Effects of a low-iodine diet in post-thyroidectomy thyroid cancer patients undergoing I131 therapy at the Vietnam National Cancer Hospital.

Background: I131 therapy is regarded as an "internal surgery" (i.e., a non-invasive approach involving no incision or bleeding) that supports "external surgery" (i.e., using a scalpel) in completely eradicating the root cause of thyroid cancer. Limiting iodine intake is of paramount importance in I131 therapy. I131 therapy protocols recommend that patients follow a low-iodine diet, ideally with a maximum iodine intake of 50 µg/day for two weeks before the I131 therapy. Methods: A pre-post compassion uncontrolled clinic intervention study was conducted on a group of over 70 post-thyroidectomy thyroid cancer patients with indications for I131 therapy at the Vietnam National Cancer Hospital from December 2020 to December 2022. Aim: It aimed to assess the effects of a low-iodine diet on post-thyroidectomy thyroid cancer patients with indications for I131 therapy. Results: The study found that following the intervention, the percentage of participants at risk of mild to moderate malnutrition, as assessed by the PG-SGA tool, decreased to 4.3% from 40.0% before the intervention, with a statistically significant difference of p < 0.001. There was a considerable improvement in the low calcemia level among the study participants, with 35.7% of patients experiencing hypocalcemia prior to the intervention, which reduced to 17.1% after the intervention. This difference was statistically significant (p = 0.01). The study also revealed a urinary iodine level improvement among the study participants. Before the intervention, patients' average urinary iodine level was 14.9 ± 11.3 µg/dl. Following the intervention, it reduced to 12.7 ± 3.9 µg/dl, although this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.29). Patients' quality of life after adhering to the low-iodine diet tended to decline; however, the change in scores before and after the intervention did not show a significant difference. Conclusion: Despite its negative impact on patients' quality of life, active nutrition counseling and intervention during the low-iodine diet contributed to the substantial improvement in the hypocalcemia level and the reduced urinary iodine level among patients, which in turn could enhance the efficacy of the subsequent I131 therapy.

Okara Improved Blood Glucose Level in Vietnamese with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) has been increasing rapidly in Vietnam. We hypothesized that the main reason may be low fiber intake. Regarding sources, fiber comes mainly from vegetables. However, vegetables popular in Vietnam have low fiber (<2 g fiber/100 g vegetable), so it is difficult to supply sufficient fiber only from vegetables. Therefore, in this study we tried to increase fiber intake a day by using 60 g of Okara foods, containing about 6 g of fiber per day, and assess the effects on the blood glucose levels of DM patients. We contacted 300 type 2 DM outpatients at a hospital and selected 60 of them. We formed 30 pairs matched by gender, age, BMI and years with DM and divided them randomly into an intervention group and a control group. The intervention group consumed about 6 g of fiber from Okara per day for 2 wk. At the baseline and final periods, anthropometric measurements, blood withdrawal and a 3-d weighing method nutrition survey were conducted. Dietary fiber intake increased from 6.9 to 12.6 g (p<0.01) in the intervention group, but there was no change in the control group. Fasting blood glucose and fructosamine in the intervention group dropped from 6.3 to 5.4 mmol/L (p<0.05) and from 319 to 301 µmol/L (p<0.05), respectively but they remained unchanged in the control group. Vietnamese people consumed about 60 g of Okara per day from various menus and increased fiber intake to 6 g/d in 2 wk, which improved blood glucose in DM patients.

The tylosin producer, Streptomyces fradiae, contains a second valine dehydrogenase.

A second NAD-dependent valine dehydrogenase (VDH) of Streptomyces fradiae was detected and purified to homogeneity by affinity chromatography on Reactive-Blue 2 Sepharose followed by gel filtration and Mono Q fast protein liquid chromatography. The relative molecular masses of the native enzyme and its subunits were determined to be 80,000 and 41,000, respectively, indicating that the enzyme is a homodimer. The enzyme was the only active VDH in S. fradiae; its activity was significantly induced by L-valine, but was repressed by ammonia. Among branched- and straight-chain amino acids that serve as enzyme substrates, L-2-aminobutyrate and L-valine are preferred. Significant activities were found with deamino-NAD+ and 3-pyridinealdehyde-NAD+. The molecular and catalytic properties of the enzyme distinguish it from the enzyme previously purified, and thus indirectly indicate the existence of two VDHs in S. fradiae.