Search

Background and Objectives: Vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D or 25OHD) has a key role in the pathogenesis of several chronic disorders. Vitamin D deficiency is a common global public health problem. We aimed to evaluate the risk factors associated with vitamin D deficiency using a decision tree algorithm., Methods: A total of 988 adolescent girls, aged 12-18 years old, were recruited to the study. Demographic characteristics, serum biochemical factors, all blood count parameters and trace elements such as Zinc, Copper, Calcium and SOD were measured. Serum levels of vitamin D below 20 ng/ml were considered to be deficiency. 70% of these girls (618 cases) were randomly allocated to a training dataset for the constructing of the decision-tree. The remaining 30% (285 cases) were used as the testing dataset to evaluate the performance of decision-tree. In this model, 14 input variables were included: age, academic attainment of their father, waist circumference, waist to hip ratio, zinc, copper, calcium, SOD, FBG, HDL-C, RBC, MCV, MCHC, HCT. The validation of the model was assessed by constructing a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve., Results: The results showed that serum Zn concentration was the most important associated risk factor for vitamin D deficiency. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) values were 79.3%, 64%, 77.8% and 0.72 respectively using the testing dataset., Conclusions: The results suggest that the serum levels of Zn is an important associated risk factor for identifying subjects with vitamin D deficiency among Iranian adolescent girls., (Crown Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Pediatrics metabolic syndrome (MetS) may be associated with the risk of development of chronic diseases in adulthood; however, the definition of pediatric MetS is unclear, and may vary with ethnicity. The primary goal of this study was to determine the best anthropometric predictors for pediatric MetS. For this purpose, 988 high school girls were recruited. Anthropometric indices and biochemical parameters were measured using standard procedures. The adapted MetS for pediatrics, including the IDF, NCEP, and two modified-NCEPs (Cook's and DeFerranti's) were used to establish a diagnosis of MetS. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS and MedCalc softwares. Except for body frame size (r), the values for anthropometric indices were significantly lower in an individual without MetS. Waist to height (WHtR), BMI and hip circumference (HiC) showed the strongest association with the different MetS definitions. For the IDF definition, the highest sensitivity and specificity were observed for HiC (100.0, 85.2) and WHtR (100.0, 84.7); while for the NCEP definition, the r index showed the highest sensitivity (85.0); but low specificity made it inapplicable. For the Cook's definition of MetS, wrist circumference (WrC), HiC, WHtR, BMI and SR had similar sensitivity values with WC (92.9%), and HiC (85.3%) have the highest specificity. WHtR (86.05, 80.5), SR (86.05, 82.7) and HiC (76.7, 87.0) sensitivity and specificity were the best indexes for DeFerranti's criteria. Based on this date, we concluded that HiC and WHtR might be helpful as auxiliary indexes for pediatric MetS definition; however, further studies are required in both genders., (Copyright © 2019 Diabetes India. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background and aims: There is a bi-directional association between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and metabolic syndrome. The triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index is a novel surrogate marker of insulin resistance. In this population-based study, we aimed firstly to investigate the association of the TyG-index with metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) risk. Methods: This case–control study used the data from the first phase of the Persian Cohort Study in Sabzevar. Of 4,241 participants aged 35 to 70 years, we identified and recruited 968 MAFLD cases and 964 age- and sex-adjusted controls. Demographic, lifestyle, anthropometric, and biochemical information were collected. We calculated TyG and a new index combined of TyG and alanine aminotransferase (TyG-ALT). We used the multivariable unconditional logistic regression model to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) of the TyG and TyG-ALT for having MAFLD. Results: Among those in the highest relative to the lowest TyG and TyG-ALT tertiles, the multivariable-adjusted ORs were 12.01 (95% CI [confidence interval] 9.03 – 15.98; Ptrend < 0.001) and 10.89 (95% CI 7.66 – 15.48; Ptrend = 0.001), respectively. The area under the curves (AUC) for the TyG-index to predict MAFLD was 8.62, resulting in a cut-off value of 8.62 with a sensitivity of 81.66% and specificity of 75.36%. Conclusions: The higher TyG and TyG-ALT scores were significantly positively associated with higher MAFLD risk in the Iranian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]