Alessandro Casini

University of Florence | UNIFI · Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica

Purpose We evaluated the effect of low-calorie mediterranean (MD) and vegetarian (VD) diets on gut microbiome (GM) composition and short-chain-fatty acids (SCFA) production. Methods We performed next generation sequencing (NGS) of 16S rRNA and SCFA analysis on fecal samples of 23 overweight omnivores (16 F; 7 M) with low-to-moderate cardiovascular...

Introduction There is growing interest in understanding how diet can modulate the gut microbiota (GM), including its possible association with disease states. The aim of the present study is to compare in a group of subjects in primary prevention for cardiovascular disease (CVD) the effects of Mediterranean (MD) and Vegetarian (VD) dietary patterns...

Objective: To systematically review all the available evidence from prospective cohort studies that investigated the association between consumption of food groups and the occurrence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods: We conducted an electronic literature search through MedLine, Embase, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and biblio...

Aim. To evaluate the possible association between dietary habits and progenitor cells using data obtained from a randomized crossover trial using two different diets, lacto-ovo-vegetarian (VD) and Mediterranean (MD), the CARDIVEG study. Methods. Eighty clinically healthy subjects with a low-to-moderate cardiovascular risk profile (61 F; 19 M; mean...

Previous studies have suggested that vegetarianism can result in a reduction of vitamin B 12 circulating levels. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of a 3-month dietary intervention with a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet (VD) on the levels of circulating vitamin B 12 in a group of omnivores. We analysed fifty-four omnivorous subj...

Background -Only a few randomized dietary intervention studies that investigated the effects of lacto-ovo vegetarian diet (VD) in clinically healthy omnivorous subjects are available. Methods -We randomly assigned to overweight omnivores with a low-to-moderate cardiovascular risk profile a low-calorie VD compared with a low-calorie Mediterranean d...

The association between the sleep pattern and the effectiveness of a calorie-restricted Mediterranean diet in people with overweight/obesity has been investigated in this study. Four hundred and three subjects were provided with a calorie-restricted Mediterranean diet and followed for 9 months. Personal information, including sleep pattern, was obt...

Research has shown that a greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with a reduced risk of major chronic disease. However, the existing literature leads to debate for different issues, such as the measurement of the adherence to the Mediterranean diet, the use of a wide variety of dietary indices with various food components and the...

Letter to the Editor to Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition.

Ancient grain varieties have been shown to have some beneficial effects on health. Forty-five clinically healthy subjects were included in a randomized, double-blinded crossover trial aimed at evaluating the effect of a replacement diet with bread derived from ancient grain varieties versus modern grain variety on cardiovascular risk profile. After...

Background: Beneficial effects of vegetarian and vegan diets on health outcomes have been supposed in previous studies. Objectives: Aim of this study was to clarify the association between vegetarian, vegan diets, risk factors for chronic diseases, risk of all-cause mortality, incidence and mortality from cardio-cerebrovascular diseases, total c...

Background and objectives: Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is a gluten-free grain with acclaimed benefi-cial effects on human health. Our aim was to assess the effect of buckwheat products on intestinal/extra-intestinal symptoms and biochemical parameters in patients with Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS). Methods and study design: A randomi...

Purposes: The aim of the present study was to examine whether a replacement diet with products made with organic ancient khorasan wheat could provide additive protective effects in reducing glucose, insulin, lipid and inflammatory risk factors, and in restoring blood redox balance in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients compared to diet with p...

Numerous studies have demonstrated a relationship between adherence to Mediterranean diet and prevention of chronic degenerative diseases. The aim of this study was to validate a novel instrument to measure adherence to Mediterranean diet based on the literature (the MEDI-LITE score). Two-hundred-and-four clinically healthy subjects completed both...

Aim: This study aims to describe the adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD), using the KIDMED questionnaire, in a sample of Catalonian adolescents and to assess the association between the MD adherence and socio-economic and lifestyle behaviours. Material and methods: Data are part of a multi-centre longitudinal study designed for the reduction o...

Background and Aim: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease worldwide, affecting up to one-third of the population in industrialized countries. Silymarin and S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine (SAMe) have therapeutic potential for treatment of liver disease. The aim of the present pilot study was to evaluate the possible eff...

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether short-term exposure to a Mediterranean diet during a structured abroad experience could influence dietary habits and attitudes. Design: This study used a cross-sectional design. Setting: The study was conducted on the Florence University of the Arts (FUA) campus, Italy. Subjects: Fi...

the paper shows that buckwheat is effective against cardiovascular risk

Background: Lifestyle modifications, especially dietary interventions, assume an increasingly more important role in the population-based approach to cardiovascular diseases risk reduction. Buckwheat is a highly nutritional food component that has been shown to provide a wide range of beneficial effects. Objective: The aim of the study was to exami...

Background: Nutrition is able to alter the cardiovascular health of the general population. However, the optimal dietary strategy for cardiovascular disease prevention is still far from being defined. Mediterranean and vegetarian diets are those reporting the greatest grade of evidence in the literature, but no experimental studies comparing these...

Background: Stargardt’s disease (STGD) and Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) are inherited retinal degenerations that may be affected, in opposite way, by diet. Methods: Dietary profile was assessed in 24 patients with STGD and in 56 patients with RP. We documented in only 6 out of 24 (25 %) STGD patients a daily intake of vitamin A within the recommended...

As a broad range of professionals in clinical and nonclinical settings requires some expertise in human nutrition, the university system must offer academic courses tailored to these different specific needs. In the Italian university system there is still uncertainty with regard to the learning objectives regarding human nutrition. In the minister...

Khorasan wheat is an ancient grain with previously reported health benefits in clinically healthy subjects. The aim of this study was to examine whether a replacement diet, thereby substituting all other cereal grains, with products made with organic khorasan wheat could provide additive protective effects in reducing lipid, oxidative and inflammat...

Objective: Increasing evidence suggests an association between insomnia and cardiovascular disease. We performed a systematic review with meta-analysis of all the available prospective studies that investigated the association between insomnia and risk of developing and/or dying from cardiovascular disease.Design: Systematic review and meta-analysi...

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents the most common chronic liver disease in Western countries, being considered as the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome. NAFLD has a common pathogenic background to that of metabolic syndrome, and shares many risk factors such as obesity, hypertension, insulin resistance and dyslipidemia....

Lifestyle behaviours such as healthy diet, physical activity and abstinence from tobacco smoking are widely known to be significantly associated with reduced occurrence of chronic degenerative diseases. Actually, a growing interest on wellness and lifestyle-related habits for prevention of disease and maintenance of good health status has been rece...

The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of a replacement diet with organic, semi-whole-grain products derived from Triticum turgidum subsp. turanicum (ancient) wheat on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms and inflammatory/biochemical parameters. A double-blinded randomised cross-over trial was performed using twenty participants...

To update previous meta-analyses of cohort studies that investigated the association between the Mediterranean diet and health status and to utilize data coming from all of the cohort studies for proposing a literature-based adherence score to the Mediterranean diet. We conducted a comprehensive literature search through all electronic databases up...

Over the last decades, a considerable body of evidence supported the hypothesis that diet and dietary factors play a relevant role in the occurrence of diseases. To date, all the major scientific associations as well as the World Health Organization and the nonscientific organizations place an ever-increasing emphasis on the role of diet in prevent...

Neurodegenerative diseases, a complex of diseases that ranges from cognitive decline, dementia, to Alzheimer’s disease represent, to date, a public health priority all over the world. Recently, an increasing interest for a possible relationship between diet and cognitive health has been reported. Several models of diet have been proposed but, until...

Background: Peripheral-arterial tonometry (PAT) provides, with good reproducibility, measures of nitric oxide-mediated endothelial response, which correlate with flow-mediated dilation (FMD) findings obtained by brachial artery ultrasound. Few data about the ability of exploring endothelial function by PAT in relation to dietary habits are availab...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of consuming gilthead sea bream fillets, with different n-6/ n-3 ratios, on atherosclerotic biomarkers. Twenty healthy subjects were included in a randomised single-blinded cross-over trial. Participants were randomized into 2 groups, both of which received approximately 630 g per week of gilthead se...

Background/Objectives: Khorasan wheat (Kamut) is an ancient grain with widely acclaimed beneficial effects on human health. The objective was to characterise Kamut and to examine the effect of a replacement diet with their products on cardiovascular risk parameters. Subjects/Methods: We conducted a randomized, single-blinded cross-over trial with...

Aim this study was to evaluate the influence of short-term dietary intake of pasta obtained by an old Italian durum wheat variety on parameters related to the atherosclerotic process. Twenty subjects were followed for 10 weeks a diet containing 70 g/die of test pasta (Test period) and for the same period a control pasta (Placebo period). The test p...

Novel Regulators and Inhibitors of Aortic Valve Calcification –ESC-Congress 2012 ,Munich ,Germany

Over the last years, numerous evidence on the existing relationship between nutrition and chronic degenerative diseases have led investigators to search for the optimal dietary pattern to maintain a good health status. It's well known, in fact, that nutrition is capable of substantially modifying the risk profile ofa subject in primary and/or secon...

Adherence to Mediterranean diet has been shown to be associated with a better health and greater survival. The aim of the present study was to identify change-points in the relationship between food groups composing Mediterranean diet and overall mortality. The population of the Greek EPIC prospective cohort study (23,349 adult men and women in the...

To assess the effect of a personalized physical activity programme on weight and circulating (CPC) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) in overweight and obese subjects. Anthropometric measurements with body composition, cardiopulmonary test, maximal stress exercise test with maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2max) ) and a series of biochemical analyses...

High-fat dietary intake and low physical activity lead to insulin resistance, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Recent studies have shown an effect of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) on hepatic glucose metabolism, although GLP-1 receptors (GLP-1r) have not been found in human livers. The aim of this s...

The relationship between physical activity and cognitive function is intriguing but controversial. We performed a systematic meta-analysis of all the available prospective studies that investigated the association between physical activity and risk of cognitive decline in nondemented subjects. We conducted an electronic literature search through Me...

The Mediterranean diet has long been reported to be protective against the occurrence of several different health outcomes. We aimed to update our previous meta-analysis of published cohort prospective studies that investigated the effects of adherence to the Mediterranean diet on health status. We conducted a comprehensive literature search throug...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of short-term dietary intake of bread obtained by a selected variety of old grain grown in Tuscany, Italy on some parameters related to the atherosclerotic process. Twenty healthy subjects (median age, 39.5 years) followed for 10 weeks a diet containing bread (150 g/day) made from the test grain (...

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a worldwide diffuse condition due to alimentary, environment and genetic factors. The aim of our preliminary study was to evaluate the effectiveness of long-term consumption of food enriched with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in patients with NAFLD. Eleven patients were enrolled; six (four males...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by cognitive and memory deterioration, with an increasing prevalence in the industrialized countries and an extraordinary cost of caring for patients. Due to the limited information available on the exact pathophysiology of the disease, over the last years t...

Trans fatty acids are unsaturated fatty acids produced by the partial hydrogenation of polyunsaturated oils. Over the last few years, an increasing interest on these fatty acids has been shown because of their role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. To date, major scientific associations strongly recommend consuming a low intake of tra...

Some studies recently reported a favourable effect for cis-9, trans-11 conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on plasma lipoprotein profile of healthy subjects. Aim of this crossover intervention study was to evaluate the influence of a short-term dietary intake of a cheese derived from sheep's milk naturally rich in CLA on several atherosclerotic biomarke...

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the influence of short-term dietary intake of farmed fish on biomarkers related to the atherosclerotic process. Lipid, inflammatory, and haemorheological variables before (T0) and after a dietary intervention with about 800 g Orbetello farmed sea bass per week for 10 weeks (T1) were evaluated in ni...

Mediterranean diet (MD) is an eating pattern that has been worldwide promoted as a model for healthy eating and has been reported to contribute to a favourable health status and to a better quality of life. Over the last years, despite evidences on the beneficial effects of the single components of MD have been reported, research interest has been...

Riassunto. Nel corso degli ultimi anni le numerose evidenze di fattori addizionali alla base della relazione esistente fra nutrizione e malattie croniche invalidanti hanno porta-to gli studiosi a ricercare il modello di alimentazione più idoneo al mantenimento di un buo-no stato di salute. È ben noto, infatti, come l'alimentazione sia in grado di m...

A variety of neurodegenerative diseases leading to movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD) are characterized by neuronal inclusions. Despite evidence of the presence of these intrusions, these intracellular bodies have been poorly investigated because of the technical limits of reproducing them in experimental models and the difficultie...

Objective: To systematically review all the prospective cohort studies that have analysed the relation between adherence to a Mediterranean diet, mortality, and incidence of chronic diseases in a primary prevention setting. Design: Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Data sources: English and non-English publications in PubMed, Embase...