Yajnavalka Banerjee

• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at MBRU

Background Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent degenerative joint disease characterized by chronic inflammation and progressive cartilage degradation, ultimately leading to joint dysfunction and disability. Oleocanthal (OC), a bioactive phenolic compound derived from extra virgin olive oil, has garnered significant attention due to its potent anti-i...

Non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have revolutionized anticoagulant therapy, offering improved safety and efficacy over traditional agents like warfarin. This review comprehensively examines the dual roles of NOACs—apixaban, rivaroxaban, edoxaban, and dabigatran—not only as anticoagulants, but also as modulators of inflammation via protease...

Non-Vitamin K Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs) have revolutionized anticoagulant therapy, offering improved safety and efficacy over traditional agents like warfarin. This review comprehensively examines the dual roles of NOACs—Apixaban, Rivaroxaban, Edoxaban, and Dabigatran—not only as anticoagulants but also as modulators of inflammation via Protease-...

Background Medical education, already demanding, has been further strained by the COVID-19 pandemic's challenges and the shift to distance learning. This context underscores the need for effective stress reduction techniques in competency-based medical curricula (CBMC). Objective We assessed the feasibility and benefits of integrating a Progressiv...

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative joint disorder primarily affecting the elderly, characterized by a prominent inflammatory component. The long-term side effects associated with current therapeutic approaches necessitate the development of safer and more efficacious alternatives. Nutraceuticals, such as Vitamin D and curcumin, present p...

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic became superimposed on the pre-existing obesity and diabetes mellitus (DM) pandemics. Since COVID-19 infection alters the metabolic equilibrium, it may induce pathophysiologic mechanisms that potentiate new-onset DM, and we evaluated this issue. A systematic review of the literature published from th...

Background: Chondrocytes are the primary cells responsible for maintaining cartilage integrity and function. Their role in cartilage homeostasis and response to inflammation is crucial for understanding the progression and potential therapeutic interventions for various cartilage-related disorders. Developing an accessible and cost-effective model...

Dyslipidaemia plays a prominent role in the genesis of atherosclerotic plaque and the increased cardiovascular risk in diabetes. Macrophages readily take up atherogenic lipoproteins, transforming into foam cells and amplifying vascular damage in the presence of endothelial dysfunction. We discuss the importance of distinct lipoprotein subclasses in...

The past two decades have witnessed telemedicine becoming a crucial part of health care as a method to facilitate doctor-patient interaction. Due to technological developments and the incremental acquisition of experience in its use, telemedicine’s advantages and cost-effectiveness has led to it being recognised as specifically relevant to diabetol...

Background: In competency-based medical education (CBME), "Assessment for learning" or "Formative Assessment" (FA) plays a key role in augmenting student learning. FAs help students to measure their progress over time, enabling them to proactively improve their performance in summative assessments. FAs also encourage students to learn in a way whe...

The growing amount of evidence suggests the existence of a bidirectional relation between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), as these two conditions exacerbate each other, causing a significant healthcare and socioeconomic burden. The alterations in innate and adaptive cellular immunity, adipose tissue, alveola...

Periodontitis is a microbially driven, host-mediated disease that leads to loss of periodontal attachment and resorption of bone. It is associated with the elevation of systemic inflammatory markers and with the presence of systemic comorbidities. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrom...

The raging COVID-19 pandemic is in its third year of global impact. The SARS CoV 2 virus has a high rate of spread, protean manifestations, and a high morbidity and mortality in individuals with predisposing risk factors. The pathophysiologic mechanisms involve a heightened systemic inflammatory state, cardiometabolic derangements, and varying degr...

BACKGROUND Chondrocytes are the primary cells responsible for maintaining cartilage integrity and function. Their role in cartilage homeostasis and response to inflammation is crucial for understanding the progression and potential therapeutic interventions for various cartilage-related disorders. Developing an accessible and cost-effective model t...

Obesity, type 2 diabetes (T2DM), hypertension (HTN), and Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) often cluster together as “Cardiometabolic Disease” (CMD). Just under 50 % of patients with CMD increased the risk of morbidity and mortality right from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic as it has been reported in most countries affected by the Sars-CoV2 viru...

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, has been shown to disrupt many organ systems in the human body. Though several medical disorders have been affected by this infection, a few illnesses in addition may also play a role in determining the outcome of COVID-19. Obesity is one such d...

Turmeric is a plant with a very long history of medicinal use across different cultures. Curcumin is the active part of turmeric, which has exhibited various beneficial physiological and pharmacological effects. This review aims to critically appraise the corpus of literature associated with the above pharmacological properties of curcumin, with a...

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly heterogeneous disease regarding severity, vulnerability to infection due to comorbidities, and treatment approaches. The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis has been identified as one of the most critical endocrine targets of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that migh...

Efforts in the fight against COVID-19 are achieving success in many parts of the world, although progress remains slow in other regions. We believe that a syndemic approach needs to be adopted to address this pandemic given the strong apparent interplay between COVID-19, its related complications, and the socio-structural environment. We have assem...

Introduction : Inclisiran is a novel post-transcriptional gene silencing therapy that inhibits proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) synthesis by RNA interference, and has a potent, dose-dependent, durable effect in lowering LDL-C, and therefore is an effective drug to treat dyslipidemia, reducing the risk for acute cardiovascular (...

This study presents the design of a DL-framework to deliver anatomy teaching that provides a microfiche of the onsite anatomy learning experience during the mandated COVID-19 lockdown. First, using nominal-group technique, we identified the DL learning theories to be employed in blueprinting the DL-framework. Effectiveness of the designed DL-framew...

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common form of hereditary cardiomyopathy. It is characterized by an unexplained non-dilated hypertrophy of the left ventricle with a conserved or elevated ejection fraction. It is a genetically heterogeneous disease largely caused by variants of genes encoding for cardiac sarcomere proteins, including M...

Introduction: A number of anti-diabetic treatments have been favored during the continuing spread of the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Glucagon like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RAs) are a group of antidiabetic drugs, the glucose reducing effect of which is founded on augmenting glucose-dependent insulin secretion with concomitant reduction of...

BACKGROUND Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is an autosomal-dominant disorder and is characterized by elevated serum levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) that could dramatically increase the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVD). FH is predominantly associated with mutations in three major genes, LDL receptor gene (LDL...

BACKGROUND Cancer is the third leading cause of death in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after cardiovascular diseases and accidents. In UAE, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the first and fourth most common cancer in males and females respectively. Several treatment modalities have been employed for cancer treatment such as surgery, radiotherapy, chemoth...

Background Cancer is the third leading cause of death in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), after cardiovascular diseases and accidents. In the UAE, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the first and fourth most common cancer in males and females, respectively. Several treatment modalities have been employed for cancer treatment, such as surgery, radiotherapy,...

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has forced medical schools to suspend on-campus live-sessions and shift to distance-learning (DL). This precipitous shift presented medical educators with a challenge, 'to create a "simulacrum" of the learning environment that students experience in classroom, in DL'. This requires the design of an adaptable and v...

Food supplementation with Opuntia ficus-indica (OFI) has been associated with a significant reduction in total cholesterol, body fat, hyperglycemia and blood pressure. Since OFI may also have antioxidant and anti-atherogenic properties, we hypothesized that its supplementation might reduce atherogenic lipoproteins, including small, dense low-densit...

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) intake is associated with reduced cardiovascular risk, and its phenolic compound oleocanthal (OC) has anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The cardiometabolic effects of EVOO with a high OC concentration have not been fully elucidated. We administered EVOO with a high OC concentration daily to 23 subjects wit...

Liraglutide has shown favourable effects on several cardiometabolic risk factors, beyond glucose control. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression, resulting in post-transcriptional modifications of cell response and function. Specific miRNAs, including miRNA-27b, miRNA-130a, and miRNA-210, play a role in cardiometabolic disease. We aimed to det...

Background: Anatomy is considered one of the keystones of undergraduate medical education. However, recently, there has been drastic reduction, both in the gross anatomy teaching hours and its context; decrease in the number of trained anatomists; and an increase in the costs of human cadavers, causing a diminution of cadaveric dissection in Anato...

BACKGROUND Anatomy is considered to be one of the keystones of undergraduate medical education. However, recently, there has been drastic reduction, both in gross anatomy teaching hours and its context. Additionally, a decrease in the number of trained anatomists and an increase in the costs associated with procuring human cadavers have been noted,...

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has forced medical schools to suspend on-campus live-sessions and shift to distance-learning (DL). This precipitous shift presented medical educators with a challenge, “to create a ‘simulacrum’ of the learning environment that students experience in classroom, in DL”. Aim We define a DL framework that provides a ‘si...

BACKGROUND Atherosclerotic vascular disease is the primary cause of myocardial infarction, stroke, unstable angina (ischemic heart pain), and sudden cardiac death. Over the last decade, appreciation of the role of inflammation in atherosclerosis has burgeoned. Apixaban is a highly selective orally bioavailable reversible direct inhibitor of both fr...

Background: Resistance to change is customary and is expected in any organization. However, most of the downsides of change can be avoided if the organization/individual prepares for the change by acknowledging guided strategies. In healthcare, change is the state of nature, which has also translated to medical education (ME). ME in the current er...

BACKGROUND Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), accounting for over two-thirds of all deaths. One of the common cardiovascular diseases is Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), in which the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick and is unable to pump blood adequately. Recent studies conducted in t...

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). One of the common CVDs is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Recent studies conducted in heart cells of mice have shown that this condition involves a chemical modification called hydroxymethylation of the DNA of heart cells. Objective:...

Objective The primary objective of this proof-of-concept cross-sectional study was to identify a framework for appraising the learning-approaches of undergraduate medical students in a competency based medical curriculum and correlating the results with teaching-approaches, as well as academic performance. The study was pursued at MBRU, which is a...

BACKGROUND The fruition of an undergraduate medical student into an adept physician is perpetual, demanding and stressful. Several studies have indicated that medical students have a higher predominance of mental-health problems than other student groups of the same age, where medical education acts as a “stressor” and may lead to unfavorable conse...

Background: The evolution of an undergraduate medical student into an adept physician is perpetual, demanding, and stressful. Several studies have indicated medical students have a higher predominance of mental health problems than other student groups of the same age, where medical education acts as a stressor and may lead to unfavorable conseque...

Background: Camel milk is widely used for its reported anti-diabetic and health promoting effects. Lipids derived from the milk have also been shown to exhibit potent anti-inflammatory effects. The mechanism through which these lipids and constituent fatty acids exert these effects remains elusive. The aim of this study was to investigate the effec...

Background: Camel milk is widely used for its reported anti-diabetic and health promoting effects. Lipids derived from the milk have also been shown to exhibit potent anti-inflammatory effects. The mechanism through which these lipids and constituent fatty acids exert these effects remains elusive. The aim of this study was to investigate the effec...

Background: Camel milk is widely used for its reported anti-diabetic and health promoting effects. Lipids derived from the milk have also been shown to exhibit potent anti-inflammatory effects. The mechanism through which these lipids and constituent fatty acids exert these effects remains elusive. The aim of this study was to investigate the effec...

Background Flexnerism, or “competency-based medical education,” advocates that formal analytic reasoning, the kind of rational thinking fundamental to the basic sciences, especially the natural sciences, should be the foundation of physicians’ intellectual training. The complexity of 21st century health care requires rethinking of current (medical)...

Background Designers of undergraduate medical education (UME) need to address the exponentially expanding volume and variability of scientific knowledge, where by didactic teaching techniques need to be augmented by innovative student-centric pedagogical strategies and implementation of milieus, where information, communication and technology-enabl...

BACKGROUND The involvedness of 21st century healthcare requires re-thinking of current (medical) educational paradigms. In this “Millennial Era” to promulgate the tenets of Flexnerism in undergraduate medical education (UME), requires the design and blueprinting of innovative pedagogical strategies, because the targeted learners are millennials and...

BACKGROUND With the rapid integration of genetics into medicine, it has become evident that practicing physicians as well as medical students and clinical researchers need to be updated on the fundamentals of bioinformatics. To achieve this, the following gaps need to be addressed: a lack of defined learning objectives for “Bioinformatics for Medic...

Background: With the rapid integration of genetics into medicine, it has become evident that practicing physicians as well as medical students and clinical researchers need to be updated on the fundamentals of bioinformatics. To achieve this, the following gaps need to be addressed: a lack of defined learning objectives for "Bioinformatics for Med...

Aim: Cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) is an important lipid transfer factor in plasma that enhances prothrombinase activity in purified systems. This study was conducted to test the association of plasma CETP activity with venous thrombosis (VTE) and to address the procoagulant mechanism of CETP activity in prothrombinase assays. Methods...

Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin Type 9 (PCSK9) regulates the expression of low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-receptors, through reducing their recycling by binding to the receptor along with LDL and targeting it for lysosomal destruction. PCSK9 also enhances the degradation of very-low-density-lipoprotein receptor (VLDLR) and lipoprotein recepto...

The number of pregnant women affected by gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is increasing among Caucasians, and East Asians. GDM also increases the risk for later advent of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), obesity, and cardiovascular disease in both women and their offspring. The underlying mechanism of GDM is not fully elucidated. Incretins such...

We report our experience with Direct Adsorption of Lipoproteins (DALI) apheresis in an Omani pregnant woman affected by homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. To the best of our knowledge this is the first successful pregnancy treated with DALI apheresis. The patient had a history of coronary artery disease, supra-aortic valvular stenosis and se...

Background: Plasma phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) transfers lipids between donors and acceptors (e.g., from HDL to VLDL) and modulates lipoprotein composition, size, and levels. No study has reported an assessment of the effects of PLTP on blood clotting reactions, such as reflected in thrombin generation assays, or on the association of ven...

We present clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HoFH) in the Middle East region. While guidelines are broadly applicable in Europe, in the Middle East we experience a range of confounding factors that complicate disease management to a point whereby the European guidance cannot b...

Blood coagulation reactions are strongly influenced by phospholipids, but little is known about the influence of sphingolipids on coagulation mechanisms. Lysosulfatide (lyso-SF) (sulfogalactosyl sphingosine) prolonged factor Xa (fXa) 1-stage plasma clotting assays, showing it had robust anticoagulant activity. In studies using purified clotting fac...

In many deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism (VTE) patients, biomarkers or genetic risk factors have not been identified. To discover novel plasma metabolites associated with VTE risk, we employed liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based untargeted metabolomics which does not target any specific metabolites. Using the Scripps Venous Thr...

The impact of a natural supplement (Kepar; Rikrea, Italy), containing several plant extracts such as curcuma longa, silymarin, guggul, chlorogenic acid, and inulin, was evaluated in 78 patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS; 45 men; age: 62 ± 9 years). Kepar at a dose of 2 pills/d was given for 4 months as add-on therapy to the ongoing treatment, m...

Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism (VTE) are common causes of morbidity and mortality. No genetic or acquired biomarkers or risk factors can be identified in many VTE patients. Thus, there is a major unmet need to identify new biomarkers and new causal risk factors in VTE patients. Metabolomics is an unexplored frontier for VTE research. T...

Cytoplasmic methionyl tRNA synthetase (MetRS) is one of more than 20 cytoplasmic aminoacyl tRNA synthetase enzymes (ARS). This family of enzymes catalyzes a process fundamental for protein translation. Using a combination of genetic mapping, oligonucleotide array comparative genomic hybridization, and phenotypic correlation, we show that mutations...

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a well-understood Mendelian disorder that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), a leading cause of mortality in Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries. Review the reporting status of FH mutations across MENA and propose a systemic and strategic method for building a MENA FH registry. Sy...

Lower mortality rates from coronary heart disease and higher levels of serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) have been observed in populations residing at high altitude. However, this effect has not been investigated in Arab populations, which exhibit considerable genetic homogeneity. We assessed the relationship between residing altit...

Objective: To assess the quality of diabetic care provided in primary health care settings in Oman. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of randomly selected 500 patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) attending 6 primary care diabetic clinics in the north Al-Batinah region of Oman from January to December 2010. Nine standards on the quality o...

Autosomal dominant familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is caused due to mutations in the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR), proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) and apolipoprotein B (ApoB) genes. Little is known regarding its prevalence in the Arab population, which not only exhibits relative genetic homogeneity, but also has...

Subjects with Familial hypercholesterolemia are at increased risk for cardiac events such as premature myocardial infarction and early death from coronary heart disease, especially in patients with severe forms of the disease if left unattended. Therefore, there is an ardent need for the early diagnosis followed by aggressive therapeutic interventi...

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is an autosomal dominant disorder typified by elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels caused by mutations in the LDL receptor (LDLR), apolipoprotein B (ApoB), or proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) genes. Previously, we reported a novel mutation in the exon-3 of LDLR gene, obs...

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) was first used in the late 1960s. This revolutionary procedure created hope among ischemic heart disease patients. Multiple conduits are used and the golden standard is the left internal mammary artery to the left anterior descending artery. Although all approaches were advocated by doctors, the use of sapheno...

We compared therapeutic lipid target achievements among patients with diabetes or coronary heart disease (CHD) in Oman. A retrospective chart review of 94 patients was conducted at an outpatient clinic in Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman. The variables included low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cho...

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type (PCSK9) is a crucial protein in LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) metabolism by virtue of its pivotal role in the degradation of the LDL receptor. Mutations in the PCSK9 gene have previously been found to segregate with autosomal dominant familial hypercholesterolemia (ADFH). In this study, DNA sequencing of the 12...

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder. Mutations have been found in at least 3 genes: the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR), apolipoprotein B (APOB), and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9). We report the first case of FH in an Omani family due to a novel mutation in the LDLR gene. A 9-...

Anticoagulants are pivotal for the treatment of debilitating thromboembolic and associated disorders. Current anticoagulants such as heparin and warfarin are non-specific and have a narrow therapeutic window. These limitations have provided the impetus to develop new anticoagulant therapies/strategies that target specific factors in the blood coagu...

OBJECTIVES: The coagulation cascade initiated during vascular injury prevents bleeding. Unwanted clot formation is however detrimental and requires the use of anticoagulants for prophylaxis and treatment. Anticoagulants targeting a specific step or an enzyme in the clotting process are most preferred as they minimise disadvantageous side-effects. A...

To the Editor: The meta-analysis by Ms Thompson and colleagues showed that antihypertensive treatment of patients with a history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) but without hypertension reduces cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.1 Two key issues need to be examined.The authors should provide the number needed to treat (NNT) to help determine th...

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The coagulation cascade initiated during vascular injury prevents bleeding. Unwanted clot formation is however detrimental and requires the use of anticoagulants for prophylaxis and treatment. Anticoagulants targeting a specific step or an enzyme in the clotting process are most preferred as they minimise disadvantageous side-effects. A principal s...

1130 Although phospholipids are well-recognized for their effects on coagulation reactions, little is generally known about the effects of sphingolipids on clotting pathways. Negatively-charged sulfatides can potently initiate the intrinsic pathway of coagulation system by binding and autoactivating factor (f) XII. Sphingosine potently inhibits the...

Activated protein C (APC) reduces mortality in severe sepsis patients. APC exerts anticoagulant activities via inactivation of factors Va and VIIIa and cytoprotective activities via endothelial protein C receptor and protease-activated receptor-1. APC mutants with selectively altered and opposite activity profiles, that is, greatly reduced anticoag...

Binding of activated protein C (APC) to cells triggers multiple beneficial cytoprotective activities that suppress apoptosis, inflammation, and endothelial barrier breakdown. One paradigm for APC's signaling emphasizes its binding to endothelial cell protein C receptor (EPCR) and subsequent protease activated receptor (PAR)-1 activation. Here we us...