Obesity and hypertension; non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients

To assess the associations of obesity and hypertension in diabetics and non-diabetics. A total of 430 Saudi patients suffering from non-insulin-dependent [type 2] diabetes mellitus comprising of 205[48%] males and 225[52%] females were studied. Height and weight were measured for calculating body mass index [BMI]. The type 2 diabetics and non-diabetic individuals were investigated separately to determine the prevalence of obesity and overweight. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure was recorded using the standard method in a sitting position. The patients were diagnosed as diabetics and hypertensive on the criteria of the World Health Organization. The prevalence of obesity was 16.7% and 22.9%, and overweight was 27.1% and 22.9% in the total men and women studied in healthy non-diabetics; while the prevalence of obesity was 26.8% and 42.7%, and overweight was 45.8 and 38.2% in the total men and women, in the diabetics respectively. In diabetic subjects, glycemic status [HbA[1c]] and BMI had coefficient of correlation between 26 matched pairs as r= 0.36, but not impressive. In over-all population, irrespective of gender, the diabetic subjects had higher obesity/overweight [ob/ow] ratio value [0.84] than non-diabetics [0.79].The prevalence of HT in non-diabetic group was 4.42% in males compared to 2.1% in females, while in the diabetic group the prevalence of HT was 24.39% in males and 41.33% in females, respectively. Prevalence of HT in diabetics was higher in females than males, in contrast to non-diabetics. Our study shows that obesity and hypertension are both contributing factors in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus; and the measures should be adopted for control of obesity and hypertension to reduce the cause of diabetes mellitus

Isolation and characterization of acid phosphatase from maize grains [Zea may]

Acid phosphatase from maize powder was extracted with Tris-HCl buffer. Best extraction was carried out at pH 8.5 and at low ionic strength. The enzyme was found to be more stable at pH 5.5 at room temperature for 24 hours of incubation period. It was completely denatured at 70°C within a few miuutes. The enzyme had an optimum pH 4.8 and optimum temperature of 55°C. The Km value was found to be 0.6 mM for p. nitrophenyl phosphate as substrate. Zn+2, Cd+2, Cu+2 and Hg+2 inactivated the enzyme while Ba+2 had an activating influence. Among the anions, PO4-3 and F-1 acted as potent inhibitors of the enzyme. The effect of ionic strength upon the activity was insignificant