Browse publications by year: 2018

  1. Chung APYS, Gurtu S, Chakravarthi S, Moorthy M, Palanisamy UD
    Front Nutr, 2018;5:17.
    PMID: 29616223 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2018.00017
    Geraniin, a hydrolysable polyphenol derived fromNephelium lappaceumL. fruit rind, has been shown to possess significant antioxidant activityin vitroand recently been recognized for its therapeutic potential in metabolic syndrome. This study investigated its antioxidative strength and protective effects on organs in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced rodents. Rats were fed HFD for 6 weeks to induce obesity, followed by 10 and 50 mg/kg of geraniin supplementation for 4 weeks to assess its protective potential. The control groups were maintained on standard rat chows and HFD for the same period. At the 10th week, oxidative status was assessed and the pancreas, liver, heart and aorta, kidney, and brain of the Sprague Dawley rats were harvested and subjected to pathological studies. HFD rats demonstrated changes in redox balance; increased protein carbonyl content, decreased levels of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase with a reduction in the non-enzymatic antioxidant mechanisms and total antioxidant capacity, indicating a higher oxidative stress (OS) index. In addition, HFD rats demonstrated significant diet-induced changes particularly in the pancreas. Four-week oral geraniin supplementation, restored the OS observed in the HFD rats. It was able to restore OS biomarkers, serum antioxidants, and the glutathione redox balance (reduced glutathione/oxidized glutathione ratio) to levels comparable with that of the control group, particularly at dosage of 50 mg geraniin. Geraniin was not toxic to the HFD rats but exhibited protection against glucotoxicity and lipotoxicity particularly in the pancreas of the obese rodents. It is suggested that geraniin has the pharmaceutical potential to be developed as a supplement to primary drugs in the treatment of obesity and its pathophysiological sequels.
  2. Yusoff N, Rameshkumar P, Mohamed Noor A, Huang NM
    Mikrochim Acta, 2018 04 03;185(4):246.
    PMID: 29616348 DOI: 10.1007/s00604-018-2782-x
    An amperometric sensor for L-Cys is described which consists of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) that was modified with reduced graphene oxide placed in a Nafion film and decorated with palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs). The film was synthesized by a hydrothermal method. The PdNPs have an average diameter of about 10 nm and a spherical shape. The modified GCE gives a linear electro-oxidative response to L-Cys (typically at +0.6 V vs. SCE) within the 0.5 to 10 μM concentration range. Other figures of merit include a response time of less than 2 s, a 0.15 μM lower detection limit (at signal to noise ratio of 3), and an analytical sensitivity of 1.30 μA·μM-1·cm-2. The sensor displays selectivity over ascorbic acid, uric acid, dopamine, hydrogen peroxide, urea, and glucose. The modified GCE was applied to the determination of L-Cys in human urine samples and gave excellent recoveries. Graphical abstract Spherical palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs) on reduced graphene oxide-Nafion (rGO-Nf) films were synthesized using a hydrothermal method. This nanohybrid was used for modifying a glassy carbon electrode to develop a sensor electrode for detecting L-cysteine that has fast response (less than 2 s), low detection limit (0.15 μM), and good sensitivity (0.092 μA μM-1 cm-2).
    MeSH terms: Carbon/chemistry; Cysteine/urine*; Electrodes; Fluorocarbon Polymers/chemistry*; Graphite/chemistry*; Humans; Oxides/chemistry; Palladium/chemistry*; Metal Nanoparticles/chemistry*; Electrochemical Techniques/methods; Limit of Detection
  3. Subramaniyam V, Saito A, Tokushige K
    J Med Ultrason (2001), 2018 Oct;45(4):623-627.
    PMID: 29616359 DOI: 10.1007/s10396-018-0875-0
    An oral infection harboring Fusobacterium species can gain entrance to the liver via hematogenous spread in the form of septic embolus, and can thereby cause abscesses. Such spread, described as Lemierre syndrome, is life threatening. We present such a case history of a man in his mid-40s, who presented with infection and Fusobacterium liver abscess with an acute fulminant disease course. The initial diagnosis was arrived at by ultrasound imaging and blood investigations. He was treated with antibiotics, ultrasound-guided liver abscess drainage, and extraction of the infected molar tooth. He was discharged 6 weeks after admission. To date, there have been no reports describing the ultrasound images of a Fusobacterium liver abscess in detail. Hence, we herein present the ultrasound images of a Fusobacterium liver abscess.
    MeSH terms: Fusobacterium Infections/therapy; Humans; Liver Abscess/etiology*; Liver Abscess/therapy; Male; Middle Aged; Ultrasonography*
  4. Abdullah N, Kamarudin SK, Shyuan LK
    Nanoscale Res Lett, 2018 Apr 03;13(1):90.
    PMID: 29616360 DOI: 10.1186/s11671-018-2498-1
    This study introduces a novel titanium dioxide carbon nanofiber (TiO2-CNF) support for anodic catalyst in direct methanol fuel cell. The catalytic synthesis process involves several methods, namely the sol-gel, electrospinning, and deposition methods. The synthesized electrocatalyst is compared with other three electrocatalysts with different types of support. All of these electrocatalysts differ based on a number of physical and electrochemical characteristics. Experimental results show that the TiO2-CNF support gave the highest current density at 345.64 mA mgcatalyst-1, which is equivalent to 5.54-fold that of carbon support while the power density is almost double that of the commercial electrocatalyst.
  5. Allawi MF, Jaafar O, Mohamad Hamzah F, Abdullah SMS, El-Shafie A
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2018 May;25(14):13446-13469.
    PMID: 29616480 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-018-1867-8
    Efficacious operation for dam and reservoir system could guarantee not only a defenselessness policy against natural hazard but also identify rule to meet the water demand. Successful operation of dam and reservoir systems to ensure optimal use of water resources could be unattainable without accurate and reliable simulation models. According to the highly stochastic nature of hydrologic parameters, developing accurate predictive model that efficiently mimic such a complex pattern is an increasing domain of research. During the last two decades, artificial intelligence (AI) techniques have been significantly utilized for attaining a robust modeling to handle different stochastic hydrological parameters. AI techniques have also shown considerable progress in finding optimal rules for reservoir operation. This review research explores the history of developing AI in reservoir inflow forecasting and prediction of evaporation from a reservoir as the major components of the reservoir simulation. In addition, critical assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of integrated AI simulation methods with optimization methods has been reported. Future research on the potential of utilizing new innovative methods based AI techniques for reservoir simulation and optimization models have also been discussed. Finally, proposal for the new mathematical procedure to accomplish the realistic evaluation of the whole optimization model performance (reliability, resilience, and vulnerability indices) has been recommended.
    MeSH terms: Artificial Intelligence; Forecasting; Models, Theoretical; Water; Reproducibility of Results; Water Resources/supply & distribution*; Hydrology/methods*
  6. Pang T, Gubler D, Goh DYT, Ismail Z, Asia Dengue Vaccine Advocacy Group
    Lancet, 2018 02 17;391(10121):654.
    PMID: 29617262 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30245-9
    MeSH terms: Dengue/epidemiology; Dengue/prevention & control*; Developing Countries; Humans; Patient Admission/trends; Public Health; Vaccination/methods; Developed Countries; Dengue Vaccines/adverse effects*; Dengue Vaccines/therapeutic use
  7. Ratnayeke S, van Manen FT, Clements GR, Kulaimi NAM, Sharp SP
    PLoS One, 2018;13(4):e0194217.
    PMID: 29617402 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194217
    Mammalian carnivores play a vital role in ecosystem functioning. However, they are prone to extinction because of low population densities and growth rates, and high levels of persecution or exploitation. In tropical biodiversity hotspots such as Peninsular Malaysia, rapid conversion of natural habitats threatens the persistence of this vulnerable group of animals. Here, we carried out the first comprehensive literature review on 31 carnivore species reported to occur in Peninsular Malaysia and updated their probable distribution. We georeferenced 375 observations of 28 species of carnivore from 89 unique geographic locations using records spanning 1948 to 2014. Using the Getis-Ord Gi*statistic and weighted survey records by IUCN Red List status, we identified hotspots of species that were of conservation concern and built regression models to identify environmental and anthropogenic landscape factors associated with Getis-Ord Gi* z scores. Our analyses identified two carnivore hotspots that were spatially concordant with two of the peninsula's largest and most contiguous forest complexes, associated with Taman Negara National Park and Royal Belum State Park. A cold spot overlapped with the southwestern region of the Peninsula, reflecting the disappearance of carnivores with higher conservation rankings from increasingly fragmented natural habitats. Getis-Ord Gi* z scores were negatively associated with elevation, and positively associated with the proportion of natural land cover and distance from the capital city. Malaysia contains some of the world's most diverse carnivore assemblages, but recent rates of forest loss are some of the highest in the world. Reducing poaching and maintaining large, contiguous tracts of lowland forests will be crucial, not only for the persistence of threatened carnivores, but for many mammalian species in general.
    MeSH terms: Animals; Conservation of Natural Resources; Malaysia; Mammals/physiology*; Population Density; Ecosystem; Biodiversity*; Endangered Species*; Forests
  8. Lau KW, Chen CD, Lee HL, Low VL, Sofian-Azirun M
    J Econ Entomol, 2018 05 28;111(3):1388-1394.
    PMID: 29617840 DOI: 10.1093/jee/toy071
    The susceptibility status of Aedes albopictus (Skuse; Diptera: Culicidea) larvae collected from 13 districts in Sarawak state, Malaysia was evaluated against five insect growth regulators (IGRs) namely, methoprene, pyriproxyfen, diflubenzuron, cyromazine, and novaluron. Field populations of Ae. albopictus were susceptible to methoprene, pyriproxyfen, cyromazine and novaluron with resistance ratios (RRs) ranging from 0.19-0.38, 0.05-0.14, 0.50-0.95, and 0.75-1.00, respectively. Nevertheless, tolerance towards diflubenzuron (0.33-1.33) was observed in this study. In general, these IGRs exhibited promising results and can be used as alternative control agents against field populations of Ae. albopictus in Sarawak, Malaysia.
    MeSH terms: Aedes/drug effects*; Aedes/growth & development; Animals; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Insect Control*; Juvenile Hormones/pharmacology*; Larva/drug effects; Larva/growth & development; Malaysia
  9. Thriumani R, Zakaria A, Hashim YZH, Jeffree AI, Helmy KM, Kamarudin LM, et al.
    BMC Cancer, 2018 04 02;18(1):362.
    PMID: 29609557 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-018-4235-7
    BACKGROUND: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from exhaled breath from human bodies have been proven to be a useful source of information for early lung cancer diagnosis. To date, there are still arguable information on the production and origin of significant VOCs of cancer cells. Thus, this study aims to conduct in-vitro experiments involving related cell lines to verify the capability of VOCs in providing information of the cells.

    METHOD: The performances of e-nose technology with different statistical methods to determine the best classifier were conducted and discussed. The gas sensor study has been complemented using solid phase micro-extraction-gas chromatography mass spectrometry. For this purpose, the lung cancer cells (A549 and Calu-3) and control cell lines, breast cancer cell (MCF7) and non-cancerous lung cell (WI38VA13) were cultured in growth medium.

    RESULTS: This study successfully provided a list of possible volatile organic compounds that can be specific biomarkers for lung cancer, even at the 24th hour of cell growth. Also, the Linear Discriminant Analysis-based One versus All-Support Vector Machine classifier, is able to produce high performance in distinguishing lung cancer from breast cancer cells and normal lung cells.

    CONCLUSION: The findings in this work conclude that the specific VOC released from the cancer cells can act as the odour signature and potentially to be used as non-invasive screening of lung cancer using gas array sensor devices.

    MeSH terms: Algorithms; Cells, Cultured; Humans; Lung Neoplasms/metabolism*; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry*; Reproducibility of Results; Biosensing Techniques; Biomarkers; Cell Line, Tumor; Solid Phase Microextraction*; Volatile Organic Compounds/analysis*; Volatile Organic Compounds/metabolism*; Support Vector Machine
  10. Banta HD
    Int J Technol Assess Health Care, 2018 Jan;34(2):131-133.
    PMID: 29609663 DOI: 10.1017/S0266462318000107
    I have worked in health technology assessment (HTA) since 1975, beginning in the United States Congress Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), where we were charged with defining "medical technology assessment". My main concern in HTA has always been efficacy of healthcare interventions. After years in OTA, I was invited to the Netherlands in 1985, where the Dutch government invited me to head a special commission concerning future healthcare technology and HTA. From there, I became involved in over forty countries, beginning in Europe and then throughout the world. My most intense involvements, outside the United States and Europe, have been in Brazil, China, and Malaysia. During these 40-plus years, I have seen HTA grow from its earliest beginnings to a worldwide force for better health care for everyone. I have also had some growing concerns, outlined in this Perspective article. Within HTA, I am most disappointed by a narrow perspective of cost-effective analysis, which tends to ignore considerations of culture, society, ethics, and organizational and legal issues. In the general environment affecting HTA and health care, I am most concerned about the need to protect the independence of HTA activities from influences of the healthcare industries.
    MeSH terms: Cost-Benefit Analysis; Health Policy; Humans; Technology Assessment, Biomedical/organization & administration*; Efficiency, Organizational; Patient Safety
  11. Puttarak P, Pornpanyanukul P, Meetam T, Bunditanukul K, Chaiyakunapruk N
    Complement Ther Med, 2018 Apr;37:37-42.
    PMID: 29609935 DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2018.01.009
    BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Several randomized controlled trials have investigated Vernonia cinerea (L.) Less. for smoking cessation but there remains no critical summary of overall findings. This study uses systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the efficacy and safety of V. cinerea.

    METHODS: Nine databases were searched through November 2017. Randomized controlled trials that reported the smoking cessation effect of V. cinerea were included. Data were extracted by two independent researchers. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias and JADAD score. The estimates of pooled effects were calculated as relative risk (RR) with 95% CI using a random-effects model.

    RESULTS: Five trials with 347 smokers were included. V. cinerea treatment group was significantly associated with cessation rate higher than that in the control group with no evidence of heterogeneity for both continuous abstinence rate (CAR) at week 8 with risk ratio (RR): 1.69, 95% CI [1.00, 2.86]; week 12 RR: 2.18, 95% CI [1.17, 4.04]) and 7-day point prevalence abstinence rate (PAR) (week 8 RR: 1.51, 95% CI [1.01, 2.27]; week 12 RR: 1.93, 95% CI [1.24, 2.99]) at week 8 and 12, respectively. There was no significant difference of all adverse events between the treatment and the control groups.

    CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that V. cinerea has potential efficacy for smoking cessation. Further well-design RCTs of standardized V. cinerea compared with standard treatment should be conducted to strengthen this evidence.

    MeSH terms: Adult; Aged; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Smoking/drug therapy*; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Smoking Cessation/methods*; Vernonia*
  12. Bilal M, Shah JA, Qureshi IM, Kadir K
    Int J Biomed Imaging, 2018;2018:7803067.
    PMID: 29610569 DOI: 10.1155/2018/7803067
    Transformed domain sparsity of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has recently been used to reduce the acquisition time in conjunction with compressed sensing (CS) theory. Respiratory motion during MR scan results in strong blurring and ghosting artifacts in recovered MR images. To improve the quality of the recovered images, motion needs to be estimated and corrected. In this article, a two-step approach is proposed for the recovery of cardiac MR images in the presence of free breathing motion. In the first step, compressively sampled MR images are recovered by solving an optimization problem using gradient descent algorithm. TheL1-norm based regularizer, used in optimization problem, is approximated by a hyperbolic tangent function. In the second step, a block matching algorithm, known as Adaptive Rood Pattern Search (ARPS), is exploited to estimate and correct respiratory motion among the recovered images. The framework is tested for free breathing simulated andin vivo2D cardiac cine MRI data. Simulation results show improved structural similarity index (SSIM), peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), and mean square error (MSE) with different acceleration factors for the proposed method. Experimental results also provide a comparison betweenk-tFOCUSS with MEMC and the proposed method.
    MeSH terms: Acceleration; Algorithms; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Motion; Artifacts; Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine; Data Compression; Signal-To-Noise Ratio
  13. Gillani SW, Ansari IA, Zaghloul HA, Abdul MIM, Sulaiman SAS, Baig MR
    PMID: 29610581 DOI: 10.1186/s13098-018-0325-6
    Background: The aim of this study was to explore the predictors of QOL and health state and examine the relationship with glycemic control among type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients.
    Methods: A randomized cross-sectional case-control study was conducted among n = 600 T2DM patients of Malaysia. Study population was distributed into three groups as: controls: patients with HbA1c ≤ 7 (n = 199), cases arm 1: with HbA1c 7-7.9 (n = 204) and cases arm 2 (n = 197): with HbA1c ≥ 8 consecutively last 3 times.
    Results: Participants with diabetes history > 10 years exhibits higher mean QOL score among all the three groups. In contrast mean health status score significantly (p 
    MeSH terms: Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2*; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated; Hospitals; Humans; Malaysia; Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; Quality of Life*; Self Care; Case-Control Studies
  14. Al-Makramani BMA, Razak AAA, Abu-Hassan MI, Al-Sanabani FA, Albakri FM
    Open Access Maced J Med Sci, 2018 Mar 15;6(3):548-553.
    PMID: 29610618 DOI: 10.3889/oamjms.2018.111
    BACKGROUND: The selection of the appropriate luting cement is a key factor for achieving a strong bond between prepared teeth and dental restorations.

    AIM: To evaluate the shear bond strength of Zinc phosphate cement Elite, glass ionomer cement Fuji I, resin-modified glass ionomer cement Fuji Plus and resin luting cement Panavia-F to Turkom-Cera all-ceramic material.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: Turkom-Cera was used to form discs 10mm in diameter and 3 mm in thickness (n = 40). The ceramic discs were wet ground, air - particle abraded with 50 - μm aluminium oxide particles and randomly divided into four groups (n = 10). The luting cement was bonded to Turkom-Cera discs as per manufacturer instructions. The shear bond strengths were determined using the universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. The data were analysed using the tests One Way ANOVA, the nonparametric Kruskal - Wallis test and Mann - Whitney Post hoc test.

    RESULTS: The shear bond strength of the Elite, Fuji I, Fuji Plus and Panavia F groups were: 0.92 ± 0.42, 2.04 ± 0.78, 4.37 ± 1.18, and 16.42 ± 3.38 MPa, respectively. There was the statistically significant difference between the four luting cement tested (p < 0.05).

    CONCLUSION: the phosphate-containing resin cement Panavia-F exhibited shear bond strength value significantly higher than all materials tested.

    MeSH terms: Aluminum Oxide; Analysis of Variance; Ceramics; Dental Cements; Glass Ionomer Cements; Phosphates; Zinc Phosphate Cement; Resin Cements
  15. Wong FN, Chua KH, Tan JAMA, Wong CM, Kuppusamy UR
    PeerJ, 2018;6:e4421.
    PMID: 29610703 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4421
    Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is characterised by long-term kidney damage and renal function decline. Diabetic CKD is the principal subtype of kidney disease in Malaysia and is associated with oxidative stress which plays an important role in development and progression of the disease. Glycaemic control slows down the progression of diabetic complications, including diabetic CKD. However, the implication of glycaemic control on enzymatic antioxidants and soluble RAGE (sRAGE) in CKD patients remains elusive. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of glycaemic control on the levels or activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and sRAGE in CKD patients.

    Methods: A total of 150 CKD patients and 64 non-CKD patients were enrolled. The type 2 diabetic patients in the recruited study participants were categorised based on their glycaemic control; poor glycaemic control (GC) with haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) > 7% and good GC with HbA1c ≤ 7%. The levels or activities of GPx, SOD and sRAGE in plasma were measured. These biochemical parameters were analysed using Mann-WhitneyUtest and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).

    Results: The activities of GPx and SOD as well as plasma level of sRAGE were not significantly different among the CKD patients with varying glycaemic control status. Irrespective of diabetes status and glycaemic control status, CKD patients also exhibited lower plasma SOD activities compared with non-CKD patients. Among the non-CKD patients, SOD activities were significantly higher in diabetic patients with good GC than diabetic patients with poor GC. Two-way ANOVA revealed that both CKD status and glycaemic control had an interaction effect on SOD activities in diabetic subjects with and without CKD. Follow-up analysis showed that SOD activities were significantly higher in non-CKD patients with good GC. There were no overall significant differences in GPx activities among the study participants. Furthermore, plasma sRAGE levels were higher in diabetic patients with CKD than those without CKD, regardless of glycaemic control status. There were no interaction effects between CKD status and glycaemic control status on GPx and sRAGE. Instead, CKD status showed significant main effects on these parameters, indicating significant differences between diabetic subjects with CKD and diabetic subjects without CKD.

    Conclusion: Glycaemic control did not quantitatively alter GPx, SOD and sRAGE in diabetic CKD patients. Despite the advantages of good glycaemic control, a well-controlled diabetes in CKD did not modulate the activities of enzymatic antioxidants and sRAGE levels, therefore may not be the primary mechanism to handle oxidative stress.

    MeSH terms: Analysis of Variance; Antioxidants; Blood Glucose; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Diabetic Nephropathies; Follow-Up Studies; Glutathione Peroxidase; Humans; Hyperglycemia; Malaysia; Superoxide Dismutase; Oxidative Stress; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic
  16. Han Z, Sun J, Lv A, Sung Y, Sun X, Shi H, et al.
    AMB Express, 2018 Apr 02;8(1):52.
    PMID: 29610998 DOI: 10.1186/s13568-018-0578-3
    A modified genomic DNA extraction method named the combination of lysozyme and ultrasonic lysis (CLU) method was used to analyze the fish intestinal microflora. In this method, the physical disruption and chemical lysis steps were combined, and some parameters in the key steps were adjusted. In addition, the results obtained by this method were compared with the results obtained by the Zirmil-beating cell disruption method and the QIAamp Fast DNA Stool Mini Kit. The OD260/OD280ratio and concentration of the DNA extracted using the CLU method were 2.02 and 282.8 µg/µL, respectively; when the incubation temperatures for lysozyme and RNase were adjusted to 37 °C, those values were 2.08 and 309.8 µg/µL, respectively. On the agarose gel, a major high-intensity, discrete band of more than 10 kb was found for the CLU method. However, the smearing intensity of degraded DNA was lower when the incubation temperatures were 60 °C for lysozyme and 30 °C for RNase than when incubation temperatures of 37 °C for lysozyme and 37 °C for RNase were used. The V3 variable region of the prokaryotic 16S rDNA was amplified, and an approximately 600-bp fragment was observed when the DNA extracted using the CLU method was used as a template. The CLU method is simple and cost effective, and it yields high-quality, unsheared, high-molecular-weight DNA, which is comparable to that obtained with a commercially available kit. The extracted DNA has potential for applications in critical molecular biology techniques.
    MeSH terms: Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Animals; Cost-Benefit Analysis; DNA, Ribosomal; Endoribonucleases; Feces; Muramidase; Ribonuclease, Pancreatic; Ribonucleases; Sepharose; Temperature; Ultrasonics; Genomics
  17. Mat S, Jaafar MH, Sockalingam S, Raja J, Kamaruzzaman SB, Chin AV, et al.
    Int J Rheum Dis, 2018 May;21(5):930-936.
    PMID: 29611292 DOI: 10.1111/1756-185X.13279
    AIM: To determine the association between vitamin D and knee pain among participants of the Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research (MELoR) study.

    METHOD: This was a cross-sectional study from the MELoR study consisting of a representative group of 1011 community-dwelling older persons (57% female), mean age 86.5 (54-94) years; 313 were Malays, 367 Chinese and 330 Indians. Participants were asked if they had knee pain. Levels of serum 25-hydroxy cholecalciferol (25-[OH]D), an indicator of vitamin D status, were measured using routine laboratory techniques.

    RESULTS: In unadjusted analysis, presence of knee pain was significantly associated with vitamin D deficiency (odds ratio [OR] 1.42; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08-1.85, P 0.011). Vitamin D levels were significantly associated with ethnicity differences where Malays (OR 7.08; 95% CI 4.94-10.15) and Indians (OR 6.10; 95% CI 4.28-9.71) have lower levels of vitamin D compared to Chinese. Subsequent multivariate analysis revealed that the association between vitamin D deficiency and knee pain was confounded by ethnic differences.

    CONCLUSION: A previous study suggested that vitamin D deficiency was associated with knee pain. This relationship was reproduced in our study, but we further established that the association was explained by ethnic variations. As vitamin D status is dependent on skin tone, diet and sunlight exposure, which are all effected by ethnicity, future studies are now required to determine whether a true relationship exists between vitamin D and knee pain.
    MeSH terms: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Calcifediol/blood; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Malaysia; Malaysia/epidemiology; Male; Middle Aged; Pain Measurement; Risk Factors; Vitamin D Deficiency/blood; Vitamin D Deficiency/diagnosis; Vitamin D Deficiency/ethnology*; Biomarkers/blood; Multivariate Analysis; Chi-Square Distribution; Logistic Models; Odds Ratio; Arthralgia/diagnosis; Arthralgia/ethnology*; Asian Continental Ancestry Group*
  18. Javaid A, Ahmad N, Afridi AK, Basit A, Khan AH, Ahmad I, et al.
    Am J Trop Med Hyg, 2018 06;98(6):1629-1636.
    PMID: 29611497 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.17-0936
    To evaluate the predictive value of time to sputum culture conversion (SCC) in predicting cure and factors associated with time to SCC and cure in multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients, a retrospective study was conducted at programmatic management unit of drug resistant tuberculosis (TB), Peshawar. A total of 428 pulmonary MDR-TB patients enrolled at the study site from January 1, 2012 to August 31, 2014 were followed until treatment outcome was recorded. Survival analysis using Cox proportional hazards model and multivariate binary logistic regression were, respectively, used to identify factors associated with time to SCC and cure. A P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Overall, 90.9% patients achieved SCC, and 76.9% were cured. Previous use of second-line drugs (SLDs) (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.637; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.429-0.947), ofloxacin resistance (HR = 0.656; 95% CI = 0.522-0.825) and lung cavitation (HR = 0.744; 95% CI = 0.595-0.931) were significantly associated with time to SCC. In predicting cure, sensitivities of SCC at 2, 4, and 6 months were 64.1% (95% CI = 58.69-69.32), 93.0% (95% CI = 89.69-95.52), and 97.6% (95% CI = 95.27-98.94), respectively, whereas specificities were 67.7% (95% CI = 57.53-76.73), 51.5% (95% CI = 41.25-61.68), and 44.4% (95% CI = 34.45-54.78), respectively. Furthermore, patients' age of 41-60 (odds ratio [OR] = 0.202; 95% CI = 0.067-0.605) and > 60 years (OR = 0.051; 95% CI = 0.011-0.224), body weight > 40 kg (OR = 2.950; 95% CI = 1.462-5.952), previous SLD use (OR = 0.277; 95% CI = 0.097-0.789), lung cavitation (OR = 0.196; 95% CI = 0.103-0.371) and ofloxacin resistance (OR = 0.386; 95% CI = 0.198-0.749) were significantly associated with cure. Association of SCC with cure was substantially stronger at 6 months (OR = 32.10; 95% CI = 14.34-71.85) than at 4 months (OR = 14.13; 95% CI = 7.92-25.21). However in predicting treatment outcomes, the combined sensitivity and specificity of SCC at 4 months was comparable to SCC at 6 months. Patients with risk factors for delayed SCC were also at high risk of unsuccessful outcomes.
    MeSH terms: Adolescent; Adult; Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology; Child; Female; Humans; Lung/pathology; Male; Microbial Sensitivity Tests/methods; Microbial Sensitivity Tests/standards; Middle Aged; Pakistan; Predictive Value of Tests; Retrospective Studies; ROC Curve; Sensitivity and Specificity; Sputum/microbiology*; Time Factors; Reproducibility of Results; Ofloxacin/pharmacology; Cohort Studies; Treatment Outcome; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant/diagnosis*; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant/drug therapy; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant/microbiology; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Young Adult
  19. Mohtar MA, Hernychova L, O'Neill JR, Lawrence ML, Murray E, Vojtesek B, et al.
    Mol Cell Proteomics, 2018 04;17(4):737-763.
    PMID: 29339412 DOI: 10.1074/mcp.RA118.000573
    AGR2 is an oncogenic endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident protein disulfide isomerase. AGR2 protein has a relatively unique property for a chaperone in that it can bind sequence-specifically to a specific peptide motif (TTIYY). A synthetic TTIYY-containing peptide column was used to affinity-purify AGR2 from crude lysates highlighting peptide selectivity in complex mixtures. Hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry localized the dominant region in AGR2 that interacts with the TTIYY peptide to within a structural loop from amino acids 131-135 (VDPSL). A peptide binding site consensus of Tx[IL][YF][YF] was developed for AGR2 by measuring its activity against a mutant peptide library. Screening the human proteome for proteins harboring this motif revealed an enrichment in transmembrane proteins and we focused on validating EpCAM as a potential AGR2-interacting protein. AGR2 and EpCAM proteins formed a dose-dependent protein-protein interaction in vitro Proximity ligation assays demonstrated that endogenous AGR2 and EpCAM protein associate in cells. Introducing a single alanine mutation in EpCAM at Tyr251 attenuated its binding to AGR2 in vitro and in cells. Hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry was used to identify a stable binding site for AGR2 on EpCAM, adjacent to the TLIYY motif and surrounding EpCAM's detergent binding site. These data define a dominant site on AGR2 that mediates its specific peptide-binding function. EpCAM forms a model client protein for AGR2 to study how an ER-resident chaperone can dock specifically to a peptide motif and regulate the trafficking a protein destined for the secretory pathway.
    MeSH terms: Humans; Peptides/metabolism*; Protein Binding; Proteins/genetics; Proteins/metabolism*; Recombinant Proteins/metabolism; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mdm2/metabolism; MCF-7 Cells; Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule/genetics; Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule/metabolism*
External Links