Association of ABO blood group polymorphism and tuberculosis: A study on Bengalee Hindu caste population, West Bengal, India.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease commonly caused by the bacillus mycobacterium and worldwide estimation demonstrated that more than 8.6 million people are infected by TB. Many of the previous studies reported the association between TB and ABO blood group polymorphism. In this context, the objective of the present study is to understand the association of ABO blood group polymorphism and TB in Bengalee Hindu caste population. The present study consists of 100 clinically diagnosed TB patients and 100 apparently healthy individuals with no previous history of TB from the same population of the same area. The distribution of ABO phenotypes demonstrated significant (p<0.05) excess of AB blood group in TB patients and significant (p<0.05) decrease of O blood group in controls. Logistic regression analysis revealed that individuals with non O blood group have 1.97 times (95% CI 1.04-3.75) greater chance of developing TB than individuals with O blood group.

Abdominal circumference as a screening measure for Type 2 Diabetes.

BACKGROUND: No comparative study has been conducted in India considering different anthropometrically derived adiposity measures to study the association with Type 2 Diabetes. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the association of different adiposity measures and to find out the best adiposity measure in assessing Type 2 Diabetes. METHOD: On 187 adult males aged 25-67 years, fasting and two hours postload glucose levels were assessed. Height, weight, hip circumference, and waist circumference at two anatomical sites, one at the level of the greatest anterior extension of the abdomen i.e. abdominal circumference and the other one at the narrowest part of the torso i.e. minimum waist circumference were measured. Waist hip ratio, body mass index, waist height ratio and conicity index were calculated subsequently. RESULTS: The prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes was 12.3%. Abdominal circumference revealed the highest odds ratio (OR 2.75; 95% CI 1.45-5.23) for Type 2 Diabetes, followed by waist height ratio (OR 1.86; 95% CI 1.05-3.32) and minimum waist circumference (OR 1.83; 95%CI 1.03-3.26). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of abdominal circumference was also larger (68%; 95%CI: 0.57-0.79) compared to other adiposity measures in assessing Type 2 Diabetes. CONCLUSION: Waist circumference measured at the level of greatest anterior extension of the abdomen was the best central adiposity measurement in predicting and assessing Type 2 Diabetes.

Comparative evaluation of obesity measures: relationship with blood pressures and hypertension.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of the present study was to compare the relationship of all obesity measures with blood pressures and to fi nd out the best obesity measure, associated with greater risk of hypertension. METHODS: A total of 180 adult Bengalee Hindu men from Hridoypur of 24 Pgs (N), West Bengal, India were evaluated in the present cross-sectional study. Biosocial data (such as age, education, occupation), anthropometry and blood pressure measurements were obtained. Body mass index (BMI), waist hip ratio (WHR), conicity index (CI) and waist stature ratio (WSR) were subsequently derived. Statistical analysis includes linear and logistic regression. RESULTS: The mean age of the studied individuals was 35.7 years (standard deviation, 9.35 years) and the frequency of hypertensive individuals was 11.7 percent. WSR explained 14.3 percent variance of systolic blood pressure (SBP), followed by waist circumference (WC) (13.0 percent) and BMI (13.1 percent). BMI (8.8 percent), WC (8.6 percent) and WSR (8.4 percent) explained closely the same amount of variance of diastolic blood pressure (DBP). All obesity measures were significantly and positively correlated with blood pressures. The odds-ratio (OR) associated with a 1 kilogramme per square metre increase in BMI was 1.17. Comparing values for a 0.1 increase in WSR was 1.22, followed by WHR (OR 1.09). A 1.0 cm increase in WC was associated with OR 1.07 followed by OR 1.06 for a 1.0 increase in CI. In multivariate analysis, significant predictors of hypertension were age and BMI. CONCLUSION: Among all obesity measures, WSR and BMI explained comparatively larger amount of variance of SBP and DBP, respectively. However, the greater risk of developing hypertension was associated with increasing BMI.

A study on blood groups and serum proteins in Bengalee populations of Calcutta, India.

The genetic polymorphisms of two blood groups (A1A2B0, Rh-D) and two serum proteins (HP, TF) were investigated in five endogamous caste groups of Bengalee Hindu population living in Calcutta. The distribution of A1A2B0 and Rh-D blood groups in all the caste groups showed an oriental pattern with high B and Rh-D+ frequencies, while for the haptoglobins a very low frequency of HP*1 was seen in all the caste groups, except the Vaidya. For transferrin types the absolute predominancy of TF*C in all the caste groups was noted.

A mother-child combination analysis for ABO-HP interaction in a Bengalee population.

Blood samples of 811 mother-child pairs from Bengalee Hindu caste groups were utilised to study the interaction between ABO blood groups and haptoglobin systems. There was no significant difference in the haptoglobin distribution between mothers and children. Significantly higher incidences of HP*1 were noted in the offspring born to ABO-incompatible mother-child combinations in comparison to offspring born to ABO-compatible combinations.

A parental combination analysis for ABO-HP interaction in a Bengali population.

Blood samples from 577 couples and their 657 offspring of Bengali caste group derivation were used to study interactions between ABO blood groups and haptoglobin (HP) systems. There was no significant sex difference in HP distribution among the parents. Significantly higher incidences of HP*1 allele were noted in the offspring of ABO-incompatible parental combinations in comparison with those in the offspring of ABO-compatible parents.