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This study aimed to investigate the effect of Vitex agnus-castus (VAC), and Salvia officinalis extracts on serum lipids in postmenopausal women referred to the Bone Densitometry Center, Namazi Hospital, Shiraz, Iran.

This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 89 postmenopausal women in 2016 using random permuted blocks with a block size of 3 in the three groups, including the VAC group (3.2-4.8 mg/q8h), S. officinalis group (100 mg/q8h), and placebo group for three months. Women were finally compared in terms of low-density lipoprotein, triglycerides (TG), and highdensity lipoprotein before and after the intervention. Data were analyzed using SPSS-16 software. Descriptive statistical tests and paired t test were used to compare the groups.

A significant decrease in serum cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, and triglycerides levels and also increase in mean serum high-density lipoprotein levels were observed in VAC and S. officinalis groups before and after the intervention (P = 0.0001). In comparison, no significant change was observed in serum level of any lipoproteins in the placebo group.

Considering the decrease in the level of cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, and increased highdensity lipoprotein after using VAC and S. officinalis in this study, these herbs can be proposed as blood lipid-lowering agents in postmenopausal women.

 In diabetic patients, lipid profile (LP) management is crucial. Quercetin (QUE), as an antioxidant supplement, has received a great deal of attention in improving the LP.

 The current study aimed to investigate the simultaneous effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and QUE on LP in male diabetic rats.

 Fifty Wistar male rats were randomly assigned to healthy control (HC; n = 10), diabetic control (DC; n = 10), high-intensity interval training (HIIT; n = 10), quercetin supplement (QS; n = 10), high-intensity interval training and quercetin (HIIQ; n = 10). QUE was given (20 mg/kg/d) to the animals daily for six weeks. HIIT has performed five sessions per week for six weeks in 8-10 sets with 85 - 65% of the maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max) on the treadmill. Blood samples were taken directly from the animal’s heart 48 hours after the last training session, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C), low-density lipoproteins (LDL-C), triglycerides (TG) cholesterol (CHOL), and fasting blood glucose (FBS) were measured in the serum. To analyze the data, two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's post hoc test were used.

 There was no significant difference between HIIQ with HIIT, QS in LDH-C and LDL-C (P > 0.05). Also, no significant difference was seen between HIIT, QS, and HIIQ in TG concentration after intervention (P > 0.05). CHOL was significantly lower in HIIT than QS (P = 0.001), while there was no significant difference between the HIIQ with QS (P > 0.05). Also, there was no significant difference between QS and HIIQ in FBS (P > 0.05).

 It seems that high-intensity interval training and quercetin alone can be effective in improving lipid profile. However, quercetin does not have a synergetic effect with high-intensity interval training in ameliorating lipid profile in diabetic male rats.

Noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) is an irreversible occupational disease among industrial workers. Recent studies have reported that changes in some metabolic factors such as the serum level of sugar and lipids might have a role in suffering from NIHL among workers exposed to noise. We designed this study to assess the association between lipid profile changes and NIHL occurrence among noise-exposed workers.  

This case-control study has been conducted according to noise-exposed workers registry data in one of the Iranian automobile factories between 2007 and 2017. We classified study workers into the NIHL and control groups. We assessed the impact of lipid profile parameters across the study groups using the independent samples t-test, chi-square, and regression.  

The mean serum level of cholesterol was significantly higher in the NIHL group than in workers of the control group (215.27 ± 60.30 vs 204.49 ± 63.69 mg/dL; P = 0.041). Moreover, the serum level of HDL was significantly lower in workers in the NIHL group compared with the control group (35.21 ± 6.87 vs 37.43 ± 7.28 mg/dL; P < 0.001). Although other lipid profile parameters (LDL, TG, LDL/HDL ratio) were higher among workers of the NIHL group, their differences were not significant.  

A cholesterol level lower than 200 mg/dL is known as a protective factor and an HDL level lower than 40 mg/dL is an NIHL risk factor. More attention should be paid to controlling serum levels of cholesterol and HDL.

Elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. LDL-C can be directly measured using various methods, but this requires expensive equipment. Currently, clinical laboratories estimate LDL-C based on Friedewald’s formula (FF). We aimed to develop a modified formula based on directly measured LDL-C (D-LDL-C) values in a large population in Southern Iran and compare the results with various other estimation formulas. The participants of this cross-sectional study were adults aged >18 years living in Southern Iran. Blood samples from 15,200 individuals were collected, and the measured lipid parameters were randomly divided into training (n=10,184) and validation (n=5,016) datasets. A new formula was developed using a linear regression model, and its accuracy was validated. Pearson’s correlation and Cohen’s kappa were used to determin the relationship between D-LDL-C and calculated LDL-C (C-LDL-C). The developed formula for the estimation of LDL-C was 0.857 total cholesterol (TC)-0.915 high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)-0.115 triglycerides (TG). Based on our proposed formula, for TG<150 and TG≥150 mg/dL, there was a significant correlation between mean values of D-LDL-C and C-LDL-C (r=0.985 and r=0.974, respectively). Compared to other formulas, C-LDL-C obtained from the proposed formula had the highest correlation with D-LDL-C. The agreement between D-LDL-C and C-LDL-C for TC<200, 200-239, and ≥240 mg/dL was 80.8%, 63.2%, and 67.4%, respectively, indicating a higher level of agreement than other formulas. The new formula appears to be more accurate than FF when applied to the population of Southern Iran.

Olive leaf extract, due to its beneficial chemical compounds, has been used as an effective herbal medicine in the treatment of various human and animal diseases. In this study, the effect of olive leaf nutrition in different weeks of breeding period on performance and metabolic abnormalities was investigated using 336 male Arian strain chickens in a completely randomized format with six treatments, four replications and 14 birds in each replication for of broiler blood, such as triglycerides, cholesterol, heavy lipoproteins (HDL), light lipoproteins (LDL), total protein and blood glucose, based on the AOAO 1990 method, were assessed. The results showed that the mean difference of blood metabolites such as triglyceride and HDL between different treatments were not significant (P˃0.05), however, for LDL and blood cholesterol levels this difference was significant (P <0.05). Regarding the anti-diabetic and hypoglycemic function of olive leaf extract in regulating blood glucose and increasing serum insulin, as well as the average total protein, the results showed no significant difference. In conclusion, olive leaf can be used in diets of broilers and further studies on-farm conditions may justify its impact on growth performance.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a leading cause of morbidity and death worldwide. DM will affect 570.9 million people worldwide by 2025. The usefulness of vitamin C in improving diabetes control has been a point of contention.

This clinical-trial double-blind study with control groups was conducted on 164 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The intervention group received 1000 mg of oral vitamin C daily, and a placebo was administered to the controls. To analyze the obtained data, one-way ANOVA was used in SPSS software (version 20). A P< 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Fasting blood sugar (FBS), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1C), triglyceride (TG), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were improved significantly in the intervention group (P< 0.05), while the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and cholesterol were unaffected (P> 0.05). HbA1C and LDL levels in the control group increased significantly (P< 0.05). Meanwhile, this group's HDL levels decreased considerably.

Our findings support the consumption of vitamin C to complement the primary treatment for DM. According to our results, vitamin C provides a clear benefit over a placebo in the treatment of diabetic patients' serum parameters.

Background

This meta-analysis was performed to investigate the effect of serum lipids on the risk of breast cancer incidence.

PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and EMBASE were searched systematically from January 1998 to April 2019. Inclusion criteria were English observational studies (cohort or case-control) and the concentration of at least one of the lipid profile components (total cholesterol/triglycerides/low‑density lipoprotein cholesterol/high‑density lipoprotein cholesterol) measured before a diagnosis of breast cancer (BC). The studies were included in which the relative risk (RR) had been reported with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). A random-effects model was used.

Results:

 A total of 25 studies were found, including 2,882,789 participants in cohort studies with 45,481 cases with BC, and 1983 BC cases and 2963 case-control studies. Combined RR of cohort studies for the highest versus lowest for the BC was LDL-C: 0.95 (95% CI: 0.89–1.01), triglycerides (TG): 0.95 (95% CI: 0.91–0.99; P = 0.02), total cholesterol (TC): 0.98 (95% CI: 0.91–1.05), and HDL-C: 0.86 (95% CI: 0.63–1.18). Combined RR of case-control studies for the highest versus lowest was LDL-C: 1.08 (95% CI: 0.78–1.48), TG: 1.73 (95% CI: 0.94–3.18), TC: 1.02 (95% CI: 0.80–1.29), and HDL-C: 0.79 (95% CI: 0.65–0.97).

Conclusions:

 Based on the results, it can be concluded that only TG but not TC and/or LDL‑C had a significant inverse association with the risk of BC incidence. HDL‑C showed a significant protective effect against breast cancer in postmenopausal women and case-control studies.

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) as an invaluable predictor is used to determine the risk of heart diseases and evaluate the effectiveness of lipid-lowering therapies.

In this study, we aimed to investigate the association between HDL cholesterol level and some cardiovascular risk factors in the patients referring to the Heart Clinic of Birjand, Iran, during 2016 - 2017.

In this cross-sectional study, 410 patients referring to the Heart Clinic of Birjand, Iran, during 2016 - 2017 were selected. Then using a questionnaire, complete demographic and biochemical data were collected and statistically analyzed for assessing the effects of some lifestyle factors such as the diet and physical activity on the serum level of HDL. Finally, all the results were analyzed by SPSS software (version 15).

In our study, the majority of dyslipidemic people had low levels of HDL (58.8%). Most of the participants were in a poor health condition according to BMI and physical activity, in a moderate health status in terms of smoking and cholesterol and fasting blood glucose (FBS) levels, and finally in the ideal health group in terms of the diet and blood pressure. The HDL level was significantly associated with physical activity, FBS, BMI, and blood pressure (P < 0.05).

Considering the association between persistent cardiovascular risk factors and HDL cholesterol level, encouraging people to adopt a healthy lifestyle can help prevent cardiac diseases.

Parkinsonchr('39')s disease (PD) is defined as a long-lasting, neurological illness. Low levels of serum lipid fractions are related with a high risk of PD. Current investigation was designed to evaluate the concentration blood lipid fractions in patients suffering from PD and compared with healthy subjects.

This case-control study was conducted from February 2016 to September 2018 in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. The present investigation consisted of 75 persons who had PD and 75 normal people. The blood levels of lipid fractions were measured by concentrations of total cholesterol (TC), serum triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C), and total cholesterol. The results were analyzed with SPSS software using Kolmogorov-Smirnov, chi-square, and studentchr('39')s t-test.

Serum level of TG was remarkably lower in patients with PD (111.92±8.75 mg/dL) compared with healthy subjects (123.64±9.97 mg/dL, P=0.008).  Furthermore, we saw an important difference in the level of LDL-C (P=0.001) and TC (P=0.004) between the two groups. However, there was not any observed meaningful difference in the serum concentrations of HDL-C between the studied groups (P=0.135).

Our results showed that the serum concentration of TG, LDL-C, and TC are noticeably lower in the PD suffering patients. Further investigations are needed to provide comprehensive information on the participantschr('39') cognitive layout and subsequent actions.

There has been a significant decrease in HIV-related mortality following the introduction of antiretroviral therapies. This increase in life expectancy has caused an increased risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Lipid metabolism could be affected by the virus itself or antiretroviral medications. In this study, an attempt was made to investigate the effect of first- and second-line HIV medications on lipid profile in HIV/AIDS patients.

The present study is a retrospective cohort study. The medical records of 66 AIDS patients older than 18 years, who referred to the Behavioral Counseling Center of Imam Khomeini Hospital during the years 2009 to 2014, were retrieved. The patients were assigned into two groups including first- (36 patients) and second-line (30 patients) treatment groups. To ensure that the patients’ baseline information was matched, demographic information and baseline lipid profile were compared between two groups and no significant difference was found between them. To examine and compare the effect of HIV medications on lipid metabolism, patients’ lipid profile at the baseline and 6 months after treatment was compared.

The results showed that only triglyceride level was significantly affected by the type of HIV medication regimen (p <0.05). It was significantly higher in second-line medication group. Although the lipid profile (Cholesterol, HDL, and LDL levels) showed an overall increase over the course of treatment in both groups, it was not statistically significant.

In both groups, following antiretroviral medications (the first-and second-line), lipid profiles increased. Moreover, the triglyceride level was higher in second-line medications. Therefore, early screening and lipid lowering agents should be considered in HIV/AIDS patients receiving the retroviral medications in long term to prevent further cardiovascular complications.

There are many articles about the effects of different training methods on lipid profiles in the elderly. The objective of the present study was to investigate the influence of training on the lipid profile in the elderly.

In this study, databases of PubMed, Embase, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, SID, Magiran, and Google Scholar were searched. Intervention effects were presented as mean difference (MD) with a random-effects model. Subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis were performed to study heterogeneity, following the primary screening of the full text of the articles.

A total of 23 trials with 1654 individuals were included in the meta-analysis. Levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (MD = 0.47 mg/dL; P<0.001, SE = 0.08, V = 0.01, 95% CI = 0.31 0.63, Z = 5.73, 19 trials), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (MD = -0.46; P<0.001, SE = 0.11, V = 0.01, 95% CI = -0.68 -0.25, Z = -4.24), triglyceride (MD = -0.62; P=0.001, SE = 0.12, V = 0.01, 95% CI = -0.86 -0.38, Z = -5.03, 20 trials), and total cholesterol (TC) (MD = -0.33; P<0.001, SE = 0.09, V = 0.01, 95% CI = -0.52 -0.15, Z = -3.57, 16 trials) were investigated. Following sensitivity analysis and heterogeneity testing, the results were still strong and impressive.

Lipid profiles improved in training groups, indicating higher levels of HDL-C and lower levels of LDL-C, TC, and triglyceride. Overall, training leads to a better lipid profile. However, closer scrutiny seems necessary.

The aim was to investigate the link between tinnitus and serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TRG), low-density (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in the central anatolian Turkish population.   The retrospective and case-control study included a total of 91 patients with subjective tinnitus and a control group of age- and sex-matched 65 healthy volunteers. A detailed otolaryngologic examination followed by pure tone audiometry, serum lipid values, and magnetic resonance imaging of the temporal bone was performed. The clinical characteristics of tinnitus were registered for all patients. The serum levels of TC, TRG, LDL and HDL were compared between the two groups.   Mean TC level was 200.57±41.06 mg/dL in the patient group and 179.0±39.03 mg/dL in the control group (P=0.001). Mean TRG level was 177.76±86.94 mg/dL in the patient group and 124.43±61.44 mg/dL in the control group (P=0.000). Mean LDL level was 115.88±32.56 mg/dL in the patient group and 101.31±34.42 mg/dL in the control group (P=0.008). Mean HDL level was 50.25±13.60 mg/dL in the patient group and 53.46±12.66 mg/dL in the control group (P=0.137). Among all the serum lipids, TC, TRG and LDL established a significant difference between the two groups.   The results indicated that TC, TRG and LDL levels were significantly higher in tinnitus group and this increase implicates the potential role of hyperlipidemia associated with altered lipid metabolism in the etiology of tinnitus. We suggest that serum lipid levels could be useful and conducive in the diagnosis and prognosis of tinnitus.

Cinnamon effect on blood pressure remains controversial. The present pilot study assessed cinnamon effect on blood pressure, and metabolic profile of stage 1 hypertension patients (S1HTN). This double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial was conducted between June and October 2019, in Mashhad, Iran. Study inclusion criteria comprised S1HTN diagnosis, based on 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). Subjects were randomly assigned to two groups: cinnamon group (capsule, 1500 mg/day, 90 days) and placebo group. On days 0 and 90, ABPM derived systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP, respectively), blood lipid profile, and fasting blood sugar (FBS) were recorded. The two groups did not differ significantly regarding vascular risk factors, educational status, lipid profile and blood pressure at baseline, except for lower HDL-c in cinnamon group (p=0.03). On day 90, there was no significant difference between two study groups for lipid profile and blood pressure. A statistically significant decrease in mean 24-hr SBP and mean day SBP was observed in the cinnamon group, while mean night SBP and mean night DBP were decreased significantly in the placebo group after 90 days. A statistically significant decrease in mean change of day value of SBP was found in the cinnamon group, compared to the placebo. On day 90, FBS remained practically unchanged but a significant increase in HDL-c (5.8 unit; p=0.01) and a significant decrease in LDL-c levels (17.7 unit; p=0.009) were observed in the cinnamon group compared to placebo group.  Cinnamon caused a statistically significant decrease in mean ambulatory SBP but in a clinically moderate way, and lipid profile was significantly improved. Therefore, cinnamon might be considered a complementary treatment in subjects with S1HTN.