RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Vitamin D deficiency has been often observed in obese persons. One of the mechanisms suggested for low vitamin D status in obesity was decreased bioavailability of vitamin D (VD) due to sequestration in adipose tissue. However, only few studies have investigated this mechanism via quantifying vitamin D levels from tissues from the obese. METHODS: Six-wk-old C57BL/6 mice were fed 10 or 45% kcal fat (CON or HFD) diets containing 50, 1000 or 25,000 IU vitamin D3/kg diet (LVd, CVd or HVd) for 13 wks. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels were determined by radioimmunoassay and liver and adipose tissue cholecalciferol (VD3) and 25-hydrocholecalciferol (25(OH)D3) levels were measured by LC-MS/MS. mRNA levels of jejunal Mttp, Cd36, Sr-b1, Npc1l1, and Abca1 and liver and adipose tissue 25-hydroxylases (Cyp2r1 and Cyp27a1) were determined by real-time PCR. RESULTS: Serum 25(OH)D levels were affected by dietary vitamin D content but differential effects were observed between HFD and CON groups. When vitamin D intake was at a supplementary level, the HFD-HVd group had lower serum 25(OH)D levels than the CON-HVd group, while there was no significant difference between the HFD and CON groups fed LVd or CVd. Total amount of VD3 in liver and adipose tissue were significantly higher in HFD-HVd group compared with the CON-HVd group. However, no difference in total amount of tissue VD3 was observed between the CON and HFD groups fed CVd. In jejunum, mRNA levels of Mttp and Abca1 were significantly higher in HFD groups than CON groups. There was no difference in mRNA levels of liver 25-hydroxylases by both dietary fat amount and vitamin D content. CONCLUSION: A significant amount of VD3 seemed to be stored in the liver and adipose tissue when dietary vitamin D is at a supplementation level; thus excess body adiposity could contribute to relatively low serum 25(OH)D level when vitamin D was supplemented.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The 2015 MERS outbreak in South Korea was the largest event outside of the Middle East. Under such circumstances, individuals tend to resort to non-conventional solutions such as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to manage health. Thus, this study aims to examine characteristics of CAM use among outpatients in a community hospital setting during the 2015 MERS outbreak and to assess potential predictors of CAM use during the epidemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 331 patients (response rate: 82.75%) at a community hospital located in Seoul, South Korea. The survey instrument included 36 questions on the use of CAM, demographic characteristics, health status, and respondents' perceptions and concerns about MERS infection. Chi-square test and logistic regression were conducted for data analysis using SPSS ver. 21.0., and a p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant for all analyses. RESULTS: 76.1% of respondents used one or more types of CAM modalities during the MERS outbreak. Consumption of easily accessible modalities such as multivitamin (51.2%) and food products (32.1%) was most popular, and the majority of CAM users relied on mass media (52.4%) and the internet (27.4%) to obtain information on CAM. The use of CAM was associated with age between 40 and 49, age over 50, prior CAM use, and dissatisfaction with the government response to the MERS outbreak. CONCLUSIONS: CAM was commonly used by outpatients during the 2015 MERS outbreak in Korea, and mass media was the main source of information. Establishing a media platform is of paramount importance to provide reliable information and ensure the safety of its use.