Genetic and Lifestyle Risk Factors of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease and Its Relationship with Premature Coronary Artery Disease: A Study on the Pars Cohort.

BACKGROUND: The main objective of this study is to identify the risk factors of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. METHODS: The present retrospective cohort study is part of the Pars Cohort Study (PCS). The participants were categorized as having MAFLD or not. The pattern of independent variables in patients was compared with those who did not have MAFLD. All variables were retained in the multivariable logistic regression model. RESULTS: Totally, 1862 participants with CAD were enrolled in this study. MAFLD was diagnosed in 647 (40.1%) participants. Gender, diabetes, hypertension, tobacco, opium, alcohol, age, weight, waist circumference, cholesterol, HDL, triglyceride, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were significantly different in MAFLD and non-MAFLD patients. Also, the results of multivariable logistic regression show male gender (OR=0.651, 95% CI: 0.470‒0.902, P value=0.01) and opium consumption (OR=0.563, 95% CI: 0.328‒0.968, P value<0.001) to be negative risk factors of MAFLD occurrence in CAD patients. Having diabetes (OR=2.414, 95% CI: 1.740-3.349, P value<0.001), high waist circumference (OR=1.078, 95% CI: 1.055‒1.102, P value<0.01), high triglyceride (OR=1.005, 95% CI: 1.001‒1.008, P value=0.006), and high ALT (OR=1.039, 95% CI: 1.026‒1.051, P value<0.01) were positive risk factors of MAFLD in CAD patients. CONCLUSION: Our study found that consuming opium decreases the likelihood of MAFLD in CAD patients, since these patients have decreased appetite and lower body mass index (BMI). On the other hand, female gender, having diabetes, high waist circumference, high triglyceride levels, and high ALT levels increase the probability of MAFLD in CAD patients.

Hypo-Albuminemia and Perioperative Renal Transplant-Related Infections: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: to review the literature regarding the relationship between pre- and post-transplant hypo-Albuminemia with various renal transplant-related infections. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a systematic review, we included the following keyword in the search: (Albumin*) AND (infection*) AND ("renal transplant" OR "renal transplantation" OR "renal transplants") OR ("kidney transplant" OR "kidney transplantation" OR "kidney transplants") OR "kidney grafting") with investigating databases including ProQuest, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science to May 2023. All adult patients who had renal transplantation were included. Albumin levels of infected (bacterial, fungal, or viral) patients and the type of infection should be reported in the included studies. The search strategy used in this review was reported by Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses literature search extension (PRISMA-S). To conduct Meta-analyses, Stata version 17 was used. Also, DerSimonian-Laird random-effects models were used for this study. In our study, heterogeneity was quantified with I2 and τ2 statistics. inconsistency across studies is quantified by I2 statistics, and the impact of heterogeneity on the meta-analysis is assessed by this quantification. RESULTS: Overall, 18 studies were found to be reporting measures of association including risk ratio, odds ratio, and, hazard ratio. Among them, 10 and 8 studies were reporting bacterial and viral types of infection. The combined risk ratios were not statistically significant, in either type of infection. The mean (SD) of ages for bacterial and viral infections were found to be 45.3 (6.4) and 50.5 (7.6) years old, respectively. CONCLUSION: Hypoalbuminemia is not related to post-transplantation infections, and it seems that with adherence to proper pretransplant screening of recipients, vaccination, and post-transplant surveillance and prophylaxis, the impact of infections may be reduced.

Automated diagnosis of autism with artificial intelligence: State of the art.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) represents a panel of conditions that begin during the developmental period and result in impairments of personal, social, academic, or occupational functioning. Early diagnosis is directly related to a better prognosis. Unfortunately, the diagnosis of ASD requires a long and exhausting subjective process. We aimed to review the state of the art for automated autism diagnosis and recognition in this research. In February 2022, we searched multiple databases and sources of gray literature for eligible studies. We used an adapted version of the QUADAS-2 tool to assess the risk of bias in the studies. A brief report of the methods and results of each study is presented. Data were synthesized for each modality separately using the Split Component Synthesis (SCS) method. We assessed heterogeneity using the I 2 statistics and evaluated publication bias using trim and fill tests combined with ln DOR. Confidence in cumulative evidence was assessed using the GRADE approach for diagnostic studies. We included 344 studies from 186,020 participants (51,129 are estimated to be unique) for nine different modalities in this review, from which 232 reported sufficient data for meta-analysis. The area under the curve was in the range of 0.71-0.90 for all the modalities. The studies on EEG data provided the best accuracy, with the area under the curve ranging between 0.85 and 0.93. We found that the literature is rife with bias and methodological/reporting flaws. Recommendations are provided for future research to provide better studies and fill in the current knowledge gaps.

Assessment of the relationship between vitamin D with semen analysis parameters and reproductive hormones levels before and after kidney transplantation: An Iranian randomized and double-blinded study.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D's role is noticeable on homeostasis of calcium and phosphorous and bone mineralization. Some studies prove that vitamin D has a role in reproductive pathways in male and females and its direct relationship with serum androgen levels in males. The common problem of infertility can be seen in 10%-15% of couples. 25%-50% of all infertilities is due to a male factor, and fertility disturbances are common in male CKD patients. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to figure out the effect of serum vitamin D levels on semen analysis parameters and reproductive hormones before and after renal transplantation in ESRD patients. METHODS: This double-blind randomized clinical trial was carried out on 70 ESRD males (21-48 years old) who were candidates for renal transplantation at Sina hospital between 2021 and 2022. Participants were divided into two groups randomly. First group was supplemented by vitamin D (50,000 units weakly until 3 months), and no intervention was done in the second group. Vitamin D levels, LH, FSH, creatinine, glomerular filtration rate (GFR), calcium, total and free testosterone, PTH, sexual function, and semen analysis parameters were evaluated in a determined interval before and after (three and 6 months) kidney transplantation. RESULTS: Vitamin D levels were noticeably higher in case group in comparison to the control group (p-value < 0.01) but the difference in all other variables including calcium levels, LH, FSH, total and free testosterone, IIEF-5 score, PTH, GFR, and creatinine was insignificant (p-value > 0.05). The comparison of semen parameters of the case with control group including sperm count, morphology, volume, and motility didn't reveal a noticeable difference between the two groups (p-value > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Prescription of vitamin D as a supplementation doesn't improve sperm quality (sperm count, motility, morphology, and volume) and reproductive hormones (LH, FSH, free and total testosterone) after kidney transplantation in male CKD patients.