The association between score of plant-based diet and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in adults.

BACKGROUND: Plant-based diet (PDI) as resource of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory phytochemicals, that was considered to protect against onset and development of Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). AIM: To investigate the association between plant-based diet and NAFLD in adults. METHODS: The present case control study was conducted on 240 individuals (120 with NAFLD and 120 control) aged 20-69 years. Provided recommendations by the American College of Gastroenterology and the American Gastroenterological Association were used for NAFLD diagnosis. Dietary intake was assessed using 178-food item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Also, plant-based diet score was evaluated based on 18 food groups classified into animal foods, healthy and unhealthy plant foods. A multiple logistic regression model was used to examine the relationship between fatty liver disease and tertiles of PDI. RESULTS: The results of this study showed that we did not observe any association between tertiles of PDI and NAFLD in crude model (OR: 1.29, 95%CI:0.66-2.52, P:0.44) and after adjustment for confounders including age, energy intake, physical activity, body mass index (OR:0.76, 95%CI: 0.31-1.86, P:0.52). Also, there were not any association of tertiles of healthy PDI (hPDI) (OR:1.14, 95%CI: 0.50-2.60, P:0.74) and unhealthy PDI (uhPDI) (OR:0.89, 95%CI:0.36-2.18, P: 0.79) with NAFLD after full adjustment for potential confounders. CONCLUSION: There was not any association of PDI, hPDI, and uPDI with NAFLD in adults. More research needs to examine whether this specific diet may impact and improve NAFLD.

Night eating habits, sleep quality, and depression, are they associated with vitamin D status?

INTRODUCTION: In addition to the well-established roles of vitamin D on bone health, it also appears to be an effective factor on mental health and circadian behaviors, that include eating and sleeping habits. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the association between vitamin D status with night eating habits, sleep quality and depression in female college students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study studied healthy female students from Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Demographic and anthropometric information as well as data on sleep quality and depression were recorded and serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D were measured. A 3-day food record questionnaire was completed to assess night eating habits. Data analyses were undertaken using Chi-square, Mann-Whitney U test and logistic regression. A P-value of <0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The study participants comprised of 272 female students with median (Inter Quartile Range) age of 22 (21-24) years. The majority of the participants (82.3 %) were classified as night eaters, who had higher rates of poor sleep quality compared to non-night eaters (P < 0.05). With 1 ng/ml increase in serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, the odds of being a night eater fell by 3 % (OR = 0.97; 95%CI = 0.95, 0.99), and the odds of having depression or poor sleep quality decreased by 5 % (OR = 0.95; 95%CI = 0.93, 0.97) and 6 % (OR = 0.94; 95%CI = 0.91, 0.97), respectively. CONCLUSION: There was an inverse association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level with night eating habits, depression and poor sleep quality. This association needs be confirmed using cohort and interventional studies.

Prevalence of hypertension in Iran: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of community-based studies.

Background: Hypertension (HTN) is one of the primary risk factors for heart disease and stroke worldwide. The present meta-analysis was aimed to systematically review and statistically estimate the prevalence rate of pre-hypertension (PHTN) and HTN in the Iranian child/adolescent and adult age groups. Methods: In this study, four International databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane, as well as three Iranian databases, including SID, Magiran, and IranMedex, were separately investigated for articles published before January 2021. Also, we estimated the pooled effect size for the prevalence of PHTN and HTN in children/adolescent and adult age groups. Stata software (version 14.0) was used for all statistical analyses. Results: From a total of 1185 articles found in database searches, fifty-one were included in the meta-analysis. The prevalence of HTN in the Iranian adult population was 26.26% (25.11 % and 26.22 % for women and men, respectively). Meanwhile, the prevalence of PHTN and HTN in the child/adolescent age group was 8.97% (95% CI 7.33 - 10.61) and 8.98% (95% CI 7.59 - 10.36), respectively. Conclusions: This study provides information which can be used for various purposes, including study designing. Further nationwide surveys should be carried out to obtain accurate information on the HTN prevalence rate, particularly based on the American College of Cardiology /American Heart Association guidelines in the Iranian population.

Quercetin's effects on colon cancer cells apoptosis and proliferation in a rat model of disease.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Colon cancer is the fourth leading cause of death in the world. Quercetin, has many biological effects in the prevention and treatment of cancer. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the protective effect of quercetin on colon cancer in a rat model of disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-five rats were randomly assigned into three groups: (i) control (n = 10), (ii) healthy (n = 15) treated and (iii) Quercetin (n = 15). All animals received Azotoxin Methane 15 mg/kg s.c once a week for two weeks. To investigate the protective effects of quercetin (10 mg/kg, sc) on the second week of the study (2 weeks before the onset of carcinogenesis) up to week 18. After the histopathologic and immunohistochemistry tests was done, the colon tissue was removed for analysis. RESULTS: The cytological and morphological changes of healthy cells were significantly lower than those of other groups, which indicates the carcinogens of methane azotoxin. The use of quercetin in comparison to control and healthy groups reduced the cytological changes in the cancer cells in the colon. Beta-catenin and Bcl-2 proteins expression was decreased and caspase 3 expression was significantly increased in the quercetin group versus to control group. CONCLUSION: The current study demonstrates that the anticancer effects of quercetin in a rat model of colon cancer. The quercetin supplementation lead to increase in apoptotic proteins gene expression including caspase 3 and decrease in anti-apoptotic gene expression including Bcl-2.