Coincidence of obesity associated with cardio-renal abnormalities in Thais obese population.

AIM: To investigate the patterns and relationship among the metabolic syndrome (MS), coronary heart disease (CHD) and kidney function. METHODS: A cross-sectional secondary data set of 9359 individuals, age 30-74 years, receiving annual health check-up in 2012 were used in this studied. Identification of MS and CHD development was determined by International Diabetes Federation criteria and Framingham risk score, respectively, while kidney function was assessed by using the estimate glomerulus filtration rate (eGFR) and chronic kidney disease epidemiology (CKD-EPI) formula. RESULTS: The prevalence of MS was 16.1%. The majority pattern of MS in male displayed abnormalities of body mass index (BMI) plus triglyceride and blood pressure (BP). Most of them had high risk of CHD, and kidney function in stage 1 and 2. Furthermore, abnormalities of BMI plus BP and blood glucose were the main components related to high risk of CHD, and stage 1 of kidney function in female. CONCLUSION: This finding showed the cleared pattern of the sequential abnormality factors which potentially use for setting the activity and empowerment team to prevention, promotion, and treatment strategy in MS patients. Particularly, BMI is the first assessment and then follow by blood pressure and blood sugar which could be used as the guideline for reducing MS associated with CHD and kidney disorder in Thai population.

Determining a new formula for calculating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol: data mining approach.

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a risk factor of coronary heart diseases. The estimation of LDL-C (LDL-Cal) level was performed using Friedewald's equation for triglyceride (TG) level less than 400 mg/dL. Therefore, the aim of this study is to generate a new formula for LDL-Cal and validate the correlation coefficient between LDL-Cal and LDL-C directly measured (LDL-Direct). A data set of 1786 individuals receiving annual medical check-ups from the Faculty of Medical Technology, Mahidol University, Thailand in 2008 was used in this study. Lipid profiles including total cholesterol (TC), TG, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and LDL-C were determined using Roche/Hitachi modular system analyzer. The estimated LDL-C was obtained using Friedewald's equation and the homogenous enzymatic method. The level of TG was divided into 6 groups (TG<200, <300, <400, <500, <600 and < 1000 mg/dL) for constructing the LDL-Cal formula. The pace regression model was used to construct the candidate formula for the LDL-Cal and determine the correlation coefficient (r) with the LDL-Direct. The candidate LDL-Cal formula was generated for 6 groups of TG levels that displayed well correlation between LDL-Cal and LDL-Direct. Interestingly, The TG level was less than 1000 mg/dL, the regression model was able to generate the equation as shown as strong r of 0.9769 with LDL-Direct. Furthermore, external data set (n = 666) with TG measurement (36-1480 mg/dL) was used to validate new formula which displayed high r of 0.971 between LDL-Cal and LDL-direct. This study explored a new formula for LDL-Cal which exhibited higher r of 0.9769 and far beyond the limitation of TG more than 1000 mg/dL and potential used for estimating LDL-C in routine clinical laboratories.

Predicting Metabolic Syndrome Using the Random Forest Method.

AIMS: This study proposes a computational method for determining the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) and to predict its occurrence using the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III) criteria. The Random Forest (RF) method is also applied to identify significant health parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used data from 5,646 adults aged between 18-78 years residing in Bangkok who had received an annual health check-up in 2008. MS was identified using the NCEP ATP III criteria. The RF method was applied to predict the occurrence of MS and to identify important health parameters surrounding this disorder. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of MS was 23.70% (34.32% for males and 17.74% for females). RF accuracy for predicting MS in an adult Thai population was 98.11%. Further, based on RF, triglyceride levels were the most important health parameter associated with MS. CONCLUSION: RF was shown to predict MS in an adult Thai population with an accuracy >98% and triglyceride levels were identified as the most informative variable associated with MS. Therefore, using RF to predict MS may be potentially beneficial in identifying MS status for preventing the development of diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases.

Determining the optimal cutoff points for waist circumference and body mass index for identification of metabolic abnormalities and metabolic syndrome in urban Thai population.

This study describes the prevalence and optimal waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI) cutoff point for metabolic abnormalities and metabolic syndrome (MS) from urban Thai population. The optimal BMI/WC cutoff has been used for identifying and evaluating metabolic abnormalities for screening individuals having risk factor of MS.

Decreased paraoxonase 1 activity and increased oxidative stress in low lead-exposed workers.

Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) has been proposed as an antioxidant enzyme. Although lead-inhibited PON1 activity has been demonstrated mostly based on in vitro experiments, it is uncertain whether this phenomenon is relevant in pathogenesis of lead-induced oxidative stress in the lead exposure. We examined associations of blood lead levels (BLL) and PON1 activity along with oxidative stress parameters in lead exposure workers. We determined malondialdehyde (MDA), conjugated diene (CD), total peroxides (TP), total antioxidant status (TAS), the oxidative stress index (OSI), and PON1 activity in earthenware factory workers (n = 60) and control subjects (n = 65). The lead-exposed group significantly increased lipid peroxidation parameters and OSI compared to the control group (p < 0.001). The lead-exposed group had significantly decreased PON1 activity and TAS levels compared to the control group (p < 0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that BLL were significantly correlated with decreased TAS (r = -0.496) and PON1 activity (r = -0.434), but with increased CD (r = 0.694), TP (r = 0.614), MDA (r = 0.788), and OSI (r = 0.722). Interestingly, BLL at 10 µg/dL significantly decreased PON1 activity and increased oxidative stress parameters with insignificant changes in other biochemical and hematological parameters. Altogether, the reduction of PON1 activity may associate in an imbalance in pro-oxidants and antioxidants, leading to oxidative damage in lead-exposed workers even at low BLL.

Identification of metabolic syndrome using decision tree analysis.

This study employs decision tree as a decision support system for rapid and automated identification of individuals with metabolic syndrome (MS) among a Thai population. Results demonstrated strong predictivity of the decision tree in classification of individuals with and without MS, displaying an overall accuracy in excess of 99%.

Lower BMI cutoff for assessing the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Thai population.

This article investigates the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) and the benefits of lowered body mass index (BMI) cutoff point for assessing MS prevalence in a large, nationally representative population sample comprising of 15,365 Thai adults from metropolitan Bangkok who received annual checkup. Prevalence of MS was characterized using the International Diabetes Federation criteria and BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2) as cutoff revealed that 26.63% of male and 14.90% of female subjects had MS and the prevalence was age dependent. Traditional BMI cutoff of ≥ 30 kg/m(2) underestimated MS prevalence in Thai population while BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2) was found to be a suitable solution. Common combinations of MS components were identified in order to find common occurrences that may be implicated in the development of diabetes and/or cardiovascular diseases.

Prevalence of Blastocystis hominis infection in asymptomatic individuals from Bangkok, Thailand.

Fresh stool examination was performed from 2,230 participants who enrolled in annual check-up programs of the Faculty of Medical Technology, Mahidol University in 1999-2000 and 2004. In this study, Blastocystis hominis infection was diagnosed by culturing in Jones' media. A total of 21% of fecal specimens (in 1999-2000) and 13.7% (in 2004) were positive for B. hominis. The vacuolated form was the predominant form found in culture solution after 48 hours of incubation. The distribution of infection was highest between the ages of 21-30 years (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in infection between male and female groups. Other parasites, eg Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica, Entamoeba coli, Endolimax nana, Trichomonas hominis, Strongyloides stercoralis, Opisthorchis viverrini and Taenia species, were also found by fresh stool examination.