ABSTRACT
Prevalence of psoriasis is 1-3% in India. HLA-C*06 has been shown to be strongly associated with psoriasis in different ethnic populations. This study was carried out to determine the association of HLA-C in psoriasis patients in a south Indian ethnic population.METHODSA total of 200 samples were included in the study. In all, 100 psoriasis patients and 100 healthy controls were studied. HLA-C typing was done by PCR-SSP method. Results were analysed statistically using open epi software (2 X 2 table). The Odds ratio (OR), p (probability) value, and 95% confidence interval were the statistical tests applied and analysed.RESULTSA total of 14 different HLA-C alleles were identified in both 100 cases and 100 controls. Among the 14 different HLA-C alleles, the alleles which were found to be strongly associated with psoriasis which were statistically significant were both HLA-C*06 and HLA-C*07. HLA-C*06 was found to be present in 52% of the patients and HLA-C*07 was found to be present in 33% of the patients. HLA-C*06 was found to be strongly associated with the disease in 52% of the patients.CONCLUSIONSThis study confirms HLA-C*06 association with psoriasis which is in concordance with other previous studies.
ABSTRACT
Metformin is the widely prescribed first line oral antidiabetic drug used in diabetes mellatus, type 2 . The global sales turnover of metformin runs into millions of dollars. The Increased risk of metformin (Met) users for developing Alzheimer disease (AD)is reported first in a study conducted in 2011. Since then, the subject has attracted the attention of the researchers as well as the pharmaceutical industry, resulting in a number of studies, both clinical as well as experiments on animals. Confusing results poured in , ranging from confirmation of the risk of AD to protection against developing AD , making the scenario, all the more intriguing . Added to the confusion, is the diversity of various studies as well as the parameters interpreting their results. Of the many clinical trials, some are retrospective cohort studies(Tseng Chin-Hsiao 2019) , case controlstudies (Imfeld P, et al.) Randomised studies (Hsu CC, et al.),double blind , cross over pilot studies. (Aaron Koenig et al.)and some longitudinal studies (Ng TP, et al.) , besides studies doing meta analysis .Of these studies most of the trials estimate the risk of development of dementia withmetformin alone (Tseng Chin-Hsiao 2019) or in comparison with other OHAs (Hsu et al,Chenget al.) .The other studies studied the effect of metformin on the cognition. (Moore EM, et al.).These trials have different out come measures, (like Hazard ratio, (HR) Odds(OR) ratio, relative risk (RR) etc.)which don’t mean one and the same. So the multiplicity of the types of studies and different out-comes with different conclusions will be surely baffling to an average reader who tries to take cognisance of the involved issues. The article attempts to take stock of the overall developments in this regard. The author adopted a reader friendly approach which is discussed in the article, at the outset. Finally, it is reiterated that future prospective studies only can resolve the conflict of opinion on the nexus between metformin and Alzheimer’s disease