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Background: Hypertriglyceridemia has emerged as a critical coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factor. Rare loss-of-function (LoF) variants in apolipoprotein C-III have been reported to reduce triglycerides (TG) and are cardioprotective in American Indians and Europeans. However, there is a lack of data in other Europeans and non-Europeans. Also, whether genetically increased plasma TG due to ApoC-III is causally associated with increased CAD risk is still unclear and inconsistent. The objectives of this study were to verify the cardioprotective role of earlier reported six LoF variants of APOC3 in South Asians and other multi-ethnic cohorts and to evaluate the causal association of TG raising common variants for increasing CAD risk. Methods: We performed gene-centric and Mendelian randomization analyses and evaluated the role of genetic variation encompassing APOC3 for affecting circulating TG and the risk for developing CAD. Results: One rare LoF variant (rs138326449) with a 37% reduction in TG was associated with lowered risk for CAD in Europeans (p = 0.007), but we could not confirm this association in Asian Indians (p = 0.641). Our data could not validate the cardioprotective role of other five LoF variants analysed. A common variant rs5128 in the APOC3 was strongly associated with elevated TG levels showing a p-value 2.8 × 10− 424. Measures of plasma ApoC-III in a small subset of Sikhs revealed a 37% increase in ApoC-III concentrations among homozygous mutant carriers than the wild-type carriers of rs5128. A genetically instrumented per 1SD increment of plasma TG level of 15 mg/dL would cause a mild increase (3%) in the risk for CAD (p = 0.042). Conclusions: Our results highlight the challenges of inclusion of rare variant information in clinical risk assessment and the generalizability of implementation of ApoC-III inhibition for treating atherosclerotic disease. More studies would be needed to confirm whether genetically raised TG and ApoC-III concentrations would increase CAD risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nutritional modulation remains central to the management of metabolic syndrome. Intervention with cinnamon in individuals with metabolic syndrome remains sparsely researched. Methods: We investigated the effect of oral cinnamon consumption on body composition and metabolic parameters of Asian Indians with metabolic syndrome. In this 16-week double blind randomized control trial, 116 individuals with metabolic syndrome were randomized to two dietary intervention groups, cinnamon [6 capsules (3 g) daily] or wheat flour [6 capsules (2.5 g) daily]. Body composition, blood pressure and metabolic parameters were assessed. Results: Significantly greater decrease [difference between means, (95% CI)] in fasting blood glucose (mmol/L) [0.3 (0.2, 0.5) p = 0.001], glycosylated haemoglobin (mmol/mol) [2.6 (0.4, 4.9) p = 0.023], waist circumference (cm) [4.8 (1.9, 7.7) p = 0.002] and body mass index (kg/m2 ) [1.3 (0.9, 1.5) p = 0.001] was observed in the cinnamon group compared to placebo group. Other parameters which showed significantly greater improvement were: waist-hip ratio, blood pressure, serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, serum triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Prevalence of defined metabolic syndrome was significantly reduced in the intervention group (34.5%) vs. the placebo group (5.2%). Conclusion: A single supplement intervention with 3 g cinnamon for 16 weeks resulted in significant improvements in all components of metabolic syndrome in a sample of Asian Indians in north India. Trial registration: The clinical trial was retrospectively registered (after the recruitment of the participants) in ClinicalTrial.gov under the identification number: NCT02455778 on 25th May 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are more prevalent and severe in Asian Indians. Simple diet-based strategies are important for prevention of cardiovascular diseases. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of oats consumption on lipid parameters in mildly hypercholesterolemic Asian Indians living in India. Methods: A short-term, prospective, open-labeled, randomized controlled, parallel group study was conducted. Mildly hypercholesterolemic (total cholesterol >200 mg/dL and <240 mg/dL) subjects (n = 80) were randomized into two groups: intervention (n = 40) and usual diet (n = 40). Sample size was calculated for a two-group parallel superiority randomized control trial. Out of 80 enrolled subjects 69 subjects completed the study; 33 in the control group and 36 in the intervention group. In the intervention group, patients were served 70 g of oats twice a day in the form of porridge and upma (A thick porridge from oats with seasonings and vegetables) under observation at the study site. Lipid parameters were assessed at baseline and after 4 weeks of intervention. Results: There was a reduction of 3.1% in total cholesterol levels in the control group as against 8.1% reduction in the intervention group (p < 0.02). Greater reductions were also seen in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the intervention group (11.6%) as compared to control group (4.1%, p < 0.04) over a period of 28 days. Conclusion: Daily consumption of 3 g of soluble fiber from 70 g of oats leads to beneficial effects on the lipid parameters, specifically total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in hypercholesterolemic Asian Indians. Large scale studies over a longer period of intervention are required to further establish the cholesterollowering effect of oat fiber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]