METHODS: Retrospective review of all neonates with clinical and radiological evidence of non-perforated NEC that were treated in a tertiary-level referral hospital between 2009 and 2018. General patient demographics, laboratory parameters and outcomes were recorded. Receiver operating characteristics analysis was performed to evaluated optimal cut-offs and area under the curve (AUC) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

METHODS: Sixty-six (66) patients with unilateral uncomplicated inguinal hernia were randomized into 34 patients in the tacker and 32 patients in cyanoacrylate glue mesh fixation in TEP repair. The extent of surgical trauma was evaluated by measuring inflammatory markers of C-reactive protein, white blood cell count at 48 h, and ESR at 3 months postoperatively. Postoperative acute and chronic pain was assessed by recording the visual analogue scale scores and surgical complications were recorded over 3 months of the study period.

RESULTS: The median CRP and WBC levels at postoperative 48 h in both groups raised significantly from the baseline values (p  0.05). The median ESR level increased significantly at 3 months postoperatively from baseline in the glue mesh fixation group only (p  0.05). There was no significant difference for VAS scores at all timelines between the tacker and glue mesh fixation group (p > 0.05).

METHOD: The maternal fasting level of adipocytokines of 53 subjects with GDM and 43 normal pregnant (NGDM) was measured using multiplex immunoassay at 24-28 weeks, before delivery, immediate postpartum, and 2-6 months postpuerperium.

RESULTS: Higher levels of AFABP were associated with a 3.7-fold higher risk of GDM. Low chemerin levels were associated with a 3.6-fold higher risk of GDM. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) was inversely associated with the risk of GDM. SPARC had no association with GDM. AFABP was directly correlated to interleukin-6 (r = 0.50), insulin resistance index (r = 0.26), and body mass index (r = 0.28) and inversely correlated to C-reactive protein (r = -0.27). Chemerin levels were directly and strongly correlated with IL-10 (r = 0.41) and interleukin-4 (r = 0.50) and inversely correlated to insulin resistance index (r = -0.23) in GDM but not NGDM. In the longitudinal assessment, there were no significant differences in AFABP and chemerin concentrations of both studied groups.

METHODS: Forty two male New Zealand white rabbits were divided equally into seven groups; (i) C- control group fed normal rabbit chow (ii) CH- cholesterol diet (1%cholesterol) (iii) X1- 1% cholesterol with water extract of P.s (62.5 mg/kg) (iv) X2- 1% cholesterol with water extract of P.s (125 mg/kg (v) X3- 1% cholesterol with water extract of P.s (250 mg/kg) (vi) X4- 1% cholesterol with water extract of P.s (500 mg/kg) and (vii) SMV group fed with 1% cholesterol supplemented with simvistatin drug (1.2 mg/kg). All animals were treated for 10 weeks. Blood serum was taken for observing the inflammatory markers at the beginning and end of the experiment.

RESULTS: Rabbits fed with 1% cholesterol diet (CH) showed significant increase in the level of VCAM-1, ICAM-1 and CRP compared to the C group. The levels of VCAM-1, ICAM-1 and CRP in the 1% cholesterol group and supplemented with P.s (500 mg/kg) were significantly reduced compared to the cholesterol group. Similar results were also reported with simvistatin group.

METHODS: Sixty NAFLD patients (32 males, 28 females; age: 49.7±8.7 years; BMI: 31.1±3.3 kg/m2) were randomized into HIIT, aerobic training, and control cohorts. The HIIT cohort performed 4-minute high-intensity intervals at 85-95% of peak heart rate, interspersed with 3-minute active recovery at 60-70% of peak heart rate for 30-40 minutes per session. The aerobic training cohort performed continuous exercise at 60-70% of peak heart rate for 45-60 minutes per session. Both intervention cohorts underwent 12 weeks of supervised training, thrice weekly. Before and after the intervention, assessments included cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, flexibility, lipid profile, liver enzymes, inflammatory markers, insulin sensitivity, and oxidative stress markers.

RESULTS: Compared to controls, both exercise cohorts showed significant improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, and flexibility. However, HIIT elicited superior enhancements in cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength. Biochemically, both exercise cohorts exhibited reductions in triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, liver enzymes (alanine aminotransferase [ALT], aspartate aminotransferase [AST]), inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein [CRP], interleukin-6 [IL-6]), insulin resistance (homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance [HOMA-IR]), and oxidative stress markers (malondialdehyde [MDA], protein carbonyl). Notably, HIIT yielded more substantial improvements in these parameters.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the combined effect of FTO rs9930501, rs9930506, and rs9932754 and ADRB2 rs1042713 and rs1042714 using PRS on (1) the odds of obesity and (2) post-intervention differences in dietary, anthropometric, and cardiometabolic parameters in response to high-protein calorie-restricted, high-vitamin E, high-fiber (Hipcref) diet intervention in Malaysian adults.

METHODS: Both a cross-sectional study (n = 178) and a randomized controlled trial (RCT) (n = 128) were conducted to test the aforementioned objectives. PRS was computed as the weighted sum of the risk alleles possessed by each individual participant. Participants were stratified into first (PRS 0-0.64), second (PRS 0.65-3.59), and third (PRS 3.60-8.18) tertiles.

RESULTS: The third tertile of PRS was associated with significantly higher odds of obesity: 2.29 (95% CI = 1.11-4.72, adjusted p = 0.025) compared to the first tertile. Indians (3.9 ± 0.3) had significantly higher PRS compared to Chinese (2.1 ± 0.4) (p = 0.010). In the RCT, a greater reduction in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels was found in second and third tertiles after Hipcref diet intervention compared to the control diet (p interaction = 0.048).

METHODS: Online literature search databases including Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed/Medline, Embase and Google Scholar were searched to discover relevant articles available up to 17 March 2020. We used mean changes and SD of the outcomes to assess treatment response from baseline and mean difference, and 95 % CI were calculated to combined data and assessment effect sizes in astaxanthin and control groups.

RESULTS: 14 eligible articles were included in the final quantitative analysis. Current study revealed that astaxanthin consumption was not associated with FBS, HbA1c, TC, LDL-C, TG, BMI, BW, DBP, and SBP. We did observe an overall increase in HDL-C (WMD: 1.473 mg/dl, 95 % CI: 0.319-2.627, p = 0.012). As for the levels of CRP, only when astaxanthin was administered (i) for relatively long periods (≥ 12 weeks) (WMD: -0.528 mg/l, 95 % CI: -0.990 to -0.066), and (ii) at high dose (> 12 mg/day) (WMD: -0.389 mg/dl, 95 % CI: -0.596 to -0.183), the levels of CRP would decrease.

METHODS: Seventy-six obese subjects were randomly placed into two groups. The first group received three daily 120 mg dosages of orlistat for nine months (n=39), and the second group received a once daily 10 or 15 mg dosage of sibutramine for nine months (n=37). Baseline measurements for weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), body fat percentage (BF), visceral fat (VF), adiponectin, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting insulin, pancreatic B cell secretory capacity (HOMA%B), insulin sensitivity (HOMA%S), insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and serum high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were performed and repeated during the sixth and ninth months of treatment.

RESULTS: Twenty-four subjects completed the trial in both groups. For both groups, weight, BMI, WC, BF, VF, HOMA-IR and hs-CRP were significantly lower at the end of the nine month intervention. However, there were no significant differences between the two groups for these parameters with nine months treatment. There was a significant decrease in FPG in orlistat group; while fasting insulin and HOMA%B reduced in sibutramine group. For both groups, there were also significant increases in adiponectin levels and HOMA%S at the end of the nine month intervention.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate (i) the effect of FTO rs9930506 on obesity and related parameters and (ii) the influence of diet on the above association in Malaysian adults. In total, 79 obese and 99 nonobese Malaysian adults were recruited.

RESULTS: In comparison with Chinese and Malays, Indians had significantly higher waist circumference (P ≤ 0.001 and P = 0.016), waist-hip ratio (P = 0.001 and P < 0.001), body fat percentage (P = 0.001 and P = 0.042), fasting insulin (P = 0.001 and P = 0.001), homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (P = 0.001 and P = 0.001) and lower high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001), respectively. Indians consumed significantly lower dietary cholesterol (P = 0.002), percentage energy from protein (P < 0.001) and higher fibre (P = 0.006) compared to the other two groups. Malaysian Indians expressed the highest risk allele frequency (G) of FTO rs9930506 compared to the Malays and the Chinese (P < 0.001). No significant association was found between FTO rs9930506 and obesity (dominant model). Risk allele carriers (G) consumed significantly lower vitamin E (P = 0.020) and had a higher fibre intake (P = 0.034) compared to the noncarriers (A). Gene-diet interaction analysis revealed that risk allele carriers (G) had lower high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels with higher energy from protein (≥14% day-1 ; P = 0.049) and higher vitamin E (≥5.4 mg day-1 ; P = 0.038).

METHODS: We recruited 54 abdominally obese subjects to participate in a prospective cross-over design, single-blind trial comparing isocaloric 2000 kcal MUFA or carbohydrate-enriched diet with SFA-enriched diet (control). The control diet consisted of 15E% protein, 53E% carbohydrate and 32E% fat (12E% SFA, 13E% MUFA). A total of ∼7E% of MUFA or refined carbohydrate was exchanged with SFA in the MUFA-rich and carbohydrate-rich diets respectively for 6-weeks. Blood samples were collected at fasting upon trial commencement and at week-5 and 6 of each dietary-intervention phase to measure levels of cytokines (IL-6, IL-1β), C-reactive protein (CRP), thrombogenic markers (E-selectin, PAI-1, D-dimer) and lipid subfractions. Radial pulse wave analysis and a 6-h postprandial mixed meal challenge were carried out at week-6 of each dietary intervention. Blood samples were collected at fasting, 15 and 30 min and hourly intervals thereafter till 6 h after a mixed meal challenge (muffin and milkshake) with SFA or MUFA (872.5 kcal, 50 g fat, 88 g carbohydrates) or CARB (881.3 kcal, 20 g fat, 158 g carbohydrates)- enrichment corresponding to the background diets.