in both rural and urban Indian communities.

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