Functional ingredient taurine: adequate and clinically effective doses

Taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid. Taurine is necessary for the conjugation of bile acids, has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory properties, acts as an anti-apoptotic factor; cell membrane stabilizer; regulator of Ca2+ signaling, fluid homeostasis in cells, retinal photoreceptor activity; contributes to osmoregulation and conduction in the nervous and muscular systems; a neurodevelopmental stimulant; and an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. Taurine is not only synthesized from cysteine and methionine, but also comes from food. Taurine intake is 40–400 mg/day. The main food sources are animal products: shellfish, fish, meat. Taurine is part of breast milk and adapted milk formulas for the nutrition of young children. Under stress and some diseases, the endogenous synthesis of taurine is reduced. The risk groups for taurine deficiency include people who follow a vegetarian diet and observe religious fasts. There are a number of products in which taurine is added: specialized food products (SF) and food supplements (FS) contain 60–1200 mg of taurine per serving, energy drinks – 300–400 mg per 100 ml. The clinical effects of taurine in diabetes mellitus, heart failure are manifested when it is included in diet therapy in doses of 1.5–3 g for  2–16 weeks. Even the maximum doses allowed for use as part of SFP and dietary supplements are significantly less than the doses that ensure the achievement of a clinical effect, which does not guarantee the expected result when using SF

On the use of vitamins in the nutrition of professional athletes

Objective: assessment of the vitamin content in the basic and supplementary diets of highly qualified athletes in the pre-competition period of sports activities. Materials and methods: 159 highly skilled athletes of both sexes participated in the study (92 men, mean age 21.7 ± 0.8 years, 67 women, 23.1 ± 1.5 years). Studies were carried out on the basis of the Center for Physiotherapy and Sports Medicine of FMBA. The content of vitamins in the basic and supplementary diets was estimated by the questionnaire method of 24-hour (daily) nutrition reproduction using the «Album of Food and Food Portions», according to the chemical composition of the actually consumed foods and dishes. The processing and analysis of data was carried out by standard statistical methods. Results: the basic diet of athletes does not provide adequate intake of vitamins. The most pronounced deficiency of B vitamins and vitamin C in the basic diet was noted in female bobsleighs. Only additional consumption of weighty doses of vitamins and specialized products for nutrition of athletes and dietary supplements allows reaching the recommended level. Some sportsmen have exceeded thus consumption of vitamins В1 and В2 with enriching additives in supplements and specialized foodstuff. Conclusions: the groundlessness of using in the diet of athletes excessively high doses of antioxidant vitamins is discussed. Before making a decision about the use of a vitamin supplement and doses of vitamins contained in it, a complete assessment of the individual diet of each athlete is necessary

Fortification of food with micronutrients: development of methodological and regulatory framework in the Russian Federation

The available scientific literature, domestic and international regulatory codes of normative documents concerning the fortification of various types of food products have been analyzed. The groups of food products of conventional and regular consumption included into the diets of all categories of consumers, recommended for fortification with essential micronutrients, have been determined: wheat and cereal flour (spelt wheat, buckwheat, oat, corn flour, etc.); pastry; milk and dairy products, including ice cream; non-alcoholic soft drinks; mineralized drinking water; fruit and vegetable juices; fat and oil products (vegetable oils, margarines, spreads, mayonnaise); confectionery and sweets (pastry, sugar, chocolate); cereals (breakfast cereals, muesli, ready-to-eat extruded cereals, instant pasta and cereals, mixtures for bakery, flour for sweet pastry); food concentrates (jelly, instant drinks, concentrates of sweet foods, instant food, instant cereal concentrates); table salt. The groups of food products assigned for certain categories of population are used as part of therapeutic diets for patients with various diseases (metabolic disorder syndrome, cardio-vascular system pathology with atherosclerotic vascular injury, type 2 diabetes mellitus, gastrointestinal tract diseases, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, diabetic nephropathy, etc.), as well as assigned to reduce the risk of diseases developing, the nutrients are recommended for targeted fortification of certain types of food. Examples of micronutrients fortification of sausages and minced meat semifinished products are given below. Requirements for fortification of mass consumption food products and for fortification of foods for special dietary uses are formulated in this article, the amount of fortifying components in the various groups of food products are justified, ensuring their efficiency for improving the micronutrient status and safety of its consumption. Based on the analysis of the available scientific literature, domestic and international regulatory framework of normative documents on fortification of various types of food products, recommendations have been developed for fortification of food with micronutrients

Antioxidant vitamin status of obese patients in terms of the risk of comorbidities

BACKGROUND: Synchronously optimized concentrations of vitamins C, E, A, carotenoids and their ratios in blood plasma help to prevent or slow down the development of many alimentary-dependent diseases and their complications. AIMS: to characterize the vitamin status of obese patients from the standpoint of the risk of progression of existing and development of associated diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An observational single-site cross-sectional study of the sufficiency with antioxidant vitamins in 81 patients (21 men, 60 women) aged 20–75 years with body mass index 40,7±1,2 kg/m2, enrolled for treatment from April to June in Federal Research Centre of Nutrition, Biotechnology had been conducted. The concentration of α- and γ-tocopherols, retinol, ascorbic acid, β-carotene was determined in blood serum and their ratios with lipid profile were calculated. RESULTS: Indicators of vitamin status were determined in 35 patients with obesity, 27 patients with obesity and cardiovascular diseases (CVD), 19 patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The concentration of ascorbic acid in more than 50% of patients did not reach the optimal level (50 µmol/l). Compared to patients of other groups, patients with T2DM were better supplied with vitamin E, but worse with other vitamins. They have a non-optimal ratio of concentrations of vitamin C and E more often compared with patients of other groups (p≤0.050). Among them, the combined suboptimal level of vitamin C and β-carotene (<0.4 µmol/l) was detected 1.6–1.8 fold more often. The lack of antioxidants in patients with T2DM according to simultaneously reduced vitamin C/vitamin E ratio (<1.5) and β-carotene level was detected 3.3-fold more often, synchronously lowered vitamin C/vitamin E ratio and vitamin C level – 2.4-fold. γ-tocopherol level in serum of patients with T2DM tended to increase compared with that in patients with obesity (p=0.063) and CVD (p=0.081), γ-tocopherol/triacylglycerides ratio was 1.5-fold higher (respectively р=0.009 и р=0.076). Only in 2 patients with obesity and 2 patients with CVD all serum indicators corresponded to the optimal level of all vitamins. In terms of α-tocopherol/cholesterol (<5 µmol/mol), an increased risk of myocardial infarction was detected in 10.5–42.9% of the examined patients. Glucose level was positively associated with serum levels of α- and γ-tocopherols, as well as cholesterol-adjusted individual tocopherols; while glycemia was inversely associated with triacylglycerides-standardized individual tocopherols, as well as β-carotene and vitamin C/vitamin E ratio. CONCLUSIONS: In most patients, a non-optimal serum vitamin content was found according to one or several parameters. In order to vitamin C/vitamin E ratio, patients with T2DM need to increase vitamin C intake. Increasing serum β-carotene and achieving an optimal C/E ratio will help to prevent an increase in glycemia

Анализ 19,9 млн публикаций базы данных PubMed/MEDLINE методами искусственного интеллекта: подходы к обобщению накопленных данных и феномен “fake news”

Introduction. The English-language databases PubMed/MEDLINE and Embase are valuable information resources for finding original publications in basic and clinical medicine. Currently, there are no artificial intelligence systems to evaluate the quality of these publications.Aim. Development and testing of a system for sentiment analysis (i.e. analysis of emotional modality) of biomedical publications.Materials and methods. The technique of analysis of the “Big data” of biomedical publications was formulated on the basis of the topological theory of sentiment analysis. Algorithms have been developed that allow for the classification of texts from 16 sentiment classes with 90% accuracy (manipulative speech, research without positive results, propaganda, falsification of results, negative personal attitude, aggressive text, negative emotional background, etc.). Based on the algorithms, a scale for assessing the sentiment quality of research (β-score) is proposed.Results. Abstracts of 19.9 million publications registered in PubMed/MEDLINE over the past 50 years (1970–2019) were analyzed. It was shown that publications with low sentiment quality (the value of the β-score of the text is less than zero, which corresponds to the prevalence of manipulative and negative sentiments in the text) comprise only 18.5% (3.68 out of 19.9 million). The greatest values of the β-score were characterized by publications on sports medicine, systems biology, nutrition, on the use of applied mathematics and data mining in medicine. The rubrication of the entire array of publications by 27,840 headings (MESH-system of PubMed/MEDLINE) indicated an increase in the β-score by years (i.e., the positive dynamics of sentiment quality of the texts of publications) for 27,090 of the studied headings. The most intense positive dynamics was found for research in genetics, physiology, pharmacology, and gerontology. 249 headings with sharply negative dynamics of sentiment quality and with a pronounced increase in the manipulative sentiments characteristic of the tabloid press were highlighted. Separate assessments of international experts are presented that confirm the patterns identified.Conclusion. The proposed artificial intelligence system allows a researcher to make an effective assessment of the sentiment quality of biomedical research papers, filtering out potentially inappropriate publications disguised as “evidence-based”.  Введение. Англоязычные базы данных PubMed/MEDLINE и Embase являются ценными информационными ресурсами для нахождения оригинальных публикаций по фундаментальной и клинической медицине. В настоящее время не существует систем искусственного интеллекта, позволяющих оценивать качество этих публикаций.Цель. Разработка и апробация системы для проведения сентимент-анализа (то есть анализа эмоциональной модальности) публикаций по биомедицине.Материалы и методы. Сформулирована методика анализа «больших данных» биомедицинских публикаций, основанная на топологической теории сентимент-анализа медицинских текстов. Разработаны алгоритмы, позволяющие с 90%-й точностью классифицировать тексты по 16 классам сентиментов (манипулятивные обороты речи, исследования без положительных результатов, пропаганда, подделка результатов, негативное личное отношение, агрессивность текста, негативный эмоциональный фон и др.). На основе алгоритмов предложена балльная шкала оценки сентимент-качества исследований (β-балл).Результаты. Проведен анализ текстов абстрактов 19,9 млн публикаций, зарегистрированных в PubMed/MEDLINE за последние 50 лет (1970–2019). Показано, что публикации с низким сентимент-качеством (значение β-балла текста меньше нуля, что соответствует преобладанию манипулятивных и негативных сентиментов в тексте) составляют всего 18,5% (3,68 из 19,9 млн).  Наибольшими значениями β-балла характеризовались публикации по спортивной медицине,  системной биологии, нутрициологии, по использованию методов прикладной математики и интеллектуального анализа данных в медицине. Рубрикация всего массива публикаций по 27840 рубрикам (MESH-система PubMed/MEDLINE) указала на повышение β-балла по годам (то есть на положительную динамику сентимент-качества текстов публикаций) для 27090 исследованных рубрик. Наиболее интенсивная положительная динамика найдена для исследований по генетике, физиологии, фармакологии и геронтологии. Выделены 249 рубрик с резко отрицательной  динамикой сентимент-качества и с выраженным нарастанием манипулятивных сентиментов,  характерных для «желтой» англоязычной прессы. Приведены отдельные оценки международных экспертов, которые подтверждают выявленные закономерности. Заключение. Разработанная система искусственного интеллекта позволяет проводить  эффективную оценку сентимент-качества биомедицинских исследований, отфильтровывая  потенциально неадекватные публикации, публикуемые под маской «доказательных». 

Компьютерный анализ эмоциональной модальности 20 млн публикаций в базе данных PUBMED указывает на пути повышения эффективности фармакотерапии посредством идентификации псевдонаучных публикаций, направленных на негативную эмоциональную «накачку» врачей

The search for original publications on fundamental and clinical medicine that would produce results of the highest scientific quality represents an urgent need for every medical researcher. Such publications are essential, in particular, for the development of reliable treatment standards. The Englishlanguage resources PUBMED and EMBASE are essential to help in solving this problem. However, there is an obvious problem in assessing the quality of the studies found. The paper formulates a method for analyzing the texts of biomedical publications, which is based on an algorithmic assessment of the emotional modality of medical texts (so-called sentiment analysis). The use of the topological theory of data analysis made it possible to develop a set of high-precision algorithms for identifying 16 types of sentiments (manipulative turns of speech, research without positive results, propaganda, falsification of results, negative personal attitude, aggressiveness of the text, negative emotional background, etc.). On the basis of the developed algorithms, a point scale for assessing the sentiment quality of research was obtained, which we called the "β-score": the higher the β-score, the less the evaluated text contains manipulative language constructions. As a result, the ANTIFAKE system (http://antifake-news.ru) was developed to analyze the sentiment-quality of Englishlanguage scientific texts. An analysis of ~ 20 million abstracts from PUBMED showed that publications with low sentiment quality (β-score <0, that is, that the prevalence of manipulative constructions over meaningful ones) is only 19 %. In the overwhelming majority of thematic headings (27,090 out of 27,840 headings of the MESH system PUBMED), a positive dynamics of sentiment quality of the texts of publications is shown by years). At the same time, as a result of the study, 249 headings were identified with sharply negative dynamics of sentiment quality and with a pronounced increase in manipulative sentiments characteristic of the "yellow" English-language press. These headings include tens of thousands of publications in peer-reviewed journals, which are aimed at (1) legalizing ethically unacceptable practices (euthanasia, perversions, so-called "population control", etc.), (2) discrediting psychiatry as a science, (3) media the war against micronutrients and (4) discrediting evidence-based medicine under the guise of developing the so-called "international standards of evidence-based medicine". In general, the developed system of artificial intelligence allows researchers to filter out pseudoscientific publications, the text of which is overloaded with emotional manipulation and which are published under the guise of "evidence-based standards".Поиск оригинальных публикаций по фундаментальной и клинической медицине наивысшего научного качества – насущная необходимость для каждого врача-исследователя. Такие публикации принципиально необходимы, в частности, для разработки надёжных стандартов лечения. Существенной подмогой в решении этой задачи являются англоязычные ресурсы PUBMED и EMBASE. Однако существует очевидная проблема оценки качества находимых исследований. В работе сформулирована методика анализа текстов биомедицинских публикаций, в основе которой лежит алгоритмическая оценка эмоциональной модальности медицинских текстов (т. н. сентимент-анализа). Применение топологической теории анализа данных позволило разработать комплекс высокоточных алгоритмов для выявления 16 типов сентиментов (манипулятивные обороты речи, исследования без положительных результатов, пропаганда, подделка результатов, негативное личное отношение, агрессивность текста, негативный эмоциональный фон и др.). На основе разработанных алгоритмов получена балльная шкала оценки сентимент-качества исследований, которую мы назвали «β-баллом»: чем выше β-балл, тем в меньшей степени оцениваемый текст содержит манипулятивные языковые конструкции. В результате разработана и апробирована система ANTIFAKE (http://antifake-news.ru), предназначенная для анализа сентимент-качества англоязычных научных текстов. Анализ ~20 млн абстрактов из PUBMED показал, что публикации с низким сентимент-качеством (β-балл которые направлены на (1) легализацию этически порочных практик (эвтаназия, т. н. «контроль популяций» и т. п.), (2) дискредитацию психиатрии как науки, (3) медийную войну против микронутриентов и (4) дискредитацию доказательной медицины под видом разработки т. н. «международных стандартов доказательной медицины». В целом, разработанная система искусственного интеллекта позволяет отфильтровывать псевдонаучные публикации, текст которых перегружен эмоциональной манипуляцией и которые публикуются под маской «доказательных стандартов»

Correction of polyhypovitaminosis in children

Adequate, balanced nutrition containing the required amount of micronutrients is essential for the normal growth of children at all stages of their development starting from the prenatal period. Prenatal nutrition and breastfeeding are entirely dependent on the mother’s diet and micronutrient sufficiency. Nutrition of pregnant and lactating women and children which is based on natural products, balanced with the energy intake and even excessive in calories cannot fully supply the body with certain vitamins. The high incidence of micronutrient deficiency among children and adults and the existence of vitamin interactions in the body are the reasons for the use of vitamin and mineral complexes (VMC) and/or specialized foods with vitamins for pregnant and lactating women, as well as special nutrition for children. VMC are more effective compared to intake of a single vitamin. Preventive doses, i.e. close to the age-specific physiological need in vitamins, provide for adequate vitamin sufficiency of the diet, reduce the risk of vitamin deficiency and its consequences. With regard to the choice of a VMC, it should contain a complete set of vitamins and mineral substances the deficiency of which is most common, in doses which satisfy the age-specific body needs