Hematological Indices and Genetic Variants of Premature Ovarian Insufficiency: Machine Learning Approaches.

BACKGROUND: Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI) is associated with infertility. Little is known about the potential circulating biomarkers that could be used to predict POI. We have investigated the possible association between white and red blood cells, platelet indices, and eight established single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with POI risk. METHOD: 117 women with premature menopause (PM) and 183 healthy women without a history of menopause before age 40 were recruited for this study. The tetra-primer amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (Tetra ARMS PCR) and allele-specific oligonucleotides-polymerase chain reaction (ASO-PCR) were carried out for genotyping for eight SNPs reported to be associated with POI. Decision tree analysis was applied to test the diagnostic value of hematological parameters to identify the risk of POI. RESULTS: Women with POI had lower neutrophil (NEUT) and white blood cell (WBC), whereas red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and mean cell hemoglobin (MCH) were higher. Platelet (PLT) count was also lower in affected women. Our data also indicated that HGB and HCT count were significantly associated with rs16991615 and rs244715. Mean Platelet volume (MPV) and platelet distribution width (PDW) were associated with rs244715, rs1046089, rs4806660, and rs2303369. The rs16991615 was also associated with RBC count, and rs451417 was associated with NEUTs. The decision tree (DT) model reveals that women with the NEUT count at a cut-off value of less than 2.8 and HCT equal to or more than 38.7% could be identified as high-risk cases for POI. Overall, we found the DT approach had a sensitivity = 85%, specificity = 72%, and accuracy = 74%. CONCLUSION: The genetic variants involved in POI are associated with changes in reproductive hormone levels and with changes in hematological indices.

Association of dietary and blood inflammatory indicators with depression, anxiety, and stress in adults with vitamin D deficiency.

BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence that vitamin D may be related to mental health. The aim of the current study was to investigate the association of dietary and blood inflammatory factors with mental health disorders in subjects with vitamin D deficiency, shedding further light on the complex interplay of these conditions. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, 306 subjects completed the validated Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale questionnaire to evaluate their depression, anxiety, and stress scores. Dietary inflammatory index (DII) and healthy eating index (HEI) were calculated using a validated 65-item food frequency questionnaire. Blood samples were taken and vitamin D, cytokine, and hs-CRP levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were calculated using standard laboratory methods. RESULTS: The subjects were divided into two groups based on their vitamin D levels: a vitamin D < 20 µg/dl group (N = 257) and a vitamin D ≥ 20  µg/dl group (N = 49). Between group analysis revealed that only DII (p = 0.015), platelet (p = 0.04), and hs-CRP (p = 0.015) were significantly different. In adults with vitamin D levels below 20 µg/dl, NLR and DII were significantly higher in subjects with anxiety (p < 0.05), and this relationship remained significant only for NLR after adjusting for age and sex. Additionally, PLR and HEI were significantly different in depressed compared to non-depressed subjects, and this association remained significant only for HEI after adjusting for age and sex. CONCLUSION: In subjects with vitamin D deficiency, increased levels of PLR, NLR, and DII were associated with depression and anxiety, while HEI was negatively associated with depression. These associations were not found in subjects with vitamin D levels ≥20 µg/dl.

The effect of early enteral nutrition supplemented with synbiotics on lipid and glucose homeostasis in critically ill patients: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of gut microbiota modulation through synbiotic supplementation on lipid and glucose homeostasis in tube-fed critically-ill adult patients. METHODS: This study is placebo-controlled, parallel, single-center, double-blind clinical trial. 42 patients were randomly distributed in placebo and synbiotic groups to receive intervention for a maximum of 14 days. Serum levels of fasting glucose, total cholesterol, and triglycerides, insulin, and free fatty acids were obtained from blood sampling at baseline and the end of the study. Also, insulin resistance was determined by homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). RESULT: Fasting glucose level (Day0 = 87.84 ±â€¯15.51, Day14 = 83.76 ±â€¯8.71 mg/dl, P = 0.51), fasting insulin level (Day0 = 9.46 ±â€¯7.31, Day14 = 7.97 ±â€¯5.19 mIU/L, P = 1.00), and HOMA index (Day0 = 1.89 ±â€¯1.48, Day14 = 1.72 ±â€¯1.17, P = 0.75) during the study were decreasing in both groups, but the decreases were not significant. Serum levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride, and free fatty acidsat the beginning of the study were 114.18 ±â€¯43.43 mg/dl, 146.59 ±â€¯53.99 mg/dl, 0.83 ±â€¯0.57 mmol/L, and at the end of the study were 129.10 ±â€¯39.05 mg/dl, 127.40 ±â€¯91.88 mg/dl, 0.88 ±â€¯0.77 mmol/L, respectively. None of these changes were significant either (P = 0.99, P = 0.38, P = 0.90, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: According to our findings, synbiotics supplementation in critically ill patients has no significant effect on lipid and glucose profile.