Browse publications by year: 2019

  1. Fulltext Extraneural metastasis of meningeal haemangiopericytoma to the liver
    Yusoff AR, Mokhtar S, Raman K, Singh H, Shabery NAM
    Turk J Gastroenterol, 2019 09;30(9):848-850.
    PMID: 31530530 DOI: 10.5152/tjg.2019.18454
    MeSH terms: Aged; Female; Hemangiopericytoma/secondary*; Humans; Liver Neoplasms/secondary*; Meningeal Neoplasms/pathology*
  2. From Hong Kong Diabetes Register to JADE Program to RAMP-DM for Data-Driven Actions
    Chan JCN, Lim LL, Luk AOY, Ozaki R, Kong APS, Ma RCW, et al.
    Diabetes Care, 2019 11;42(11):2022-2031.
    PMID: 31530658 DOI: 10.2337/dci19-0003
    In 1995, the Hong Kong Diabetes Register (HKDR) was established by a doctor-nurse team at a university-affiliated, publicly funded, hospital-based diabetes center using a structured protocol for gathering data to stratify risk, triage care, empower patients, and individualize treatment. This research-driven quality improvement program has motivated the introduction of a territory-wide diabetes risk assessment and management program provided by 18 hospital-based diabetes centers since 2000. By linking the data-rich HKDR to the territory-wide electronic medical record, risk equations were developed and validated to predict clinical outcomes. In 2007, the HKDR protocol was digitalized to establish the web-based Joint Asia Diabetes Evaluation (JADE) Program complete with risk levels and algorithms for issuance of personalized reports to reduce clinical inertia and empower self-management. Through this technologically assisted, integrated diabetes care program, we have generated big data to track secular trends, identify unmet needs, and verify interventions in a naturalistic environment. In 2009, the JADE Program was adapted to form the Risk Assessment and Management Program for Diabetes Mellitus (RAMP-DM) in the publicly funded primary care clinics, which reduced all major events by 30-60% in patients without complications. Meanwhile, a JADE-assisted assessment and empowerment program provided by a university-affiliated, self-funded, nurse-coordinated diabetes center, aimed at complementing medical care in the community, also reduced all major events by 30-50% in patients with different risk levels. By combining universal health coverage, public-private partnerships, and data-driven integrated care, the Hong Kong experience provides a possible solution than can be adapted elsewhere to make quality diabetes care accessible, affordable, and sustainable.
    MeSH terms: Algorithms; Clinical Protocols/standards*; Diabetes Mellitus*; Hong Kong; Humans; Registries*; Program Evaluation; Program Development*; Risk Assessment/standards*; Quality Improvement
  3. Fulltext Detection of dengue using PAMAM dendrimer integrated tapered optical fiber sensor
    Mustapha Kamil Y, Al-Rekabi SH, Yaacob MH, Syahir A, Chee HY, Mahdi MA, et al.
    Sci Rep, 2019 09 17;9(1):13483.
    PMID: 31530893 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-49891-7
    The exponential escalation of dengue cases has indeed become a global health crisis. This work elaborates on the development of a biofunctionalized tapered optical fiber (TOF) based sensor with the integration of polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer for the detection of dengue E protein. The dimension of the TOF generated an evanescent field that was sensitive to any changes in the external medium while the integration of PAMAM promoted more adhesion of bio-recognition molecules; anti-DENV II E protein antibodies; that were complementary to the targeted protein. This in return created more active sites for the absorption of DENV II E proteins onto the tapered region. The resolution and detection limit of the sensor are 19.53 nm/nM and 1 pM, respectively with Kd = 1.02 × 10-10 M.
    MeSH terms: Dengue/diagnosis*; Dengue/virology; Dengue Virus; Female; Humans; Male; Spectrum Analysis, Raman; Viral Proteins/analysis; Biosensing Techniques*; Microscopy, Atomic Force; Dendrimers*; Optical Fibers*; Bioengineering
  4. Genetic abnormalities in a large cohort of Coffin-Siris syndrome patients
    Sekiguchi F, Tsurusaki Y, Okamoto N, Teik KW, Mizuno S, Suzumura H, et al.
    J Hum Genet, 2019 Dec;64(12):1173-1186.
    PMID: 31530938 DOI: 10.1038/s10038-019-0667-4
    Coffin-Siris syndrome (CSS, MIM#135900) is a congenital disorder characterized by coarse facial features, intellectual disability, and hypoplasia of the fifth digit and nails. Pathogenic variants for CSS have been found in genes encoding proteins in the BAF (BRG1-associated factor) chromatin-remodeling complex. To date, more than 150 CSS patients with pathogenic variants in nine BAF-related genes have been reported. We previously reported 71 patients of whom 39 had pathogenic variants. Since then, we have recruited an additional 182 CSS-suspected patients. We performed comprehensive genetic analysis on these 182 patients and on the previously unresolved 32 patients, targeting pathogenic single nucleotide variants, short insertions/deletions and copy number variations (CNVs). We confirmed 78 pathogenic variations in 78 patients. Pathogenic variations in ARID1B, SMARCB1, SMARCA4, ARID1A, SOX11, SMARCE1, and PHF6 were identified in 48, 8, 7, 6, 4, 1, and 1 patients, respectively. In addition, we found three CNVs including SMARCA2. Of particular note, we found a partial deletion of SMARCB1 in one CSS patient and we thoroughly investigated the resulting abnormal transcripts.
    MeSH terms: Abnormalities, Multiple/genetics*; Face/abnormalities*; Hand Deformities, Congenital/genetics*; Humans; Intellectual Disability/genetics*; Micrognathism/genetics*; Neck/abnormalities*; Genetic Variation/genetics*; Cohort Studies; Genetic Predisposition to Disease/genetics*; Genetic Association Studies/methods
  5. Fulltext Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) in the Prevention of Ageing and Degenerative Diseases: Review of Current Evidence
    Mohd Sahardi NFN, Makpol S
    Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2019;2019:5054395.
    PMID: 31531114 DOI: 10.1155/2019/5054395
    Currently, the age of the population is increasing as a result of increased life expectancy. Ageing is defined as the progressive loss of physiological integrity, which can be characterized by functional impairment and high vulnerability to various types of diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and atherosclerosis. Numerous studies have reported that the presence of oxidative stress and inflammation contributes to the development of these diseases. In general, oxidative stress could induce proinflammatory cytokines and reduce cellular antioxidant capacity. Increased oxidative stress levels beyond the production of antioxidant agents cause oxidative damage to biological molecules, including DNA, protein, and carbohydrates, which affects normal cell signalling, cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis and leads to disease pathogenesis. Since oxidative stress and inflammation contribute to these diseases, ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) is one of the potential herbs that can be used to reduce the level of oxidative stress and inflammation. Ginger consists of two major active components, 6-gingerol and 6-shogaol, which are essential for preventing oxidative stress and inflammation. Thus, this paper will review the effects of ginger on ageing and degenerative diseases, including AD, PD, type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension, and osteoarthritis.
    MeSH terms: Aging; Alzheimer Disease; Antioxidants; Carbohydrates; Catechols; Cell Differentiation; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; DNA; Fatty Alcohols; Hypertension; Inflammation; Life Expectancy; Osteoarthritis; Parkinson Disease; Cytokines; Apoptosis; Oxidative Stress; Ginger; Atherosclerosis
  6. Fulltext Malaysian Tualang Honey Inhibits Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced Endothelial Hyperpermeability
    Devasvaran K, Tan JJ, Ng CT, Fong LY, Yong YK
    Oxid Med Cell Longev, 2019;2019:1202676.
    PMID: 31531177 DOI: 10.1155/2019/1202676
    Malaysian Tualang honey (TH) is a known therapeutic honey extracted from the honeycombs of the Tualang tree (Koompassia excelsa) and has been reported for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, and wound healing properties. However, the possible vascular protective effect of TH against oxidative stress remains unclear. In this study, the effects of TH on hydrogen peroxide- (H2O2-) elicited vascular hyperpermeability in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and Balb/c mice were evaluated. Our data showed that TH concentrations ranging from 0.01% to 1.00% showed no cytotoxic effect to HUVECs. Induction with 0.5 mM H2O2 was found to increase HUVEC permeability, but the effect was significantly reversed attenuated by TH (p < 0.05), of which the permeability with the highest inhibition peaked at 0.1%. In Balb/c mice, TH (0.5 g/kg-1.5 g/kg) significantly (p < 0.05) reduced H2O2 (0.3%)-induced albumin-bound Evans blue leak, in a dose-dependent manner. Immunofluorescence staining confirmed that TH reduced actin stress fiber formation while increasing cortical actin formation and colocalization of caveolin-1 and β-catenin in HUVECs. Signaling studies showed that HUVECs pretreated with TH significantly (p < 0.05) decreased intracellular calcium release, while sustaining the level of cAMP when challenged with H2O2. These results suggested that TH could inhibit H2O2-induced vascular hyperpermeability in vitro and in vivo by suppression of adherence junction protein redistribution via calcium and cAMP, which could have a therapeutic potential for diseases related to the increase of both oxidant and vascular permeability.
    MeSH terms: Cyclic AMP/metabolism; Capillary Permeability/drug effects*; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Honey*; Humans; Hydrogen Peroxide/pharmacology*; Malaysia; Calcium Signaling/drug effects*; Stress Fibers/metabolism; Stress Fibers/pathology; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells/metabolism*; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells/pathology
  7. Increase of Plasma TNF-α Is Associated with Decreased Levels of Blood Platelets in Clinical Dengue Infection
    Meena AA, Murugesan A, Sopnajothi S, Yong YK, Ganesh PS, Vimali IJ, et al.
    Viral Immunol, 2019 09 18;33(1):54-60.
    PMID: 31532346 DOI: 10.1089/vim.2019.0100
    Dengue virus (DENV) infection has become an increasingly common concern in tropical and subtropical regions. It has protean manifestations ranging from febrile phase to severe life-threatening illness. In this study, we estimated Th1 and Th2 cytokines and correlated the levels with dengue severity along with certain hematological and biochemical parameters. We also studied the seroprevalence of dengue between October and December 2017 at the Government Theni Medical College, India. Individuals with dengue fever (DF) were positive for either IgM or IgG, or both. The biochemical and hematological parameters along with plasma tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), granulocyte monocyte-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interleukin (IL)-13, IL-12p70, IL-10, IL-5, IL-4, and IL-2 cytokines were estimated. The prevalence of DF was 42.9% during the study period. IL-2, TNF-α, IL-4, and IL-10 levels were significantly elevated (p 
    MeSH terms: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Antibodies, Viral/blood; Blood Platelets/cytology*; Child; Child, Preschool; Dengue/blood*; Dengue/immunology*; Dengue/epidemiology; Female; Humans; India/epidemiology; Infant; Male; Middle Aged; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/blood*; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Cytokines/blood; Cytokines/immunology*; Th1 Cells/immunology; Th2 Cells/immunology; Young Adult
  8. Fulltext Trans-national conservation and infrastructure development in the Heart of Borneo
    Sloan S, Campbell MJ, Alamgir M, Lechner AM, Engert J, Laurance WF
    PLoS One, 2019;14(9):e0221947.
    PMID: 31532810 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0221947
    The Heart of Borneo initiative has promoted the integration of protected areas and sustainably-managed forests across Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. Recently, however, member states of the Heart of Borneo have begun pursuing ambitious unilateral infrastructure-development schemes to accelerate economic growth, jeopardizing the underlying goal of trans-boundary integrated conservation. Focusing on Sabah, Malaysia, we highlight conflicts between its Pan-Borneo Highway scheme and the regional integration of protected areas, unprotected intact forests, and conservation-priority forests. Road developments in southern Sabah in particular would drastically reduce protected-area integration across the northern Heart of Borneo region. Such developments would separate two major clusters of protected areas that account for one-quarter of all protected areas within the Heart of Borneo complex. Sabah has proposed forest corridors and highway underpasses as means of retaining ecological connectivity in this context. Connectivity modelling identified numerous overlooked areas for connectivity rehabilitation among intact forest patches following planned road development. While such 'linear-conservation planning' might theoretically retain up to 85% of intact-forest connectivity and integrate half of the conservation-priority forests across Sabah, in reality it is very unlikely to achieve meaningful ecological integration. Moreover, such measure would be exceedingly costly if properly implemented-apparently beyond the operating budget of relevant Malaysian authorities. Unless critical road segments are cancelled, planned infrastructure will fragment important conservation landscapes with little recourse for mitigation. This likelihood reinforces earlier calls for the legal recognition of the Heart of Borneo region for conservation planning as well as for enhanced tri-lateral coordination of both conservation and development.
    MeSH terms: Borneo; Brunei; Conservation of Natural Resources/methods*; Indonesia; Malaysia; Ecosystem; Economic Development; Forests
  9. Fulltext Expert panel consensus recommendations for ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in Asia: The HOPE Asia Network
    Kario K, Shin J, Chen CH, Buranakitjaroen P, Chia YC, Divinagracia R, et al.
    J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich), 2019 Sep;21(9):1250-1283.
    PMID: 31532913 DOI: 10.1111/jch.13652
    Hypertension is an important public health issue because of its association with a number of significant diseases and adverse outcomes. However, there are important ethnic differences in the pathogenesis and cardio-/cerebrovascular consequences of hypertension. Given the large populations and rapidly aging demographic in Asian regions, optimal strategies to diagnose and manage hypertension are of high importance. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is an important out-of-office blood pressure (BP) measurement tool that should play a central role in hypertension detection and management. The use of ABPM is particularly important in Asia due to the specific features of hypertension in Asian patients, including a high prevalence of masked hypertension, disrupted BP variability with marked morning BP surge, and nocturnal hypertension. This HOPE Asia Network document summarizes region-specific literature on the relationship between ABPM parameters and cardiovascular risk and target organ damage, providing a rationale for consensus-based recommendations on the use of ABPM in Asia. The aim of these recommendations is to guide and improve clinical practice to facilitate optimal BP monitoring with the goal of optimizing patient management and expediting the efficient allocation of treatment and health care resources. This should contribute to the HOPE Asia Network mission of improving the management of hypertension and organ protection toward achieving "zero" cardiovascular events in Asia.
    MeSH terms: Antihypertensive Agents/therapeutic use; Asia/epidemiology; Blood Pressure Determination/methods*; Cardiovascular Diseases/epidemiology; Circadian Rhythm; Health Resources/economics; Humans; Hypertension/diagnosis*; Hypertension/drug therapy; Hypertension/epidemiology; Hypertension/physiopathology*; Patient Care Management/methods; Practice Patterns, Physicians'; Prevalence; Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory/methods*; Consensus; White Coat Hypertension/diagnosis; White Coat Hypertension/epidemiology; Masked Hypertension/diagnosis; Masked Hypertension/epidemiology
  10. Fulltext Glioblastoma-Associated Microglia Reprogramming Is Mediated by Functional Transfer of Extracellular miR-21
    Abels ER, Maas SLN, Nieland L, Wei Z, Cheah PS, Tai E, et al.
    Cell Rep, 2019 09 17;28(12):3105-3119.e7.
    PMID: 31533034 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.08.036
    Gliomas are primary, diffusely infiltrating brain tumors. Microglia are innate immune cells in the CNS and make up a substantial portion of the tumor mass. Glioma cells shape their microenvironment, communicating with and reprogramming surrounding cells, resulting in enhanced angiogenesis, immune suppression, and remodeling of the extracellular matrix. Glioma cells communicate with microglia, in part by releasing extracellular vesicles (EVs). Mouse glioma cells stably expressing a palmitoylated GFP to label EVs were implanted intracranially into syngeneic miR-21-null mice. Here, we demonstrate functional delivery of miR-21, regulating specific downstream mRNA targets in microglia after uptake of tumor-derived EVs. These findings attest to EV-dependent microRNA delivery as studied in an in vivo-based model and provide insight into the reprograming of microglial cells by tumor cells to create a favorable microenvironment for cancer progression.
  11. Fulltext Reliability and validity of the malay version of Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) when administered to postpartum mothers at two points in time
    Nursazila Asikin MA, Siti Norhani S, Nur Arzuar AR, Azam OE
    International Medical Journal Malaysia, 2019;18:65-72.
    Introduction: Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) is a tool used to assess the risk of postpartum depression (PPD). In this study we determined the reliability and validity of the Malay version of EPDS when administered at two different time points in the postpartum period.
    Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study design was carried out between May and September 2017 at three government primary healthcare clinics located in Batang Padang district, a suburban area of Perak state in Peninsular Malaysia. We recruited a total of 89 women; 41 women were in the early postpartum period (1-30 days) and 48 women were in the late postpartum period (31-120 days). Cronbach's alpha coefficient, inter-item correlation, and corrected item-total correlation were used to assess the internal consistency. The concurrent validity was assessed using Spearman's correlation. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 and R 3.4.2.
    Results: The Cronbach's alpha for the first and second group was 0.78 and 0.62, respectively, which indicated satisfactory reliability. At both time periods, removing Item 2 from the scale resulted in a significant increase in Cronbach's alpha (to 0.847 and 0.709, respectively). As expected, the EPDS scores correlated moderately with the BDI-II scores (1-30 days: Spearman's rho = 0.65, p < 0.01; 31-120 days: Spearman's rho = 0.73, p < 0.01).
    Conclusion: The Malay version of the EPDS is a reliable screening instrument for detecting postpartum depression. It showed reasonability and feasibility and can be used in postpartum clinical settings or for assessing intervention effects in research studies. Furthermore, as our results indicated, removing Item 2 from the Malay version would increase the internal consistency of the EPDS. © 2019 Default.
    Study site: Klinik Kesihatan, Perak, Malaysia
    MeSH terms: Adult; Ambulatory Care Facilities; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Malaysia; Psychometrics; Women; Depression, Postpartum; Postpartum Period
  12. Fulltext The synergism of Clinacanthus nutans Lindau extracts with gemcitabine: downregulation of anti-apoptotic markers in squamous pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
    Hii LW, Lim SE, Leong CO, Chin SY, Tan NP, Lai KS, et al.
    BMC Complement Altern Med, 2019 Sep 14;19(1):257.
    PMID: 31521140 DOI: 10.1186/s12906-019-2663-9
    BACKGROUND: Clinacanthus nutans extracts have been consumed by the cancer patients with the hope that the extracts can kill cancers more effectively than conventional chemotherapies. Our previous study reported its anti-inflammatory effects were caused by inhibiting Toll-like Receptor-4 (TLR-4) activation. However, we are unsure of its anticancer effect, and its interaction with existing chemotherapy.

    METHODS: We investigated the anti-proliferative efficacy of polar leaf extracts (LP), non-polar leaf extracts (LN), polar stem extract (SP) and non-polar stem extracts (SN) in human breast, colorectal, lung, endometrial, nasopharyngeal, and pancreatic cancer cells using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide, MTT assay. The most potent extracts was tested along with gemcitabine using our established drug combination analysis. The effect of the combinatory treatment in apoptosis were quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Annexin V assay, antibody array and immunoblotting. Statistical significance was analysed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc Dunnett's test. A p-value of less than 0.05 (p 

    MeSH terms: Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology*; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/drug therapy; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/genetics; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/metabolism; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/physiopathology*; Deoxycytidine/analogs & derivatives*; Deoxycytidine/pharmacology; Drug Synergism; Humans; Pancreatic Neoplasms/drug therapy; Pancreatic Neoplasms/genetics; Pancreatic Neoplasms/metabolism; Pancreatic Neoplasms/physiopathology*; Plant Extracts/pharmacology*; Apoptosis/drug effects*; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2/genetics; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2/metabolism; Acanthaceae/chemistry*; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Proliferation/drug effects
  13. Synthesis of nanocomposite membrane incorporated with amino-functionalized nanocrystalline cellulose for refinery wastewater treatment
    Moeinzadeh R, Jadval Ghadam AG, Lau WJ, Emadzadeh D
    Carbohydr Polym, 2019 Dec 01;225:115212.
    PMID: 31521264 DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.115212
    In this work, nanocomposite ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were synthesized through addition of different quantities of amino-functionalized nanocrystalline cellulose (NCs) in order to improve membrane anti-fouling resistance against oil depositions. The characterization results demonstrated that the overall porosity and hydrophilicity of the membranes were improved significantly upon addition of NCs despite a decrease in the pore size of nanocomposite membranes. The UF performance results showed that the nanocomposite membrane incorporated with 1 wt% NCs achieved an optimal water flux improvement, i.e., approximately 43% higher than the pristine membrane. Such nanocomposite membrane also exhibited promising oil rejection (>98.2%) and excellent water flux recovery rate of ˜98% and ˜85% after one and four cycles of treating 250-ppm oil-in-water emulsion solution, respectively. The desirable anti-fouling properties of nanocomposite membrane can be attributed to the existence of hydrophilic functional groups (-OH) on the surface of membrane stemming from addition of NCs that renders the membrane less vulnerable to fouling during oil-in-water emulsion treatment.
    MeSH terms: Cellulose; Membranes; Ultrafiltration; Water; Porosity; Plant Stems; Nanocomposites; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions
  14. Coping styles in patients with hypospadias
    Rynja SP, Bosch JLHR, de Jong TPVM, van der Werf-Kok ET, de Kort LMO
    J Pediatr Urol, 2019 Dec;15(6):625.e1-625.e8.
    PMID: 31521557 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpurol.2019.08.007
    OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to investigate the coping styles used by patients with hypospadias. Long-term hypospadias studies generally show satisfying outcomes, but some report a lower quality of life (QoL) or poorer psychosocial adjustment, particularly in patients with proximal hypospadias. A lower QoL or psychosocial adjustment was found to be associated with passive coping styles in other pediatric patient populations. Hypothetically, patients with hypospadias also develop different coping styles due to medical experiences in childhood, leading to the lower QoL outcomes on the long term. However, coping styles of patients with hypospadias have never been analyzed.

    PATIENTS AND METHODS: Adult men with hypospadias repair in childhood were recruited (n = 55; aged 19.9 [IQR 19.2-22.1]). Coping styles were determined with the Utrecht Coping List (UCL) and results compared with a reference group of male students (n = 55, age 20-30 years, no medical history). Sub analysis of coping styles of the hypospadias groups was done based on three items: severity of hypospadias, time of last hypospadias surgery and occurrence of postoperative complications.

    RESULTS: Compared to the reference groups, patients with hypospadias had higher scores on Avoidance (P 

    MeSH terms: Adaptation, Psychological*; Adult; Child, Preschool; Cross-Sectional Studies; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Hypospadias/psychology*; Infant; Male; Prognosis; Quality of Life*; Surveys and Questionnaires; Retrospective Studies; Social Support; Young Adult; Patient Reported Outcome Measures
  15. Neuroprotective effects of glucomoringin-isothiocyanate against H2O2-Induced cytotoxicity in neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells
    Jaafaru MS, Nordin N, Rosli R, Shaari K, Bako HY, Saad N, et al.
    Neurotoxicology, 2019 12;75:89-104.
    PMID: 31521693 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuro.2019.09.008
    Neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) are pathological conditions characterised by progressive damage of neuronal cells leading to eventual loss of structure and function of the cells. Due to implication of multi-systemic complexities of signalling pathways in NDDs, the causes and preventive mechanisms are not clearly delineated. The study was designed to investigate the potential signalling pathways involved in neuroprotective activities of purely isolated glucomoringin isothiocyanate (GMG-ITC) against H2O2-induced cytotoxicity in neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells. GMG-ITC was isolated from Moringa oleifera seeds, and confirmed with NMR and LC-MS based methods. Gene expression analysis of phase II detoxifying markers revealed significant increase in the expression of all the genes involved, due to GMG-ITC pre-treatment. GMG-ITC also caused significant decreased in the expression of NF-kB, BACE1, APP and increased the expressions of IkB and MAPT tau genes in the differentiated cells as confirmed by multiplex genetic system analysis. The effect was reflected on the expressed proteins in the differentiated cells, where GMG-ITC caused increased in expression level of Nrf2, SOD-1, NQO1, p52 and c-Rel of nuclear factor erythroid factor 2 (Nrf2) and nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-kB) pathways respectively. The findings revealed the potential of GMG-ITC to abrogate oxidative stress-induced neurodegeneration through Nrf2 and NF-kB signalling pathways.
    MeSH terms: Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; Gene Expression Regulation/drug effects; Humans; Hydrogen Peroxide/antagonists & inhibitors; Hydrogen Peroxide/toxicity*; Neuroblastoma; Rhamnose/analogs & derivatives*; Rhamnose/pharmacology; Blotting, Western; Isothiocyanates/pharmacology*; Neuroprotective Agents/pharmacology*; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Cell Line, Tumor; Metabolic Networks and Pathways/drug effects; Transcriptome/drug effects
  16. A Systematic Review for Enabling of Develop a Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Application: Taxonomy, Substantially Analysis, Motivations, Challenges, Recommendations and Future Direction
    Hussien HM, Yasin SM, Udzir SNI, Zaidan AA, Zaidan BB
    J Med Syst, 2019 Sep 14;43(10):320.
    PMID: 31522262 DOI: 10.1007/s10916-019-1445-8
    Blockchain in healthcare applications requires robust security and privacy mechanism for high-level authentication, interoperability and medical records sharing to comply with the strict legal requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Blockchain technology in the healthcare industry has received considerable research attention in recent years. This study conducts a review to substantially analyse and map the research landscape of current technologies, mainly the use of blockchain in healthcare applications, into a coherent taxonomy. The present study systematically searches all relevant research articles on blockchain in healthcare applications in three accessible databases, namely, ScienceDirect, IEEE and Web of Science, by using the defined keywords 'blockchain', 'healthcare' and 'electronic health records' and their variations. The final set of collected articles related to the use of blockchain in healthcare application is divided into three categories. The first category includes articles (i.e. 43/58 scientific articles) that attempted to develop and design healthcare applications integrating blockchain, particularly those on new architecture, system designs, framework, scheme, model, platform, approach, protocol and algorithm. The second category includes studies (i.e., 6/58 scientific articles) that attempted to evaluate and analyse the adoption of blockchain in the healthcare system. Finally, the third category comprises review and survey articles (i.e., 6/58 scientific articles) related to the integration of blockchain into healthcare applications. The final articles for review are discussed on the basis of five aspects: (1) year of publication, (2) nationality of authors, (3) publishing house or journal, (4) purpose of using blockchain in health applications and the corresponding contributions and (5) problem types and proposed solutions. Additionally, this study provides identified motivations, open challenges and recommendations on the use of blockchain in healthcare applications. The current research contributes to the literature by providing a detailed review of feasible alternatives and identifying the research gaps. Accordingly, researchers and developers are provided with appealing opportunities to further develop decentralised healthcare applications through a comprehensive discussion of about the importance of blockchain and its integration into various healthcare applications.
    MeSH terms: Confidentiality; Information Systems/organization & administration*; Information Systems/standards; Motivation; Computer Security/standards*; Electronic Health Records/standards
  17. Use of Bone Health Evaluation in Orthopedic Surgery: 2019 ISCD Official Position
    Anderson PA, Morgan SL, Krueger D, Zapalowski C, Tanner B, Jeray KJ, et al.
    J Clin Densitom, 2019 08 16;22(4):517-543.
    PMID: 31519473 DOI: 10.1016/j.jocd.2019.07.013
    This position development conference (PDC) Task Force examined the assessment of bone status in orthopedic surgery patients. Key questions included which orthopedic surgery patients should be evaluated for poor bone health prior to surgery and which subsets of patients are at high risk for poor bone health and adverse outcomes. Second, the reliability and validity of using bone densitometry techniques and measurement of specific geometries around the hip and knee before and after arthroplasty was determined. Finally, the use of computed tomography (CT) attenuation coefficients (Hounsfield units) to estimate bone quality at anatomic locations where orthopedic surgery is performed including femur, tibia, shoulder, wrist, and ankle were reviewed. The literature review identified 665 articles of which 198 met inclusion exclusion criteria and were selected based on reporting of methodology, reliability, or validity results. We recommend that the orthopedic surgeon be aware of established ISCD guidelines for determining who should have additional screening for osteoporosis. Patients with inflammatory arthritis, chronic corticosteroid use, chronic renal disease, and those with history of fracture after age 50 are at high risk of osteoporosis and adverse events from surgery and should have dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) screening before surgery. In addition to standard DXA, bone mineral density (BMD) measurement along the femur and proximal tibia is reliable and valid around implants and can provide valuable information regarding bone remodeling and identification of loosening. Attention to positioning, selection of regions of interest, and use of special techniques and software is required. Plain radiographs and CT provide simple, reliable methods to classify the shape of the proximal femur and to predict osteoporosis; these include the Dorr Classification, Cortical Index, and critical thickness. Correlation of these indices to central BMD is moderate to good. Many patients undergoing orthopedic surgery have had preoperative CT which can be utilized to assess regional quality of bone. The simplest method available on most picture archiving and communications systems is to simply measure a regions of interest and determine the mean Hounsfield units. This method has excellent reliability throughout the skeleton and has moderate correlation to DXA based on BMD. The prediction of outcome and correlation to mechanical strength of fixation of a screw or implant is unknown.
    MeSH terms: Bone Diseases/diagnosis*; Bone Diseases/surgery; Consensus Development Conferences as Topic*; Humans; Absorptiometry, Photon/standards*; Bone Density*; Orthopedic Procedures/methods*
  18. Fulltext The higher prevalence of extended spectrum beta-lactamases among Escherichia coli ST131 in Southeast Asia is driven by expansion of a single, locally prevalent subclone
    Chen SL, Ding Y, Apisarnthanarak A, Kalimuddin S, Archuleta S, Omar SFS, et al.
    Sci Rep, 2019 09 13;9(1):13245.
    PMID: 31519972 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-49467-5
    The ST131 multilocus sequence type (MLST) of Escherichia coli is a globally successful pathogen whose dissemination is increasing rates of antibiotic resistance. Numerous global surveys have demonstrated the pervasiveness of this clone; in some regions ST131 accounts for up to 30% of all E. coli isolates. However, many regions are underrepresented in these published surveys, including Africa, South America, and Asia. We collected consecutive bloodstream E. coli isolates from three countries in Southeast Asia; ST131 was the most common MLST type. As in other studies, the C2/H30Rx clade accounted for the majority of ST131 strains. Clinical risk factors were similar to other reported studies. However, we found that nearly all of the C2 strains in this study were closely related, forming what we denote the SEA-C2 clone. The SEA-C2 clone is enriched for strains from Asia, particularly Southeast Asia and Singapore. The SEA-C2 clone accounts for all of the excess resistance and virulence of ST131 relative to non-ST131 E. coli. The SEA-C2 strains appear to be locally circulating and dominant in Southeast Asia, despite the intuition that high international connectivity and travel would enable frequent opportunities for other strains to establish themselves.
    MeSH terms: Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology*; Asia, Southeastern/epidemiology; beta-Lactamases/metabolism*; Escherichia coli/enzymology*; Escherichia coli/genetics; Escherichia coli/isolation & purification; Escherichia coli Infections/drug therapy; Escherichia coli Infections/genetics; Escherichia coli Infections/microbiology; Escherichia coli Infections/epidemiology*; Humans; Virulence/drug effects*; Prevalence; Genome, Bacterial; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial*; Virulence Factors; Multilocus Sequence Typing
  19. Defining a threshold for tacrolimus intra-patient variability associated with late acute cellular rejection in paediatric kidney transplant recipients
    Abu Bakar K, Mohamad NA, Hodi Z, McCulloch T, Williams A, Christian M, et al.
    Pediatr Nephrol, 2019 12;34(12):2557-2562.
    PMID: 31520127 DOI: 10.1007/s00467-019-04346-z
    BACKGROUND: Late acute cellular rejection (LACR) is associated with poorer graft outcomes and non-adherence. Non-adherence to tacrolimus can be indirectly assessed by the intra-patient variability (IPV) of tacrolimus trough levels. The threshold of IPV associated with rejection is not known.

    METHODS: We conducted a case-control study comparing 25 patients with biopsy-proven LACR against 25 stable controls matched for age group, primary diagnosis and time post-transplant. IPV was calculated using coefficient of variance (CV) and mean absolute deviation (MAD) using tacrolimus levels in the preceding 12 months. We also assessed the percentage time for tacrolimus levels

    MeSH terms: Adolescent; Child; Creatinine/blood; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Female; Graft Rejection/blood; Graft Rejection/etiology; Graft Rejection/prevention & control*; Graft Survival/drug effects*; Humans; Immunosuppressive Agents/administration & dosage*; Immunosuppressive Agents/blood; Immunosuppressive Agents/pharmacokinetics; Male; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Case-Control Studies; Kidney Transplantation/adverse effects; Tacrolimus/administration & dosage*; Tacrolimus/blood; Tacrolimus/pharmacokinetics
  20. Correction to: Use of sterols and linear alkylbenzenes as molecular markers of sewage pollution in Southeast Asia
    Thomes MW, Vaezzadeh V, Zakaria MP, Bong CW
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2019 Nov;26(31):32672-32673.
    PMID: 31520373 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-06373-7
    The original publication of this paper contains a mistake. The correct image of figure 2 is shown in this paper.
    MeSH terms: Paper; Publications; Publishing
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