MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 292 subjects were recruited, comprising 150 ischaemic stroke patients and 142 control subjects who were age and sex matched. Plasma homocysteine, serum folate and vitamin B12 were measured in all subjects. Genotyping was carried out using PCR-RFLP.

RESULTS: The homocysteine levels were significantly higher (P = 0.001) in the stroke group (11.35 ± 2.75 μmol/L) compared to the control group (10.38 ± 2.79 μmol/L). The MTHFR C677T genotype distribution for the stroke group was 46%, 40% and 14%, respectively for CC, CT and TT genotypes and 59.9%, 33.8% and 6.3%, respectively for the control group. The genotype and allelic frequencies were significantly different between the 2 groups, with P = 0.02 and P = 0.004 respectively. No significant difference was seen in the genotype distribution inter-ethnically. An increasing tHcy was seen with every additional T allele, and the differences in the tHcy for the different genotypes were significant in both the control (P <0.001) and stroke groups (P <0.001).

METHODS: Data are obtained from 2,436 observations from the Malaysia Non-Communicable Disease Surveillance-1. The multi-ethnic sample is segmented into Malay, Chinese, and Indian/other ethnicities. Ordered probit analysis is conducted and marginal effects of sociodemographic and health lifestyle variables on BMI calculated.

RESULTS: Malays between 41 and 58 years are more likely to be overweight or obese than their 31-40 years counterparts, while the opposite is true among Chinese. Retirees of Chinese and Indian/other ethnicities are less likely to be obese and more likely to have normal BMI than those between 31 and 40 years. Primary educated Chinese are more likely to be overweight or obese, while tertiary-educated Malays are less likely to suffer from similar weight issues as compared to those with only junior high school education. Affluent Malays and Chinese are more likely to be overweight than their low-middle income cohorts. Family illness history is likely to cause overweightness or obesity, irrespective of ethnicity. Malay cigarette smokers have lower overweight and obesity probabilities than non-cigarette smokers.

RESULTS: Having confirmed via histology, haematology and clinical biochemistry analyses that OPP is not toxic to mice, we further explored the gene expression changes caused by OPP through statistical and functional analyses using Illumina microarrays. OPP showed numerous biological activities in three major organs of mice, the liver, spleen and heart. In livers of mice given OPP, four lipid catabolism genes were up-regulated while five cholesterol biosynthesis genes were down-regulated, suggesting that OPP may play a role in reducing cardiovascular disease. OPP also up-regulated eighteen blood coagulation genes in spleens of mice. OPP elicited gene expression changes similar to the effects of caloric restriction in the hearts of mice supplemented with OPP. Microarray gene expression fold changes for six target genes in the three major organs tested were validated with real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and the correlation of fold changes obtained with these two techniques was high (R2 = 0.9653).

METHOD: Data from 1,538 women were analyzed. At the first visit for prenatal care, the 50-gram glucose challenge test was followed by the 75-gram glucose tolerance test in those who screened positive. GDM was diagnosed based on the WHO (1999) criteria. Maternal complete blood count was obtained at the first visit, hospitalization for birth, and after birth. Receiver operator characteristic curves were generated to establish thresholds. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to establish independent predictors of GDM.

RESULTS: GDM was diagnosed in 182/1,538 (11.8%). GDM was associated with hemoglobin level, hematocrit and erythrocyte count at the first visit for prenatal care only. Hemoglobin threshold at the first visit was established at 11.5 g/dl. After adjustment, high hemoglobin [AOR 1.5 (95% CI 1.0-2.1); p = 0.027] remained predictive of GDM.