Based on our result, it is quite clear that inflammation has a role in the pathogenesis of CAD but does not lead to significant changes at the genetic level in our population. As far as our knowledge goes, this is the first report that shows the genetic diversity in IL-6 and RANTES promoters and their respective levels in Saudi CAD patients.

Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an anti inflammatory cytokine involved in the ongoing coronary inflammation and related patho-physiological processes. The piece of work presented herein is aimed at investigating possible association of polymorphisms in IL-10 promoter with Saudi cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients. The study included 80 confirmed CVD patients with diabetes and 75 healthy control individuals both men and women. Concentration of IL-10 in the serum samples were measured by ELISA method. For single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis, Sanger method of DNA sequencing was followed. The IL-10 level was found to be significantly elevated in CVD patients (P < 0.001) and its associated complications viz. ST-elevation myocardial infarction [STEMI] (P <0.01), non ST-elevation myocardial infarction [NSTEMI] (P < 0.05), and unstable angina [UA] (P < 0.001). We also observed a significant association between polymorphisms in IL-10 promoter at -1082 and -819 locus with Saudi CVD patients. Moreover, at -1082 A/G locus, AA haplotype was found to be less frequent in the CVD patients compared with control individuals. On the other hand, highly significant rise in heterozygous (A/G genotype) condition was observed in patient samples compared with control ones (P < 0.001). Similarly, the genotypic frequencies at -819 C/T locus were also found to be significantly associated (P < 0.001) with CVD patients compared with control individuals. Our study provides the status of polymorphism in IL-10 promoter and its association with CVD risk in Saudi population. As per our information, ours is the first article that shows the genetic diversity in IL-10 promoters and its level in the Saudi CVD patients. © 2017 IUBMB Life, 69(7):522-527, 2017.

Skin auto fluorescence (SAF) is used as a proxy for the accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and has been proposed to stratify patients into cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes mellitus (DM) risk groups. This study evaluates the effects of seven different ethnicities (Arab, Central-East African, Eastern Mediterranean, European, North African, South Asian and Southeast Asian) and gender on SAF as well as validating SAF assessment as a risk estimation tool for CVD and DM in an Arabian cohort. SAF data from self-reported healthy 2,780 individuals, collated from three independent studies, has been linear modelled using age and gender as a covariate. A cross-study harmonized effect size (Cohens’d) is provided for each ethnicity. Furthermore, new data has been collected from a clinically well-defined patient group of 235 individuals, to evaluate SAF as a clinical tool for DM and CVD-risk estimation in an Arab cohort. In an Arab population, SAF-based CVD and/or DM risk-estimation can be improved by referencing to ethnicity and gender-specific SAF values. Highest SAF values were observed for the North African population, followed by East Mediterranean, Arab, South Asian and European populations. The South Asian population had a slightly steeper slope in SAF values with age compared to other ethnic groups. All ethnic groups except Europeans showed a significant gender effect. When compared with a European group, effect size was highest for Eastern Mediterranean group and lowest for South Asian group. The Central-East African and Southeast Asian ethnicity matched closest to the Arab and Eastern Mediterranean ethnicities, respectively. Ethnic and gender-specific data improves performance in SAF-based CVD and DM risk estimation. The provided harmonized effect size allows a direct comparison of SAF in different ethnicities. For the first time, gender differences in SAF are described for North African and East Mediterranean populations.