N 6 -methyladenosine (m6A) methylation is the most prevalent RNA modification, and it emerges as an important regulatory mechanism of gene expression involved in many cellular and biological processes. However, the role of m 6 A methylation in vascular development is not clear. The m 6 A RNA methylation is regulated by dynamic interplay among methyltransferases, binding proteins, and demethylases.Mettl3 is a member of the mettl3-mettl14 methyltransferase complex, referred to as writers that catalyze m6A RNA methylation. Here, we used CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing to develop two lines of knockout (KO) zebrafish for mettl3. Heterozygous mettl3 +/− KO embryos show defective vascular development, which is directly visible in fli-EGFP and flk-EGFP zebrafish. Alkaline phosphatase staining and whole mount in situ hybridization with cdh5, and flk markers demonstrated defective development of intersegmental vessels (ISVs), subintestinal vessels (SIVs), interconnecting vessels (ICVs) and dorsal longitudinal anastomotic vessels (DLAV) in both heterozygous mettl3 +/− and homozygous mettl3 −/− KO zebrafish embryos. Similar phenotypes were observed in zebrafish embryos with morpholino knockdown (KD) of mettl3; however, the vascular defects were rescued fully by overexpression of constitutively active AKT1. KD of METTL3 in human endothelial cells inhibited cell 2 of 15 | PARIAL et AL.

Context: The goal of phototherapy is to lower the concentration of circulating bilirubin or keep it from increasing in the treatment of neonatal unconjugated hyperbilirubinaemia. As phototherapy decrease billirubin level of infants, it is important to fix the dose of phototherapy. Objectives: The aim of the study was to compare the effectiveness of double phototherapy versus conventional single phototherapy in the treatment of neonatal unconjugated hyperbilirubinaemia. Materials and Methods: For this purpose 50 term and preterm newborns were enrolled. They were divided into 2 groups, 38 newborns were taken in group 1 and 12 newborn were taken in group 2. The babies who got conventional single phototherapy were taken in group 1. Each group was again divided into 3 subgroups according to their birth weight Normal Birth Weight (NBW), = Low Birth Weight (LBW) and Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW). Results:The serum bilirubin level of term babies were found 17.32 ± 4.08 mg/dl and in preterm babies were found 13.17 ± 1.49 mg/dl. Neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia in enrolled babies were due to physiologic jaundice (38%), neonatal sepsis (50%) and perinatal asphyxia (12%). The serum bilirubin level in physiological jaundice was found 18.47 ± 5.38 mg/dl, in neonatal sepsis was found 14.90 ± 1.85 mg/dl and in perenatal asphyxia was found 14.10 ± 1.47 mg / dl. Decline rate of serum bilirubin per day was found 4.58 ± 2.43 mg / dl in NBW babies with the use of conventional single phototherapy compared to 6.27 ± 2.26 mg / dl with the use of conventional double phototherapy. In LBW babies decline rate of serum bilirubin per day was found 2.07 ± 0.84 mg / dl with the use of conventional single phototherapy but 4.70 ± 2.08 mg / dl with the use of conventional double phototherapy. In VLBW babies, decline rate of serum bilirubin per day was found 2.24 ± 1.10 mg / dl with the use of conventional single phototherapy. Any VLBW babies which were given conventional double phototherapy were not found. Conclusion: From this study it can be concluded that double phototherapy is more effective than conventional single phototherapy in the treatment of neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia in both groups of neonates; however the rate of fall of bilirubin was higher in NBW subgroups.

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Context: Undiagnosed cases of diabetes mellitus constitute a major proportion of diabetic patients in the developing countries due to lack of proper screening and primary care facilities. Generation of evidence on undiagnosed cases is highly important for the estimation of the true burden of this disease. Objectives: The present study was undertaken to explore the proportion of undiagnosed diabetes and associated disorders in a middle aged Bangladeshi population living in the capital city of Bangladesh. Materials and Methods: Under a cross-sectional observational design a group of 254 middle aged (35-60 yrs) subjects (146? and 108) were included in the study who previously were unaware about the existence of diabetes or its complications. A 2-sample OGTT was done and blood glucose was estimated by glucose-oxidase method and Serum total cholesterol, HDL and TG by enzymatic colorimetric (Cholesterol Oxidase /Peroxidase, CHOD-PAP) method. Glycemic and other abnormalities were diagnosed and classified as per WHO criteria. Results: Out of the total 254 subjects 34 (15.1%) were found to have type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and 49 (19.29%) were prediabetics (24.5%-IFG, 75.5% -IGT and 20.4% had combined IFG-IGT). WHR (the indicator of central obesity) was present in higher proportions of diabetic (93.9%) and prediabetics (89.9%) compared to 76.0% control (?2=8.815; p=0.017). Male subjects had significantly higher central obesity compared to females both in the controls (t=3.929; p<0.0001) and in T2DM groups (t=2.608; p=0.015). Dyslipidemia (judged by triglyceride value) was present among 64.7% in T2DM, 40.8% in Prediabetes and 47.9% in the Controls). In Prediabetes group 80% males had dyslipidemia compared to 20% females (p=0.008). Conclusion: Almost twice the proportion of reported diabetic and prediabetic cases in Bangladesh is still undiagnosed and a substantial proportion of these cases have generalized as well as central obesity and dyslipidemia.J. bio-sci.  19:  1-6, 2011 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbs.v19i0.12674