Causal Effect of Selenium Levels on Osteoporosis: A Mendelian Randomization Study.

Prior research has demonstrated equivocal associations between selenium (Se) concentrations and osteoporosis (OP), yielding inconclusive findings. The purpose of the current study was to examine the potential correlation between Se levels and the risk of OP by using the Mendelian randomization (MR) study design. The genetic variants related to Se levels were obtained from a meta-analysis of a Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) conducted on toenail Se levels (n = 4162) and blood Se levels (n = 5477). The data summary for OP and bone mineral density (BMD) was obtained by utilizing the GWAS database. To examine the association between Se levels and BMD and OP, we employed three statistical methods: inverse variance weighted, weighted median, and MR-Egger. The reliability of the analysis was verified by sensitivity testing. All three methods of MR analysis revealed that Se levels had no effect on OP risk. In addition, the sensitivity analysis revealed no heterogeneity or pleiotropy, and the significance of the overall effect remained unaffected by single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), as determined by the leave-one-out analysis, indicating that our findings are relatively reliable. The results of our study indicate that there is no causal association between Se levels and the risk of OP. However, additional investigation is necessary to ascertain whether there is a potential association between these variables.

The association between dietary mineral intake and the risk of preeclampsia in Chinese pregnant women: a matched case-control study.

Previous studies on the relationship between dietary minerals and preeclampsia (PE) have given inconsistent results. The aim of this study was to further clarify the relationship between dietary minerals intake and PE in Chinese pregnant women. In this study, 440 pairs of hospital-based preeclamptic and healthy women were matched 1:1. Dietary intake was obtained through a 78-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Multivariate conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Restricted cubic splines were plotted to evaluate the dose-response relationship between dietary minerals intake and PE. This study found significant inverse associations for dietary intake of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, copper, manganese and zinc and the risk of PE in both univariate and multivariate models (all P- trend < 0.05). After adjusting for possible confounders, compared with the lowest quartile, the odds ratio of the highest quartile was 0.74 (95% CI 0.56-0.98) for calcium, 0.63 (95% CI 0.42-0.93) for magnesium, 0.45 (95% CI 0.31-0.65) for phosphorus, 0.44 (95% CI 0.30-0.65) for iron, 0.72 (95% CI 0.53-0.97) for copper, 0.66 (95% CI 0.48-0.91) for manganese and 0.38 (95% CI 0.25-0.57) for zinc. In addition, a reverse J-shaped relationship between dietary minerals intake and PE risk was observed (P-overall association < 0.05). In Chinese pregnant women, a higher intake of dietary minerals, including calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, iron, manganese, and zinc was associated with a lower odds of PE.

Iron supplementation and deworming during pregnancy reduces the risk of anemia and stunting in infants less than 2 years of age: a study from Sub-Saharan Africa.

BACKGROUND: In sub-Saharan Africa, infant anemia, stunting and low birth weight remains major public health problems. It is unclear whether prenatal iron supplementation and/or deworming can reduce the risk of infant stunting, anemia and low birth weight. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between iron supplementation and/or deworming and stunting, anemia, and low birth weight in infants under two years of age in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: Our studies examined pooled data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in twenty-three African countries collected between 2014 and 2020. childhood anemia and stunting in infants under the age of two were the primary outcomes. Iron supplementation and deworming during prenatal visits were the main exposure variables. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to investigate these relationships. RESULTS: The prevalence of stunting was 29.9%, severe stunting was 10.6%, childhood anemia was 74.3%, childhood severe anemia was 3.2%, and low birth weight was 16.4%, respectively. The use of prenatal iron supplementation alone was associated with a significant reduction of childhood anemia [aOR (95% CI) = 0.9 (0.8-1.0)]. Prenatal deworming alone was associated with a significantly reduced risk of stunting [aOR (95% CI) = 0.7 (0.8-1.0)], childhood anemia [aOR (95% CI) = 0.7 (0.8-0.9)], and low birth weight [aOR (95% CI) = 0.7 (0.8-1.0)]. Prenatal iron supplementation plus deworming or iron supplementation (with or without deworming) were not associated with childhood anemia, infant stunting and low birth weight. CONCLUSIONS: In Sub-Saharan Africa, prenatal deworming alone has the potential to improve infants' outcomes. Childhood anemia was improved with prenatal iron supplementation alone. Our recent findings indicate the necessity for prospective studies on the association between prenatal iron supplementation plus deworming and childhood anemia, stunting and low birth weight.

Effect of ginger in the treatment of nausea and vomiting compared with vitamin B6 and placebo during pregnancy: a meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Nausea and vomiting (NV) affect up to 85% of pregnant women, which has multiple effects on pregnancy outcome. The truth etiology of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP) is still unknown. Considering the potential teratogenic effect in fetus due to chemical drugs, ginger can be used to treat nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Reports have shown that ginger can reduce the severity of NV, however, these results are controversial. Therefore, this meta-analysis aims to explore the effect of ginger in the treatment of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy compared with placebo and vitamin B6. METHODS: The randomized control trials (RCTs) on the association with ginger and pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting were searched and identified in two databases Web of Science and PubMed (up to April 2019). Stata software was used to conduct meta-analysis. In addition, the source of heterogeneity explored by metaregression, sensitivity analysis, subgroup analyses, the publication bias were assessed by Egger's tests and Funnel plot, p < .05 was considered to be significant. RESULTS: Thirteen studies involving 1174 subjects were included in this meta-analysis. The result demonstrated that ginger intervention has significant effect in improving general symptom of NVP [OR = 7.475, 95% CI = (4.133, 13.520), I2 = 30.1%], relieving severity of nausea [SMD = 0.821, 95% CI = (0.585, 1.056), I2 = 38.9%], but not significant in reducing vomiting [SMD = 0.549, 95% CI = (-0.268, 1.365), I2 = 91.4%], compared with placebo. Besides, ginger intervention has no significant effect on improving general symptom of NVP [OR = 1.239, 95% CI = (0.495, 3.102), I2 = 57.3%], relieving severity of nausea [SMD = 0.199, 95% CI = (-0.102, 0.500), I2 = 65.7%], reducing vomiting [SMD = 0.331, 95% CI = (-0.145, 0.808), I2 = 85.9%], compared with vitamin B6. CONCLUSIONS: Ginger supplementation significantly relieve general NVP symptom and nausea compared with placebo, but no significant effect on vomiting. Moreover, ginger is more effective than vitamin B6 in treating NVP, although, there were no significant differences. Further, rigidly designed RCTs with larger sample sizes are needed to verify the effectiveness of ginger supplementation for treatment NVP compared with vitamin B6.

The association between dietary fatty acid intake and the risk of developing preeclampsia: a matched case-control study.

The association between dietary fat intake during pregnancy and the risk of developing preeclampsia has been examined in many epidemiological studies, but the results remain inconsistent. The aim of this study was to clarify this association in pregnant Chinese women. After conducting 1:1 matching, 440 pairs consisting of pregnant women with preeclampsia and hospital-based, healthy pregnant women matched by gestational week (± 1 week) and age (± 3 years) were recruited. A 79-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire administered during face-to-face interviews was used to estimate the participants' dietary intake of fatty acids. We found that the intakes of arachidonic acid (AA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were inversely associated with the risk of developing preeclampsia. Compared with the lowest quartile intake, the multivariate-adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of the highest quartile intake were 0.42 (0.26-0.68, p-trend < 0.001) for EPA, 0.52 (0.3-0.83, p-trend = 0.005) for DHA, and 0.41 (0.19-0.88, p-trend = 0.007) for AA. However, we did not observe any significant associations between the intake of total fatty acids, saturated fatty acids, and mono-unsaturated fatty acids and the risk of developing preeclampsia. Our results showed that the dietary intake of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (i.e., EPA, DHA, and AA) may protect pregnant Chinese women against the development of preeclampsia.

Effect of whole-course nutrition management on patients with esophageal cancer undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy: A randomized control trial.

OBJECTIVES: Malnutrition is the most common complication of patients with esophageal cancer and can lead to poor prognosis and death. Good nutritional status has been shown to help improve patient outcomes and reduce complications. In the absence of specific evidence on the effect of nutrition in patients with esophageal cancer, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of whole-course nutrition management on the prognosis and complications of chemoradiotherapy in patients with esophageal cancer through a randomized controlled trial. METHODS: A total of 96 patients with esophageal cancer treated with concurrent chemoradiation were randomized to an intervention group (treated with whole-course nutrition management from the Nutrition Support Team) and a control group (treated with the general nutritional method) for approximately 6 wk. Dietary surveys and body measurements were conducted at baseline and every day thereafter. Patient-generated Subjective Global Assessment score, blood index, quality of life, and psychological condition were assessed at baseline and every week before discharge. Complications (e.g., radiation esophagitis, myelosuppression, and skin symptoms), completion rates of therapy, short-term efficacy evaluation, as well as clinical outcomes were measured. RESULTS: A total of 85 patients completed the study (intervention group = 45; control group = 40). There were significant differences in the changes of serum albumin and total protein between the two groups throughout the trial (P < 0.05). Complications (e.g., radioactive esophagitis, skin symptom of complications) and quality of life were statistically different before and after the intervention (P < 0.05). The difference in the change of other indicators was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Whole-course nutrition management can improve the nutritional status of patients with esophageal cancer treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy, reduce the severity of radiation esophagitis and radiation skin reactions, improve the quality of life, and relieve depressive symptoms.