Immunosuppresive activity of human umbilical cord and placenta derived mesenchymal stem cells on lymphocyte proliferation

Current research in mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) concur its potential to be used in therapies to treat various inflammatory diseases and degenerative disorders. In the present study, human umbilical cord (UC) and placenta (PLC) derived MSC were generated and their immunosuppressive activity was assessed using human adaptive and innate lymphocytes. CD3/CD28 micro-beads activated T cells, pokeweed stimulated B cells and NK-92MI cell lines were cultured in the presence or absence of UC-MS and PLC-MSC. The proliferation and cell cycle status of responder cells was measured by tritiated thymidine assay and flow cytometer analysis respectively. Both, UC-MSC and PLC-MSC significantly exerted a significant dose dependent inhibition on lymphocytes proliferation. Further cell cycle analysis showed that T cells were arrested at G0 phase and NK-92MI cells were halted at G1 by preventing them transit from G1→ S phase (p<0.05). Transwell assay revealed that the immunosuppressive activity of MSC was mediated by a direct cell-to-cell contact than soluble factors (p<0.05). Although both UC and PLC derived MSC exerted a profound anti-proliferative activity on lymphocytes yet UC-MSC express the higher magnitude of immunosuppression in all tested assays

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its associated factors among vegetarians in Malaysia

The prevalence and factors associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) remain unknown in Malaysian vegetarians. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence of MetS among vegetarians in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor and its associated factors. The data on socio-demographic characteristics, vegetarianism practises, lifestyle behaviours, body weight, height, waist circumference (WC), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting blood glucose (FBG), and blood lipid profiles were collected from 273 vegetarians. A majority of the respondents were lacto-ovo vegetarians (44.0%), females (64.8%) and Chinese (54.9%). The prevalence of MetS was 24.2%. High BP (48.7%) and high WC (43.6%) were the most common MetS components. Females had lower WC, SBP, DBP, FBG, TG and higher HDL-c (p < 0.05) as compared to males. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that being overweight and obese (Odds Ratio (OR) = 7.74, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 4.04⁻14.82) was the main risk factor of MetS after being adjusted for sex and age. This study found that one in four vegetarians had MetS. An intervention programme should be developed to reduce Body Mass Index (BMI) among vegetarians, especially among those who are found to be overweight and obese

Gene–diet interactions on metabolic disease-related outcomes in Southeast Asian populations: a systematic review

Diabetes and obesity are chronic diseases that are a burden to low- and middle-income countries. We conducted this systematic review to understand gene–diet interactions affecting the Southeast Asian population’s risk of obesity and diabetes. The literature search was performed on Google Scholar and MEDLINE (PubMed) search engines independently by four reviewers who evaluated the eligibility of articles based on inclusion criteria. Out of 19,031 articles, 20 articles examining gene–diet interactions on obesity and/or diabetes-related traits met the inclusion criteria. Three (Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore) out of eleven Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries have conducted studies on gene–diet interactions on obesity and diabetes. From the 20 selected articles, the most common interactions were observed between macronutrients and genetic risk score (GRS) on metabolic disease-related traits in the Malay, Chinese, and Indian ethnicities. Overall, we identified 29 significant gene–diet interactions in the Southeast Asian population. The results of this systematic review demonstrate ethnic-specific gene–nutrient interactions on metabolic-disease-related traits in the Southeast Asian population. This is the first systematic review to explore gene–diet interactions on obesity and diabetes in the Southeast Asian population and further research using larger sample sizes is required for better understanding and framing nutrigenetic approaches for personalized nutrition

Role of precision nutrition in improving military performance

Advances in the field of precision nutrition have generated better understanding of how genetic and non-genetic determinants of health can be used to personalise nutritional therapeutic strategies. Even though the impact of dietary interventions on the risk factors of chronic diseases has been extensively investigated through population-based approaches, considerable inter-individual variation in response to dietary interventions has also been demonstrated, where the interventions have shown to benefit only certain individuals or population sub-groups. An individual's dietary pattern can influence their physical performance and an optimal diet can delay enervation and improve performance. Given that military personnel execute metabolically demanding activities under conditions of varying environmental extremes, there is a requirement of different needs for nutrients. Personalized nutrition aims to optimize health, body composition, and physical performance by targeting dietary recommendations to an individual’s genetic and non-genetic profile. This Editorial will focus on four recent advances in the field of precision nutrition namely nutrigenetics, metabolomics, nutriepigenetics, and gut microbiome that can lead to personalized dietary recommendations for improving military performance

Physical fitness and academic performance among undergraduate students of a public university in Malaysia

Physical Fitness and Academic Performance among Undergraduate Students of a Public University in Malaysia: This study investigated the relationship between health-related components of physical fitness consisting of morphological fitness (body fat % or BF %; Body Mass Index or BMI; and waist circumference or WC), metabolic fitness (blood glucose, lipid profiles and haemoglobin) and aerobic capacity (VO2max) with academic performance. This cross-sectional study involved 324 volunteer undergraduates in their first year of study recruited by systematic random sampling from a public university in the city Shah Alam, Malaysia. Physical fitness was measured by anthropometric measurements using standard protocols and field fitness tests. Students‘ registration numbers linked the university database to import the Cumulative Grade Point Average. A weak, negative significant relationship was found between WC and academic performance (r = -0.120, p = 0.034). There was a weak negative significant relationship between VO2max and academic performance (r = -0.128, p = 0.029). There was a negative, medium significant relationship between LDL-cholesterol and academic performance (r = -0.505, p = 0.017). Running of Linear regression analysis (stepwise) showed that household income (Ɓ = 0.125, R2= 2.9%) and waist circumference (Ɓ = -0.005, R2 = 1.7%) contributed significantly towards academic performance (F = 7.29, p<0.05). Although waist circumference contributed significantly towards academic performance, it cannot be concluded that health component of physical fitness enhance academic performance since the association is so weak

Physical activity levels of Malaysian vegetarians and its associated factors: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: Literatures suggest that insufficient physical activity as one of the contributors to non-communicable chronic diseases; nevertheless, data on the physical activity level is sparsely reported among individuals practising a vegetarian diet in Malaysia. The current study aims to determine the prevalence of insufficient physical activity and its association with socio-demographic factors, lifestyle factors and body weight status among 273 individuals practising a vegetarian diet in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Methods: A set of self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all vegetarians and their data on physical activity was determined using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). Results: The average years of practising vegetarianism was 14.2±9.6 years, and most of the vegetarians were practised ovo-vegetarian diet (44.0%). A majority of them were Chinese (54.9%) and female (64.8%), with an average age of 47.5 ± 13.1 years. The prevalence of overweight and obesity were 27.5% and 8.1%, respectively. According to GPAQ, about two in five vegetarians (46.2%) were having insufficient physical activity. Being females, older age, Chinese, married individuals, and those with high total household income level were found to be significantly associated with low physical activity level among Malaysian vegetarians (p <0.05). Conclusion: Since insufficient physical activity is one of the factors contributing to non-communicable chronic diseases, it is crucial to educate the importance of physical activity on overall health status, specifically for those who at risk of physically inactive. In addition, future studies can focus the causal associations based on the currently identified factors and physical activity levels, which can help to develop an effective intervention program among Malaysia vegetarians

Factors associated with anemia among female adult vegetarians in Malaysia

Background/objectives: A large number of studies on anemia have focused mostly on pregnant women or children. The vegetarian population, which is another potential risk group for anemia, remains largely unexplored. Therefore, this cross-sectional study examined the associations of the sociodemographic, lifestyle, nutritional, and psychological factors with the anemia status among female adult vegetarians. Subjects/methods: A total of 177 female vegetarians were recruited from a Buddhist and Hindu organization in Selangor, Malaysia. The participants completed a self-administered questionnaire, which analyzed their sociodemographic characteristics, physical activity level, sleep quality, depression, anxiety, and stress. The body weight, height, waist circumference, and body fat percentage of the participants were also measured. A 3-day dietary recall was conducted to assess their dietary intake. Blood samples (3 ml) were withdrawn by a nurse from each participant to determine the hemoglobin (Hb) level. Results: The findings revealed 28.2% of the participants to be anemic. The age group (AOR = 2.46, 95% CI = 1.19-5.05), marital status (AOR = 2.69, 95% CI = 1.27-5.71), and percentage of energy from protein (AOR = 5.52, 95% CI = 1.41-21.65) were the significant predictors of anemia. Conclusions: Anemia is a public health problem among female vegetarians in this study. Health promotion programs that target female adult vegetarians should be conducted to manage and prevent anemia, particularly among those who are married, aged 50 and below, and with an inadequate protein intake

Efficacy of six-minute walk test on cardiac rehabilitation program

Sub-maximal laboratory test is considered as a gold standard prognostic tool which entails high significant score, particularly amongst cardiorespiratory population. However, the high cost, need for sophisticated equipment, expert personnel and physical abilities of subjects make this test inconvenient and impractical. Therefore, this paper attempts to quantify the effectiveness of the six minute walk test as an alternative screening tool amongst phase II cardiac rehabilitation population. This paper reviews with in-depth analysis, the current literature on important parameters in sub maximal tests. This review concludes that the 6MWT is the most suitable sub maximal fitness test amongst phase II and III cardiac rehabilitation patients. This knowledge should enable clinicians and researchers to make informed decision for inclusion of the 6MWT in program prescription

The Relationships between a Dietary Pattern Linked to Cardiometabolic Risk Factors and Life Satisfaction in Early Adolescence

Little is known about the contribution of dietary patterns of poor quality on life satisfaction among Malaysian children. We evaluated associations between an empirically derived &rdquo;high sugar, high fibre, high dietary energy dense (DED) and low fat&rdquo; dietary pattern and life satisfaction score in adolescents. A total of 548 adolescents aged 13 years were recruited from randomly selected public schools located in three southern states of Peninsular Malaysia. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) while life satisfaction was measured using a Multidimensional Students&rsquo; Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS). Z-score for a &rdquo;high sugar, high fibre, high DED and low fat&rdquo; dietary pattern was estimated by applying reduced rank regression analysis. Relationships between the dietary pattern and life satisfaction scores were assessed using regression models. Mean and SD of life satisfaction score was higher in girls (70.5 (12.8)) compared to boys (67.6 (15.4)), p &lt; 0.05. The overall life satisfaction score (&beta; = &minus;0.119; 95% CI: &minus;0.125, &minus;0.004) was inversely associated with dietary pattern z-score as well as scores for self (&beta; = &minus;0.13; 95% CI: &minus;0.170, &minus;0.015) and living environment (&beta; = &minus;0.12; 95% CI: &minus;0.163, &minus;0.007) domains in girls. An opposite trend was observed for school domain in boys whereby an increasing dietary pattern score was positively associated with increasing life satisfaction score (&beta; = 0.216; 95% CI: 0.054, 0.36). The finding of this study highlights the role of free sugar and DED particularly, within the framework of whole diet, and target population at risk to improve life satisfaction among adolescents

Associations of an empirical dietary pattern with cardiometabolic risk factors in Malaysian adolescents

Background: This study aimed to identify a dietary pattern (DP) characterised mainly by high intakes of free sugar and other nutrients hypothesised to be associated with obesity such as dietary energy density (DED), percentage of energy from total fat and fibre density in adolescents from three southern states of Peninsular Malaysia, and its associations with cardiometabolic risk factors. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study among 335 adolescents who provided both dietary information assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and biochemical parameters including lipid profile, blood glucose, serum insulin and homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Anthropometric measurements included weight (kg), height (cm) and waist circumference (cm), while body mass index (BMI) in kg/m2 was estimated, respectively. Reduced rank regression (RRR) identified a DP with percentage of energy from sugar and total fat, DED and fibre density intake as response variables. Results: The identified ‘high sugar, high fibre, high DED and low fat’ DP was characterised by high intakes of sugar-sweetened beverages, fruits, sweets and low intakes of meat and cereal. Adolescents in the highest tertile of the identified DP had about 3.0 (OR = 2.7; 95%CI: 1.3, 5.6) and 2.0 (OR = 1.9; 95%CI: 1.0, 3.5) times higher odds of having dyslipideamia or elevated total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol level, respectively compared to adolescents in the lowest tertile DP after adjusting for sex, school location, maternal education, physical activity, dietary misreporting and BMI z-score. This DP was not significantly associated with overweight and obesity. Conclusions: Higher adherence to a DP characterised mainly by free sugars and DED was associated with greater odds of having dyslipideamia, elevated total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels in Malaysian adolescents