Examination of correlations between vitamin D and melatonin levels with sleep among women aged 18-49 years.

OBJECTIVES: Although clinical research is still going on to determine any relationship between vitamin D and sleep regulation, only few studies have identified the role of vitamin D metabolism in sleep disorders. The current study aims to examine the incidence of vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency in the sample group and its effects on sleep quality and melatonin level. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was designed. A total of 79 women aged 18-49 years who applied to the research and training hospital between 1 October and 30 November 2021 participated in the study. Data were collected using a socio-demographic questionnaire prepared by the authors and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Blood samples were taken from the participants, also, 25-OH-vitamin D3 and melatonin levels in serum samples were measured by ELISA. RESULTS: The participants (n = 79) were aged 29.61 ± 11.14 years. The mean total PSQI scores of the participants were calculated as 5.77 ± 2.70. We determined that 64.6% of the participants had vitamin D deficiency, 21.5% had vitamin D insufficiency, and 13.9% of the participants were vitamin D sufficient. The mean melatonin level was found to be 24.77 ± 27.77 ng/L. We determined that an increase in the melatonin levels decreases the risk of vitamin D deficiency. Besides, our findings showed a good positive correlation between serum melatonin and 25 OH vitamin D3 levels (r = 0.544, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the correction of vitamin D insufficiency can positively affect melatonin levels, therefore, it may positively contribute to the treatment of sleep disorders related to melatonin deficiency.

The role of educational attainment and brain morphology in major depressive disorder: Findings from the ENIGMA major depressive disorder consortium.

Brain structural abnormalities and low educational attainment are consistently associated with major depressive disorder (MDD), yet there has been little research investigating the complex interaction of these factors. Brain structural alterations may represent a vulnerability or differential susceptibility marker, and in the context of low educational attainment, predict MDD. We tested this moderation model in a large multisite sample of 1958 adults with MDD and 2921 controls (aged 18 to 86) from the ENIGMA MDD working group. Using generalized linear mixed models and within-sample split-half replication, we tested whether brain structure interacted with educational attainment to predict MDD status. Analyses revealed that cortical thickness in a number of occipital, parietal, and frontal regions significantly interacted with education to predict MDD. For the majority of regions, models suggested a differential susceptibility effect, whereby thicker cortex was more likely to predict MDD in individuals with low educational attainment, but less likely to predict MDD in individuals with high educational attainment. Findings suggest that greater thickness of brain regions subserving visuomotor and social-cognitive functions confers susceptibility to MDD, dependent on level of educational attainment. Longitudinal work, however, is ultimately needed to establish whether cortical thickness represents a preexisting susceptibility marker. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Relationship of the platelet distribution width/platelet count ratio with thyroid antibody levels in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

OBJECTIVE: I investigated whether the platelet distribution width/platelet count (PDW/PC) ratio, which is an inexpensive and simple test performed for almost all patients, is applicable in the follow-up of patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and examined the relationship of this ratio with thyroperoxidase and thyroglobulin antibody levels. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study groups consisted of 67 patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and 17 controls. All participants were aged 20 to 75 and treated the Internal Medicine outpatient clinic of my institution. The PDW/PC ratio and thyroid antibody levels were retrospectively evaluated in patients with normal liver and renal function and normal white blood cell counts, hemoglobin levels, and hematocrit levels. RESULTS: Thyroid antibody levels were significantly higher in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis than in controls. PC was higher in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, whereas the PDW/PC ratio was lower. However, these differences were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: In this study, I did not find a statistically significant relationship between thyroid antibody levels and PDW/PC. However, a weak correlation between these variables was identified.

Birds Kept in the German Zoo "Tierpark Berlin" Are a Common Source for Polyvalent Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Phages.

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is an important animal pathogen, particularly for birds, rodents, and monkeys, which is also able to infect humans. Indeed, an increasing number of reports have been published on zoo animals that were killed by this species. One option to treat diseased animals is the application of strictly lytic (virulent) phages. However, thus far relatively few phages infecting Y. pseudotuberculosis have been isolated and characterized. To determine the prevalence of Y. pseudotuberculosis phages in zoo animals, fecal samples of birds and some primates, maras, and peccaries kept in the Tierpark Berlin were analyzed. Seventeen out of 74 samples taken in 2013 and 2017 contained virulent phages. The isolated phages were analyzed in detail and could be allocated to three groups. The first group is composed of 10 T4-like phages (PYps2T taxon group: Myoviridae; Tevenvirinae; Tequatrovirus), the second group (PYps23T taxon group: Chaseviridae; Carltongylesvirus; Escherichia virus ST32) consists of five phages encoding a podovirus-like RNA polymerase that is related to an uncommon genus of myoviruses (e.g., Escherichia coli phage phiEcoM-GJ1), while the third group is comprised of two podoviruses (PYps50T taxon group: Autographiviridae; Studiervirinae; Berlinvirus) which are closely related to T7. The host range of the isolated phages differed significantly. Between 5.5 and 86.7% of 128 Y. pseudotuberculosis strains belonging to 20 serotypes were lysed by each phage. All phages were additionally able to lyse Y. enterocolitica B4/O:3 strains, when incubated at 37°C. Some phages also infected Y. pestis strains and even strains belonging to other genera of Enterobacteriaceae. A cocktail containing two of these phages would be able to lyse almost 93% of the tested Y. pseudotuberculosis strains. The study indicates that Y. pseudotuberculosis phages exhibiting a broad-host range can be isolated quite easily from zoo animals, particularly birds.

Nutritional habits in functional dyspepsia and its subgroups: a comparative study.

OBJECTIVE: Research data demonstrating nutritional habits of functional dyspepsia (FD) patients are very limited. This is the first study to evaluate nutritional habits in FD subgroups according to Rome III criteria. Our aim was to evaluate nutritional habits of FD patients and determine the food items that may provoke a dyspepsia symptom. METHODS: A total of 168 adults with FD and 135 healthy control subjects participated in the study. FD subjects were divided into epigastric pain syndrome (EP-FD), postprandial distress syndrome (PS-FD), mixed (MX-FD) subgroups according to Rome Criteria III. Subjects completed a questionnaire that included a short-form food frequency questionnaire. Furthermore, subjects were asked to list the food items that were causing a dyspepsia symptom. RESULTS: Functional dyspepsia subjects had a slightly higher BMI (26.1 ± 4.97 kg/m(2)) than control subjects (24.6 ± 4.08 kg/m(2)). The most common symptom triggering foods among all the FD groups were fried and fatty foods (27.1%), hot spices (26.4%), and carbonated drinks (21.8%). In FD subgroups, carbonated drinks were more likely to cause a symptom in PS-FD group (37.3%) than MX-FD (25.7%) and EP-FD (22.1%) groups. There was no difference in frequency of main meals and snacks among any of the groups. CONCLUSION: Fatty and spicy foods and carbonated drinks were the most common symptom triggering food items in FD group. In subgroups, carbonated drinks and legumes were more likely to cause a symptom in PS-FD. Removing these food items during the course of treatment might help alleviate the symptoms.