Essential trace element levels in multiple sclerosis: Bridging demographic and clinical gaps, assessing the need for supplementation.

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating disorder intricately linked to perturbations in trace element levels. While previous studies have explored circulating trace elements in a limited sample, understanding the impact of demographic and clinical variables on the elemental profile within a larger cohort remains elusive. METHODS: This study aimed to evaluate essential trace elements (Cr, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn, and Se) in the sera of 215 MS patients compared to a meticulously matched control group of 100 individuals with similar gender and age. Our main objective was to identify potential variations in elemental profiles based on demographic and clinical parameters among MS patients, elucidating the prospective relevance of supplementing specific essential trace elements. RESULTS: Data indicated a significant decrease in serum levels of Mn, Co, Zn, and Se, and an increase in Cr in MS patients compared to controls. These trace elements not only discriminated between MS patients and controls but also exhibited distinctive capabilities among demographic subgroups. Gender, smoking habits, and age strata (20-40 years and 41-60 years) revealed discernible variations in elemental profiles between MS patients and their control counterparts. Se demonstrated the singular ability to stratify cases of extreme MS severity, mild relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and highly severe secondary progressive MS (SPMS). In contrast, Co significantly differentiated RRMS from primary progressive MS (PPMS), while Cu significantly differentiated SPMS from PPMS. Additionally, Cu showed a negative correlation with MSSS, while Mn and Zn showed a positive correlation with EDSS. CONCLUSION: These findings underscore a substantive deficiency in Mn, Co, Zn, and Se in the MS cohort, supporting targeted supplementation with these trace elements. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the intricate relationship between essential trace elements and MS, paving the way for further research into personalized nutritional interventions for this complex neurological disorder.

Possible zinc deficiency in the Serbian population: examination of body fluids, whole blood and solid tissues.

Studies indicate that the soil, water and consequently foodstuffs in Serbia are significantly poor in zinc (Zn), and thus, it is likely that there is a Zn deficiency in the Serbian population. This study examined the Zn status in multiple clinical samples, including body fluids (serum, cerebrospinal fluid), whole blood and Zn-rich solid tissues (thyroid and brain tissue). Differences between sex and age were also considered, and comparative analysis of Zn status with other world populations was performed. Serum samples from a large number of Serbian adults approximately had twofold lower Zn amounts when compared to other populations. A similar trend was obtained for whole blood. Males had significantly higher amounts of Zn in serum, whole blood and thyroid tissue samples than females. Higher amounts of Zn were observed in the group older than 50 years. Importantly, in thyroid and brain tissues, Zn was 10- and 20-fold lower, respectively, than reported in the literature. Our results indicate that the population in Serbia could be considered Zn deficient. Therefore, adequate oral Zn supplementation and/or foodstuff fortification should be considered to prevent the deleterious effects caused by Zn deficiency.

Reference values for trace essential elements in the whole blood and serum samples of the adult Serbian population: significance of selenium deficiency.

This study was aimed to determine reference values (RVs) for the manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and selenium (Se) in the whole blood (B) and serum (S) samples of the Serbian population. Blood specimens were collected from healthy persons (n = 295; women/men ratio = 149/146; mean age: 42 ± 2 years). The RVs were calculated as lower limit (LL) and upper limit (UL) of the 95% confidence interval (CI) and were expressed as percentiles (P) in the range from P2.5 to P97.5. The influences of sex, age, and smoking habits on element profiles were considered. It was found that the contents of B-Cu and S-Cu were higher in women, while the contents of B-Zn and S-Zn were higher in men. Both trace elements were significantly increased in a group of persons above 40 when compared to a younger persons (≤ 40 years). According to smoking habits, increased content was found only for S-Mn in the nonsmoker's group (p < 0.05). Comparing our results to the results reported in other population groups worldwide, the Serbian population had significantly reduced content of Se in both types of samples. This finding could highlight the deficiency of Se in the investigated Serbian population and could contribute to the better understanding of the molecular basis for the increased incidence of thyroid and other diseases in which selenium plays a key role.

Cadmium as main endocrine disruptor in papillary thyroid carcinoma and the significance of Cd/Se ratio for thyroid tissue pathophysiology.

BACKGROUND: The etiology of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is unknown and some literature data support the hypothesis that heavy metals, as endocrine disrupters, could play a major role in the pathogenesis of thyroid cancer. This study aimed to estimate the content of selected toxic and essential trace metals (Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Cd, Pb, Th, and U), as well as the selected ratio's (Cu/Zn and Cd/Se) in the malignant thyroid tissues according to sex, age, smoking habits, familial history of any thyroid disease, pathohistological (PH) types of PTC, tumor size, the existence of a thyroid capsular invasion, intrathyroid tumor dissemination, retrosternal thyroid growth, and TNM progress of PTC. METHODS: The study included 66 patients with PTC (women/men ratio = 46/20, mean age: 54 ± 14 years). A comparative analysis was made by collecting the healthy thyroid tissues (HTTs) of the same patients, making the total number of samples 132. All trace metals were quantified by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). RESULTS: Metals that significantly separated papillary thyroid tissues (PTTs) from the HTTs were Cd, U and Se (p < 0.05). The obtained negative correlation between Cd and Se in the PTTs could explain extrusion of essential Se caused by increased content of Cd. Only Cd had an influence on the retrosternal thyroid growth, while the essential metals (Mn, Co, and Zn) had an influence on thyroid capsular invasion. CONCLUSION: It was found that Cd act as the main endocrine disrupter, which could highlight its role in the etiology of PTC. Considering that the Cd/Se ratio significantly separated two studied groups and had an influence on the retrosternal thyroid growth, its altered content could contribute to the better understanding of the molecular basis for pathophysiological changes in the PTC.