Effects of propolis supplementation on glycemic status, lipid profiles, inflammation and oxidative stress, liver enzymes, and body weight: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials

The aim of meta-analysis was to assess the effects of propolis on markers of oxidative stress, lipid profiles, inflammation and glycemic control, liver enzymes, and weight control. The heterogeneity between the included studies was indicated using the Cochrane’s Q test and I-square (I2 ) statistic. 14 trials were included in this meta-analysis. Our meta-analysis indicated a significant reduction in fating glucose (WMD: -17.00; 95% CI: −30.88, −3.11), HbA1C (WMD: -0.42; 95% CI: −0.75, −0.10), and insulin (WMD: -1.75; 95% CI: −3.24, −0.26) and a marginally significant reduction in insulin resistance (WMD: -0.60; 95% CI: −1.20, 0.00) following propolis supplementation in 10, 8, 6, and 5 studies, respectively. Pooling 5 effect sizes, a significant reduction was seen in ALT (WMD: -5.63; 95% CI: −10.59, −0.67) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (WMD: -3.09; 95% CI: −5.15, −1.03) following propolis. A significant beneficial effect was observed for CRP (WMD: -1.11; 95% CI: −1.92, −0.29), TNF-α (WMD: -6.71; 95% CI: −9.44, −3.98) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) (WMD: -17.99; 95% CI: −35.56, −0.42) concentrations after propolis supplementation. This study demonstrated the beneficial effects of propolis on FPG, HbA1c, insulin, CRP, TNF-α and liver enzymes levels

The Association of Dietary Patterns With Dietary Inflammatory Index, Systemic Inflammation, and Insulin Resistance, in Apparently Healthy Individuals With Obesity

Infammation is considered a key mechanism leading to obesity. Dietary patterns and certain food items infuence infammation. Few studies have investigated the contribution of major dietary patterns to biological measures of infammation. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the associations of diferent dietary patterns with dietary infammatory index (DII), systemic infammation, and insulin resistance (IR) in the apparently healthy obese. In this cross-sectional study, 151 abdominally obese subjects were recruited from the Northwest of Iran. Dietary intake, demographic data, anthropometric indices, and physical activity (PA) was assessed. DII scores were calculated based on a validated 168-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Three dietary patterns were identifed, using principal component analysis. Basal blood samples were collected to determine biochemical parameters. Linear regression test with adjusted beta estimates was applied for data analysis. Three dietary patterns were extracted as Healthy, Western, and Traditional. Body mass index (BMI) (p\u3c 0.01) and fat mass (p\u3c 0.001) were directly associated with the Western dietary pattern. Conversely, serum lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) (b= − 0.1, p\u3c 0.04) was negatively associated with Healthy dietary pattern, after controlling for confounders. The Traditional pattern was found to be inversely related to DII (b= − 0.3, p\u3c 0.001). The association was also reveresed between Traditional pattern and IR (Odds Ratio: 0.3 (95% Confdence Interval 0.1–0.9)). The results suggested that the Western dietary pattern was related to higher BMI and fat mass. In addition, the Healthy pattern was associated with decreased levels of LBP. Adherence to the Traditional dietary pattern was inversely related to DII as well as IR

Nutritional Approach for Increasing Public Health During Pandemic of COVID-19: A Comprehensive Review of Antiviral Nutrients and Nutraceuticals

Background: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is considered as the most life-threatening pandemic disease during the last decade. The individual nutritional status, though usually ignored in the management of COVID-19, plays a critical role in the immune function and pathogenesis of infection. Accordingly, the present review article aimed to report the effects of nutrients and nutraceuticals on respiratory viral infections including COVID-19, with a focus on their mechanisms of action. Methods: Studies were identified via systematic searches of the databases including PubMed/ MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Google Scholar from 2000 until April 2020, using keywords. All relevant clinical and experimental studies published in English were included. Results: Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) is common in severe respiratory infections and should be considered in the management of COVID-19 patients. On the other hand, obesity can be accompanied by decreasing the host immunity. Therefore, increasing physical activity at home and a slight caloric restriction with adequate intake of micronutrients and nutraceuticals are simple aids to boost host immunity and decrease the clinical manifestations of COVID-19. Conclusion: The most important nutrients which can be considered for COVID-19 management are vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin A, folate, zinc, and probiotics. Their adequacy should be provided through dietary intake or appropriate supplementation. Moreover, adequate intake of some other dietary agents including vitamin E, magnesium, selenium, alpha linolenic acid and phytochemicals are required to maintain the host immunity

L-Carnitine supplementation ameliorates serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha and matrix metalloproteinase-3 in knee osteoarthritis women

Seventy-two females with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis were included in this randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study. Patients in the intervention group (n=36) received L-carnitine supplement (750 mg/day) for two months. L-Carnitine supplementation led to decrease in serum TNF-? and MMP-3 levels significantly in comparison with the baseline (p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively) and placebo group (p<0.001 and p=0.03, respectively). In addition, physicians global assessment of the severity of osteoarthritis decreased significantly in the L-carnitine group (p<0.001) and placebo group (p=0.012) after supplementation. At the end of the study, a significant difference was observed between the two groups for mean physicians global assessment of the severity of osteoarthritis (p<0.001), adjusted for baseline values and duration of osteoarthritis. L-Carnitine supplementation has beneficial effects in reducing inflammatory biomarkers in knee osteoarthritis patients which subsequently leads to the alleviation of disease symptoms

The association of serum dephosphorylated-uncarboxylated matrix gamma carboxyglutamate protein (dp-ucMGP) as a marker of vascular vitamin K status with allograft function in kidney transplant recipients

Introduction: Kidney transplantation has considerably increased the survival and life quality of patients with end-stage renal disease. Objectives: The current study was designed to investigate the circulating level of dephosphorylateduncarboxylated matrix gamma carboxyglutamate protein (dp-ucMGP) as a marker of vitamin K status and vascular calcification in kidney transplant recipients as well as its association with the allograft function. Patients and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 90 eligible kidney transplant recipients were evaluated in the post-transplant phase (about 6-12 months after kidney transplantation). The serum levels of dp-ucMGP, urea, creatinine and other biochemical indices were determined. Results: The mean serum level of dp-ucMGP was 3.78±3.79 µg/L. Most of the participants (80%) had a normal range of serum dp-ucMGP (12 µg/L). Serum dp-ucMGP did not have any statistical significant association with serum urea, creatinine and kidney function (P>0.05). Conclusion: Further epidemiologic studies are needed to assess the time trends of dp-ucMGP after renal transplant and its relation to kidney function, since high serum level of dp-ucMGP may make kidney transplant recipients prone to various cardiovascular disease (CVD) and transplant rejection

APOL1 renal risk alleles in patients on chronic hemodialysis in Northwest of Iran

Introduction: Apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) gene's risk variants located on chromosome 22 are newly discovered factors for the development of chronic renal failure among African-American. These risk alleles were developed on the African continent as an evolutionary defense against sleep sickness due to Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and then spread with human migrations. Objectives: In the present study, we sought to examine these risk variants in a group of hemodialysis patients of Northwest of Iran. Patients and Methods: Two hundred patients receiving hemodialysis in different centers of the city (Tabriz in Northwest of Iran) were allocated randomly from a total number of 825 patients. The assessment of APOL1 polymorphisms (rs73885319, rs60910145, and rs71785313) was conducted using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Patients' demographic data, history, and their biochemical parameters were recorded based on their last measurement. Results: No proposed renal risk variants of APOL1 gene in our hemodialysis population were found. All the participants had a wild genotype. Conclusion: The results of our study match with reports from Europe and Asia. In the paleoanthropological point of view, our results do not support African human migration hypothesis.Kidney Research Center of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran [5/D/489418]Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]