Towards ensuring the safety of vitamins and minerals

Today, there is a clear need for a risk assessment for vitamins and minerals because the total daily intake for nutrients through regular food, fortified products (Functional Food) and supplements may very well reach critical levels for an individual consumer. Several expert panels of the European Union, the UK, Japan and China will publish their reports on this issue in the near future. The Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine of the US/Canada has already published a new standard. The board has defined the so-called Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) as the highest level of daily intake that is likely to pose no risk of adverse health effects to almost all individuals in the general population. Their determination involves a multi-step risk assessment procedure on the basis of mainly human data. Several daily UL values that have already been published are of special interest, e.g. 1 mg folic acid, 50 μg vitamin D, 1 g vitamin E, 2 g vitamin C, 2.5 g calcium, 350 mg magnesium.     

Benfotiamine supplementation prevents oxidative stress in anterior tibialis muscle and heart

ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the influence of oral supplementation with benfotiamine on oxidative stress in the liver, heart and muscles of endurance-trained mice.MethodsTwenty-five male BALB/c mice were allocated to the following treatment groups: standard diet and sedentary activity (Sta–Sed), benfotiamine–supplemented diet and sedentary activity (Ben–Sed), standard diet and training activity (Sta–Tr) and benfotiamine–supplemented diet and training activity (Ben–Tr). The training comprised 6 weeks of endurance swimming training. The concentration of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), carbonylated proteins, total thiols and non-protein thiols was analyzed in the liver, heart and tibialis anterior muscle.ResultsIn the muscle, TBARS concentration in the Sta–Sed group was higher than that in other groups; in the heart, TBARS concentration in the Sta–Sed and Ben–Tr groups was higher than that in the Ben–Sed group. The carbonyl content of the muscle tissues was higher in the Sta–Sed group than in both supplemented groups. In liver, the carbonyl content was lower in the Ben–Sed group than in the Sta–Sed group. The level of total thiols was lower in the Ben–Sed group than in the Sta–Tr group. In the heart, the level of total thiols was higher in the Ben–Sed group than in the Ben–Tr group. The concentration of non-protein thiols in the muscle was higher in the Ben–Sed group than in the Ben–Tr group, whereas in the heart, concentration of non-protein thiols of Sta–Tr group was lower than that of Sta–Sed group.ConclusionThe results show that benfotiamine is an efficient antioxidant for the anterior tibialis muscle and heart; however, swimming training did not alter redox status.     

Dietary supplements and nutraceuticals in the recovery of COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The outbreak of nSARS-CoV2 in December 2019 turned into a global pandemic and is still underway. Infection with nSARS-CoV2 resulted in severe acute respiratory distress syndrome and was named COVID-19. COVID-19 requires the intervention of a series of therapeutics, including antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and immune-modulating molecules. Additionally, studies have demonstrated that nutraceuticals offer a promising impact in fast recovery and boosting immunity. Here, the study aimed to provide a comprehensive synthesis of the scientific evidence examining the effectiveness of nutraceuticals. A detailed search of scientific literature was conducted utilizing the most relevant scientific studies published during 2019–2022 on the intervention of nutraceuticals in the management of COVID-19. PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Scielo databases were explored for the most relevant studies. Meta-analysis was carried out using the MedCalC tool as per PRISMA guidelines for odds ratio among the studies along with risk factor analysis and relative risk. A total of 1,308 original records were identified, where 1,268 studies were collected from different databases, and 40 additional records were obtained from non-pre-defined sources. Odds ratio, risk analysis, and risk difference analysis showed nutraceuticals intervention reported effective (P < 0.001) in COVID-19 patient over control. Nutraceuticals-based interventions had improved immunity, short-term duration, and fast recovery of COVID-19 patients.     

Exercise and oxidative stress: Sources of free radicals and their impact on antioxidant systems

Strenuous exercise is characterized by increased oxygen consumption and the disturbance between intracellular pro-oxidant and antioxidant homeostasis. At lease three biochemical pathways (i.e., mitochondrial electron transport chain, xanthine oxidase, and polymorphoneutrophil) have been identified as potential sources of intracellular free radical generation during exercise. These deleterious reactive oxygen species pose a serious threat to the cellular antioxidant defense system, such as diminished reserves of antioxidant vitamins and glutathione. However, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants have demonstrated great versitility and adaptability in response to acute and chronic exercise. The delicate balance between pro-oxidants and antioxidants suggests that supplementation with antioxidants may be desirable for physically active individuals under certain physiological conditions by providing a larger protective margin.     

Vitamin and mineral supplements: Friend or foe when combined with medications?

Background.Given the prevalence of vitamin and mineral supplement use among consumers and the potential for vitamin- and mineral-drug interactions, as well as oral and systemic adverse effects of excess consumption, oral health care providers (OHCPs) should ask all patients about their use. The challenges for OHCPs are how to recognize oral and systemic manifestations of these interactions and how to safely manage the care of these patients while avoiding potential interactions.Methods.The authors reviewed the literature regarding interactions between popular vitamin and mineral supplements and medications used commonly in dentistry. They used clinical databases and decision support tools to classify interactions according to their level of patient risk. They address interactions of greatest clinical concern with a high-quality evidence-based foundation in either randomized controlled clinical trials or meta-analyses.Conclusion.Most medications used commonly in dentistry can be prescribed safely without regard to vitamin- and mineral-drug interactions. However, patients taking anticoagulants or cytochrome P450 3A4 substrates (such as clarithromycin, erythromycin, ketoconazole, itraconazole, midazolam and triazolam) in addition to specific vitamin or mineral supplements (vitamins D, E, K, calcium, fluoride, iron, magnesium, selenium or zinc) may face additional challenges. OHCPs need to recognize these potential interactions and know how to manage the care of patients who may be receiving treatment with these combination therapies.Practical Implications.Recognition and avoidance of potential vitamin- and mineral-drug interactions will help clinicians optimize patient treatment while emphasizing patient safety.     

微量营养物质在围妊娠期中的作用

研究已证实,微量营养元素的缺乏与高生殖风险有关,这些风险包括不孕症、胎儿发育畸形以及其他远期疾病.围妊娠期是一个很特殊的重要时期,主要包括受精、受孕、植入、胎儿器官发生和胎盘发生等几个重要阶段,且这几个阶段最有可能被微量营养元素影响.尤其是一些具有抗氧化活性的微量营养元素,可以有效阻止活性氧簇(ROS)造成的氧化损伤,...     

Current understanding of the metabolism of micronutrients in chronic alcoholic liver disease

Alcoholic liver disease(ALD) remains an important health problem worldwide. Perturbation of micronutrients has been broadly reported to be a common characteristic in patients with ALD, given the fact that micronutrients often act as composition or coenzymes of many biochemical enzymes responsible for the inflammatory response, oxidative stress, and cell proliferation. Mapping the metabolic pattern and the function of these micronutrients is a prerequisite before targeted intervention can be delivered in clinical practice. Recent years have registered a significant improvement in our understanding of the role of micronutrients on the pathogenesis and progression of ALD. However, how and to what extent these micronutrients are involved in the pathophysiology of ALD remains largely unknown. In the current study, we provide a review of recent studies that investigated the imbalance of micronutrients in patients with ALD with a focus on zinc, iron, copper, magnesium, selenium, vitamin D and vitamin E, and determine how disturbances in micronutrients relates to the pathophysiology of ALD. Overall, zinc, selenium, vitamin D, and vitamin E uniformly exhibited a deficiency, and iron demonstrated an elevated trend. While for copper, both an elevation and deficiency were observed from existing literature. More importantly, we also highlight several challenges in terms of low sample size, study design discrepancies, sample heterogeneity across studies, and the use of machine learning approaches.     

维磷葡钙片质量标准提升研究

目的提高维磷葡钙片的质量标准。方法采用高效液相色谱(HPLC)法测定维磷葡钙片中维生素B2的含量及含量均匀度。色谱柱为XBridge C18柱(250 mm×4.6 mm,5μm),流动相为0.01 mol/L庚烷磺酸钠的0.5%冰醋酸溶液-乙腈-甲醇-(80∶13∶7,V/V/V),流速为1.0 mL/min,检测波长为444 nm,柱温为30℃,进样量为20μL。结果维生素B2质量浓度在4.508~18.032μg/mL(r=0.9999)范围内与峰面积线性关系良好;平均回收率为98.92%,RSD为1.53%(n=9)。6批样品中维生素B2的含量测定结果分别为标示量的88.11%,87.69%,99.89%,88.02%,87.90%,89.17%,含量均匀度的测定结果A+2.2 S和A+S均大于15.0。结论该方法简便准确、重复性好,可用于维磷葡钙片的质量控制。     

Effect of γ-irradiation on the occurrence of pathogenic microorganisms and nutritive value of four principal cereal grains

The effects of ⁶⁰Co γ-photon-irradiation on the natural occurrence of pathogenic microorganisms in four principal cereal grains and on amino acids and vitamins in these cereals were investigated. The total numbers of aerobic bacteria were reduced by three logarithmic decades when grains were given a dose of 10 kGy. Coliforms and “coagulase- positive” staphylococci were inhibited by a dose of 1 kGy, whereas fungi were inhibited by a dose of 5 kGy. The 15 kGy dose eliminated viable microorganisms in cereal grains, and about 10–30 colony-forming units of Clostridium sp. per gram of grain survived after this dose. The dose of 10 kGy did not cause any measurable destruction of total amino acids. Thiamin was reduced by 22–33% and riboflavin by 10–16% after a dose of 10 kGy. Irradiation did not increase the acid values significantly, but did increase the peroxide values, which was not accompanied by the off-odors of cereals. We conclude that the overall dose of 10 kGy is very effective for microbial decontamination of cereal grains, and does not adversely affect the nutritional quality of cereal grains.     

一所幼儿园学龄前儿童营养状况调查

对一所幼儿园50名儿童进行了营养调查,重点研究了蛋白质营养状况。蛋白质投入量及其产热量占总热量的比例与优质蛋白质所占比例均符合要求。血红蛋白正常者达98％,氨平衡试验结果为正氨平衡,说明蛋白质营养状态良好,我国现行的5～6岁儿童蛋白质供给量标准是适宜的。指出维生素A、核黄素、抗坏血酸及钙的摄入量不足。