Association of organ iron levels with type 2 diabetes mellitus and glycemic traits: A bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Introduction: Observational studies have found that higher iron levels are associated with an increased risk of diabetes mellitus. Given the limitations of causal inferences from observational studies and the expensive and time-consuming nature of randomized controlled trials, Mendelian randomization analysis presents a reasonable alternative to study causal relationships. Previous MR analyses studying iron levels and diabetes have used indirect markers of iron levels, such as serum ferritin, and found conflicting results.

Genetic predisposition and high exposure to colistin in the early treatment period as independent risk factors for colistin-induced nephrotoxicity.

Colistin is known to cause nephrotoxicity due to its extensive reabsorption and accumulation in renal tubules. In vitro studies have identified the functional role of colistin transporters such as OCTN2, PEPT2, megalin, and P-glycoprotein. However, the role of these transporter gene variants in colistin-induced nephrotoxicity has not been studied.

Association of dietary patterns and health outcomes by spatial regression analysis of nationally representative survey data from India.

Background: Our aim was to study the regional differences in dietary patterns in India and their association with population-level nutrition-related health indicators such as the prevalence of anemia, overweight, undernutrition, and hyperglycemia.

Objectives: To identify and characterize the dietary patterns from publicly available nationally representative survey data on food consumption conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) to study the regional differences in dietary patterns.

Methods: Dietary patterns were identified by factor analysis of per capita food consumption data from the household consumer expenditure survey (2011).

Impaired pancreatic beta-cell function after a single dose of oral iron: A before-and-after (pre-post) study.

Background: Although in vitro and animal studies have shown that iron loading in pancreatic beta cells impairs insulin secretion, no human studies have documented the acute effects of oral iron on beta-cell insulin secretory capacity. In the present study, we determined beta-cell insulin secretory capacity at baseline and after a single oral dose of iron (ferrous sulphate, 120 mg elemental iron) in healthy male individuals.

Methods: Fifteen healthy male volunteers underwent an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) to document baseline glucose tolerance and insulin secretion kinetics (baseline OGTT).

CRISPR-Cas system and its use in the diagnosis of infectious diseases.

Rapid and accurate diagnostic methods for detecting pathogens are needed for effective management and treatment of infectious diseases. The conventional pathogen detection approach based on culture is considered the gold standard method, but needs several days to corroborate its results. Using nucleic acids from pathogens as detection targets has a considerable advantage in overcoming these time-consuming issues.

Epidemiological investigation of the COVID-19 outbreak in Vellore district in South India using Geographic Information Surveillance (GIS).

Objectives: Geographical Information Surveillance (GIS) is an advanced digital technology tool that maps location-based data and helps in epidemiological modeling. We applied GIS to analyze patterns of spread and hotspots of COVID-19 cases in the Vellore district in South India.

Methods: Laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases from the Vellore district and neighboring taluks from March 2020 to June 2021 were geocoded and spatial maps were generated.

An Atypical Form of Diabetes Among Individuals With Low BMI.

Objective: Diabetes among individuals with low BMI (<19 kg/m2) has been recognized for >60 years as a prevalent entity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and was formally classified as "malnutrition-related diabetes mellitus" by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1985. Since the WHO withdrew this category in 1999, our objective was to define the metabolic characteristics of these individuals to establish that this is a distinct form of diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: State-of-the-art metabolic studies were used to characterize Indian individuals with "low BMI diabetes" (LD) in whom all known forms of diabetes were excluded by immunogenetic analysis.

Transmission Dynamics of COVID-19 and Utility of Contact Tracing in Risk Assessment of Health-Care Worker Exposure during COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: In the COVID-19 pandemic, the frontline health-care workers (HCWs) are at increased risk of acquiring infection either through household or workplace exposure.

Objectives: To assess the risk of acquiring infection after COVID-19 exposure, we evaluated the effectiveness of a contact tracing assessment to identify the high-risk contacts.

Materials And Methods: All HCW who tested COVID-19 positive in July 2020 were interviewed to do risk assessment based on their exposure, advised quarantine, and then followed up on day 14 for development of symptoms of COVID-19.

Evidence of dysregulated iron homeostasis in newly diagnosed diabetics, but not in pre-diabetics.

Aim: Diabetes mellitus has been reported to be associated with increased serum levels of ferritin. The basis of this association is unclear. It is also not precisely known whether other iron-related parameters, including hepcidin (the central regulator of systemic iron homeostasis), are affected under these circumstances.

The recent trend in mycobacterial strain diversity among extra pulmonary lymph node tuberculosis and their association with drug resistance and the host immunological response in South India.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) though primarily affects the lungs it may also affect the other parts of the body and referred as extra pulmonary (EPTB). This study is focused on understanding the genetic diversity and molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) among tuberculous lymphadenitis (TBL), a form of EPTB patients identified in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

In vitro interaction profiles of the new antitubercular drugs bedaquiline and delamanid with moxifloxacin against clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates.

Objectives: The emergence of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) poses a serious challenge to existing anti-TB therapies. Hence, there is a direct need for identification of new drugs and effective combination regimens.

Methods: In this study, minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the anti-TB drugs bedaquiline (BDQ), delamanid (DEL) and moxifloxacin (MFX) were evaluated using a resazurin microtiter assay (REMA) against five drug-resistant clinicalMycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates as well as the drug-susceptible reference strain H37Rv.

Differential performance of surrogate indices of fasting insulin resistance in low-birthweight and normal-birth weight cohorts: Observations from Hyperinsulinaemic-Euglycaemic clamp studies in young, Asian Indian males.

Aim: To evaluate the predictive accuracy of surrogate measures of fasting insulin resistance/sensitivity like the Homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA -IR), Fasting glucose/insulin ratio (FG-IR), Quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI), and the 20/fasting C peptide x fasting plasma glucose [20/(FCP × FPG)] index in comparison to M value derived from hyperinsulinaemic-euglycaemic clamp (HEC) studies in two birth weight based cohorts of Asian Indian males.

Methods: HEC studies were performed in non-diabetic Asian Indian males (n = 117), born of normal birth weight (n = 59, birth weight > 2.5 kgs) and low birth weight (n = 58, birth weight < 2.

Indirect Calorimetry: From Bench to Bedside.

Accurate determination of energy expenditure (EE) is vitally important yet often neglected in clinical practice. Indirect calorimetry (IC) provides one of the most sensitive, accurate, and noninvasive measurements of EE in an individual. Over the last couple of decades, this technique has been applied to clinical circumstances such as acute illness and parenteral nutrition.

Surrogate measures of insulin sensitivity when compared to euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp studies in Asian Indian men without diabetes.

Aim: Fasting surrogate measures of insulin sensitivity are increasingly used in research and clinical practice. To assess the reliability of these measures, we aimed to evaluate multiple fasting surrogate measures simultaneously in non-diabetic subjects in comparison with the euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp study.

Methods: Sixteen normoglycemic male South Indian subjects were studied.

Parental determinants of metabolic syndrome among adolescent Asian Indians: A cross-sectional analysis of parent-offspring trios.

Background: The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between parental metabolic syndrome (MS) and the risk of MS and associated abnormalities in adolescent offspring.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 304 adolescents (12-16 years; 236 children with at least one parent and 124 father-mother-child trios) recruited from four schools representing different socioeconomic strata from Vellore, India. Anthropometric data was collected and blood pressure, blood glucose, and lipids were measured.

Maturity onset diabetes of the young in India - a distinctive mutation pattern identified through targeted next-generation sequencing.

Objective: To establish and utilize a Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS)-based strategy to screen for maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY) gene mutations in subjects with early-onset diabetes.

Patients And Methods: Maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY) genetic testing was carried out in 80 subjects of Asian Indian origin with young onset diabetes to identify mutations in a comprehensive panel of ten MODY genes. A novel multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based target enrichment was established, followed by NGS on the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM).