The main objective of the study was to determine the factors associated with blood cholesterol level among staff in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). The study was a cross-sectional. One-hundred staff between 23 and 59 years of age were recruited in this study using convenient sampling at USM Health Campus. A questionnaire which includes sociodemographic characteristics, medical history, and red meat intake was used in the study. Anthropometric and biochemical assessment were measured. Blood cholesterol level was divided into two categories which were known as healthy range (<5.2mmol/L) and slight risk/high risk range (≥5.2mmol/L). The gender distribution of respondents for this study comprised of 40 male and 60 female. The age group (18 to 39) years and (40 to 59) years had a total of 40.3% and 63.2% of slightly risk or high risk blood cholesterol respectively; with the significant association between age group and blood cholesterol level (χ²=4.916,p=0.027). Besides, normal BMI group had 66.7% of respondents achieved healthy blood cholesterol level whereas underweight, overweight and obese group had 39.7% achieved healthy blood cholesterol with the significant association between BMI and blood cholesterol level (χ²=7.112,p=0.008). Moreover, daily or weekly intake of red meat showed that 65.0% of total respondents had a healthier blood cholesterol level compared to 51.0% of monthly, rarely, or none red meat intake group which achieved healthy blood cholesterol level. The result also showed a significant association between red meat intake and blood cholesterol (χ²=5.229, p=0.022), which indicating less red meat consumption is linked to high level of blood cholesterol level. Therefore, further investigation and future studies are needed to gain a clearer understanding of the association between these variables and blood cholesterol level.
nutritional status ; blood cholesterol level ; red meat intake

The present study investigated the potential subacute toxicity of 1,4-dichlorobutane by a 4-week repeated oral dose in Sprague-Dawley rats. The test article was administered once daily by gavage to male rats at dose levels of 0, 100, 300, and 1,000 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks. All rats were sacrificed at the end of the treatment period. During the test period, clinical signs, mortality, body weight, hematology, serum biochemistry, gross findings, and organ weight were examined. At 1,000 mg/kg/day, an increase in the clinical signs and weights of the liver and kidneys was observed in the male rats. Serum biochemical investigations revealed an increase in alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, total cholesterol, total bilirubin, phospholipids, blood urea nitrogen, and gamma glutamyl transferase levels. There were no treatment-related adverse effects in the low and middle-dose groups. In the present experimental conditions, the target organs were determined to be liver and kidney. The no-observed-adverse-effect level was considered to be 300 mg/kg/day in rats.
Alanine Transaminase ; Alkaline Phosphatase ; Animals ; Bilirubin ; Biochemistry ; Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Body Weight ; Cholesterol ; Hematology ; Humans ; Hydrocarbons, Halogenated ; Kidney ; Liver ; Male ; No-Observed-Adverse-Effect Level ; Organ Size ; Phospholipids ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Transferases ; Weights and Measures