Association of pro-inflammatory cytokines, adipokines & oxidative stress with insulin resistance & non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Background & objectives: The cytokines, adipokines, and oxidative stress have been implicated in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD); however, such data remain scarce in India. The present study evaluated pro-inflammatory cytokines, adipokines, and markers of oxidative stress in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and their association with degree of adiposity, insulin resistance and markers of disease severity. Methods: The present prospective cross-sectional pilot study included 79 subjects; 34 NAFLD, 22 chronic hepatitis B (CH-B) and 23 healthy controls (HC). The parameters studied were adiponectin, leptin, tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα), interleukin-1 and 6 (IL-1, IL-6), and systemic markers of oxidative stress. Results: The mean body mass index (kg/m2) in NAFLD patients, CHB, and HC were 26.4±3.7, 21.3±2.3, and 22.3±2.7, respectively. The median serum levels of all pro-inflammatory cytokines were significantly higher (P<0.001) in NAFLD compared to control groups. Compared to HC, levels of adiponectin and leptin were significantly (P<0.05, P<0.01) reduced in both NAFLD and CHB. IL-6 showed marked and selective increase only in NAFLD patients. The levels of IL-6 were significantly (P<0.02) higher in NAFLD patients with advanced histology grade and correlated with IR (r=0.42, P=0.02). In a sub-group, markers of oxidative stress were significantly higher, and that of antioxidant potential were significantly lower among NAFLD patients compared to control subjects. Interpretation & conclusions: Patients with NAFLD revealed significantly elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, increased oxidative stress, and a significant association of IL-6 with IR and advanced histopathology.

Knowledge attitude and practice (KAP) study regarding facts for life.

This knowledge attitude and practice (KAP) study was done in the married women of age 18-38 years in Jorpati and Gokarna village development committees of Katmandu district to evaluate the knowledge of "Facts for Life". There were 510 married women involved in this study. Altogether 28 questions were asked to each of them regarding the "Facts for Life". It includes the following five subjects: Safe motherhood, Childhood Immunization, Childhood diarrhea, Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) in childhood and hygiene. There was a significant increase in knowledge about hygiene and knowledge regarding childhood immunization than diarrhea, ARI and Safe motherhood. Results showed that the overall knowledge was at 62.8%. This shows that still more attention is needed to Nepalese women.