Association of leptin and retinol binding protein 4 with the risk of gestational diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

The positive correlation between serum levels of retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) and gestational diabetes (GDM) has been proven in the previous meta-analysis on case-control studies. However, its association with serum levels of leptin is not studied in any meta-analysis. Therefore, we performed an updated systematic review of observational studies evaluating the association between serum RBP4 and leptin with the risk of GDM. A systematic search was performed on four databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, up to March 2021. After screening and deleting duplicates, nine articles met our inclusion criteria. Studies had case-control and cohort design, and included 5074 participants with a mean age range between 18 and 32.65 years (2359 participants for RBP4 and 2715 participants for leptin). Interestingly, this meta-analysis revealed higher levels of RBP4 (OR=2.04; 95% CI: 1.37, 3.04) and leptin (OR=2.32; 95% CI: 1.39, 3.87) are significantly associated with the increased risk of overall GDM. The subgroup analysis approved the results based on the study design, trimester of pregnancy and serum/plasms to investigate the source of heterogeneity. The present meta-analysis determines serum leptin and RBP4 levels as predictors of GDM occurrence. However, studies included in this meta-analysis showed significant heterogeneity

The importance of nutritional status on clinical outcomes among both ICU and Non-ICU patients with COVID-19

Background and aims: The current Covid-19 outbreak becomes a tremendous public health concern worldwide. Since a little information is available on nutritional status and its devastating effects on covid-19 complications in Iran, in the present study, we aimed to evaluate nutritional status of covid-19 population and its related factors.Methods: We performed this observational study by recruiting 400 hospitalized covid-19 subjects. Thereafter, the needed clinical and para clinical data were collected and their nutritional status was then assessed using NRS-20 02. Results: Approximately 36% of the total sample size and 100% of the ICU- admitted cases were at the severe risk of malnutrition. The patients with NRS> 5 were significantly older (p < 0.0001). Nonsurvivals obtained higher scores in terms of both severity of disease (86%) and impaired nutritional status (67%), and this relationship was found to be statistically significant (p < 0.0001). In regard to the obtained prognostic inflammatory scores, 86% of the non-survivals obtained significantly highest scores for GPS (P 1/4 0.015).Conclusion: Nutritional status has a considerable effect on clinical outcomes of covid-19 patients, which should be evaluated. Thereafter, rapid subsequent nutritional interventions must be implemented in this regard. As well, special attention must be paid to both elderly population and individuals with underlying diseases. (c) 2022 European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Adjuvant pomegranate juice intake improves the inflammatory status of hospitalized COVID-19 patients: A randomized and placebo-controlled trial

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of pomegranate juice intake on the inflammatory status and complete blood count in hospitalized Covid-19 patients. Methods: This randomized, double-blinded placebo-controlled trial included 48 patients with two parallel arms. In addition to the standard care provided at the hospital, the patients consumed 500 mL of whole pomegranate juice (PJ) daily or a placebo for 14 days. Inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)) and complete blood count were determined at baseline and after the 14 days of intervention. Results: At the end of the intervention, a significant decreased was observed in primary outcomes [mean difference (95 %CI)] including IL-6 [5.24(0.87–9.61)], CRP [23.19(11.93–34.44)] and ESR [10.52(1.54–19.50)] in the PJ group vs. before the intervention. In addition, significant changes were also observed in the some of the secondary outcomes, including neutrophils, lymphocytes, platelets, platelets-to-lymphocyte(PLR) and neutrophils-to-lymphocyte (NLR) ratios (p < 0.05) in the PJ group compared to before the intervention. At the end of the intervention period, the mean change of IL-6 [− 7.09(−12.21 to − 1.96)], white blood cells [− 3.09(− 6.14 to − 0.05)], neutrophils [− 9.12(−18.08 to −0.15)], lymphocyte [7.05(0.17–13.92)], platelets [− 94.54(− 139.33 to − 49.75)], PLR [− 15.99(− 29.31 to − 2.67)], blood oxygen saturation [1.75(0.13–3.37)] and MCV [0.31(− 0.25 to 0.88)] levels were significantly different between groups while no difference was observed between the two groups in other blood indices. Conclusion: Our results suggest that pomegranate juice intake might slightly improve the inflammatory status and CBC outcomes of COVID-19 patients and it may be beneficial