ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease manifested by an increase of blood glucose. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of glucan and vitamin D supplementation in patients with diabetic retinopathy. METHOD: We evaluated the effects of 3-month supplementation with glucan and vitamin D in 54 patients with diabetic retinopathy. We measured levels of vitamin D, cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. RESULTS: The supplementation strongly decreased the cholesterol levels and improved the levels of HDL cholesterol. In addition, vitamin D levels were strongly improved, but still not at optimal values. CONCLUSION: From our data, we concluded that glucan and vitamin D supplementation strongly influence lipid metabolism and have positive effects on human health.
ABSTRACT
A group of 156 children aged between 10 and 12 years were screened for IgG and IgE antibodies to Ascaris lumbricoides. The study subjects were 64 children of Romany origin and 92 children from the majority population. IgG antibodies to Ascaris lumbricoides were detected in 112 (71.8%) children. No difference in the prevalence of IgG antibodies was found between Romany children and those from the majority population. As many as 34.1% of the study subjects had IgE antibodies to Ascaris lumbricoides, again with no difference between the two ethnic groups. Children with IgG antibodies to Ascaris lumbricoides had significantly higher total IgE levels compared to those who had tested IgG negative. To demonstrate induction of a non-specific IgE response was one of the study objectives. The high prevalence rates of IgG and IgE antibodies to Ascaris lumbricoides are suggestive of a high frequency of cross- and non-specific reactions. Possible effect of cross-reactivity to other antigens on the specific IgG and IgE antibody response to Ascaris lumbricoides is discussed.