The pandemic of obesity is of great concern as its associated co-morbidities are devastating; causing lifelong burden to individual’s health and is economically costly to a country. Factors that lead to obesity are a combination of environmental and genetic factors. The Pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) gene resides in chromosome 2p23.3, and its protein is composed of 241 amino acids which is responsible for the production of polyhormones that regulate appetite and food intake. The study aimed to investigate the prevalence of the RsaI single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) site in the 5’-untranslated region (UTR) of POMC and its possible association with obesity among 302 multi-ethnic Malaysian subjects (142 obese, 160 non-obese; 120 males, 182 females) from the Kampar Health Clinic. Subjects were recruited by convenience sampling with informed consent and socio-demographic data as well as anthropometric measurements were taken. Subjects were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction - restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis using DNA extracted from blood. The distribution of the RsaI genotypes was significantly different among the different ethnicities, but the mutated RsaI (- / -) genotype was rare as it only occurred in 8.9% of the subjects. With the frequency of the RsaI (-) allele of 0.31, it was associated with the percentage of skeletal muscles (p<0.05), but not with obesity, gender, ethnicity and related anthropometric measurements. In conclusion, the 5’-UTR RsaI SNP in POMC may not be associated with obesity in the Kampar Health Clinic cohort; however, it could lead to the down-regulation of skeletal muscle build-up of up to 0.71%.

Introduction: There is a pressing need to better understand the complex biochemical pathways that lead to the pathogenesis of obesity. Increased oxidative stress and decreased antioxidant capacity have been identified to be associated with obesity. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine the plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC) levels of Malaysian subjects and to evaluate its potential association with obesity and related anthropometric measurements. Methods: Plasma TAC of 362 multi-ethnic Malaysian subjects from the Kampar Health Clinic (138 males, 224 females; 124 ethnic Malays, 152 Chinese, 86 Indians; 192 non-obese, 170 obese) was measured using Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) 96-well plate assay. Results: Plasma TAC was significantly lower in obese subjects (M ± SE = 292 ± 10.4 mol/L) compared to non-obese subjects (397 ± 8.58 mol/L), whereas it was significantly higher in males and those in the 21-30 age group. Those with salty food preference and practising a strict vegetarian diet also had significantly higher plasma TAC. However, no association was found for other dietary habits (coffee intake) and lifestyle factors (physical activity, smoking). Plasma TAC was also significantly negatively correlated with diastolic blood pressure, waist and hip circumferences, weight, body mass index, total body fat, % subcutaneous fat, visceral fat level, resting metabolism and % skeletal muscle. Conclusion: Plasma TAC was found to be associated with obesity, strict vegetarian practice, salty food preference and all obesity anthropometric indicators, except systolic blood pressure and pulse rate. Obese people have decreased plasma TAC indicating a compromised systemic antioxidant defence and increased oxidative stress.

Introduction: Peptide Tyrosine-Tyrosine (PYY) is a 36-amino acid peptide hormone released post-prandially from the endocrine cells in the intestinal tract to suppress pancreatic secretions and eventually reduce appetite. The R72T variant in the PYY gene (rs1058046) has been associated with increased susceptibility to obesity. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the association of this variant with obesity and its related anthropometric measurements among the Kampar Health Clinic cohort, Malaysia. Methodology: A total of 197 (78 males, 119 females; 98 non-obese, 99 obese) subjects were recruited by convenience sampling and anthropometric measurements were taken. Genotyping was performed using StuI Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), revealing 61 RR, 94 RT and 42 TT subjects. Results: Most of the obese subjects had the RT genotype (50.5%), while only 18.2% were TT. PYY R72T genotypes and alleles had no association with obesity (p=0.535; 0.074, respectively), gender (p=0.767; p=0.100, respectively) but were associated with ethnicity (p=0.003; p=0.002, respectively). Among the 13 anthropometric measurements taken, significant difference was only found in Waist Circumference (WC) and Visceral Fat Level (VFL) among the alleles, suggesting that subjects with T allele will have an increment of 1.82 cm in WC and 1.32% in VFL. Conclusion: The R72T variant in PYY gene was not associated with obesity and most of its related anthropometric measurements. This suggests that other genes and/or environmental factors like dietary habits and lifestyle factors may be the contributors of obesity.

As the sugar intake of Malaysians is one of the highest in the Asia Pacific region, we wanted to investigate how this high prevalence of ‘sweet tooth’ is influenced by biological determinants like age, gender, ethnicity and Body Mass Index (BMI). Therefore, this study was to determine the demographic and BMI differences of preference, intake frequency and craving of a list of sweet beverages and food among Malaysian subjects. Convenience sampling was performed around Kuala Lumpur, with informed consents, involving 367 multi-ethnic subjects (163 males, 204 females; 83 Malays, 201 Chinese, 83 Indians; 209 lean, 158 overweight). Demographics and anthropometric measurements were taken and questionnaire on the preference/frequency/craving of a list of 22 sweet food and beverages with a 7 point hedonic scale (from 1= very unpleasant/never/never crave to 7 = very pleasant/at least once a day/ always crave) was performed. Females significantly preferred more, took less frequently but had equal craving of sweet foods compared to males. Lean subjects and those <25 years showed significantly higher preference, intake frequency and craving of sweet foods. The ethnic differences in rating the preference, intake frequency and cravings seemed to be food-specific and culturally-related, where overall, ethnic Chinese had significantly higher intake frequency but lesser craving of sweet foods compared to Malays and Indians. Understanding the demographic and anthropometric factors that may affect the preference, intake frequency and craving of certain sweet foods can help to plan for strategies to prevent the detrimental health burden of high sugar intake among Malaysians.