مجله غدد درون ریز و متابولیسم ایران
سال پانزدهم شماره 5 (پیاپی 71، دی 1392)

Screening، identification and control of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) is an important milestone in healthcare associated achievements of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Following reports of research findings documented by the Endocrine Research Center and the Institute of Nutrition، iodine deficiency was declared to be an important health priority of the country. A quick survey in 1989 showed goiter hyperendemia in 8 Iranian provinces and endemia in the remaining. Further studies showed severe iodine deficiency، along with drastic alterations in physical and psychological growth، delayed psychomotor age، decrease IQ، decreased auditory threshold and hypothyroidism in schoolchildren of many villages north of Tehran، all of which forced authorities to implement a rapid nationwide preventive program. Salt factories initiated salt iodization and nationwide health education strategies were adopted and implemented. National monitoring of goiter prevalence and urinary iodine excretion of school-children every 5 years since has shown complete success of programs implemented for appropriate iodine nutrition in Iran during the last two decades. It is estimated that an annual prevention of 500، 000 newborn with iodine deficiency has been achieved annually، along with the the prevention in the occurrence of 20 million goiters and at least 60 million degrees IQ added to the IQs of Iranian children and adolescents.

Probiotic yoghurt is considered a functional food، containing beneficial probiotic microorganisms such as lactic acid bacteria. Both hypo and hyperthyroidism are associated with weight change، and since much attention is currently being given to the effects of probiotics on weight، the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of consuming probiotic yoghurt on weight change and thyroid hormones in male Wistar rats. In this case-control study، 10 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups، fed with a probiotic yoghurt diet and a normal food one. At end of each week، after gavage، blood samples were collected for 32 days. Body weight was measured and thyroid hormones were detected using the Radio Immuno Assay method. Mean weight and T4 did not differ significantly between two groups throughout the 32 day study. In the probiotic yoghurt group، mean T3 (ng/dl) increased significantly on day 24 compared day 16 (P: 0. 04) but no significant difference in mean weight and T4 (mg/dl) was observed between days of sampling. Results showed that consuming probiotic yoghurt was only associated with the active form of thyroid hormones (T3)، whereas weight changes were not related to probiotic compounds.

Considering the low levels of serum antioxidants concentrations in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)، use of antioxidants compounds along with other treatments in these patients have been considered. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of daily orange juice intake in such patients on a weight loss diet. In this quasi-experimental trial، we selected 35 patients from among those diagnosed with non alcoholic fatty liver disease who referred to the Digestion and Liver clinic in Hazrateh Rasul educational and treatment center of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. At the beginning، a weight loss diet was designed for each participant. Two servings of fruit for 3 months were substituted by one glass of orange juice. Dietary intake، physical activity، anthropometric indices and lipid profiles، before and after the study، were measured. Statistical analysis were carried out using SPSS 19. 0 and Wicoxon and paired t tests. Thirty-two patients completed the study، at the end of which، there were significant decreases in weight and BMI. Orange juice intake along with weight loss diet resulted in significant decrease in liver enzymes and increase in HDL- cholesterol. Other lipid profile variables showed no significant changes. According to the results of this study، orange juice intake along with a weight loss diet can be effective in improving the clinical status of NAFLD patients and lowering their CHD risk.

Liver X receptor Beta (NR1H3) has a pivotal role in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and is located in an obesity susceptibility region، and genetic variations in it may play a role in etiology of human obesity. This study aims to assess the association of the LXRβ rs17373080 polymorphism with obesity and related traits. A total of 435 unrelated subjects، including 160 obese، 201 overweight and 74 controls randomly selected from Mashhad city، were enrolled in the present case-control study. The anthropometric and biochemical parameters were measured and DNA samples were genotyped by the TaqMan assay. Allelic and genotypic frequencies showed no significant associations with obesity and related traits، even after age and gender adjustment. By logistic regression using a dominant model، the odds ratios for the obesity were: 0. 85 (0. 46-1. 57) for genotype CG and 1. 14 (0. 48-2. 69) for genotype GG، compared with the genotype CC as a reference. The allelic frequency of the LXRβ gene variant in whole population and also in three BMI groups was in the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. This study revealed no association between LXRβ rs17373080 polymorphism and the risk of obesity in an Iranian population، suggesting this SNP is not a major contributor to risk of obesity.

Retinopathy is the most common long-term complication of diabetes mellitus، and diabetic retinopathy is a complex disease، in which that inflammation plays a critical role. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between insulin resistance as a known inflammatory marker and diabetic retinopathy in type 2 diabetes. Methods and Materials: In this study 342 patients with type 2 diabetes were enrolled، and their demographic data were recorded. HbA1c، FBS، lipid profiles and insulin levels were measured for all patients. Insulin resistance was calculated by the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) formula. Following ophth­almologic examination (fundoscopy) patients were divided according to retinal invol­vement. The relation between HOMA-IR with diabetic retinopathy was evaluated. Mean age of patients was 55. 05± 9. 8 years، and 30. 4% of all patients had diabetic retinopathy. This analysis showed that HbA1c and duration of diabetes are the only independent predictive factors for diabetic retinopathy. Insulin resistance was not significantly different between patients with and without retinopathy but median level of HOMA–IR was significantly higher in patients with diabetic proliferative retinopathy compared with patients with non proliferative diabetic retinopathy (2. 1(0. 7-6. 6) Vs 1. 2 (0. 5-2. 8)، P=0. 021). This data suggests that the insulin resistance may play a role in diabetic retinopathy in type 2 diabetes.

Although Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent worldwide and has been suggested to be a contributory factor for cardiovascular disease in diabetes، the specific underlying mechanism is not known. It may be related to the effects of vitamin D deficiency on metabolic، inflammatory and hemostatic markers. Plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 is a known cardiovascular risk marker in diabetes. The aim of this study was to determine the association between 25 hydroxy vitamin D and PAI-1 in type 2 diabetic patients. One hundred-eighty patients with type 2 diabetes were selected، and the associations between PAI-1 and 25 hydroxy vitamin D level and other risk markers of cardiovascular disease including FBS، lipid profiles، HbA1C، creatinine and microalb­uminuria were examined. There were no significant correlation between PAI-1 level and 25 hydroxy vitamin D level. PAI-1 was positively associated with fasting blood sugar and high density lipoprotein level، but no significant relation was found between PAI-1 level and other risk markers of cardiovascular disease. It seems that vitamin D deficiency is not related to PAI-1 level as a risk marker for cardiovascular disease in diabetes، but this observation remains to be confirmed by larger clinical studies.

Vitamin D receptors are widespread in brain tissue، and the active form of vitamin D has been documented for its neuroprotective effects. This study was conducted to determine the association between vitamin D level and cognitive disorders. This descriptive–analytical cross sectional study was conducted within the framework of the «Amikola Health and Aging Project (AHAP)»، (2011-12)، conducted on 1616 older people، aged>60 years in the city of Amirkola، Iran. Serum levels of vitamin D were measured in morning blood samples and mental status was investigated using Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Data was analyzed with T test، ANOVA and Chi-square، and P-values <0. 05 were considered signif­icant. The mean age of study participants was 68. 81±7. 1 years. Among them 509 (31. 5%) had cognitive impairment and 1103 (68. 4%) did not. There was significant association between serum vitamin D level and normal and abnormal MMSE in women (P=0. 029)، but not in men (P=0. 49). Mean serum vitamin D level in participants with normal MMSE was 34. 45±32. 79 ng/ml and in participants with abnormal MMSE was 32. 80±29. 39 ng/ml but this finding was not significant (P=0. 31). Serum vitamin D level in older persons with normal MMSE was higher than in those with abnormal MMSE، although it was not significant. In this study، there was no association between serum vitamin D levels in older people with or without cognitive impairment.

Considering the role of cholinergic system in anxiety behaviors and the importance of nutrition during pregnancy and lactation in the neural system activity of offspring the aim of this study is to investigate the effect of lecithin during pregnancy and lactation on anxiety behaviors and locomotor activity of male and female rat offspring. Female rats (average weight 168g) were gavaged during pregnancy and lactation (until day 21) with different amounts of lecithin or with vehicle as follows control 1 (no medication) control 2 (vehicle receivers) and two experimental groups receiving 120 and 240 mg/kg lecithin daily. After gender segregation at 30 days of birth، offspring anxiety was assessed by elevated plus maze test. The number of rats in each group was 6 for both sexes. No significant differences were observed in the anxiety indexes and locomotor activity of offsprings in every genus، compared to the vehicle group. Males receiving lecithin 120 and 240 mg/kg، showed a significant increases in percentage of time spent in the open arm in compared to females (P<0. 05 and P<0. 01). Significant difference was observed in locomotor activity between males and females receiving lecithin 240mg /kg (P<0. 001). Although lecithin consumption during pregnancy and laction does not affect the locomotor activity and anxiety behavior of offspring gender can cause varing effects in these animals.