The STEP 5 trial assessed the efficacy and safety of once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide 2.4 mg versus placebo (both plus behavioral intervention) for long-term treatment of adults with obesity, or overweight with at least one weight-related comorbidity, without diabetes. The co-primary endpoints were the percentage change in body weight and achievement of weight loss of ≥5% at week 104. Efficacy was assessed among all randomized participants regardless of treatment discontinuation or rescue intervention. From 5 October 2018 to 1 February 2019, 304 participants were randomly assigned to semaglutide 2.4 mg (n = 152) or placebo (n = 152), 92.8% of whom completed the trial (attended the end-of-trial safety visit). Most participants were female (236 (77.6%)) and white (283 (93.1%)), with a mean (s.d.) age of 47.3 (11.0) years, body mass index of 38.5 (6.9) kg m^–2 and weight of 106.0 (22.0) kg. The mean change in body weight from baseline to week 104 was −15.2% in the semaglutide group (n = 152) versus −2.6% with placebo (n = 152), for an estimated treatment difference of −12.6 %-points (95% confidence interval, −15.3 to −9.8; P < 0.0001). More participants in the semaglutide group than in the placebo group achieved weight loss ≥5% from baseline at week 104 (77.1% versus 34.4%; P < 0.0001). Gastrointestinal adverse events, mostly mild-to-moderate, were reported more often with semaglutide than with placebo (82.2% versus 53.9%). In summary, in adults with overweight (with at least one weight-related comorbidity) or obesity, semaglutide treatment led to substantial, sustained weight loss over 104 weeks versus placebo. NCT03693430

Lutein is a carotenoid with reported anti-inflammatory properties. A large body of evidence shows that lutein has several beneficial effects, especially on eye health. In particular, lutein is known to improve or even prevent age-related macular disease which is the leading cause of blindness and vision impairment. Furthermore, many studies have reported that lutein may also have positive effects in different clinical conditions, thus ameliorating cognitive function, decreasing the risk of cancer, and improving measures of cardiovascular health. At present, the available data have been obtained from both observational studies investigating lutein intake with food, and a few intervention trials assessing the efficacy of lutein supplementation. In general, sustained lutein consumption, either through diet or supplementation, may contribute to reducing the burden of several chronic diseases. However, there are also conflicting data concerning lutein efficacy in inducing favorable effects on human health and there are no univocal data concerning the most appropriate dosage for daily lutein supplementation. Therefore, based on the most recent findings, this review will focus on lutein properties, dietary sources, usual intake, efficacy in human health, and toxicity.

The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive evaluation of current evidence on fruit and vegetable consumption and health outcomes. A systematic search for quantitative syntheses was performed. Several criteria, including study design, dose-response relationship, heterogeneity and agreement of results over time, and identification of potential confounding factors, were used to assess the level of evidence. The strongest (probable) evidence was found for cardiovascular disease protection; possible evidence for decreased risk of colon cancer, depression and pancreatic diseases was found for fruit intake; and colon and rectal cancer, hip fracture, stroke, depression and pancreatic diseases was found for vegetable intake. Suggestive and rather limited associations with other outcomes have been found. Evidence of potential confounding by sex and geographical localisation has been reported. Despite findings are consistent enough for hypothesising causation (at least for cardiovascular-related outcomes), further studies are needed to clarify the role of potential confounding factors.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been considered of great interest for human health due to their potential anti-inflammatory action that may protect from a number of chronic-degenerative diseases with an inflammatory pathogenesis. This review aimed to report the most updated evidence of both n-3 and n-6 PUFAs effect on cardiovascular disease, cancer, and depression in humans. Attention has been also paid to those studies exploring the effects of the ratio intake. Results from pooled analyses of human studies reported a general positive effect of n-3 PUFAs intake on all outcomes considered. In contrast, the role of n-6 PUFAs on human health needs to be better assessed in order to clearly identify which compound exerts beneficial/harmful effects. Only a limited number of clinical studies considered the n-3:n-6 PUFAs ratio, rather reporting contrasting results. A number of limitations when considering the ratio between these two families of PUFAs have risen.

Coffee consists of several biological active compounds, such as caffeine, diterpenes, chlorogenic acids, and melanoidins, which may affect human health. The intake of each compound depends on the v...