The effects of vitamin D treatment on glycemic control, serum lipid profiles, and C-reactive protein in patients with chronic kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Purpose: Insulin resistance, dyslipidemia and increased systemic inflammation are important risk factors for chronic kidney disease (CKD). Hence, vitamin D administration might be an appropriate approach to decrease the complications of CKD. Randomized controlled trials assessing the effects of vitamin D supplementation or treatment on glycemic control, lipid profiles, and C-reactive protein (CRP) among patients with CKD were included. Methods: Two independent authors systematically searched online databases including EMBASE, Scopus, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science in November 2018 with no time restriction. Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool was applied to assess the methodological quality of included trials. Between-study heterogeneity was estimated using the Cochran�s Q test and I-square (I2) statistic. Data were pooled using a random-effects model and weighted mean difference (WMD) was considered as the overall effect size. Results: Of the 1358 citations identified from searches, 17 full-text articles were reviewed. Pooling findings from five studies revealed a significant reduction in fasting glucose (WMD: � 18.87; 95 CI: � 23.16, � 14.58) and in homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) through three studies (WMD: � 2.30; 95 CI: � 2.88, � 1.72) following the administration of vitamin D. In addition, pooled analysis revealed a significant reduction in triglycerides (WMD: � 32.52; 95 CI: � 57.57, � 7.47) through six studies and in cholesterol concentrations (WMD: � 7.93; 95 CI: � 13.03, � 2.83) through five studies, following vitamin D supplementation or treatment, while there was no effect on insulin, HbA1c, LDL and HDL cholesterol, and CRP levels. Conclusions: This meta-analysis demonstrated the beneficial effects of vitamin D supplementation or treatment on improving fasting glucose, HOMA-IR, triglycerides and cholesterol levels among patients with CKD, though it did not influence insulin, HbA1c, LDL and HDL cholesterol, and CRP levels. © 2019, Springer Nature B.V

The effect of saffron supplementation on blood glucose and lipid profile: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background: Despite several studies about the effects of saffron supplementation on serum concentrations of lipid and glucose profiles, no systematic study had summarized the findings. Therefore, we conduct current study to systematically summarize findings from studies about the effect of saffron supplementation on serum levels of glucose and lipid profiles and to do a meta-analysis, if possible. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted for clinical trials published in PubMed, SCOPUS, EMBASE, Cochrane's Library and ISI Web of Science from the beginning to 22 February 2019. All randomized clinical trials on the effect of saffron supplementation on serum concentrations of lipid and glucose profiles were included. Results: In overall, six studies were included in the current study. Pooled analysis of six studies for the effect of saffron on serum TG, TC and FBG concentrations and of five studies for LDL and HDL, showed a significant reduction in TG (WMD: -8.93 mg/dl; 95 CI: -16.49 to -1.37, P = 0.02) and TC levels (WMD: -5.72 mg/dl; 95 CI: -11.10 to -0.34, P = 0.03), a significant increase in HDL levels (WMD: 2.7 mg/dl; 95 CI: 0.22 to 5.18, P = 0.03), and no significant effect on LDL (WMD: -2.30 mg/dl; 95 CI: -11.73 to 7.13, P = 0.63) and FBG levels (WMD: -5.30 mg/dl; 95 CI: -14.20 to 3.60, P = 0.51). Conclusion: We found a significant reduction in serum concentrations of TC and TG and a significant increase in serum levels of HDL following supplementation with saffron. Saffron supplementation had no significant influence on serum FPG and LDL concentrations. © 2019 Elsevier Lt

The effects of probiotic supplementation on mental health, biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in patients with psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background and objective: In the current meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the effects of probiotic supplementation on mental health, biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in patients with psychiatric disorders were assessed. Methods: The following databases were search up to February 2019: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google scholar and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Results: Twelve studies were included in the current meta-analysis. The findings demonstrated that probiotic supplementation resulted in a significant reduction in Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) Weighted Mean Difference (WMD): -9.60; 95 % CI: -10.08, -9.11. In addition, a significant reduction in C-reactive protein (CRP) (WMD: -1.59; 95 % CI: -2.22, -0.97), interleukin 10 (IL-10) (WMD: -0.29; 95 % CI: -0.48, -0.11) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels (WMD: -0.38; 95 % CI: -0.63, -0.13) was found after probiotics supplementation. No significant change was seen in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score (WMD: -11.17; 95 % CI: -24.99, 2.65), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (WMD: -0.12; 95 % CI: -0.20, -0.05), IL-1B (WMD: -0.34; 95 % CI: -1.43, 0.74), IL-6 (WMD: 0.03; 95 % CI: -0.32, 0.38), nitric oxide (NO) (WMD: -0.54; 95 % CI: -2.16, 1.08), glutathione (GSH) (WMD: 46.79; 95 % CI: -17.25, 110.83) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) levels (WMD: 15.21; 95 % CI: -59.96, 90.37) after probiotics supplementation. Conclusion: Overall, the current meta-analysis demonstrated that taking probiotic by patients with psychiatric disorders had beneficial effects on HAMD, CRP, IL-10 and MDA levels, but it did not affect BDI score, other markers of inflammation and oxidative stress. © 2020 Elsevier Lt

POIROT: Aligning Attack Behavior with Kernel Audit Records for Cyber Threat Hunting

Cyber threat intelligence (CTI) is being used to search for indicators of attacks that might have compromised an enterprise network for a long time without being discovered. To have a more effective analysis, CTI open standards have incorporated descriptive relationships showing how the indicators or observables are related to each other. However, these relationships are either completely overlooked in information gathering or not used for threat hunting. In this paper, we propose a system, called POIROT, which uses these correlations to uncover the steps of a successful attack campaign. We use kernel audits as a reliable source that covers all causal relations and information flows among system entities and model threat hunting as an inexact graph pattern matching problem. Our technical approach is based on a novel similarity metric which assesses an alignment between a query graph constructed out of CTI correlations and a provenance graph constructed out of kernel audit log records. We evaluate POIROT on publicly released real-world incident reports as well as reports of an adversarial engagement designed by DARPA, including ten distinct attack campaigns against different OS platforms such as Linux, FreeBSD, and Windows. Our evaluation results show that POIROT is capable of searching inside graphs containing millions of nodes and pinpoint the attacks in a few minutes, and the results serve to illustrate that CTI correlations could be used as robust and reliable artifacts for threat hunting.Comment: The final version of this paper is going to appear in the ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS'19), November 11-15, 2019, London, United Kingdo

Effects of quercetin supplementation on glycemic control among patients with metabolic syndrome and related disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

This systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials was performed to determine the effect of quercetin supplementation on glycemic control among patients with metabolic syndrome and related disorders. Databases including PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched until August 30, 2018. Nine studies with 10 effect sizes out of 357 selected reports were identified eligible to be included in current meta-analysis. The pooled findings indicated that quercetin supplementation did not affect fasting plasma glucose (FPG), homeostasis model of assessment-estimated insulin resistance, and hemoglobin A1c levels. In subgroup analysis, quercetin supplementation significantly reduced FPG in studies with a duration of �8 weeks (weighted mean difference WMD: �0.94; 95% confidence interval CI; �1.81, �0.07) and used quercetin in dosages of �500 mg/day (WMD: �1.08; 95% CI �2.08, �0.07). In addition, subgroup analysis revealed a significant reduction in insulin concentrations following supplementation with quercetin in studies that enrolled individuals aged <45 years (WMD: �1.36; 95% CI �1.76, �0.97) and that used quercetin in dosages of �500 mg/day (WMD: �1.57; 95% CI �1.98, �1.16). In summary, subgroup analysis based on duration of �8 weeks and used quercetin in dosages of �500 mg/day significantly reduced FPG levels. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

The effect of L-arginine supplementation on obesity-related indices: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

The clinical studies regarding the effect of L-arginine in human anthropometry have not been fully consistent, therefore, we carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials in order to precisely evaluate and quantify the efficacy of L-arginine on weight, waist circumference, and BMI. We searched online databases including PubMed, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar for relevant articles up to September 2017. Eligible articles were reviewed by two independent investigators. Mean differences of the outcomes were used for calculation of weighted mean difference (WMD) derived from the random-effects model. Statistical heterogeneity between studies was examined using Cochran's Q-test and I2index. Funnel plot and Egger's tests were performed to assess the publication bias. In our initial search, we found 1598 publications, of which 8 RCTs (9 treatment arms) were included. The results of the meta-analysis displayed a significant reduction in WC following L-arginine supplementation (WMD: -2.97 cm; 95 CI: -4.75 to -1.18, P = 0.001). However, L-arginine intervention had not elicited a significant effect on BMI (WMD: -0.51 kg/m2; 95 CI: -1.11 to .08, P = 0.09) and body weight (WMD: -0.57 kg; 95 CI: -1.77 to 0.61, P = 0.34). Subgroup analyses displayed that longer-term interventions (�8 weeks) had a positive effect on body weight and using &lt; 8 g/day L-arginine with longer duration (�8 weeks) could significantly decrease BMI. In conclusion, this meta-analysis result suggested L-arginine supplementation could reduce waist circumference without any significant effect on body weight and body mass index. © 2021 Hogrefe Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. All rights reserved

The effects of vitamin D supplementation on mental health, and biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in patients with psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background: In the current meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the effects of vitamin D supplementation on mental health, and biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in patients with psychiatric disorders are assessed. Methods: The following databases were search up to March 2019: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. The quality of the relevant extracted data was assessed according to the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Data were pooled by the use of the inverse variance method and expressed as mean difference with 95 Confidence Intervals (95 CI). Results: Eleven effect sizes from nine studies were included in the final analyses. A pooled analysis of 9 effect sizes showed a significant reduction in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score following supplementation with vitamin D weighted mean difference (WMD): -3.91; 95% CI: -5.15 -2.66), I 2 = 85.9%. Combining data from two available studies on the effects of vitamin D supplementation on Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) also revealed a significant reduction in this score following the intervention (WMD: -1.78; 95% CI: -2.28, -1.28). In addition, there were significant increase in glutathione (GSH) through 3 studies (WMD: 180.70; 95% CI: 6.76, 354.64), and in total antioxidant capacity (TAC) through 3 studies (WMD: 90.09; 95% CI: 56.36, 123.82) after vitamin D supplementation. Combining data from five studies, we found a significant reduction in C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations after vitamin D supplementation (WMD: -1.74; 95% CI: -2.82, -0.66). Conclusions: Overall, the current meta-analysis demonstrated that taking vitamin D supplements among patients with psychiatric disorders had beneficial effects on BDI, PSQI, GSH, TAC and CRP levels, but did not affect other biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress. © 2019 Elsevier Inc