Environmental iodine as a natural iodine intake in humans and environmental pollution index: a scientometric and updated mini review.

Although almost a third of the world's population is exposed to iodine deficiency (ID), and supplementation programs such as enriching table salt have been carried out or are being carried out at the global and national level, in many regions of the world, people are facing an increase in iodine intake, which is mainly due to the presence of large amounts of iodine in water, soil, agricultural products, or high consumption of seafood. Published articles were indexed in the Scopus database (from 2000 to 1 April 2023) were reviewed and analyzed by VOSviewer software. The results showed the growing interest of researchers over the last 20 years in environmental iodine intake. The results of this study can have a significant impact on the planning and policy-making of relevant officials and communities to supply the needed iodine.

Vitamin D deficiency in relation to general and abdominal obesity among high educated adults.

PURPOSE: To assess the association of vitamin D deficiency with general and abdominal obesity among high educated Iranian adults. METHODS: Current cross-sectional study was done on 500 Iranian professors aged 35 years or more. Complete data on general and abdominal obesity as well as serum 25(OH)D concentrations were available for 352 persons. Obesity was considered as body mass index ≥ 30, and abdominal obesity as waist circumference ≥ 80 cm for women and ≥ 94 cm for men. Furthermore, vitamin D deficiency was defined as serum 25(OH)D < 30 ng/ml. RESULTS: Mean age of study population was 53.03 ± 7.15 years. Compared with those in the first quartile of serum 25(OH)D, participants in the fourth quartile were less likely to be generally obese (OR 0.46, 65% CI 0.22-0.99). Such finding was also seen even after taking potential confounders into account. Furthermore, we found an inverse association between serum 25(OH)D and abdominal obesity in fully adjusted model (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.22-0.86). In addition, a significant positive association was found between vitamin D deficiency and obesity; such that after controlling for potential confounders, participants with vitamin D deficiency had 2.16 and 2.04 times greater odds for having general (OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.05-4.45) and abdominal obesity (OR 2.04, 95% CI 1.16-3.60), respectively, than those with normal levels of vitamin D. CONCLUSION: Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were inversely associated with general and abdominal obesity. In addition, vitamin D deficiency was positively associated with both general and abdominal obesity. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level V, cross-sectional descriptive study.

The impact of air pollutants, UV exposure and geographic location on vitamin D deficiency.

Vitamin D (VD) is an important nutrient for preventing several chronic diseases, and vitamin D deficiency (VDD) causes many diseases. Air pollution has been reported as one of the most significant factors that causes VDD. Some epidemiological studies have evaluated VDD prevalence, and presented air pollution as a potential cause of VDD. In addition, recent case studies have found that VDD is associated with air pollutants. Nearly all reports agree that air pollution affects VD levels by reducing sun exposure, especially UVB radiation. Sun exposure accounts for >90% of VD production in humans. Recent studies have demonstrated that tropospheric ozone and particulate matter are independent risks to VD levels and cause deficiency. However, obtaining comprehensive conclusions on the impact of air pollution on VDD is necessary. This study aims to review all related papers to determine how air pollution can affect VD levels.

A Review on Nano-Antimicrobials: Metal Nanoparticles, Methods and Mechanisms.

Nanotechnology is a scientific and engineering technology conducted at the nano-scale, such as in the fields of compound fabric manufacturing, food processing, agricultural processing, and engineering, as well as in medical and medicinal applications. In recent decade, nanomaterial applications for antimicrobial works have of prime interest of by many researchers. Available reports show that some of the metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) including Al2O3, TiO2, ZnO, CuO, Co3O4, In2O3, MgO, SiO2, ZrO2, Cr2O3, Ni2O3, Mn2O3, CoO, and Nickel oxide have toxicity toward several microorganisms and they could successfully kill numerous bacteria. Based on our literature review there are some effective factors that can influence the ability of nanomaterials in reducing or killing the cells, and there are mechanisms for nanomaterial against bacteria, which are briefly listed as follows: surface charge of the metal nanomaterial, shape, type and material, concentration of nanomaterial, dispersion and contact of nanomaterial to the bacterial cell, presence of active oxygen, liberation of antimicrobial ions, medium components and pH, physicochemical properties, specific surface-area-to-volume ratios, size, role of growth rate, role of biofilm formation, cell wall of bacteria, and effect of UV illumination. It can be considered that in the use of nanomaterials as antimicrobial agents, consideration of many factors remain principal. Antibacterial resistance to common chemical antibacterial agents can be due to long production-consumption cycle, thereby reducing their efficiency, and use of poor quality or fake medicines in undeveloped and developing countries. NPs as antimicrobial agents have become an emerging approach against this challenge, which can establish an effective nanostructure to deliver the antimicrobial agents for targeting the bacterial community efficiently. In addition, they are so potent that microbial pathogens cannot develop resistance to wards them. On the other hand, most of the metal oxide NPs have no toxicity toward humans at effective concentrations used to kill bacterial cells, which thus becomes an advantage for using them in a full scale. However, over the present decade, several studies have suggested that NPs are excellent antibacterial agents, at least at the research level.