Introduction: This study aimed to study the usefulness of CTX II levels to identify normal population with patients of knee osteoarthritis, and its utility in identifying the severity of disease in primary knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Materials and methods: This research recruited 80 cases of KOA and 80 healthy adults (160 subjects). Patients with primary knee osteoarthritis were graded according to the KL grading system, and serum CTX II (sCTX II) value were analysed. The age, gender, and BMI of the subjects were recorded. Results: The sCTX-II value in cases (719.87 ± 256.1pg/ml) was more than in controls (419.26 ± 208.18pg/ml, p<0.001). The sCTX-II value in case group was significantly higher in males (812.67 ± 289.24) than in females (680.11 ± 236.59, p=0.03). In the control group, males (426.13 ± 221.06) and females (398.66 ± 166.92) had similar values (p=0.60). sCTX II level was higher with higher age, but this difference is significant in the case group only (p=0.003). Multivariate analysis revealed that the sCTX II level was only dependent on the severity of the disease. Analysis of the ROC curve reveals a cut-off value of sCTX II as 557.5pg/ml among cases and controls, 407.5pg/ml between KL grade 0-I, as 528.5pg/ml between KL grade I-II, as 681.1pg/ml between KL grade II-III, and as 866.4pg/ml between KL grade III-IV. Conclusion: sCTX II values are dependent only on the severity of the disease. sCTX II level estimation is an excellent diagnostic tool for identifying the normal population with knee osteoarthritis patients and has a clinical significance in identifying KOA cases of KL grade I and II.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) related mortality and morbidity heavily strain society. The relationship between external risk factors and our genetics have not been well established.It is widely acknowledged that environmental influence and individual behaviours play a significant role in CVD vulnerability, leading to the development of polygenic risk scores (PRS). We employed the PRISMA search method to locate pertinent research and literature to extensively review artificial intelligence (AI)-based PRS models for CVD risk prediction.Furthermore, we analyzed and compared conventional vs. AI-based solutions for PRS. We summarized the recent advances in our understanding of the use of AI-based PRS for risk prediction of CVD. Our study proposes three hypotheses: i) Multiple genetic variations and risk factors can be incorporated into AI-based PRS to improve the accuracy of CVD risk predicting. ii) AI-based PRS for CVD circumvents the drawbacks of conventional PRS calculators by incorporating a larger variety of genetic and non-genetic components, allowing for more precise and individualised risk estimations. iii) Using AI approaches, it is possible to significantly reduce the dimensionality of huge genomic datasets, resulting in more accurate and effective disease risk prediction models. Our study highlighted that the AI-PRS model outperformed traditional PRS calculators in predicting CVD risk. Furthermore, using AI-based methods to calculate PRS may increase the precision of risk predictions for CVD and have significant ramifications for individualized prevention and treatment plans.

In view of the alarming increase in the incidence of diabetes mellitus in Malaysia, we conducted a study to assess the awareness of complications of diabetes among the diabetics attending the peripheral clinics in Melaka. The study period was from January 2007 to December 2007. 351 patients were included in the study. 79.8% were aware of the complications of diabetes mellitus and 87.2% were aware that diabetes can affect the eyes. However, only 50% of the patients underwent an ophthalmological evaluation. Although awareness was good, the motivation to undergo the assessment was poor.

OBJECTIVEIn order to investigate that ascorbic acid deficiency is responsible for lathyrus toxicity, the effect of dietary feeding of lathyrus pulse in normal and scorbutic guinea pigs for 3 months, on intestinal biochemical parameters was undertaken.

METHODSThe intestinal brush border membrane (BBM) marker and xenobiotic metabolising enzymes (XME) were assayed.

RESULTSExposure to 80% lathyrus alone and in scorbutic conditions showed significant inhibition of alkaline phosphatase (28%-30%), sucrase (19%) and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) (15%-27%) enzymes, while Ca(2+)-Mg(2+)-ATPase was significantly inhibited (38%) in scorbutic plus lathyrus treated group. The phase I XME (AHH) remained unchanged while the phase II enzyme glutathione-S-transferase (GST) was significantly decreased (20%-22%) in lathyrus and scorbutic plus lathyrus treated groups. Quinone reductase (QR) activity was found to be significantly decreased in lathyrus exposed group (20%). The intestinal biomarker contents including hexose (25%-34%) and phospholipids (20%-40%) were significantly reduced in lathyrus and scorbutic plus lathyrus exposed animals, while sialic acid showed a significant decrease (28%) in scorbutic plus lathyrus treated group. However, cholesterol levels were significantly enhanced (15%-28%) in lathyrus and scorbutic plus lathyrus treated animals.

CONCLUSIONThe results indicate that oral feeding of lathyrus pulse to guinea pigs can alter BBM parameters as well as XME, which may result in the intestinal toxicity. Further, ascorbic acid deficiency could be one of the pre-disposing factors of lathyrus toxicity.

Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Ascorbic Acid Deficiency ; complications ; veterinary ; Biomarkers ; analysis ; Cholesterol ; blood ; Diet ; Digestive System ; enzymology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Guinea Pigs ; Lathyrus ; chemistry ; Male ; Microvilli ; Phospholipids ; metabolism ; Plant Extracts ; adverse effects