Explore the vast range of titles available.

Background Both augmented inflammatory reaction and low vitamin D status are associated with depression but the magnitude of their relationships is unclear. This study was, therefore, conducted to evaluate the effects of vitamin D supplementation on serum 25(OH)D concentration, depression severity and some pro-inflammatory biomarkers in patients with mild to moderate depression. Methods An 8-week double-blind randomized clinical trial (RCT) was performed on 56 (18–60 yrs) patients with mild to moderate depression, randomly assigned to intervention (50,000 IU cholecalciferol 2wks −1 ) and control (placebo) groups. Serum 25(OH)D, intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), interlukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and depression severity (Beck Depression Inventory-II) (BDI-II)) were initially and finally assessed. Results At the end point, statistically significant changes were observed only in intervention group as compared with controls including increased 25(OH)D concentration (+ 40.83 ± 28.57 vs. + 5.14 ± 23.44 nmol L −1 , P  < 0.001) and decreased depression severity (-11.75 ± 6.40 vs. -3.61 ± 10.40, P  = 0.003). No significant within- or between group differences were observed in serum IL-1β, IL-6 and hs-CRP concentrations. Conclusion Increased circulating 25(OH)D concentrations following 8-week vitamin D supplementation (50,000 IU 2wks −1 ) resulted in a significant decrease in BDI-II scores in patients with mild to moderate depression. However, this effect was independent of the serum concentrations of the studied inflammatory biomarkers. Trial registration The clinical trial registration code was obtained from the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (date of registration: 17/09/2018, registration number: IRCT20170926036425N1) and ClinicalTrials.gov (date of registration: 04/12/2018, registration number: NCT03766074)

Deregulation of the renin–angiotensin system (RAS) plays an important role in suicide. Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene is a key component in this system. The relationship between insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of ACE gene with suicide attempt (SA) is controversial. According to previous studies, allele D in this polymorphism has been considered as a potential risk factor for suicide. However, no study has been conducted in Iran to investigate this matter. This case–control study has focused on investigating the association of ACE I/D polymorphism (rs1799752) with SA in an Iranian population. The frequency of genotypes was 14% for II, 55% for ID, and 31% for DD in the case group (100 persons), and 18% for II, 74% for ID, and 8% for DD in control group (100 persons). Results show there was a significant difference in the distribution of ACE I/D polymorphism genotypes in men with SA compared to controls, as well as in women with SA compared to controls. Also, there was a significant association between DD genotype and the risk of SA compared to II genotype as reference. The severity of depression was significantly different between DD and II genotypes in SA group. According to the results, we suggest that the presence of DD genotype is possibly associated with an increased risk of SA. Maybe part of that is related to severity of depression in DD genotypes carriers of ACE I/D polymorphism.

Understanding local communities' emotions and attitudes toward large carnivores is crucial for promoting coexistence, yet few studies have examined how emotions and perceptions shape these attitudes. We conducted interviews with 292 rural residents living in 30 villages around Golestan National Park, northeastern Iran. With Bayesian ordinal regression models, we assessed how fear, happiness and pride, damage experiences, perceived ecotourism benefits, and perceived population status influence local communities' attitudes toward the conservation of leopard, wolf, and brown bear. We found that happiness and pride, along with the perception that carnivores provide ecotourism benefits, substantially influenced attitudes. This pattern was consistent across species, with generally high support for the conservation of all three species. Respondents expressed fear of leopards and bears, and the perception of declining populations increased support for their conservation. In contrast, perceiving a high wolf population was associated with reduced positive attitudes. Furthermore, direct experiences of carnivore‐related damage (e.g., livestock losses and crop damage) were linked to general dislike of all three species, further diminishing positive attitudes. These findings highlight the importance of emotions such as fear, happiness and pride, as well as perceptions of population status, ecotourism benefits, and damage in shaping human–carnivore interactions. Addressing these factors, particularly by mitigating fear of carnivores, in decision‐making processes could help offset the costs of living alongside these animals, thereby enhancing positive attitudes and promoting coexistence with large carnivores. Human–carnivore interaction studies have mainly focused on technical solutions, but less on human–dimension aspects. Our results show that emotions (fear) and direct experience of damage are likely to reduce people's support for large carnivores' conservation. Meanwhile, happiness and pride, as well as the perception that carnivores are beneficial to ecotourism, positively influenced people's attitudes. Perception of declining populations of leopards and bears increased support for their conservation, whereas perceptions of wolf populations decreased attitudes. Addressing emotions and providing compensation payments, as well as providing reliable information on carnivores' population in the decision‐making process would help enhance human–carnivore coexistence.