Association of hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype with metabolic syndrome traits and its diagnostic potential to predict metabolic syndrome in adults with excess body weight: A community-based cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The hypertriglyceridemic waist (HTGW) phenotype is a simple measure to identify individuals at increased risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) traits. The present study aimed to describe the HTGW prevalence, and its associations with MetS traits, and also determine the diagnostic potential of the mirror indices of HTGW phenotype to predict MetS and its components in community-dwelling adults with overweight or obesity in Southern, Sri Lanka. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, 300 adults with excess body weight (body mass index >23 kg/m2) were enrolled and examined for the HTGW phenotype (fasting plasma triglyceride concentration ≥1.695 mmol/L and waist circumference >90 and >85 cm in males and females, respectively). RESULTS: One in five adults with excess body weight had the HTGW phenotype. Phenotype-positive adults had significantly higher fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (p = 0.010), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (p < 0.001), total cholesterol (p < 0.001), atherogenic index (p < 0.001), coronary risk index (p = 0.001), triglyceride glucose index (p = 0.040), bioimpedance visceral fat (p = 0.041) and significantly lower HDL-C (p = 0.001) and cardioprotective index (p = 0.009) than those without the HTGW phenotype. Adults with excess body weight and the HTGW phenotype had an increased risk of FPG (odds ratio [OR] = 1.294; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.051-1.594), atherogenic index (OR = 3.138; 95% CI = 1.559-6.317) and triglyceride glucose index (OR = 3.027; 95% CI = 1.111-8.249). The HTGW phenotype was strongly associated with MetS traits (OR = 16.584; 95% CI = 6.230-44.147). The cut-off values for the product of waist circumference × triglyceride, to identify the risk of having MetS and dyslipidemia among adults with excess body weight were 158.66 and 160.15 cm × mmol/L, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The readily available and inexpensive measures of the HTGW phenotype could serve as a clinically useful marker to identify MetS traits in adults with excess body weight.

Association of dietary intake with body mass index and glycemic profile among newly diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

INTRODUCTION: Dietary intake plays an important role in determining body mass index (BMI) and glycemic profile in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Our aim was to describe habitual dietary intake and its associations with BMI and glycemic profile in a cohort of patients with newly diagnosed T2DM in Sri Lanka. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 158 patients with newly diagnosed T2DM in Galle, Sri Lanka. Data on demographic, lifestyle, and family history of diabetes mellitus, and clinical measures were collected. The dietary information was collected using a 24-h dietary recall. RESULTS: Among the total number of study subjects, only 12.0%, 5.7% and 1.3% met the recommended daily consumption value of protein, fat, and fiber, respectively, whereas 99.4% of subjects had taken carbohydrates that exceeded the recommended consumption. There was a positive association between carbohydrate intake and BMI (0.004, [0.002], p = .048) and carbohydrate intake and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C ) (0.001, [0.000], p = .049). Fat intake showed positive associations with BMI (0.029, [0.011], p = .006) and HbA1C (0.005, [0.002], p = .050). Protein intake showed a positive association with HbA1C (0.006, [0.003], p = .023). The aforementioned associations were observed after adjusting for demographic, lifestyle, and history of diabetes among the first-degree family members. The carbohydrate intake was positively associated with BMI (0.010, [0.003], p = .003) and HbA1C (0.001, [0.000], p = .050) with further adjustment in nutrient intake (except when used as an independent variable). Furthermore, the fat intake was associated with BMI (0.031, [0.011], p = .004) and HbA1C (0.005 [0.002], p = .050) with additional adjustments. CONCLUSIONS: The diet of the majority of newly diagnosed T2DM patients in this cohort consisted of a higher carbohydrate intake than the recommended level. However, they did not meet the recommended daily intake of protein, fat, and fiber. Both carbohydrate and fat intake were significantly and positively associated with BMI and HbA1C in patients with newly diagnosed T2DM.

Positive parental history of diabetes is associated with early diagnosis, better dietary compliance, and glycemic control among type 2 diabetes patients in southern Sri Lanka.

BACKGROUND: Parental history of diabetes is an established risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). There is limited data on the association of parental history with the prevalence of T2DM in Sri Lanka. The study aims to examine the prevalence and correlation of parental history and factors such as the onset age, glycaemic control, and self-reported dietary compliance among T2DM patients. With a rising incidence of T2DM in Sri Lanka, understanding the impact of parental history on age at diagnosis and glycemic control can aid in targeted screening and interventions. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 500 T2DM patients attending a diabetes clinic in Galle, the capital of Southern Sri Lanka with a multiethnic population. Convenient sampling strategy was followed in the recruitment process and a questionnaire-based method was used to collect the data. All the collected data was analysed using SPSS V 25.0. RESULTS: 51.2% had a parental history of T2DM, and those with a positive parental history were diagnosed six years earlier than those with a negative parental history (p < 0.001). A significant correlation between parental history and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) was observed (p < 0.001). Patients with a parental history reported better dietary adherence (p < 0.001). Binary logistic regression analysis revealed patients with positive parental history had significantly lower HbA1C (p = 0.003, OR = 0.748). CONCLUSION: T2DM patients with a parental history showed significant association with early diabetes onset, GDM, better glycemic control, and dietary adherence.

Antidiabetic Activity of Widely Used Medicinal Plants in the Sri Lankan Traditional Healthcare System: New Insight to Medicinal Flora in Sri Lanka.

The use of medicinal plant extracts and their isolated bioactive compounds for the management of diabetes mellitus has been tremendously increased in recent decades. The present study aimed at providing in-depth information on medicinal flora that has been widely used in the Sri Lankan traditional healthcare system for the management of diabetes mellitus. The data of this review article were obtained from published articles from January 2000 to September 2020 in scientific databases of PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. In this review, a total number of 18 medicinal plants with the antidiabetic activity were expressed, and their isolated antidiabetic active compounds were highlighted as new drug leads. Results of the reported studies revealed that medicinal plants exert a potent antidiabetic activity via both in vitro and in vivo study settings. However, bioactive compounds and antidiabetic mechanism (s) of action of many of the reported medicinal plants have not been isolated/elucidated the structure in detail, to date. Reported antidiabetic medicinal plants with other properties such as antioxidant and antihyperlipidemic activities deliver new entities for the development of antidiabetic agents with multiple therapeutic targets. This is a comprehensive review on potential antidiabetic activities of the Sri Lankan medicinal plants that have been widely used in the traditional healthcare system. The information presented here would fill the gap between the use of them by traditional healers in the traditional medicine healthcare system in Sri Lanka and their potency for development of new drug entities in future.

Value of simple clinical parameters to predict insulin resistance among newly diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes in limited resource settings.

BACKGROUND: Insulin resistance (IR) has been considered as a therapeutic target in the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Readily available, simple and low cost measures to identify individuals with IR is of utmost importance for clinicians to plan optimal management strategies. Research on the associations between surrogate markers of IR and routine clinical and lipid parameters have not been carried out in Sri Lanka, a developing country with rising burden of T2DM with inadequate resources. Therefore, we aimed to study the utility of readily available clinical parameters such as age, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and triglyceride to high density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (TG/HDL-C) in the fasting lipid profile in predicting IR in a cohort of patients with newly diagnosed T2DM in Sri Lanka. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a community based cross sectional study involving of 147 patients (age 30-60 years) with newly diagnosed T2DM in a suburban locality in Galle district, Sri Lanka. Data on age, BMI, WC, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) concentration, fasting insulin concentration and serum lipid profile were collected from each subject. The indirect IR indices namely homeostasis model assessment (HOMA), quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI) and McAuley index (MCA) were estimated. Both clinical and biochemical parameters across the lowest and the highest fasting insulin quartiles were compared using independent sample t-test. Linear correlation analysis was performed to assess the correlation between selected clinical parameters and indirect IR indices. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was obtained to calculate optimal cut-off values for the clinical markers to differentiate IR. BMI (p<0.001) and WC (p = 0.01) were significantly increased whereas age (p = 0.06) was decreased and TG/HDL-C (p = 0.28) was increased across the insulin quartiles. BMI and WC were significantly correlated (p<0.05) with HOMA, QUICKI and MCA. Out of the clinical parameters, age showed a borderline significant correlation with QUICKI and TG/HDL-C showed a significant correlation only with MCA. The area under ROC of BMI was 0.728 (95% CI 0.648-0.809; p<0.001) and for WC, it was 0.646 (95% CI 0.559-0.734; p = 0.003). The optimized cut-off value for BMI and WC were 24.91 kg/m2 and 81.5 cm respectively to differentiate the patients with IR or ID. Study limitations include small sample size due to recruitment of patients only from a limited geographical locality of the country and not totally excluding of the possibility of inclusion of some patients with slowly progressive type 1 DM or Latent onset diabetes of adulthood from the study population. CONCLUSIONS: The results revealed that there was a significant positive correlation between BMI, WC and HOMA while a significant negative correlation with QUICKI and MCA among the cohort of patients with newly diagnosed T2DM. The cut-off values of BMI and WC as 24.91 kg/m2 and 81.5 cm respectively could be used as simple clinical parameters to identify IR in newly diagnosed patients with T2DM. Our results could be beneficial in rational decision making in the management of newly diagnosed patients with T2DM in limited resource settings.

Efficacy and safety of a herbal drug of Coccinia grandis (Linn.) Voigt in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A double blind randomized placebo controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Several lines of preclinical studies have shown promising antidiabetic effects of the aqueous leaves extract of Coccinia grandis (Linn.) Voigt (Cucurbitaceae) in vivo and in vitro. PURPOSE: The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a newly developed herbal formulation of C. grandis in newly diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). STUDY DESIGN: A three months long, randomized, double blind, placebo controlled clinical trial in patients with newly diagnosed T2DM. METHOD: Based on fasting plasma glucose (FPG) concentration, a total number of 158 newly diagnosed patients with T2DM (45 ± 15 years age) were recruited for the present trial from the University Medical Clinic, Teaching Hospital, Karapitiya, Galle, Sri Lanka. They were randomly assigned to the test or placebo group to receive 500 mg of herbal drug (n = 79) or placebo drug (n = 79) once daily for three months. Patients and investigators were blinded for the treatment. Percentage of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C %), insulin and lipid profile parameters were estimated at the base line and at the end of the intervention. Serum concentration of fructosamine was assessed at every other visit of the trial. The homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), atherogenic index (AI), cardio-protective index (CPI) and coronary risk index (CRI) were calculated. Furthermore, fasting plasma glucose concentration, renal and liver toxicity parameters, hematological parameters, blood pressure (BP) were assessed throughout the study in two weekly intervals till the end of three months. RESULTS: Out of 158, a total number of 145 patients completed the entire clinical trial period successfully. Mean (SD) changes of variables from the baseline to the end of the intervention in test and placebo groups were 0.65 (0.54) and 0.08 (0.66) for HbA1C % (p < 0.001), 1.91 (3.07) and -1.28 (9.77) for insulin (p < 0.001), 0.02 (0.03) and -0.01 (0.04) for frucosamine (p < 0.001), 1.51 (0.49) and 0.05 (0.50) for FPG (p < 0.001), 1.73 (1.36) and -0.37 (3.38) for HOMA-IR (p < 0.001), 0.16 (0.18) and -0.04 (0.42) for TG (p < 0.001), 0.07 (0.08) and -0.02 (0.19) for VLDL-C (p < 0.001), respectively. However, the herbal drug of C. grandis was unable to change other outcome variables significantly when compared to the placebo (p > 0.05). All the renal, liver and toxicity parameters, hematological parameters and BP were within the normal physiological reference ranges at each visit. CONCLUSION: Treatment with herbal drug of C. grandis (500 mg per day) for three months for patients with newly diagnosed T2DM significantly improved their glycemic and selected lipid profile parameters with well tolerated safety.

Demographic Associations of Diabetes Status by Both Fasting Plasma Glucose Concentration and Glycated Hemoglobin in a Community Survey in Galle District, Sri Lanka.

Diagnostic tools used in detecting individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM) include fasting plasma glucose (FPG), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C), and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The present study was aimed to determine the demographic associations of diabetes status by both tests (FPG and HbA1C) in Galle district, Sri Lanka. 147 adults (30-60 years) who are having FPG ≥ 126 mg/dL underwent demographic evaluations and testing for HbA1C. Group 01 (diabetes status diagnosed by both tests) and group 2 (diabetes status diagnosed only by FPG) were compared using independant sample t-test and chi-square test. Logistic regression was used to study the association between the demographic factors and the diabetes status by both tests. Of the 147 study subjects, 38.1% were males, 61.9% were females, and 63.3% had a family history of diabetes among first-degree relatives (FDR). Mean age, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), FPG, and HbA1C of the participants were 48.4 ± 7.2 years, 25.1 ± 4.0 kg/m2, 88.8 ± 9.0 cm, 139.4 ± 30.1 mg/dL, and 6.4 ± 0.7%, respectively. The prevalence of diabetes based on both tests was 55.1%. There is a significant difference in mean BMI and WC while no significant differences in mean age between groups 01 and 02. No association was seen between gender and diabetes status (X 2(1) = 0.086, p=0.770), while a significant difference was observed between DM among FDR and diabetes status (X 2(1) = 33.215, p < 0.001). Significance of odds of having diabetes by both tests with rising BMI (OR = 1.97, CI 1.15-3.36, p=0.013) and DM among FDR (OR = 7.95, CI 3.54-17.88, p=0.000) was seen. We conclude rising BMI and having DM among FDR are strongly associated with diabetes status diagnosed by both tests of FPG and HbA1C in community screening.