Lipid profile in healthy human volunteers before and after consuming ghee.

Food is a cause of concern due to its effect on health and disease. Diet affects the occurrence and progress of non-communicable diseases, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and cancers. The exact dietary composition that helps in the prevention of diseases is not known. A higher intake of processed foods, sugar-sweetened beverages, Trans and saturated fats, and a lower intake of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains are generally considered as a poor-quality diet. Therefore, it is of interest to document the lipid profile in healthy human volunteers before and after consuming ghee. Fasting serum lipids were measured before and after the intervention. The effect of the intervention on all the subjects was analysed by comparing the post-intervention data. Data shows that TC and LDL-C are significantly decreased. However, other parameters showed insignificant change. The effect of the intervention on the normolipidaemia group was also analysed. There was no significant change. Thus, data shows that cow ghee consumption is not harmful to health.

Assessment of Reference Range of Serum Homocysteine from the Post-therapy Values of Cobalamin and Folate Deficiency Patients.

OBJECTIVES: Ideally, the upper reference limit of plasma or serum homocysteine (Hcy) is to be defined from the studies done on individuals with normal cobalamin and folate status. It is difficult to separate the truly healthy (Cobalamin/Folate Replete) individuals from the randomly selected, apparently healthy individuals who are sub-clinically deficient of cobalamin/folate. The present study was aimed at defining the reference values for the serum homocysteine from individuals with normalized cobalamin and folate status. METHODS: In our study, 215 patients with cobalamin, folic acid deficiency were treated accordingly till complete restoration of clinical and laboratory abnormalities. The post-therapy serum Hcy values were used as reference values. RESULTS: Post-therapy serum Hcy values 12.56 µmol/L (95th percentile), 11.4 µmol/L (85th percentile), 9.8 µmol/L (67th percentile) were seen. The hyperhomocysteinemia was more visible (17.3% gain in prevalence) in the same patient group if interpreted using the post-therapy Hcy value (11.4 µmol/L) as the cut-off. There was no difference between the genders and age groups in the pre or post-therapy Hcy values. CONCLUSIONS: The benefit of the gain in prevalence of disease or the increase in the sensitivity of the test, though small, gets magnified in common diseases and in populous countries. Selection of the individuals is as important as the method or the reagent used in the method when a particular parameter is studied. Repleting the vitamin stores in the confirmed vitamin-deficient patients is more appropriate and easily feasible, since anyway they require treatment, than doing the same on the apparently healthy people. The data thus obtained can be better used as the reference value, for a more meaningful interpretation. The reference range can in turn be used to identify the sub-clinically deficient but asymptomatic people and managed accordingly.

Nitric oxide status in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at an increased risk of cardiovascular (CVD) morbidity and mortality, mainly due to atherosclerosis. Decreased production or reduced bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO) can result in endothelial dysfunction (ED). Multiple mechanisms are known to cause a state of NO deficiency in patients with CKD. Patients in various stages of CKD grouped as group-1 (CKD stage 1 and 2), group-2 (CKD stage 3 and 4), group-3 (CKD stage 5) and healthy controls were included in the study. Each group of patients and controls comprised 25 subjects. Plasma nitrites, L-arginine, asymmetric dimethyl arginine (ADMA) and citrulline were measured in all the subjects. Patients in all stages of CKD had lower NO and higher ADMA levels compared to controls. Further, group-2 and group-3 patients had lower levels of NO and higher levels of ADMA than group-1 patients. L-arginine levels showed no difference between patients and controls. However, group-3 patients had lower L-arginine levels compared to group-1 patients. Citrulline levels were decreased in group-3 patients. NO production was decreased in patients in all stages of CKD. The decrease could be due to decreased availability of the substrate, L-arginine or due to an increased ADMA, a potent inhibitor of endothelial NO synthase. Therapeutic interventions directed towards improvement of NO production in addition to management of other CVD risk factors may prevent development of ED and facilitate proper management of CKD patients who are at increased risk for CVD.