Advantages of Blood Pressure Optimisation Study

published_or_final_versio

Urotensin II in hypertension

published_or_final_versio

Determination of sodium fatty acid in soap Formulation Using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and multivariate calibrations.

Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy using an attenuated total reflectance (ATR) accessory has been investigated as a method for the determination of sodium-fatty acid (sodium-FA) in soap formulations. Multivariate calibrations namely partial least squares regression (PLS) and principle component regression (PCR) were developed for the prediction of sodium-FA using spectral ranges on the basis of relevant IR absorption bands related to sodium-FA. The sodium-FA content in soap formulations was predicted accurately at wavenumbers of 1,570–1,550 cm−1, which is specific for RCOO− Na+ vibration. The PLS method was found to be a consistently better predictor when both PLS and principal component regression (PCR) analyses were used for quantification of sodium-FA. Furthermore, FTIR spectroscopy can be an alternative technique to American oil Chemist Society methods which use a titrimetric technique because FTIR offers rapid, easy sample preparation and is friendly to the environment

Haplotypes in the urotensin II gene and urotensin II receptor gene are associated with insulin resistance and impaired glucose tolerance

We studied single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and haplotypes in the urotensin-II (UTS2) and urotensin-II receptor gene (UTS2R) in Hong Kong Chinese (224 hypertensive and 306 normotensive unrelated subjects) and their relation to hypertension and the metabolic syndrome. For UTS2, the GGT haplotype (-605G, 143G and 3836T) was associated with higher plasma level of U-II and insulin, and higher homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index and β-cell function. For UTS2R, the AC haplotype (-11640A and -8515C) was associated with higher 2 h plasma glucose after a 75 g oral glucose load. Therefore, U-II and its receptor may play a role in insulin resistance. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.postprin

Lipid profile of the Hong Kong Cardiovascular Risk Factor Prevalence Study cohort

published_or_final_versio

Association of hypertension with single nucleotide polymorphisms in the quantitative trait locus for abdominal obesity-metabolic syndrome on chromosome 17

Genome scan in Chinese revealed an association of blood pressure with the microsatellite marker D17S1303, which lies in a quantitative trait locus for the abdominal obesity-metabolic syndrome (AOMS2) at 17p12 on chromosome 17. We previously reported that D17S1303 was associated with hypertension and obesity. Therefore, we studied 10 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) within 3 kb of D17S1303. One hundred and eighty hypertensive subjects (91 men, 89 women, age 53 ± 12 years) and 180 normotensive matched controls (91 men, 89 women, age 52 ± 11) were genotyped using the Sequenom genotyping platform. Allelic frequencies in these Chinese subjects differed from those reported for Caucasians. Three SNPs (rs11656507, rs1357926, rs852319) were homozygous in our subjects. The genotype frequencies of rs852320, rs852321 and rs852322 did not differ between hypertensive and normotensive subjects. However, there were significant differences for rs1525402 (P = 0.048), rs2692343 (P = 0.022), rs2692344 (P = 0.017) and rs2321313 (P = 0.028). A four-locus haplotype comprising G at rs1525402, C at rs2692343, C at rs2692344 and G at rs2321313 was associated with lower systolic blood pressure (P = 0.023) and normotension (P = 0.048). Our results provide further evidence that there is a gene, as yet unidentified, influencing blood pressure in the vicinity of D17S1303 in a quantitative trait locus for abdominal obesity-metabolic syndrome at 17p12. © 2006 Nature Publishing Group. All rights reserved.postprin

Use of the SAW sensor electronic nose for detecting the adulteration of virgin coconut oil with RBD palm kernel olein.

An electronic nose (zNose™) was applied to the detection of adulteration of virgin coconut oil. The system, which is based on a surface acoustic wave sensor was used to generate a pattern of volatile compounds present in the samples. Virgin coconut oil was mixed with refined, bleached and deodorized palm kernel olein at a level of adulteration from 1 to 20% (wt/wt). Adulterant peaks were identified from the chromatogram profile and fitted to a curve using linear regression. The best relationship (R 2 = 0.91) was obtained between the peak tentatively identified as methyl dodecanoate and the percentage of palm kernel olein added. Pearson’s correlation coefficients (r) of 0.92 and 0.89 were obtained between adulterant peak methyl dodecanoate and of the iodine and peroxide values, respectively. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to differentiate between pure and adulterated samples. The PCA provided good differentiation of samples with 74% of the variation accounted for by PC 1 and 17% accounted for by PC 2. Pure samples formed a separate cluster from all of the adulterated samples

Lipid profile of the Hong Kong Cardiovascular Risk Factor Prevalence Study cohort

published_or_final_versio

High blood pressure is related to obesity in Hong Kong

published_or_final_versio