Glycaemic control behaviors in type 2 diabetes- a qualitative study of patients’ perspectives in Sri Lanka

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is escalating globally and now the most important non-communicable disease causing serious health issues in Sri Lanka. The complications of T2DM burden individuals, their families, the economy and the health care system. However, there is limited data on the perspectives of adults about their glycaemic control behaviors in Sri Lanka. Understanding these perspectives is critical in reducing complications, improving health and well-being among adults with T2DM.Objective: To explore the perspectives among adults with T2DM regarding their glycaemic control behaviors.Methods: In this qualitative study, in-depth interviews were conducted among 17 adults with T2DM. Matrix analysis was used to analyze dataResults: Our rich data resulted in two themes centering on reasons for adequate glycaemic control and barriers to glycaemic control. The reasons for good glycaemic control were: understanding the illness, sufficient family support, adequate income, a higher level of education and motivation to control. The barriers were: insufficient knowledge about the illness, low socioeconomic status, lack of family support and poor compliance to health advice. The participants believed that doing diet control, regular exercise and taking medication properly on daily, long-term basis is very challenging.Conclusions: Nurses and health care personnel need to address the barriers and reasons for glycaemic control behaviors in planning, assessment, treatment protocols and health policies to provide better diabetic care in primary health care and hospital settings. It confirms the need for culturally appropriate diabetic care and advice.

The Colombo Twin and Singleton Study (COTASS): Piloting the Feasibility of Collecting Nutritional Data and Extension of the Sample to Include Children of Twins.

Nutrition and diet are key modifiable risk factors for the rising burden of non-communicable diseases like cardio-vascular diseases and diabetes in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs). The nutritional transition in dietary behaviours in LMICs has most likely contributed to this problem. Although traditionally assumed to be environmental, dietary choices are also genetically influenced. Twin study designs can be used to investigate the relative influence of genes and environment on nutrition intake, eating behaviours and associated psychological health. The overall aim of this project is to: provide proof-of-concept for the feasibility of using dietary (biomarker) data within the Children-of-Twin design in nutrition studies, develop laboratory skills and statistical genetic skills and establish a Sri Lankan-specific food composition database. Currently, a pilot study is being conducted with 304 individuals (38 Monozygotic twin pairs, 38 Dizygotic twin pairs and their male or female adult offspring). Questionnaire data on nutritional intake, eating behaviours, psychological well-being, physical health, and bio-specimens are being collected. A Sri Lankan-specific food composition database was developed, training sessions on macro and micro element analysis in biological samples and statistical genetics skills development were conducted and Community Engagement and Involvement programs were carried out in two districts of Sri Lanka. [Abstract copyright: © 2024. The Author(s).

Genome-wide association study reveals a set of genes associated with resistance to the Mediterranean corn borer (Sesamia nonagrioides L.) in a maize diversity panel

[Background] Corn borers are the primary maize pest; their feeding on the pith results in stem damage and yield losses. In this study, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify SNPs associated with resistance to Mediterranean corn borer in a maize diversity panel using a set of more than 240,000 SNPs.[Results] Twenty five SNPs were significantly associated with three resistance traits: 10 were significantly associated with tunnel length, 4 with stem damage, and 11 with kernel resistance. Allelic variation at each significant SNP was associated with from 6 to 9% of the phenotypic variance. A set of genes containing or physically close to these SNPs are proposed as candidate genes for borer resistance, supported by their involvement in plant defense-related mechanisms in previously published evidence. The linkage disequilibrium decayed (r2 < 0.10) rapidly within short distance, suggesting high resolution of GWAS associations.[Conclusions] Most of the candidate genes found in this study are part of signaling pathways, others act as regulator of expression under biotic stress condition, and a few genes are encoding enzymes with antibiotic effect against insects such as the cystatin1 gene and the defensin proteins. These findings contribute to the understanding the complex relationship between plant-insect interactions.This work was supported by the National Plan for Research and Development of Spain (projects AGL2012-33415). L.F. Samayoa acknowledges a contract JAE-Predoc from the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC).Peer reviewe