Resistant starch (RS) Sago (Metroxylon sagu) intake has been linked with the improvement in postprandial hyperglycemia and diabetes management via several modes of action including delayed glucose absorption and inhibition of carbohydrate digestion in the gastrointestinal tract. However, to our knowledge, studies on local Malaysian sago RS associated with hepatic glucose production has not been reported elsewhere. Thus, this study was done to identify the underlying mechanisms of local Malaysian RS sago native and modified known as sago RS type 2 (sago RS2) and type 4 (sago RS4) respectively in glucose regulations by analyzing the targeted genes in hepatic glucose pathways. In this study, gene expression associated with Glucose and Glycogen Metabolism Pathways analysis in the liver of spontaneously type 2 diabetic rat, Goto kakizaki treated with water (control), Hi Maize (positive control), sago RS2 and RS4 was done using Rat Glucose Metabolism RT² Profiler PCR Array which consist of 84 genes. The results showed that several genes were significantly up- and down-regulated in the diabetic rats treated with Sago. Taldo1 was significantly upregulated whereas G6PC, Sdhb and Rplp1 genes were significantly downregulated in the rat liver treated with sago RS2. In the rat liver treated with sago RS4, Idh3g gene was significantly upregulated whereas G6pc, Pdk3, Eno3, Sdhb, Galm and Tkt genes were significantly downregulated. The gene expressions identified are associated in the blood glucose homeostasis involving the regulation and enzymatic pathways of glucose and glycogen metabolisms. In conclusion, the genes identified might be useful for therapeutic targets in glucose lowering effects by reducing hepatic glucose output indicating potential of our local sago in managing diabetes.

Background: Serum protein electrophoresis (SPE) is a widely used laboratory technique to diagnose patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and other disorders related to serum protein. In patients with MM, abnormal monoclonal protein can be detected by SPE and further characterized using immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE). There are several semi-automated agarose gel-based systems available commercially for SPE and IFE. In this study, we sought to evaluate the analytical performance of fully automated EasyFix G26 (EFG26) and semi-automated HYDRASYS 2 SCAN (H2SCAN) for both SPE and IFE. Methods: Both instruments were operated according to manufacturer's instructions. Samples used include a commercially available normal control serum (NCS) and patients' specimens. The following were evaluated: precision and comparison studies for SPE, and reproducibility and comparison studies for IFE. Statistical analyses were performed using Microsoft Excel.Results: For SPE repeatability study, our results showed that EFG26 has higher coefficient of variation (%CV) compared with H2SCAN for both samples except for monoclonal component with %CV of 0.97% and 1.18%, respectively. Similar results were obtained for SPE reproducibility study except for alpha-1 (4.16%) and beta (3.13%) fractions for NCS, and beta fractions (5.36%) for monoclonal sample. Subsequently, reproducibility for IFE was 100% for both instruments. Values for correlation coefficients between both instruments ranged from 0.91 to 0.98 for the five classic bands. Conclusion:Both instruments demonstrated good analytical performance characterized by high precision, reproducibility and correlation.