ABSTRACT
Background: In recent decades, much interest has been focused on investigating new roles of vitamin D in human body beyond the mineral-ion homeostasis
Methods: By searching medical databases such as PubMed, over 16000 articles were found which have been published since 2000 on novel aspects of vitamin D in health and diseases
Results: Of great interest was the effects of vitamin D on decreasing the risk of several chronic illnesses, including common cancers, autoimmune, infectious, and cardiovascular diseases. In this review, the new roles of vitamin D that have recently been investigated were addressed
Conclusions: Due to the vast prevalence of vitamin D deficiency worldwide, it seems that time has come to conduct well-designed clinical trials and meta-analysis to explore the effectiveness of vitamin D supplementation in treatment of common diseases. Finally, the progression in cellular and molecular methods and technology will shed new lights on vitamin D roles in health and disease
ABSTRACT
Background: Dyslipidemia and insulin resistance [IR], occurring in most infertile women with polycystic ovarian syndrome [PCOS], increase the risk of cardiovascular disease [CVD] and type 2 diabetes. This study aimed to assess the relationships between lipopro-tein ratios and IR in PCOS women
Materials and Methods: Thirty six infertile women with PCOS selected based on Andro-gen Excess Society [AES] criteria and 29 healthy women matched for age were recruited to this case-control study. After physical measurements, fasting serum glucose [Glu], insulin and lipid profile levels [triglycerides [TGs], total cholesterol [TC], low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol [LDL-C] and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol [HDL-C]] were measured, while lipoprotein ratios [TC/HDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C, TG/HDL-C] were calculated. IR was also calculated using homeostasis model assessment [HOMA]-IR. The optimal cutoffs of lipoprotein ratios in relation to HOMA-IR were calculated based on the Receiver Operating Characteristics [ROC] curve analysis using the area under curve [AUC]
Results: Waist circumference [WC], insulin levels, HOMA-IR, TG levels, and all lipoprotein ratios were significantly higher, while HDL-C was lower in PCOS group as compared to healthy controls. All lipoprotein ratios, TG levels, and WC are significantly correlated with insulin levels and HOMA-IR. Among lipoprotein ratios, the highest AUC of the ROC belonged to TG/HDL-C ratio with sensitivity of 63.6% and specificity of 84.4% [TG/HDL-O3.19] as a marker of IR in infertile PCOS women
Conclusion: Lipoprotein ratios, particularly TG/HDL-C, are directly correlated with insulin levels and can be used as a marker of IR [HOMA-IR] in infertile PCOS patients
Subject(s)
Humans , Women , Adult , Lipoproteins/blood , Insulin Resistance , Infertility, Female , Case-Control StudiesABSTRACT
Background: Premenstrual syndrome [PMS] is one of the important health problems with high incidence; in young women. The exact cause of this syndrome is not clear and some theories have been declared from hormonal factors to nutritional disorders
Objective: We investigated the correlation between serum zinc and antioxidant status with PMS
Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, forty eight young girls were selected from a total sample of 110 students residing at university dormitories including PMS [n=23] and healthy [n=25] groups based on PMS questionnaire
Dietary intake questionnaire and blood samples were collected from all participants
Serum total antioxidant capacity [TAG] and zinc concentrations were also measured
Results: Serum TAG and zinc concentrations were lower in PMS patients compared with healthy groups [p<0.0l and p<0.05? respectively]. Healthy control consumed lower servings of hydrogenated oils [p<0.05]
There were significant differences in terms of muscle mass between the PMS and healthy groups [p<0.05]. Both serum TAG and zinc levels were negatively correlated to PMS scores [r=-0.39, p<0.05 and r= -036; p<0.05, respectively]
Conclusion: This study shows that higher TAG and zinc serum levels are associated with lower risk of PMS. PMS cases have more hydrogenated oils than their normal counterparts