Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake and plasma fatty acids of school going Indian children - a cross-sectional study.

Long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) play an essential role in cognitive and behavioural changes among school going children. This study delineates the dietary omega-3 PUFA [alpha-Linolenic acid (ALA), DHA, and EPA] intake and plasma fatty acids levels among school-going children. This is a cross-sectional study purely observational in nature, wherein 625 apparently healthy boys and girls aged between 7 and 13 years were selected from five different schools of Hyderabad. Dietary information on omega-3 PUFA (ALA, DHA, and EPA) intake was collected using a food frequency questionnaire. Plasma fatty acid concentrations were measured in 34% of sub-sample using standard gas chromatography. The study revealed that the average dietary intakes of omega-3 PUFA, ALA, DHA, and EPA were 55.46, 15.82, 35.59, 4.06 mg/day, respectively. There was a significant difference in mean DHA intake among gender and age group [girls (38.64±1.45 mg/day), boys (31.80±1.38 mg/day) p < 0.001] and [7-10 years (31.75±1.38 mg/day), 11-13 years (38.07±1.40 mg/day) p < 0.01]. The mean plasma DHA and DPA levels of overall subjects were 0.98 nmol% and 0.18nmol% respectively which was comparable among different gender, age and BMI-for age groups. There was a positive correlation between dietary DHA intake and plasma DHA level [ρ=0.376 (p < 0.001)]. The current study demonstrated that the omega-3 PUFA intake in school going children was less and reinforces the importance of increasing the omega-3 PUFA intake through diet and supplements.

Role of hla-B alleles and clinical presentation of b27 negative spondyloarthritis patients from mumbai, Western India.

Seronegative spondyloarthritis (SpA) are variably associated with HLA-B∗27 antigen. HLA-B∗27 negative SpA has also been reported from different parts of the world. There is paucity of data on this entity from Indian subcontinent. We studied 100 consecutively diagnosed HLA-B27 negative spondyloarthritis patients from a tertiary care center in India. Modified New York Criteria for ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and ESSG criteria for SpA were used for diagnosing patients. HLA-B∗27 typing was done by an in-house PCR-SSP technique in SpA patients to exclude B∗27 positive patients and PCR-SSOP technique was used to type 100 B∗27 negative SpA patients and 100 controls from the same ethnicity. Frequency of B∗07 was significantly increased (B∗07: % PF 54 versus 18; OR 5.348; 95% CI 2.808-10.186; P value 1.14E - 07), whereas frequency of B∗40 was significantly decreased (B∗40: % PF 17 versus 32; OR 0.435; 95% CI 0.222-0.850; P value 0.013) when compared with B∗27 negative controls. Among 100 SpA patients, 47 were undifferentiated spondyloarthritis and 33 patients were reactive arthritis patients. 40% of the patients were suffering from polyarticular arthritis, 35% had pauciarticular arthritis with knee joint, hip joint, ankle joint, and SI joint involvement. We conclude that B∗07 was significantly associated with B27 negative spondyloarthropathy from Western India and majority of B∗27 negative patients were uSpA.

HLA-DRß1*04 typing by simple in-house PCR-SSP technique for rheumatoid arthritis patients.

A strong association between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) has been observed in many different populations and that accounts for approximately one-third of the genetic component of RA susceptibility. The greatest effect comes from DRß1 gene where the strongest association has been found with DRß1*04 (DR4) allele. As serology has some disadvantages over polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based techniques and commercially available PCR-based kits are expensive, this study was aimed to standardize simple in-house PCR-SSP technique. Accuracy of this test was further checked with standard PCR-SSOP (RLS) results. The frequency HLA-DRß1*04 was significantly increased among RA patients when compared with normal controls. In this study, a very simple, convenient and more cost-effective in-house PCR-SSP technique was standardized for HLA-DRß1*04 typing that is helpful to RA diagnosis in developing countries like India, which can be used as a good screening test.