METHODS: Consecutive subjects who came for a health checkup at a suburban medical facility were recruited for the study. All individuals had clinical assessments, anthropometric measurements, blood tests, and ultrasonography of the liver performed. Those with significant alcohol consumption and history of chronic liver disease were excluded.
RESULTS: Of the 1,621 "health screened" individuals analyzed, 368 (22.7 %) were found to have NAFLD. They comprised Chinese 1,269 (78.3 %), Malay 197 (12.1 %), and Indian 155 (9.6 %). Males and "older" age group ≥45 years had high prevalence rates with the highest in Indian (68.2 %) and Malay (64.7 %) males. Chinese females <45 years had the lowest prevalence of 5.2 %. A significant increase in the prevalence of fatty liver between age <45 years and ≥45 years was seen in female of all three races but in male, this increase was seen only among the Indians. NAFLD was strongly associated with diabetes mellitus, glucose intolerance, body mass index ≥23, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypertension.
CONCLUSION: NAFLD is common in suburban Malaysian population. Older Indian and Malay males have an inordinately high prevalence of the disease.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: Over a period of eight years, from January 1997 to December 2004, 126 hypospadias patients were treated, 90 of these patients received two-stage repairs and 36 patients received single-stage repairs. HOSE questionnaire and uroflowmetry data were obtained to evaluate the long-term outcome of the two-stage hypospadias repairs.
RESULTS: The age at the time of assessment ranged from 8 to 23 years-old, with a mean follow-up time of 39.78 months. Thirty-five patients had proximal hypospadias, and 20 had distal hypospadias. Of the 55 patients who received complete two-stage hypospadias repair and agreed to participate in the study, nineteen patients had acceptable HOSE scores and 36 patients had non-acceptable scores. The uroflow rates of 43 of the subjects were below the fifth percentile in three patients, equivocal (between the 5(th) and 25(th) percentile) in four patients and above the 25(th) percentile in 36 patients.
CONCLUSION: Two-stage repair is a suitable technique for all types of hypospadias with varying outcomes. HOSE and uroflowmetry are simple, easy, non-invasive and non-expensive tools for objectively assessing the long-term outcomes of hypospadias repair.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Sprague Dawley rats were separated into 7 groups. Groups 1-2 were orally challenged with carboxymethylcellulose (CMC); group 3 received 20 mg/kg omeprazole and groups 4-7 received 50, 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg of ethanolic leaf extract, respectively. After 1 h, CMC or absolute ethanol was given orally to groups 2-7. The rats were sacrificed after 1 h. Then, the injuries to the gastric mucosa were estimated through assessment of the gastric wall mucus, the gross appearance of ulcer areas, histology, immunohistochemistry and enzymatic assays. Group 2 exhibited significant mucosal injuries, with reduced gastric wall mucus and severe damage to the gastric mucosa, whereas reductions in mucosal injury were observed for groups 4-7. Groups 3-7 demonstrated a reversal in the decrease in Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining induced by ethanol. No symptoms of toxicity or death were observed during the acute toxicity tests.
CONCLUSION: Treatment with the extract led to the upregulation of heat-shock protein 70 (HSP70) and the downregulation of the pro-apoptotic protein BAX. Significant increases in the levels of the antioxidant defense enzymes glutathione (GSH) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the gastric mucosal homogenate were observed, whereas that of a lipid peroxidation marker (MDA) was significantly decreased. Significance was defined as p<0.05 compared to the ulcer control group (Group 2).