Our aim is evaluating the changes in weight and dietary habits in a sample of outpatients with obesity after 1 month of enforced lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Italy. In this observational retrospective study, the patients of our Obesity Unit were invited to answer to a 12-question multiple-choice questionnaire relative to weight changes, working activity, exercise, dietary habits, and conditions potentially impacting on nutritional choices. A multivariate regression analysis was performed to evaluate the associations among weight/BMI changes and the analyzed variables. A total of 150 subjects (91.5%) completed the questionnaire. Mean self-reported weight gain was ≈1.5 kg (p < 0.001). Lower exercise, self-reported boredom/solitude, anxiety/depression, enhanced eating, consumption of snacks, unhealthy foods, cereals, and sweets were correlated with a significantly higher weight gain. Multiple regression analyses showed that increased education (inversely, β = −1.15; 95%CI −2.13, −0.17, p = 0.022), self-reported anxiety/depression (β = 1.61; 0.53, 2.69, p = 0.004), and not consuming healthy foods (β = 1.48; 0.19, 2.77, p = 0.026) were significantly associated with increased weight gain. The estimated direct effect of self-reported anxiety/depression on weight was 2.07 kg (1.07, 3.07, p < 0.001). Individuals with obesity significantly gained weight 1 month after the beginning of the quarantine. The adverse mental burden linked to the COVID-19 pandemic was greatly associated with increased weight gain.

Objectives: To investigate three‐dimensional (3D) power Doppler ultrasound indices in the assessment of placental perfusion and their relationship to gestational age (GA), placental position and umbilical artery Doppler flow velocity waveform (FVW) patterns in normal and intrauterine growth‐restricted (IUGR) pregnancies.Methods: Forty‐five pregnant women at 23–37 weeks' gestation were studied, of whom 30 had IUGR and 15 were controls. Nine of the IUGR group had normal umbilical FVWs (NED), nine had abnormal patterns but positive end‐diastolic velocities (PED) and 12 had absent or reversed end‐diastolic velocities (AED). Placental position was assessed as being posterior, anterior or lateral. 3D power Doppler indices related to placental perfusion (vascularization index (VI), vascularization flow index (VFI) and flow index (FI)) were obtained from five different sampling sites in each placenta.Results: VI, VFI and FI were not significantly dependent on GA or placental position. VI and VFI were significantly lower in PED and AED cases compared with controls, while FI was reduced in the AED group only. VI and VFI showed high variability between different sampling sites within each placenta, while the variability of FI was much lower.Conclusions: 3D power Doppler sonography can provide new insights into placental pathophysiology. FI, which identifies the most severe cases of placental impairment, appears to be the most reliable index because of its low intraplacental variability. Further studies are needed to verify its accuracy when applied in clinical practice as a substitute for or an adjunct to umbilical artery Doppler studies. Copyright © 2008 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Background: Type 2 diabetes (DM), metabolic syndrome (MetS), and inflammation are linked to reduced magnesium and fiber intakes; these associations are attenuated by adjustment for each of these nutrients. Objective: We investigated the association among magnesium and fiber intakes, metabolic variables, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) values. Design: Cross-sectional analyses were performed in a representative cohort of 1653 adults and in a subgroup with normal body mass index without dysmetabolisms (n = 205). A validated semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaire was used; magnesium intake was computed by multiplying its content in each food by the frequency of food consumption. Results: The prevalence of DM, MetS, and hs-CRP ≥ 3 mg/L significantly decreased from the lowest to the highest tertile of magnesium and fiber intakes. Subjects within the lowest tertiles of magnesium and fiber intakes were 3–4 times as likely to have DM, MetS, and hs-CRP ≥ 3 mg/L, after multiple adjustments. After the analysis was additionally controlled for fiber intake, associations with hs-CRP ≥ 3 mg/L proved to be significant (odds ratio: 2.05; 95% CI: 1.30, 3.25), whereas reduced magnesium intake and DM and MetS were no longer significant. The lowest tertile of fiber intake remained associated with DM, hs-CRP ≥ 3 mg/L, and MetS after adjustments for multiple confounders and magnesium intake. In the lean, healthy subject subgroup, hs-CRP values were inversely associated with magnesium and fiber intakes in a multivariate model (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Reduced fiber intake was significantly associated with metabolic abnormalities; the magnesium effect might be confounded by fiber being in foods that also provided magnesium. Lower magnesium and fiber intakes were linked to hs-CRP ≥ 3 mg/L in both the entire cohort and healthy persons.

Purpose To evaluate the prognostic relevance of molecular monitoring of minimal residual disease in indolent lymphomas receiving high-dose sequential chemotherapy and autografting. Patients, Materials, and Methods A polymerase chain reaction- (PCR-)based strategy was used to evaluate the presence of residual tumor cells in a panel of 70 indolent lymphoma patients: 40 with follicular (FCL), 14 with small lymphocytic (SLL), and 16 with mantle-cell (MCL) lymphomas. They were treated either with first-line (n = 61) or second-line (n = 9) therapy with an intensified high-dose chemotherapy program followed by peripheral-blood progenitor cells autografting. The Bcl-1, Bcl-2, and immunoglobulin gene rearrangements were used as lymphoma-specific markers. Overall, a molecular marker was obtained from the diagnostic tissue in 60 of 70 patients (86%). Results The collection of PCR-negative cells and the achievement of posttransplantation molecular remission (MR) were common in patients with FCL subtype (54% and 70%, respectively), whereas they were not frequent among SLL and MCL (25% and 12.5%, respectively) patients. With a median molecular follow-up of 75 months, an 88% incidence of relapse was observed among patients never attaining MR. In contrast, relapse incidence was only 8% among patients attaining a durable MR (P < .005). At present, 26 patients (20 with FCL and six with non-FCL) are long-term survivors in absence of clinical and molecular disease. Conclusion Our results indicate that among indolent lymphomas, FCL and non-FCL subtypes show a significantly different behavior in terms of MR achievement, and MR after intensive chemotherapy and autografting is predictive for a prolonged disease-free survival, whereas persistent PCR positivity is associated with a high risk of relapse.