ABSTRACT
This study aimed to investigate the effects of vitamin and antioxidant supplements in the prevention of bladder cancer using a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Fourteen RCTs were included in the final analysis. In a fixed-effect meta-analysis, vitamin and antioxidant supplements showed no preventive effect for bladder cancer (relative risk [RR] = 1.04; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.92–1.17; I² = 39.7%). Also, there was no preventive effect of these supplements in the subgroup meta-analyses by various factors such as type of supplements, type of cancer prevention, methodological quality, providers of supplements, type of control group, and number of participants. Among the subgroup analyses by type of supplements, beta-carotene supplementation alone marginally increased the risk of bladder cancer (RR = 1.44; 95% CI 1.00–2.09; I² = 0.0%; n = 3). The current meta-analysis found that vitamin and antioxidant supplements have no preventive effect against bladder cancer.
ABSTRACT
Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation reduces epidermal hydration, which is paralleled by the reduction of natural moisturizing factors (NMFs). Of various NMFs, free amino acids (AAs) are major constituents generated by filaggrin degradation. In this study, we attempted to determine whether dietary supplementation of royal jelly (RJ) in UV-irradiated mice can alters epidermal levels of hydration, filaggrins, and free AAs as well as of peptidylarginine deiminase-3 (PAD3), an enzyme involved in filaggrin degradation processes. Albino hairless mice were fed either a control diet (group UV+: UV irradiated control) or diets with 1% RJ harvested from different areas in Korea (groups RJ1, RJ2, and RJ3) or imported from China (group RJ4) for six weeks in parallel with UV irradiation. A normal control group (group UV-) was fed a control diet without UV irradiation for six weeks. Reduced epidermal levels of hydration, total filaggrins, and PAD3 were observed in group UV+; in group RJ1, these levels were increased to a level similar to that of group UV-. In addition, profilaggrins, two repeat intermediates (2RI), a precursor with two filaggrin repeats, and filaggrin were increased. Although no alteration of AAs was observed in any of the groups, and glutamate and serine, major AAs of NMF in group RJ1 were higher than in group UV+. Despite the increased levels of PAD3, epidermal levels of hydration, filaggrins, glutamate, and serine in groups RJ2, RJ3, and RJ4 were similar to those in group UV+. Dietary supplementation of RJ1 improves epidermal hydration in parallel with enhanced expression and degradation of filaggrin, but not by increased protein expression of PAD3, along with increased generation of glutamate and serine.