Influence of medical nutrition therapy on borderline glucose intolerance in pregnant Taiwanese women.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of medical nutrition therapy (MNT) on borderline glucose intolerance (BGI) in pregnant Taiwanese women. METHODS: A total of 5194 singleton pregnant women were enrolled in this prospective, non-randomized study. The participants were subjected to the 50 g 1-h glucose challenge test (GCT) and 100 g 3-h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) to screening gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). BGI was defined as a positive GCT and normal OGTT results. GDM was defined as a positive GCT and abnormal OGTT results. The women were categorized into the following groups: (1) GCT-negative, n = 3881; (2) BGI with MNT, n = 273; (3) BGI without MNT, n = 712; and (4) GDM, n = 328. Multiple logistic analyses were used to estimate the risks of pregnancy outcomes. RESULTS: The odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for total cesareans, third- or fourth-degree perineal lacerations, gestational hypertension or preeclampsia and macrosomia were 1.24 (1.04-1.49), 1.55 (1.06-1.28), 1.78 (1.21-2.61) and 2.50 (1.28-4.91) in the BGI without MNT group compared to the GCT-negative group. There was no difference between BGI with MNT and GCT-negative groups. CONCLUSIONS: Women with BGI who did not receive MNT had increased risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes, whereas who received MNT had no different risk with GCT-negative women.

The Evaluation of Antioxidant Interactions among 4 Common Vegetables using Isobolographic Analysis.

Isobolographic analysis was used to assess the antioxidant interactions (synergism, addition, and antagonism) of 4 common vegetables (tomato [T], carrot [C], eggplant [E], and purple potato [P]). The lipophilic (L) extracts of T and C (main carotenoids), the hydrophilic (H) extracts of E and P (main phenolics) were mixed by the certain ratios (1:9, 3:7, 1:1, 7:3, 9:1, w/w) and their antioxidant activities were investigated by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-Azinobis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonate) (ABTS) radical scavenging assays, respectively. Most of the binary mixtures (LC-HE, LC-HP, HE-HP, LT-HE, and LT-HP combinations) showed the synergistic antioxidant effects. In DPPH assay, the greatest antioxidant activity of vegetable combinations was 1:9 LT-HP (EC50 : 2.45 ± 0.13 mg/mL), followed by 9:1 HE-HP (EC50 : 3.62 ± 0.12 mg/mL) and 1:9 LC-HE (EC50 : 3.74 ± 0.47 mg/mL). In ABTS assay, the greatest antioxidant activity of vegetable combinations was 9:1 HE-HP (EC50 : 4.20 ± 0.10 mg/mL), followed by 7:3 HE-HP (EC50 : 4.41 ± 0.63 mg/mL) and 1:1 HE-HP (EC50 : 5.35 ± 0.85 mg/mL). Among these combinations, 1:1 LC-HE combination showed the highest synergistic antioxidant effects in DPPH assay (synergistic rate: 87.4%), and 7:3 LC-HE combination showed the highest synergistic antioxidant effects in ABTS assay (synergistic rate: 87.0%). The mixtures of phenolics and carotenoids with suitable ratios in vegetables effectively enhanced the synergistic antioxidant effects.