Study of apolipoproteinc3 Sstl polymorphism in healthy volunteers from Northern India

Several studies including a small case-control (hypertriglyceridemic/normotriglyceridemic individuals) study by us revealed close association between rare S2 allele ofAPOC3 Sstl polymorphism and hypertriglyceridemia. With the understanding that Asian Indians are highly vulnerable to the adverse effects of hypertriglyceridemia, we extended the investigation and studied the frequency distribution of this polymorphism in 216 healthy volunteers from Northern plains of India. We found that more than 50% of the study population had one or two S2 allele. This may suggest that a larger fraction of this population is genetically predisposed to hypertriglyceridemia.     

Study of some common biochemical bone turnover markers in postmenopausal women

Markers of bone formation in serum include total and bone specific alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin and Type 1 collagen carboxy terminal extension peptide. Bone resorption can be assessed by measuring plasma tartarate resistant acid phosphtase and urinary excretion of collagen degradation products: hydroxyproline, hydroxylysine glycosides and more recently the pyridinium crosslinks and associated peptides. We compared the excretion of hydroxyproline in women of reproductive age group to those of menopausal age group and found a significant difference in the two age groups. Urinary hydroxyproline was found to be significantly raised in post menopausal women. Thus hydroxyproline maybe used as the earliest indicator in the prognostic assessment of postmenopausal women of their risk of developing osteoporosis and fracture.     

Erythrocyte aldehyde dehydrogenase activity in alcoholics and non-alcoholics and its value as a Biochemical marker in alcoholism

Erythrocyte aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity in a normal reference population from North India was determined from results of 22 healthy subjects (12 male and 10 female). We compared these data with results of 19 alcoholic patients (13 male and 6 female). The mean erythrocyte ALDH activity of male and female alcohol abusers was 16.2% and 20.9% lower than the mean values for healthy subjects, respectively (P<0.001 and <0.01). It is proposed that erythrocyte ALDH activity may be a useful clinical chemical marker of alcohol abuse and alcoholism.     

Antral and duodenal disaccharidases in patients of duodenal ulcer and non-ulcer dyspepsia

Duodenal ulcer is a common disease and is considered acid-peptic disease. Duodenal ulcer patients are known to have higher incidence of antral gastritis and duodentitis than general population. Thus one can expect some alteration in the enzyme products of mucosal cells of antrum and duodenum in this condition. The present study was planned in 30 patients of duodenal ulcer and 30 of non-ulcer dyspepsia. After overnight fast, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was done using forward viewing fibreoptic endoscope. Two pairs of biopsies were taken from the antrum and two from the descending duodenum using standard biopsy forceps. One pair of biopsy from each site was taken in 10% formal saline for histopathological examination. One pair of biopsies from each site was collected in saline for the measurement of disaccharidases by Dahlquist method. Activities of lactase, sucrase and maltase were significantly higher in descending duodenum mucosa as compared to antral mucosa in both groups. Activities of these enzymes in antrum and duodenum of both groups did not differ significantly. No significant difference was found in disaccharidases in antrum and descending duodenum in patients with or without histological gastritis. This study suggests that the disaccharidases do not change in antrum and duodenum of ulcer patients as compared to the patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia.     

Reversal of haemodialysis induced hypertriacylgycerolemia by L-carnitine

A 24 week follow-up study on lipid change following maintenance haemodialysis (MHD) in 25 chronic renal failure (CRF) patients revealed significantly raised serum Triacylglycerol (TAG) levels in these cases (P<0.001), while cholesterol and HDL-Cholesterol did not show any significant change, the extent of increase was 10.5±3.6% after 12 weeks and 23.0±5.8% after 24 weeks. Corresponding increase in CRF patients treated conservatively, without haemodialysis, were 3.1±1.2% and 7.2±2.7% at these intervals. Subsequent oral administration of L-Carnitine (5mg/kg body weight twice a day) for three weeks brought about a significant reversal of elevated serum TAG level in MDH group as well as in the conservatively treated group (P≤0.05). It is concluded that the haemodialysis induced Hyper-Triacylglycerolemia of CRF patients is revertible by Carnitine replenishment. Even the concomitant increase in conservatively treated group is revertible by carnitine administration.     

Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist gene polymorphism and obesity: A pilot study from north India

The main adverse consequences of excess bodyweight are cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, and several cancers, IL-1Ra serum concentration has been reported earlier to increase in human obesity and it is therefore assumed that the polymorphism of IL-1Ra may influence cytokine production. We designed this study to investigate whether the IL-1Ra polymorphism was associated with obesity. A total number of 103 individuals; 19 lean (BMI<25 Kg/m²), 51 overweight (BMI 25–29.9 Kg/m²) and 33 obese (BMI≥30.0 Kg/m²) were enrolled in this study. Genotyping was performed using a polymerase chain reaction PCR amplification of the intron-2 fragment harboring a variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) nucleotide sequences 86 pb of tandem repeat. The PCR products were separated on 2% agarose gel. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 11.5). We found no significant difference in genotype and allele frequencies between the three groups; lean vs. overweight and lean vs. obese (p=0.323; 0.202; 0.123 and 0.068 resp). However, an increased risk for obesity had a propensity to be higher in those having genotype II/II. This genotype has been reported to be a ‘high producer’ of IL-1Ra. Although no statistically significant relationship between IL-1Ra polymorphism and BMI was observed, however, a trend towards an increase of allele^*II in overweight and obese group was observed. This may suggest that IL-1Ra appears to be induced by inflammatory stimuli as well as obesity-associated factors. This is relatively a pilot study: but nevertheless, may assist in identifying the pathophysiological cause for obesity.     

Levels of plasma soluble complement receptor 1 (sCR1) in normal Indian adult population

A decrease in the membrane anchored erythrocyte complement receptor 1 (CR1) is reported as an acquired phenomenon in a number of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases with concomitant rise in soluble CR1 (sCR1) levels in plasma. There is a need to establish the normal range of sCR1 in Indian adults to assess the function and disease association of this protein. The plasma sCR1 levels of 50 healthy individuals have been estimated by an indigenously developed sandwich ELISA. sCR1 levels from 26 patients suffering from nephropathies had also been assayed which was much higher than the normal controls. This observation suggests sCR1 as a potential market for the assessment of disease activity in nephropathies.     

Lectin-functionalized microchannels for characterizing pluripotent cells and early differentiation

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are capable of proliferating and differentiating to form cells of the three embryonic germ layers, namely, endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm. The utilization of human ES cell derivatives requires the ability to direct differentiation to specific lineages in defined, efficient, and scalable systems. Better markers are needed to identify early differentiation. Lectins have been reported as an attractive alternative to the common stem cell markers. They have been used to identify, characterize, and isolate various cell subpopulations on the basis of the presentation of specific carbohydrate groups on the cell surface. This article demonstrates how simple adhesion assays in lectin-coated microfluidic channels can provide key information on the interaction of lectins with ES and definitive endoderm cells and thereby track early differentiation. The microfluidic approach incorporates both binding strength and cell surface receptor density, whereas traditional flow cytometry only incorporates the latter. Both approaches are examined and shown to be complementary with the microfluidic approach providing more biologically relevant information.