Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1985.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1985. / Also available in print.

Thesis (MVOE)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (MTech (Biomedical Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010 / Consumption of sucrose with a meal containing oxidised and oxidisable lipids cause an increase in oxidative stress which is referred to as postprandial oxidative stress. The modulating effect on postprandial oxidative stress by an antioxidant-rich beverage, fermented rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) was compared to that of a commercial soft drink (soda). Both study beverages contained sucrose and were consumed with a standardised fat meal. The study consisted of two parts, a pilot study (Phase One) where participants consumed either a standardised fat meal with water (control group n = 5) or a standardised fat meal with a sucrose-containing commercial soda (treatment group n = 8) using a parallel design, and the experimental study (Phase Two) where participants (n = 14) consumed the standardised fat meal with the commercial soda (control group) or the rooibos beverage (treatment group) using a crossover design. Specific analytical techniques and methods for determination of plasma glucose, serum insulin, lipid profile, an inflammatory indicator (high sensitive C-reactive protein), plasma antioxidant capacity, whole blood redox status and plasma lipid oxidation biomarkers were used. Results from the pilot study indicated significantly (P<0.05) higher postprandial levels of glucose in the control group at 4 hr and 6hr postprandially. The inflammatory biomarker and triglyceride levels were significantly (P<0.05) elevated in both groups when compared to their respective baselines. Results also showed the total antioxidant capacity and total glutathione levels in the plasma of both groups to be significantly (P<0.05) lowered when compared to the baseline values. The level of lipid oxidation biomarkers in the plasma was significantly (P<0.05) higher at 2 hr, 4 hr and 6 hr post time intervals for thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and 4 hr post time interval for conjugated dienes in the participants consuming the standardised fat meal with soda when compared to the baseline value, while this was reflected only at 2 hr post time interval for thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, with the conjugated dienes levels being significantly (P<0.05) lowered at 6 hr post time interval in the control group. No differences were shown on inter group level for the pilot study. On inter group level, results from Phase Two showed significant (P<0.05) lower levels of plasma glucose at 6 hr post time interval in the treatment group when compared to the control group, with insulin levels being significantly (P<0.05) higher in the control group at 4 hr post time interval.

published_or_final_version / Biochemistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (MTech (Chemistry))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015. / It has recently been confirmed that people consuming 7+ portions of fruit and vegetables daily have a lower risk of mortality from any cause. With a fifth of the population of South Africa falling below the poverty line, it has been found that rural adults have a very low daily intake of fruit and vegetables; at the same time rural children are consuming a primarily maize-based diet. This low dietary diversity translates into a higher level of infectious diseases in children younger than five years. Interventions at national level included promoting the growing of underexploited traditional indigenous vegetables and fruits in home gardens, in the hope that rural households would help themselves in diversifying their cereal-based diet, while using crops they are accustomed to in their environment. Ten indigenous South African fruits found in the Western Cape were evaluated for their potential to make a positive contribution to the diet of rural communities and were compared with Blueberry and Cranberry, the North American ‘gold standards’. The following determinations were carried out on 12 samples: Total Phenolic Content, Total Flavanols and Total Monomeric Anthocyanins were analysed using the Folin-Ciocalteu, Mazza and pH Differential methods. Total Antioxidant Capacity was assessed using the Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC), DPPH and Molybdenum Reduction assays. The Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORACFL) was also determined. Iron Chelating Activity, one of the methods recommended to reflect other antioxidant mechanisms, was also investigated. The fruits possessing the highest concentration of Total Phenolic Content (Mazza) were Christmas berry, Bietou, Wild Olive and Wild Plum, at levels significantly higher than those of the two control berries, Blueberry and Cranberry. The fruits yielding the highest results for the TEAC assay were Wild Plum, Wild Olive, Tortoise berry, Christmas berry and Colpoon. The fruits giving the highest results for the DPPH assay were Wild Plum, Colpoon, Wild Olive, and Christmas berry. The fruits showing the highest results for the Molybdenum Reduction assay were Wild Olive, Wild Plum, Christmas berry, and Tortoise berry. The fruits yielding the highest results for the ORAC Total Antioxidant Capacity assay were Colpoon, Christmas berry, Wild Olive, Crossberry, Wild Plum, Waterberry followed by Blueberry and Cranberry. The results from the Iron Chelating Activity assay revealed a ranking of Christmas berry, Blueberry, followed by Num-num. On combining the results of eight assays, namely TPC (Mazza), TF, TA, TEAC, DPPH, TAC, TPC (FCR), ICA to give an Antioxidant Potency Composite Index, the fruits with the highest iv rankings were (1) Wild Plum, (2) Wild Olive, (3) Colpoon, and (4) Christmas berry. By comparison the northern hemisphere control berries ranked (5) Blueberry and (9) Cranberry. These findings show that by introducing even small servings of indigenous fruits into the diet, an important and inexpensive source of natural antioxidants could be accessed and the mean daily ORAC intake could thereby be boosted significantly by about 4,000 µmol Trolox Equivalents to bring the Total ORAC consumed to within optimum levels (6,000 µmol Trolox Equivalents and above). These bioactive plant compounds have the potential to deliver immense benefits to health to impoverished South African adults, as well as rural children, well beyond basic nutrition.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Michigan State University. Neuroscience, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Mar. 27, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p.178-194). Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Uppsala Universitet, 2008. / This website links to the complete document in PDF format. Title from title screen (viewed on November 22, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

Introduction: Gastric cancer (GC) is ranked as the second most common fatal malignancy worldwide. Although Helicobacter pylori is recognized as a major predisposing factor for non-cardia GC, infection alone is not sufficient to cause cancer. This thesis aimed to determine the variation in host genetic polymorphisms in subjects from Malaysia and Singapore and to examine the role of H. pylori infection, host genetic factors and dietary factors in the etiology of non-cardia GC in Chinese subjects resident in Malaysia. Methods: Functional dyspepsia (FD) controls from three ethnic groups in Malaysia, Chinese (123), Indian (110) and Malay (84) and Singaporean Chinese (127) plus Malaysian Chinese gastric cancer cases (55)were examined. Polymorphisms in IL-1B-511, IL-1RN, IL-10 cluster, TNFA-308 and TLR5+1174 were determined by PCR-RFLP or PCR; H. pylori status by serology, dietary intake by questionnaire and gastric IL-1b levels by real time PCR. Results: 1) Significant differences existed in the frequency of all polymorphisms, except IL-1B-1473 and TNFA-308, in the three Malaysian ethnic groups and in the IL-1B-511 polymorphism in Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese FD 2) Globally, two distinct patterns of IL-1B-511, IL-1RN, IL-10-1082, IL-10-592 and TNFA-308 exist, Western and East-Asian 3) In Malaysian Malays, the IL-10 ATA haplotype was associated with H. pylori susceptibility 4) In Malaysian Chinese an increased risk of GC was associated with carriage of the IL-1B-1473 G allele {OR=4.4(1.3-15.3)} and the IL-1B-511 C allele {OR=1.8(0.8-4.1)} 5) Increased levels of IL-1b were observed in Singaporean and Malaysian Chinese FD subjects carrying the IL-1-511C and IL-1-1473G alleles 6) Malaysian Chinese not consuming fresh fruit and vegetables had the highest risk of GC {OR=10.2 (3.4-30.6)} 7) The highest risk of GC {OR=37.3(3.3-424.8)} was observed in H. pylori positive Malaysian Chinese who carried both the IL-1B-511C and IL-1B-1473G alleles and did not consume fresh fruit and vegetables. Conclusions: In Malaysian Chinese, H. pylori infection, host genetic and dietary factors all contribute to the risk of GC. However the significant difference observed in the frequency of host genetic polymorphisms within and between ethnic groups suggests that a single group of risk factors cannot be used to determine GC risk across all populations.