Adherence to healthy dietary patterns and its association with physical fitness in military personnel.

INTRODUCTION: Poor nutritional status might impact in unintentional weight loss and decreased muscle mass and strength. The levels of physical fitness (PF) is a predictor of chronic diseases in future years. Also, evaluation of fitness is an essential factor for duty in occupations which are sensitive to time and emergency reaction. Since there is no literature that study the association between dietary patterns and the PF level in physically strenuous occupations, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between dietary patterns and the PF level in military staffs. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out in military zones of Iran. Typical dietary intakes were assessed by using a semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire. Mediterranean diet (MD) score and healthy diet indicator (HDI) score were calculated. PF tests were designed to test the muscular strength, endurance and cardiovascular respiratory fitness (CRF). RESULTS: Mean age of participants was 33.03±4.65 in the study. Referring to the performance in the PF tests, there was a correlation between tertiles of MD (OR 4.37, p=0.048) and HDI (OR 5.21, p=0.019) scores and suitable PF level in the crude and confounder adjusted models. Also, a negative relationship was found between body mass index and waist circumference with fitness score. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that accompanying a medium or high adherence to a healthy dietary pattern will have an impact on good level of PF and will result in a better working power and long-term health consequences among physically strenuous occupations.

Association of dietary intake, medication and anthropometric indices with serum levels of advanced glycation end products, caspase-3, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 in diabetic patients.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Increased serum levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), caspase-3 (Cas-3) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) have been reported in diabetic patients. This study aimed to evaluate association of anthropometric, dietary, and therapeutic factors with serum levels of methylglyoxal (MGO), carboxymethyl lysine (CML), pentosidine (Pen), Cas-3, and MMP-9 in diabetic patients. METHODS: The current study included 36 diabetic subjects. Dietary intake of the participants was assessed using three-day 24-h recall survey and anthropometric indices were measured. Demographic factors and medication intake of every subject were obtained. Serum levels of CML, MGO, Pen, MMP-9, and Cas-3 were measured using ELISA method. RESULTS: Gliclazide consumption was positively correlated with MMP-9 and Cas-3, but not AGEs levels. Females had higher MGO level compared with males. Further, CML levels were negatively correlated with BMI and WHR. Dietary protein intake was positively correlated with MMP-9, Cas-3, and MGO levels. As well as dietary energy and fat intake had significant positive relationship with serum Cas-3 concentration. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that anthropometric characteristics, dietary intake, and therapeutic medications are possible factors that may determine the circulating levels of AGEs, MMP-9, and Cas-3 in patients with diabetes.

Therapeutic effects of curcumin on sepsis and mechanisms of action: A systematic review of preclinical studies.

Sepsis is a complex disease that begins with an infectious disorder and causes excessive immune responses. Curcumin is considered as an active component of turmeric that can improve the condition in sepsis due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were searched. Searching was not limited to a specific publication period. Only English-language original articles, which had examined the effect of curcumin on sepsis, were included. At first, 1,098 articles were totally found, and 209 articles were selected after excluding duplicated data; 46 articles were remained due to the curcumin effects on sepsis. These included 23 in vitro studies and 23 animal studies. Our results showed that curcumin and various analogs of curcumin can have an inhibitory effect on sepsis-induced complications. Curcumin has the ability to inhibit the inflammatory, oxidative coagulation factors, and regulation of immune responses in sepsis. Despite the promising evidence of the therapeutic effects of curcumin on the sepsis complication, further studies seem necessary to investigate its effect and possible mechanisms of action in human studies.

The effects of zinc treatment on matrix metalloproteinases: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Zinc (Zn) acts as a cofactor of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and is vital for their activity and controlling their expression. Alteration of Zn in the body could affect the expression, activity, and destructive impacts of MMPs. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aimed to summarize existing evidence on the effects of Zn treatment on the expression and activity of MMPs. METHOD: International sources from Pub Med, Scopus and Google Scholar were searched for the original and English-language studies, published up to the end of May 2018. RESULTS: During the initial search, 179 records were found, and 135 articles of them remained after the exclusion of duplicate articles. 47 studies met the inclusion criteria, after multiple stages of screening and critical reviews of articles. CONCLUSION: Approximately 62% of the included studies (29 of 47) showed an inhibitory impact of Zn on MMPs production and activities. The inhibitory or stimulatory effect of Zn on MMPs seems to depend on physiological conditions of the cells or animals used, dose of Zn used, and duration of treatment.

Positive Association Between Plasma Levels of Advanced Glycation and Precursor of Lipoxidation end Products with Gastrointestinal Problems in Children with Autism.

BACKGROUND: Increased oxidative stress has been reported in autistic patients besides, evidence linking oxidative stress to enhancement of advanced glycation and lipoxidation end products (AGEs and ALEs) and their precursors. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare the plasma levels of the AGEs and precursors of ALEs in autistic and healthy children and to evaluate their relationship with autism comorbidities. METHODS: In this descriptive study, 54 children, 36 autistic and 18 healthy participated. Plasma levels of AGEs and precursors of ALEs were measured by ELISA method. Severity of autism and Gastrointestinal (GI) disorders were measured by GARSII questionnaire and QPGS-ROME III questionnaire, respectively. RESULTS: Plasma levels of AGEs and precursors of ALEs in autistic children were comparable with healthy children. Plasma levels of AGEs and precursor of ALEs were correlated with physical activity and GI disorders in autistic children. A strong association was also found between AGEs and precursors of ALEs. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that AGEs and ALEs have a strong correlation together but the AGEs and precursor of ALEs in autistic children are not different from healthy children.

Carnosine supplementation does not affect serum concentrations of advanced glycation and precursors of lipoxidation end products in autism: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Abundant evidence indicate the increased levels of oxidative stress in patients with autism. Advanced glycation end products and advanced lipoxidation end products and their precursors play a major role in increased oxidative stress in numerous metabolic and neurologic diseases. Carnosine is a natural dipeptide with antiglycation effects. The aim of this trial was to examine the effects of carnosine supplementation on the advanced glycation end products and the precursors of advanced lipoxidation end products in patients with autism. METHOD: This randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted on 36 autistic children, 18 in the carnosine group and 18 in the placebo group. The groups received a daily supplement of 500 mg carnosine or placebo for two months, respectively. Plasma concentrations of glycation and precursors of lipoxidation markers were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. RESULTS: In all, 63.9% of the autistic children had normal nutritional status. Carnosine supplementation did not significantly alter plasma concentrations of advanced glycation end products and precursors of advanced lipoxidation end products in autistic children. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that supplementation of carnosine could not change advanced glycation end products and precursor of advanced lipoxidation end products in autistic children.

Carnosine and advanced glycation end products: a systematic review.

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are a cluster of heterogeneous molecules that are generated in a non-enzymatic reaction by the binding of sugars with amino groups of DNA, lipids and proteins. Carnosine is a naturally occurring dipeptide with antioxidant activity, which inhibits protein carbonylation and glycoxidation. This systematic review searched international sources for all published and unpublished original research in English from any year up to the end of April 2018. An electronic search of PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar was conducted. 187 articles were initially found and 133 articles were selected after excluding duplicated data. Review articles, studies based on the components of carnosine and studies that were about the effects of carnosine on AGEs-induced changes were excluded. In total, 36 studies met the inclusion criteria. This included 19 in vitro studies, 15 animal studies and two human studies. All but two of the studies indicated that carnosine can prevent the formation of AGEs. The findings of this review indicating that carnosine has anti-glycating properties, and may hinder the formation of protein carbonyls and the cross-links induced by reduced sugars; however, there were few human studies. The mechanism by which carnosine prevents the formation of AGEs needs further investigation.