Evaluation of Inflammatory Markers and Demographic Profile of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients among the Ethnic Communities Attending Central Referral Hospital, East Sikkim.

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the most common metabolic disorder and inflammation plays a key role in the pathogenesis of the disease. Ethnic variations have been linked with an increased prevalence of diabetes. This pilot study was designed to evaluate the inflammatory markers and demographic characteristics in T2DM patients among the ethnic group of Sikkim. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 100 type 2 diabetic patients and 50 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Demographic characteristics were recorded among the patients and inflammatory markers [high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6)], body mass index (BMI), glycemic status, fasting blood sugar (FBS), and postprandial blood sugar (PPBS) level were compared between the cases and controls. Inflammatory markers were correlated with BMI, glycemic status, and duration of diabetes. RESULTS: Type 2 diabetes mellitus was found to be highest in between the age-group of 45 and 55 years with males being mostly affected. Among the ethnic group, Nepalis (57%) comprised the highest with diabetes. No significant correlation was found between inflammatory markers with BMI, glycemic status, and duration of diabetes. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that T2DM increases as age progresses with males being mostly affected. The Nepalese community showed a high proportion of the disease mostly living in the urban residences. Though we included patients on statin therapy, its specific roles and relationship were not in the scope of the current study, but further studies should be conducted at the community level to understand the role and relationship of statins among type 2 diabetic patients and the possibilities of ethnic differences in the levels of biomarkers due to variation in the body fat distribution.

Production of a polyclonal antibody against osteogenic protein-1, and its role in the diagnosis of osteoarthritis.

INTRODUCTION: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive degenerative disorder of the articular cartilage. Available diagnostic radiography has been poorly associated with the progress and severity of this clinical disease. As osteogenic protein-1 (OP-1) has been identified as a bone morphogenetic protein with a major role in cartilage repair, we aimed to evaluate its potential role in the diagnosis of OA. METHODS: This was an experimental study conducted at the Department of Biochemistry, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences, India. Polyclonal antibodies (i.e. anti-OP-1[f]) were raised against OP-1 in mice, and subsequently used in a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect the presence of OP-1 in the synovial fluids of 75 osteoarthritic patients. For the purpose of correlation, the radiographic assessments of the knees of the 75 patients were graded using the Kellgren-Lawrence scoring system. RESULT: The polyclonal antibody (i.e. anti-OP-1[f]) raised against OP-1 was able to detect the presence of OP-1 in the synovial fluids of all the osteoarthritic patients via sandwich ELISA. The level of the OP-1 was found to be much higher than the reference range and correlated positively with the severity of OA (r = 0.24; p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Our study shows that the polyclonal antibody, anti OP-1(f), could be used for the immunodiagnosis of osteoarthritis via sandwich ELISA.