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Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL1RA) intron 2 86 bp repeat and interleukin-4 (IL4) intron 3 70 bp repeat are variable number tandem repeats (VNTRs) that have been associated with various diseases, but their role in obesity is elusive. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of IL1RA and IL4 VNTRs with obesity and adiposity in 315 Malaysian subjects (128 M/187 F; 23 Malays/251 ethnic Chinese/41 ethnic Indians). The allelic distributions of IL1RA and IL4 were significantly different among ethnicities, and the alleles were associated with total body fat (TBF) classes. Individuals with IL1RA I/II genotype or allele II had greater risk of having higher overall adiposity, relative to those having the I/I genotype or I allele, respectively, even after controlling for ethnicity [Odds Ratio (OR) of I/II genotype = 12.21 (CI = 2.54, 58.79; p = 0.002); II allele = 5.78 (CI = 1.73, 19.29; p = 0.004)]. However, IL4 VNTR B2 allele was only significantly associated with overall adiposity status before adjusting for ethnicity [OR = 1.53 (CI = 1.04, 2.23; p = 0.03)]. Individuals with IL1RA II allele had significantly higher TBF than those with I allele (31.79 ± 2.52 versus 23.51 ± 0.40; p = 0.005). Taken together, IL1RA intron 2 VNTR seems to be a genetic marker for overall adiposity status in Malaysian subjects.

Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in alcohol-metabolizing genes - ADH1B (Arg47His), ADH1C (Ile350Val) and ALDH2 (Glu504Lys) have been extensively associated with flush reaction and alcoholism. Therefore, we investigated the association of these three SNPs with alcohol-induced reactions (AIRs), alcoholism risk, personality and anthropometric traits among Malaysian university students. AIRs, Self-Rating of the Effects of Alcohol (SRE) and Ten-Item Personality were surveyed, anthropometric measurements and DNA samples were taken. Among 264 valid drinkers (111 males, 153 females; 229 ethnic Chinese, 35 ethnic Indians), the minor allele frequencies for ADH1B, ADH1C, ALDH2 among Chinese/Indians were .45/.07, .33/.40, .32/.41, respectively; distribution of ADH1B alleles significantly different between ethnicities. Current/former experiences of flushing, hives, heart palpitations after alcohol consumption; and sleepiness, headache reactions, early and overall SRE were significantly different between ethnicities and genders, respectively. Overall SRE score was associated with ADH1C and ALDH2 alleles. 'Openness to Experiences' was associated with ALDH2 genotypes and alleles; Glu/Glu or Glu carriers showed significantly higher means. ADH1B Arg/Arg and Arg carriers showed significantly higher total body and subcutaneous fats but association was abolished after controlling for ethnicity. In conclusion, gender and ethnicity, but not alcohol-metabolizing gene variants, play a role in influencing the manifestation of AIRs.

Logistic regression was applied to develop a morphometric sexing method of two closely related stork species that were previously sexed through amplification of the CHD gene. Tarsus length (TL) and bill length (BL) measurements were recorded from captive populations of adult Milky Stork (Mycteria cinerea) (n = 60) and Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala) (n = 58) at Zoo Negara Malaysia. Despite having monomorphic plumages, both stork species exhibited normal sexual size dimorphism in which males were significantly larger than females in the tested variables. Based on logistic regression analysis, BL correctly classified the sex of sampled individuals from Painted and Milky stork with an overall predicted accuracy of 94.8 and 90.0%, respectively. However, TL measurements generated a lower predicted accuracy level of 86.2% and a same accuracy level of 90% on the sex classification of individuals from Painted and Milky stork, respectively. By comparing the measurements of both species, only the average BL measurements of the Milky storks were significantly lower than that of Painted storks (t-test, P80.001). The logistic regression equation in this study may serve as a simple and more practical option for sexing Milky and Painted storks for their breeding and conservation programmes.

IL1RA intron 2 86-bp repeat and IL4 intron 3 70-bp repeat are VNTRs that have been associated with various diseases, but their role in obesity is elusive. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of IL1RA and IL4 VNTRs with obesity and adiposity in 315 Malaysian subjects (128 M/187 F; 23 Malays/251 ethnic Chinese/41 ethnic Indians). The allelic distributions of IL1RA and IL4 were significantly different among ethnicities, and the alleles were associated with total body fat (TBF) classes. Individuals with IL1RA I/II genotype or allele II had greater risk of having higher adiposity - even after controlling for ethnicity [Odds Ratio (OR) of I/II genotype = 12.21 (CI = 2.54, 58.79; p = 0.002); II allele = 5.78 (CI = 1.73, 19.29; p = 0.004)]. However, IL4 VNTR B2 allele was only significantly associated with overall adiposity status before adjusting for ethnicity [OR = 1.53 (CI = 1.04, 2.23; p = 0.03)]. TBF was also significantly higher in those with IL1RA II allele compared with I allele (31.79 ± 2.52 vs. 23.51 ± 0.40; p = 0.005). Taken together, IL1RA intron 3 VNTR seems to be a genetic marker for overall adiposity status in Malaysian subjects.

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