Crohn’s disease (CD) is a complex, disabling, idiopathic, progressive, and destructive disorder with an unknown etiology. The pathogenesis of CD is multifactorial and involves the interplay between host genetics, and environmental factors, resulting in an aberrant immune response leading to intestinal inflammation. Due to the high morbidity and long-term management of CD, the development of non-pharmacological approaches to mitigate the severity of CD has recently attracted great attention. The gut microbiota has been recognized as an important player in the development of CD, and general alterations in the gut microbiome have been established in these patients. Thus, the gut microbiome has emerged as a pre-eminent target for potential new treatments in CD. Epidemiological and interventional studies have demonstrated that diet could impact the gut microbiome in terms of composition and functionality. However, how specific dietary strategies could modulate the gut microbiota composition and how this would impact host–microbe interactions in CD are still unclear. In this review, we discuss the most recent knowledge on host–microbe interactions and their involvement in CD pathogenesis and severity, and we highlight the most up-to-date information on gut microbiota modulation through nutritional strategies, focusing on the role of the microbiota in gut inflammation and immunity.

Associations between dyslipidemia and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) have been reported. Previous studies have shown that the triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) ratio may be a surrogate marker of MASLD, assessed by liver ultrasound. However, no studies have evaluated the utility of this ratio according to biopsy-proven MASLD and its stages. Therefore, our aim was to evaluate if the TG/HDL-C ratio allows for the identification of biopsy-proven MASLD in patients with obesity. We conducted a case-control study in 153 patients with obesity who underwent metabolic surgery and had a concomitant liver biopsy. Fifty-three patients were classified as no MASLD, 45 patients as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver—MASL, and 55 patients as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis—MASH. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to assess the accuracy of the TG/HDL-C ratio to detect MASLD. We also compared the area under the curve (AUC) of the TG/HDL-C ratio, serum TG, and HDL-C. A higher TG/HDL-C ratio was observed among patients with MASLD, compared with patients without MASLD. No differences in the TG/HDL-C ratio were found between participants with MASL and MASH. The greatest AUC was observed for the TG/HDL-C ratio (AUC 0.747, p < 0.001) with a cut-off point of 3.7 for detecting MASLD (sensitivity = 70%; specificity = 74.5%). However, no statistically significant differences between the AUC of the TG/HDL-C ratio and TG or HDL-C were observed to detect MASLD. In conclusion, although an elevated TG/HDL-C ratio can be found in patients with MASLD, this marker did not improve the detection of MASLD in our study population, compared with either serum TG or HDL-C.

(1) Background: Oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) is currently recognized as one of the geriatric syndromes due to its high frequency in older people and its associated complications, which have a direct impact on quality of life. The main objective is to determine the effectiveness of telehealth consultation for the re-evaluation of nutritional status and quality of life assessment in older people diagnosed with OD associated with active use of thickeners to prevent hospital admissions in a COVID-19 pandemic. (2) Methods: an observational, descriptive, and longitudinal study that included a sample of 33 subjects with age equal or superior to 65 years diagnosed with OD with conserved cognitive capacity. The nutritional status was evaluated through the Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) questionnaire and biochemical parameters and, the quality of life was determined through the Swallowing Quality of Life (SWAL-QOL) questionnaire. (3) Results: Thirty-three older patients with OD were recruited (54.5% women), with a mean age of 83.5 ± 7.6 years. The main cause of OD in the study population was neurodegenerative disease (51.5%), followed by cerebrovascular disease (33.3%), and other causes (15.2%). Sixty point six percent of patients were found to be at risk of malnutrition. The MNA score was significantly correlated to albumin (r: 0.600, p < 0.001) and total proteins (r: 0.435, p = 0.015), but not to total cholesterol (r: −0.116, p = 0.534) or lymphocytes (r: −0.056, p = 0.758). The mean total score of the SWAL-QOL was 75.1 ± 16.4 points. (4) Conclusions: the quality of life of the subjects related to the use of a thickener is good. Although the body mass index (BMI) and average biochemical, nutritional parameters of the subjects are within the range of normality, the MNA has detected a high percentage of subjects with the risk of malnutrition, which suggests the need for continuous re-evaluation in these patients, demonstrating the viability of the telematic route in this research.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary programme led by nurses in relation to metabolic syndrome (MS) and cardiovascular risk (CVR). Methods: This randomized, controlled, clinical trial included 74 patients diagnosed with MS (experimental group [EG], n = 37; control group [CG], n = 37). The intervention consisted of a 12-month interdisciplinary programme (pre-test, 6 months of intervention, 12 months of intervention, and 1-year follow-up post-intervention) coordinated by nursing. Results: We found a progressive and significant reduction for all clinical, biochemical, and anthropometric parameters analysed at different time points. In the EG, remission of MS by 48.1% in the short term was observed (83.8% in the medium term) and maintained at 1 year post-intervention. In the CG, the prevalence of MS increased by 2.7% from the initial evaluation to study completion. A similar trend was observed for CVR. In the EG, 100% of subjects had a moderate-low risk of CVR at 1 year post-intervention, whereas the CG had CVR in all categories. Conclusion: An interdisciplinary, nurse-led programme improves participants’ metabolic and cardiovascular health, while maintaining long-term effects. Our findings suggest an important role of the professional nurse as a nexus between the patient, different professionals, and the community.

Obesity is an important public health problem. The combined use of different therapies performed by an interdisciplinary group can improve the management of this health issue. The main goal of this research is to determine the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary program based on healthy eating, exercise, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and health education in improving metabolic comorbidity, Body Mass Index (BMI), and nutritional habits among obese adults, at short (12 months) and long term (24 months). A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted at a community care center between February 2014 and February 2016. A random sampling was done (299), total population (3262). A sample of 74 subjects diagnosed with obesity (experimental group, n = 37 and control group, n = 37) was conducted. Inclusion criteria: obese people (BMI: >30 kg/m²) with metabolic comorbidity and bad nutritional habits. Exclusion criteria: other comorbidities. A 12-month interdisciplinary program (with pre-test, 12 months and 24 months of follow-up) was applied. Intervention is based on healthy eating, exercise, and cognitive behavioral therapy. The intervention had a positive effect on nutritional habits (F2;144 = 115.305; p < 0.001). The experimental group increased fruit and vegetable intake (F2;144 = 39.604, p < 0.001), as well as fortified foods (F2;144 = 10,076, p < 0.001) and reduced fats, oils, and sweets F2;144 = 24,086, p < 0.001). In the experimental group, a BMI reduction of 2.6 to 24 months was observed. At follow-up, no participant had inadequate nutritional habits, compared to 35.1% of the control group (χ22 = 33,398; p < 0.001). There was also a positive response of metabolic comorbidities in the intervention group. The interdisciplinary program improved all participants’ metabolic parameters, BMI, and nutritional habits while maintaining the long-term effects (24 months).