The risk of metabolic syndrome is associated with vitamin D and inflammatory status in premenopausal and postmenopausal Algerian women.

BACKGROUND: This first cross-sectional study examined whether vitamin D status and proinflammatory cytokines may be associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Algerian women regarding their menopausal status. METHODS: Fasting plasma glucose (FPG), lipids, insulin, 25(OH)D, PTH, adiponectin, resistin, TNFα, and IL-6 levels were assessed in 277 participants aged 18-74 years. MetS was diagnosed according to NCEP-ATPIII criteria. The association of vitamin D deficiency, IL-6, and TNFα with components of MetS was analyzed by the logistic regression. RESULTS: Among a cohort of 277 participants, the prevalence of MetS in 115 premenopausal vs. 162 postmenopausal women was 54.02 vs. 68.1%. Cut-offs for vitamin D deficiency were 15.7 vs. 13 ng/mL, 51.07 vs. 41 pg/mL for IL-6 and 8.28 vs. 9.33 pg/mL for TNFα, respectively. 25(OH)D levels were positively correlated with adiponectin levels, while negatively with HOMA-IR in postmenopausal-MS + women. Adjustment for age and BMI reveals a significant association between vitamin deficiency and high FPG (OR: 2.92 vs. 2.90), TG (OR:2.79 vs. 3.51), BP (OR:2.20 vs. 1.92), and low HDL-c (OR:2.26 vs. 3.42), respectively. A significant association was also detected in postmenopausal women between IL-6 and high FPG (OR5.11, p = 0.03), BP (OR:3.13, p = 0.04), and low HDL-c (OR5.01, p = 0.02), while TNFα was associated with high BP in postmenopausal women (OR: 3.70, p = 0.01), and inversely with TG in premenopausal women (OR: 0.16, p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: This study highlighted that severe vitamin D deficiency increases MetS score and was closely associated with four components of MetS, more potently in postmenopausal women, probably related with estrogens. Abdominal obesity, as influential component of MetS, may be involved in enhancing vitamin D deficiency, and dysregulating some metabolic hormones such as adiponectin, resistin and insulin, that contributes in onset an inflammatory state, through the increase in IL-6 and TNFα levels. These findings need to be improved by expanding investigation to a large cohort of participants.

Disruption of spermatogenesis in testicular adult Wistar rats after short-term exposure to high dose of glyphosate based-herbicide: Histopathological and biochemical changes.

Glyphosate is an endocrine disruptor and can act on the activity of certain enzymes of metabolism subsequently altering some functions such as reproduction. The goal of the present study is to evaluate the involvement of glyphosate based-herbicide (GBH) in spermatogenesis disruption and to investigate which cells of the adult Wistar rat testis are most affected by short-term exposure to GBH. Treated groups received a diluted solution of GBH orally for 21 days (D1: 102.5 mg/Kg; D2: 200 mg/Kg; D3: 400 mg/Kg). The control group (C) received water in the same manner. Hormone levels, oxidative stress markers were evaluated, histological and morphometric analysis were performed, AR and p53 expression was conducted. Seminiferious epithelium sloughing associated to erosion of Sertoli and spermatogonia from the basement of the seminiferous tubules, with intraluminal exfoliated cells among with immature spermatids were observed. A significant change in morphometric measurement and significant decrease in AR expression in Sertoli cells were noted for all treated groups. A significant increase in NO level and p53 expression in Leydig cells were showed for animals treated with 200 and 400 mg/kg BW/day. These data demonstrate that short-term exposure to high doses of GBH has led to a disruption of certain parameters that could disturb spermatogenesis. The treatment showed that both Leydig and Sertoli cells are affected in the same manner by GBH, the activation of p53 expression in both Leydig cells and peritubular myloid cells nuclei, and the reduction in AR expression in Sertoli cells, which resulted in important testicular damage.

Association of vitamin D deficiency and insulin resistance with breast cancer in premenopausal Algerian women: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Low 25(OH)D levels are mainly related to breast cancer (BC) risk in postmenopausal women, while the impact of insulin resistance (IR) on BC prognosis is controversial. OBJECTIVE: Considering the high prevalence of BC in younger Algerian women, this cross-sectional study analyzed whether vitamin D status and IR are biomarkers for breast tumor status in premenopausal women. METHODS: In 96 women (mean age, 40.96±0.65years) newly diagnosed with BC, tumor status was determined immunohistochemically, classified by molecular subtype, then correlated with body-mass index, total plasma 25(OH)D, insulin and glucose levels and HOMA-IR, using Chi2, Student t, Spearman and ANOVA tests and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 66 of the 96 patients (68.75%) showed vitamin D deficiency (9.74ng/mL). Overweight and obese patients with HOMA-IR>2.5, positive for HER2 and with high Ki-67 index had the most severe vitamin D deficiency. There was a significant association between vitamin D deficiency, high Ki-67 index (OR, 14.55; 95% CI: 3.43-82.59; P=0.00078) and IR (OR, 4.99; 95% CI: 1.27-24.47; P=0.03), and between IR and HER2-positivity (OR, 3.23; 95% CI: 1.05-10.56; P=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin D deficiency and IR are potential biomarkers for poorer prognosis in BC patients, independently of and/or synergically with high Ki-67 index and HER2-positivity in premenopausal overweight or obese women. The potential relationship of vitamin D receptor gene expression with breast cancer survival in Algerian patients will be investigated in a large cohort.