Bangladeshi Diet Research Articles

Radiological risk assessment of farm-raised fish species due to natural radionuclides in the freshwater ecosystem of Bangladesh with the statistical approach

We study radiation exposure resulting from the consumption of farm-raised freshwater fish species that form an essential part of the Bangladeshi diet. The levels of radioactivity in the human diet are of particular concern, requiring assessment of possible radiological risks to human health. Therefore, a comprehensive study was carried out to determine the radioactivity levels (226Ra, 228Ra, and 40K) in fifteen commonly available varieties of farm-raised fishes. The gamma-ray spectroscopic analysis showed the presence of radionuclides of 226Ra, 228Ra, and 40K in all studied fishes, but varying degrees. The highest radioactivity levels of 226Ra, 40K, and 228Ra were observed in Rui (Labeo rohita) and Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) with values of 8.50 ± 0.30, 513.28 ± 1.59, and 7.41 ± 0.15 Bqkg−1, respectively. The respective radioactivity levels were lowest in Silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), Mola (Amblypharyngodon mola), and Koi (Anabas testudineus) with values of 0.83 ± 0.38, 171.07 ± 1.60, and 0.62 ± 0.30 Bqkg−1. The doses for 226Ra, 228Ra, and 40K due to consumption of a kilogram of farm fish were assessed and range from 5.56 (Sarputi – Puntius sarana) to 54.36 µSvy–1 (Rui – Labeo rohita), 9.77 (Koi – A. testudineus) to 116.79 µSvy–1 (Tilapia – O. mossambicus), and 24.23 (Mola – A. mola) to 72.69 µSvy–1 (Rui – Labeo rohita), respectively. In most cases, the estimated probability of an increase of cancer risk from daily intake of the farm-raised fish diet representing a minor fraction of ICRP values. Statistical analysis shows that the radioactivity and estimated radiological parameters are strongly correlated with 226Ra and 228Ra, while weakly correlated to 40K, suggesting that radiological risk is basically associated and controlled by the activity levels of uranium and thorium series radionuclides.

Metal Contents in Fish from the Bay of Bengal and Potential Consumer Exposure-The EAF-Nansen Programme.

Fish represent an important part of the Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi diet. However, fish is also a source of contaminants that may constitute a health risk to consumers. The aim of this study was to analyse the contents of arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead in 24 commonly consumed marine fish species from the Bay of Bengal and to assess the potential health risk associated with their consumption. Mercury and lead contents did not exceed the maximum limits for any of the sampled species, and consumer exposure from estimated daily consumption was assessed to be minimal for adults and children. Numerous samples exceeded the maximum limit for cadmium (58%), particularly those of small size (≤25 cm). However, consumer exposure was insignificant, and health assessment showed no risk connected to consumption. These data represent an important contribution to future risk/benefit assessments related to the consumption of fish.

Temporal Trends in Apparent Energy and Macronutrient Intakes in the Diet in Bangladesh: A Joinpoint Regression Analysis of the FAO's Food Balance Sheet Data from 1961 to 2017.

We analyzed the temporal trends and significant changes in apparent energy and macronutrient intakes in the Bangladeshi diet from 1961 to 2017. Due to the lack of a long-running national dietary intake dataset, this study used the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s old and new food balance sheet dataset. We used the joinpoint regression model and jump model to analyze the temporal trends in apparent energy and macronutrient intakes. The annual percentage change (APC) was computed for each segment of the trends. Bangladesh has experienced a late energy revolution in their dietary history. During the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Bangladesh was suffering from substantive calorie deficits, where in apparent energy intake was less than 2200 kcal/day/person. Since the late 1990s, Bangladesh has made significant progress in raising the apparent energy consumption in the diet. Since the late 1970s, apparent fat intake started to increase significantly at a marked rate (APC = 2.16), whereas since the early 1990s, protein intake increased significantly by 1.33% per year. Plant sources have mostly governed the protein and fat intake trends in the Bangladeshi diet since 1960, whereas animal sources began to contribute significantly in protein intake since 1990 (APC = 3.43) and in fat intake since 2000 (APC = 2.88). Bangladesh overcame the substantive calorie deficit condition in the diet from the late 1990s. Excessive carbohydrate intake along with imbalanced and low-quality protein and fat intakes have been the central features in the diet in Bangladesh.

Duodenal Microbiota in Stunted Undernourished Children with Enteropathy

BackgroundEnvironmental enteric dysfunction (EED) is an enigmatic disorder of the small intestine that is postulated to play a role in childhood undernutrition, a pressing global health problem. Defining the incidence of this disorder, its pathophysiological features, and its contribution to impaired linear and ponderal growth has been hampered by the difficulty in directly sampling the small intestinal mucosa and microbial community (microbiota).MethodsIn this study, among 110 young children (mean age, 18 months) with linear growth stunting who were living in an urban slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and had not benefited from a nutritional intervention, we performed endoscopy in 80 children who had biopsy-confirmed EED and available plasma and duodenal samples. We quantified the levels of 4077 plasma proteins and 2619 proteins in duodenal biopsy samples obtained from these children. The levels of bacterial strains in microbiota recovered from duodenal aspirate from each child were determined with the use of culture-independent methods. In addition, we obtained 21 plasma samples and 27 fecal samples from age-matched healthy children living in the same area. Young germ-free mice that had been fed a Bangladeshi diet were colonized with bacterial strains cultured from the duodenal aspirates.ResultsOf the bacterial strains that were obtained from the children, the absolute levels of a shared group of 14 taxa (which are not typically classified as enteropathogens) were negatively correlated with linear growth (length-for-age z score, r=−0.49; P=0.003) and positively correlated with duodenal proteins involved in immunoinflammatory responses. The representation of these 14 duodenal taxa in fecal microbiota was significantly different from that in samples obtained from healthy children (P<0.001 by permutational multivariate analysis of variance). Enteropathy of the small intestine developed in gnotobiotic mice that had been colonized with cultured duodenal strains obtained from children with EED.ConclusionsThese results provide support for a causal relationship between growth stunting and components of the small intestinal microbiota and enteropathy and offer a rationale for developing therapies that target these microbial contributions to EED. (Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02812615.)

Nutrient Composition of Demersal, Pelagic, and Mesopelagic Fish Species Sampled Off the Coast of Bangladesh and Their Potential Contribution to Food and Nutrition Security-The EAF-Nansen Programme.

Fish is a major part of the Bangladeshi diet, but data on the nutrient composition of marine fish species are sparse. Mesopelagic fish may be a new potential resource of food and nutrients; however, nutrient composition data are lacking. The aim of this study was to provide nutrient composition data of fish species sampled off the coast of Bangladesh and determine their potential contribution to recommended nutrient intakes (RNI). Seven species from the pelagic, mesopelagic, and demersal zones were sampled from the coast of Bangladesh with Dr. Fridtjof Nansen in 2018. Three pooled samples containing 15-840 individuals from each species were analysed at the Institute of Marine Research, Norway. The demersal species contained substantially lower concentrations of nearly all nutrients, whereas the mesopelagic species generally were more nutrient dense. All species, except for the demersal species Bombay duck (9% dry matter), were found to contribute ≥100% to the RNI of vitamin B12, eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, and selenium. All species, except for the demersal fish species, contributed ≥25% to the RNI of six or more nutrients. The data presented in this paper are an important contribution to the Bangladeshi food composition table and contribute to the understanding of fish as an important source of micronutrients.

Combined Prebiotic and Microbial Intervention Improves Oral Cholera Vaccination Responses in a Mouse Model of Childhood Undernutrition

Undernourished children in low-income countries often exhibit poor responses to oral vaccination. Perturbed microbiota development is linked to undernutrition, but whether and how microbiota changes affect vaccine responsiveness remains unclear. Here, we show that gnotobiotic mice colonized with microbiota from undernourished Bangladeshi children and fed a Bangladeshi diet exhibited microbiota-dependent differences in mucosal IgA responses to oral vaccination with cholera toxin (CT). Supplementation with a nutraceutical consisting of spirulina, amaranth, flaxseed, and micronutrients augmented CT-IgA production. Mice initially colonized with a microbiota associated with poor CT responses exhibited improved immunogenicity upon invasion of bacterial taxa from cagemates colonized with a more "responsive" microbiota. Additionally, a consortium of five cultured bacterial invaders conferred augmented CT-IgA responses in mice fed the supplemented diet and colonized with the "hypo-responsive" community. These results provide preclinical proof-of-concept that diet and microbiota influence mucosal immune responses to CT vaccination and identify a candidate synbiotic formulation.

Temporal Trends in Apparent Food Consumption in Bangladesh: A Joinpoint Regression Analysis of FAO's Food Balance Sheet Data from 1961 to 2013.

We analyzed the temporal trends and significant changes in apparent food consumption or availabilityin Bangladesh from 1961 to 2013. Due to the lack of a long-term national dietary intake dataset, this study used data derived from the FAO’s food balance sheets. We used joinpoint regression analysis to identify significant changes in the temporal trends. The annual percent change (APC) was computed for each segment of the trends. Apparent intake of starchy roots, eggs, fish, vegetables, milk, and vegetable oils significantly has increased (p < 0.05) in the Bangladeshi diet since 1961; whereas cereals changed by merely 4.65%. Bangladesh has been experiencing three structural changes in their dietary history after the Liberation War, though the intake level has been grossly inadequate. Initially, since the late-1970s, apparent vegetable oils intake increased at a market rate (APC = 7.53). Subsequently, since the early-1990s, the real force behind the structural change in the diet has been the increasing trends in the apparent intake of fish (APC = 5.05), eggs (APC = 4.65), and meat (APC = 1.54). Lastly, since the early 2000s, apparent intakes of fruits (APC = 20.44), vegetables (APC = 10.58), and milk (APC = 3.55) increased significantly (p <0.05). This study result reveals and quantifies the significant secular changes in the dietary history of Bangladesh from 1961 to 2013. Bangladesh has experienced inadequate but significant structural changes in the diet in the late-1970s, early-1990s, and early-2000s. Overabundance of cereals and inadequate structural changes in the diet may have caused the increasing prevalence of overweightness and emergence of diet-related, non-communicable diseases in Bangladesh.

A sparse covarying unit that describes healthy and impaired human gut microbiota development.

Characterizing the organization of the human gut microbiota is a formidable challenge given the number of possible interactions between its components. Using a statistical approach initially applied to financial markets, we measured temporally conserved covariance among bacterial taxa in the microbiota of healthy members of a Bangladeshi birth cohort sampled from 1 to 60 months of age. The results revealed an “ecogroup” of 15 covarying bacterial taxa that provide a concise description of microbiota development in healthy children from this and other low-income countries, and a means for monitoring community repair in undernourished children treated with therapeutic foods. Features of ecogroup population dynamics were recapitulated in gnotobiotic piglets as they transitioned from exclusive milk feeding to a fully weaned state consuming a representative Bangladeshi diet.INTRODUCTIONEcosystems such as the human gut microbiota are typically described by a “parts list” with enumeration of component members. Accordingly, the abundances of community components are commonly used as a metric for relating its configuration to features of its habitat and to the biological state of the host. Although this approach has provided much insight, the structure and function of biological systems are emergent, arising from the collective action of constituent parts rather than each part acting in isolation. This characteristic demands a different approach to describing the form of a microbiota—one that takes into consideration the abundances as well as the interactions between members.RATIONALEBorrowing from the fields of econophysics and protein evolution, where identification of conserved covariation has provided insights about the organization of complex dynamic systems, we searched for features amidst the seemingly intractable complexity of human gut microbial communities that could serve as a framework for understanding how they assemble and function.RESULTSA statistical workflow was developed to identify conserved bacterial taxon-taxon covariance in the gut communities of healthy members of a Bangladeshi birth cohort who provided fecal samples monthly from postnatal months 1 to 60. The results revealed an “ecogroup” of 15 bacterial taxa that together exhibited consistent covariation by 20 months of age and beyond. Ecogroup taxa also described gut microbiota development in healthy members of birth cohorts residing in Bangladesh, India, and Peru to an extent comparable to what is achieved when considering all detected bacterial taxa; this finding suggests that the ecogroup network is a conserved general feature of microbiota organization. Moreover, the ecogroup provided a framework for characterizing the state of perturbed microbiota development in Bangladeshi children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and moderate acute malnutrition (MAM), as well as a quantitative metric for defining the efficacy of standard versus microbiota-directed therapeutic foods in reconfiguring their gut communities toward a state seen in age-matched healthy children living in the same locale. These results highlight the importance of the ecogroup as a descriptor, both for fundamental and practical uses. A consortium of cultured ecogroup taxa, introduced into gnotobiotic piglets, reenacted changes in their relative abundances that were observed in human communities as the animals transitioned from exclusive milk feeding to a fully weaned state consuming a prototypic Bangladeshi diet. This pattern of change correlated with the representation of a sparse set of metabolic pathways in the genomes of these organisms and, in the fully weaned state, with their expression.CONCLUSIONThe ecogroup represents a simplified feature of community organization and components that could play key roles in community assembly and function. As the gut microbiota constantly faces environmental challenges, “embedding” a sparse network of covarying taxa in a larger framework of independently varying organisms could represent an elegant architectural solution developed by nature to maintain robustness while enabling adaptation. The approach used to identify and characterize the sparse network of covarying ecogroup taxa is, in principle, generalizable to a wide variety of ecosystems.Ecogroup as a concise description of microbiota form. (Top) Network diagram of covarying taxa where node (taxon) color indicates ecogroup (green) or nonecogroup (gray), node size indicates number of mutually covarying taxa, and connection between nodes indicates covariance between two taxa. (Bottom) Measuring the representation of ecogroup taxa reveals that children with SAM treated with standard therapeutic foods have an ecogroup profile similar to that of children with untreated MAM, indicating persistent perturbations in their gut community relative to healthy children. In contrast, children with MAM treated with a therapeutic food designed to target the microbiota (MDCF-2) have an ecogroup profile that overlaps nearly entirely with that of healthy children.

A case-control analysis of maternal diet and risk of neural tube defects in Bangladesh.

Mothers need a nutrient-rich diet for healthy neural tube development. Neural tube defect risk can be reduced through fortifying grain products with folic acid and taking folic acid supplements. Fortification is not required in Bangladesh. Maternal supplement use rates are low, similar to other countries. This study evaluates maternal dietary intake during pregnancy to identify possible interventions. A food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) assessed maternal diet. The primary aim compared dietary intake (calories, fat, carbohydrate, protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals) between mothers of infants with myelomeningocele (cases) and mothers of controls. Secondary aims included (i) comparing foods consumed and (ii) evaluating if rice intake correlated with arsenic exposure. Paired t-tests, Wilcoxon signed rank tests, McNemar's chi-squared test, and linear regression were used. This study included 110 matched mother-infant pairs (55 cases/55 controls). Mothers of cases and mothers of controls had similar caloric intake [median 2406 kcal/day vs. 2196 kcal/day (p = 0.071)]. Mothers in both groups consumed less than half the daily recommended 600 μg of folate. Diets were potentially deficient in vitamins A, D, E, potassium, sodium, and iron. Steamed rice was the primary food consumed for both groups, and this rice intake was not associated with toenail arsenic. Dietary interventions should increase folate, vitamins A, D, E, potassium, sodium, and iron intake in Bangladeshi mothers. Folic acid fortification of grain products maybe the only viable strategy to achieve adequate folate intake for mothers. Given the central role of rice to the Bangladeshi diet, fortifying rice may be a viable option.

Isolation, molecular identification and antibiotic susceptibility profile of Aeromonas hydrophila from cultured indigenous Koi (Anabus testudineus) of Bangladesh

Fish play a crucial role in the Bangladeshi diet, providing more than 60% of animal source food, representing a crucial source of micro-nutrients and possessing an extremely strong cultural attachment. In this study isolation and identification of Aeromionas hydrophila was done by studying cultural properties, Gram’s staining and biochemical properties of isolates of diseased indigenous Koi fish (Anabas testudineus) of different upazillas of Mymensingh district. Antibiogram profile of the isolated bacteria was studied by using wide range of commercially available antibiotics. Quantitative study of bacteria isolated from diseased indigenous Koi fish showed variation of number in different organ. Total bacterial load was found to be 1.90 × 105, 1.19 × 105, 3.21 × 105, 2.18 × 106 and 3.14 × 105 cfu/g in lesions; 2.52 × 107, 2.34 × 108, 5.41 × 108, 2.54 × 109 and 5.21 × 109 cfu/g in liver; 2.54 × 108, 2.41 × 108, 1.90 × 107, 3.65 × 107 and 3.45 × 108 cfu/g in spleen; 3.51 × 107, 5.28 × 107, 3.14 × 106, 1.85 × 107 and 4.52× 107 cfu/g in kidney in diseased Koi of Mymensingh sadar, Muktagacha, Tarakanda, Gouripur and Fulpur upazillas, respectively under Mymensingh districts. Aeromonas hydrophila was initially identified by their specific morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics. Then molecular detection of A. hydrophila was done by PCR. PCR products of desired 760 bp were obtained for A. hydrophila. The results of the antibiotic sensitivity test is exhibited that most of the bacterial samples were sensitive against ciprofloxacin (92%) and levofloxacin (84%), intermediate resistant against gentamicin (40%) and resistant against novobiocin (84%), ampicillin (100%) and penicillin (92%).Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. June 2016, 2(2): 332-340

Regulators of Gut Motility Revealed by a Gnotobiotic Model of Diet-Microbiome Interactions Related to Travel

To understand how different diets, the consumers' gut microbiota, and the enteric nervous system (ENS) interact to regulate gut motility, we developed a gnotobiotic mouse model that mimics short-term dietary changes that happen when humans are traveling to places with different culinary traditions. Studying animals transplanted with the microbiota from humans representing diverse culinary traditions and fed a sequence of diets representing those of all donors, we found that correlations between bacterial species abundances and transit times are diet dependent. However, the levels of unconjugated bile acids-generated by bacterial bile salt hydrolases (BSH)-correlated with faster transit, including during consumption of a Bangladeshi diet. Mice harboring a consortium of sequenced cultured bacterial strains from the Bangladeshi donor's microbiota and fed a Bangladeshi diet revealed that the commonly used cholekinetic spice, turmeric, affects gut motility through a mechanism that reflects bacterial BSH activity and Ret signaling in the ENS. These results demonstrate how a single food ingredient interacts with a functional microbiota trait to regulate host physiology.

How much salt do adults consume in climate vulnerable coastal Bangladesh?

BackgroundEvidence from numerous studies suggests that salt intake is an important determinant of elevated blood pressure. Robust data about salt consumption among adults in Bangladesh is sparse. However, much evidence suggests saline intrusion due to sea level rise as a result of climate change exposes more than 20 million people to adverse effects of salinity through the food and water supply. The objective of our study was to assess salt consumption among adults in a coastal region of Bangladesh.MethodsOur study was cross sectional and conducted during October-November 2011. A single 24 hour urine was collected from 400 randomly selected individuals over 18 years of age from Chakaria, a rural, coastal area in Southeastern Bangladesh. Logistic regression was conducted to identify the determinants of high salt consumption.ResultsThe mean urinary sodium excretion was 115 mmol/d (6.8 g salt). Based on logistic regression using two different cutoff points (IOM and WHO), housewives and those living in the coastal area had a significantly higher probability of high salt intake compared with people who were engaged in labour-intensive occupations and who lived in hilly areas.ConclusionIt is important to create awareness about the implication of excessive salt intake on health and to develop strategies for reducing salt intake that can be implemented at the community-level. A sustainable policy for salt reduction in the Bangladeshi diet should be formulated with special emphasis on coastal areas.

Fish Marketing Status with Formalin Treatment in Bangladesh

&lt;p&gt;Fish possess an extremely strong cultural attachment considering irreplaceable animal food source in Bangladeshi diet beset with nutritional importance. It has been getting endangered by abominable practice of formalin in marketing leaded by some deceitful traders counting profit beyond ethical attainment and endangering public health. This paper outlines the formalin extremity with a several years practice in fish marketing involving almost 5% city markets with a petty heterogeneity comprising contrastive and potential strategy with formalin access. Regardless, this formalin corruption affiliated with deleterious health aggravations both for traders and consumers, comes out with impotency in workforce contravening economical influence on overall national prosperity.&lt;/p&gt;

Fish Marketing Status with Formalin Treatment in Bangladesh

&lt;p&gt;Fish possess an extremely strong cultural attachment considering irreplaceable animal food source in Bangladeshi diet beset with nutritional importance. It has been getting endangered by abominable practice of formalin in marketing leaded by some deceitful traders counting profit beyond ethical attainment and endangering public health. This paper outlines the formalin extremity with a several years practice in fish marketing involving almost 5% city markets with a petty heterogeneity comprising contrastive and potential strategy with formalin access. Regardless, this formalin corruption affiliated with deleterious health aggravations both for traders and consumers, comes out with impotency in workforce contravening economical influence on overall national prosperity.&lt;/p&gt;

Dietary Inclusion of Palm Oil in Bangladeshi Dietensures Better Nutrition with Minimal Cost: An Overview

The paper outlines the situation, consumption and importation of fats and oils in Bangladesh considering its latest trend of marketing with palm oil covered by health and economic issue. Recommended dietary intake of fats and oils are missing from Bangladeshi diet having poor knowledge regarding its importance and low purchasing ability. In this regards, Palm oil being the cheapest commodity vegetable oil and also the cheapest oil to produce and refine, can be an important component of the increasing intake of oils and fats in the developing world like Bangladesh. Compared with other imported edible oils, Palm oil having better nutrition value and low cholesterol as well as price and import cost has gained much attention by Bangladeshi government in recent years. The active presence of different suppliers of palm oil, direct interactions between suppliers and local importers and refiners can uplift the present situation of oils and fats consumption aiming popularity for palm oil in Bangladesh.

Faltering fisheries and ascendant aquaculture: Implications for food and nutrition security in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has made considerable progress against human development indicators in recent years, but malnutrition resulting from poor dietary diversity and low micronutrient intakes remains entrenched. Fish is central to the Bangladeshi diet and small fish species are an important micronutrient source. Although fish consumption per capita has increased in recent years as a result of rapid expansion of aquaculture, it is likely that consumption of fish from capture fisheries (including small indigenous species particularly rich in micronutrients), has declined. This paper evaluates data on fish consumption collected in Bangladesh by the International Food Policy Research Institute in 1996/7 and 2006/7 to assess changing patterns of fish consumption and their implications for food and nutrition security. This analysis indicates that growth of aquaculture has been positive, mitigating a sharp reduction in the quantity of fish consumed from capture fisheries and smoothing out seasonal variability in consumption. However, increased availability of fish from aquaculture may not have fully compensated for the loss of fish from capture fisheries in terms of dietary diversity, micronutrient intakes and food and nutrition security, particularly for the poorest consumers. A range of approaches are recommended to sustain and enhance the contributions capture fisheries and aquaculture make to food and nutrition security in Bangladesh

Identification of fatty acid profile, lipid characterization and nutritional status of Clarias batrachus

Introduction Bangladesh is a country with hundreds of rivers and ponds and is notable for being a fish-loving nation where fishes play an important role in the Bangladeshi diet, constituting the main and often irreplaceable animal source food in poor rural households. Most of the people in the developing countries are

Biochemical Composition of an Endangered Fish, Labeo bata (Hamilton, 1822) from Bangladesh Waters

Fish play an important role in Bangladeshi diet, constituting the main and often irreplaceable animal source food in poor rural households. The study focused on the proximate composition of Labeo bata both in moisture and dry matter basis. The established AOAC (Association of Official Agricultural Chemist, USA) methods were followed for nutrient composition of fish. In case of moisture basis the percentage of moisture, protein, lipid, ash and carbohydrate was 72.41±0.81, 18.51±0.31, 3.79±0.25, 4.67±0.18, 0.90±0.03, respectively, while in dry matter basis it was 27.64±0.17, 66.75±0.39, 13.44±0.08, 16.63±0.20, 3.51±0.17, respectively. This result indicates that except moisture all other components are higher in dry matter basis than moisture basis. As the fish contain high level of protein will be helpful to reduce the protein demand of the country.

Prevalence of Dyslipidemia and Associated Factors among the Sub-Urban Bangladeshi Population

Dyslipidemia is highly prevalent in the urban and rural areas of Bangladesh but information in the suburban, is limited. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of dyslipidemia in sample population who live in the sub-urban area of Bangladesh. Random sampling of the volunteers aged &gt; or = 18 years in Bhaluka upozilla of Mymensingh district was done. After 12-hour fasting, the blood sampling was drawn for the analysis of fasting glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. In the present study, we have shown that there is increasing trend of dyslipidemia even in the sub-urban community. Women had significantly higher body mass index, serum cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels than men after 40 years of age. Of the study population 16.9% had high TC (e”240 m/dl), and 8.8% had low HDL-C (d”40 mg/dl). The population with high (e”160 mg/dl) LDL-C was 15.7%. In addition, 17.8% had high TG (e”200 mg/dl) and 2.0% had very high TG (e”350 mg/dl). Our findings also suggest a protective role of ordinary Bangladeshi diet such as fish cooked in mustard oil on dyslipidemia. Individually, both fish and the mustard oil are rich in unsaturated fatty acids, and biologically, their beneficial effects are related not only to reduction of blood pressure, but also to lowering of lipids and to their antithrombotic effects. In conclusion, prevalence of dyslipidemia was very high in Bangladeshi sub-urban region. Useful role of fish cooked in mustard oil, as a protective factor needs to be probed further in future longitudinal studies. The observed prevalence of dyslipidemia in this study suggests the need for a comprehensive national policy to control dyslipidemia in Bangladesh. Further surveillance in this population is essential in verifying the impact of dyslipidemia as a risk of cardiovascular disease in Bangladeshi people. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/uhj.v8i1.11662 University Heart Journal Vol. 8, No. 1, January 2012

Gastronomical Delight: Micronutrients Protect against Arsenic Lesions

Studies in South Asia suggest that antioxidants may mediate many of the dermatologic symptoms associated with exposure to arsenic in drinking water. Nonetheless, the mitigating effects of diet on arsenic-related premalignant skin lesions are largely unknown, particularly in the context of the typical Bangladeshi diet. A new cross-sectional study using baseline data from the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study (HEALS), 2000–2002, is the first systematic, population-based attempt to assess the association between micronutrient intake and the prevalence of arsenic-induced skin lesions [EHP 116:1056–1062; Zablotska et al.]. As many as a third of the people living in Bangladesh have been exposed to arsenic-tainted water levels above the national limit of 50 ppb, with many levels as high as 800 ppb. Several studies have shown an association between drinking arsenic-rich water and development of skin lesions, a common outward sign of chronic arsenic exposure. HEALS is a population-based prospective cohort study in Araihazar, Bangladesh, using individual-level time-weighted measures of arsenic exposure via drinking water. The present study relied on detailed daily diet information obtained from all participants using a food frequency questionnaire along with U.S. Department of Agriculture nutritional tables. The analyses were aimed at clarifying the effects of the B vitamin group and antioxidants (vitamins A, C, and E) on the risk of arsenic-related skin lesions. Because supplements and food fortification are rare in Bangladesh, only dietary intakes of these micronutrients were considered. Skin lesions were identified among 10,628 subjects according to a structured clinical protocol during screening that was confirmed with further clinical review. Dietary intake of B1, B6, and B9 and all three antioxidants significantly reduced the risk of arsenic-related skin lesions. For example, for individuals with the highest vitamin intake, the risk of arsenic-induced skin lesions was significantly reduced by 60% for vitamin E. The investigators conclude that intakes of B vitamins and antioxidants at doses greater than the current recommended daily amounts for Bangladesh might lower the risk of arsenic-related skin lesions. However, the research team observed that there was a high prevalence of micronutrient deficiency in Bangladesh, with the potential protective modifying effects of these vitamins restricted to the medium and upper consumption levels. Public health measures to assist this population may need to include either supplementation or food fortification to achieve a significant degree of protection from chronic arsenic exposures.