CASE REPORT: Primary and secondary causes of hyperlipidaemia were investigated. Her blood was sent for fasting lipid profile, thyroid function test (TFT), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), liver function test (LFT), renal profile (RP) and HIV screening. Lipaemic interference was removed by high-speed centrifugation. She is a product of non-consanguineous marriage. She is staying together with her stepfather who is HIV positive. Her mother's infective status was negative with no dyslipidaemic features and a normal lipid profile. Lipid profile of her biological father was not known. No other lipid stigmata such as eruptive xanthoma or lipaemia retinalis was seen in the patient. Haemoglobin analysis showed Hb E-Beta thalassaemia major. Her triglycerides was 9.05 mmol/L with normal total cholesterol, 2.85 mmol/L and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), 0.26 mmol/L. Calculated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) was invalid as triglycerides was >4.5 mmol/L. TFT, RP, FPG, LFT were normal and HIV status was negative. She was transfused with 10 ml/kg packed cell and her blood post transfusion appeared non lipaemic.
CONCLUSION: Primary hypertriglyceridaemia was excluded based on insignificant family history of dyslipidaemia. Secondary causes of hypertriglyceridaemia were ruled out based on unremarkable laboratory investigations. Thus, we conclude that this patient is having hypertriglyceridaemia thalassaemia syndrome (HTS) which is a rare disorder with unknown pathogenesis. Further research may be required to explore this unknown association.
OBJECTIVES: Here, we explored the phytochemical diversity of the seven varieties from Peninsular Malaysia using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) analyses and correlated it with the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity.
METHODOLOGY: The Nuclear Overhauser Effect Spectroscopy (NOESY) One-Dimensional (1D)-NMR and LC-MS data were processed, annotated, and correlated with in vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory using multivariate data analysis.
RESULTS: The α-glucosidase results demonstrated that different varieties have varying inhibitory effects, with the highest inhibition rate being F. deltoidea var. trengganuensis and var. kunstleri. Furthermore, diverse habitats and plant ages could also influence the inhibitory rate. The heat map from NMR and LC-MS profiles showed unique patterns according to varying levels of α-glucosidase inhibition rate. The Partial Least Squares (PLS) model constructed from both NMR and LC-MS further confirmed the correlation between the α-glucosidase inhibition rate of F. deltoidea varieties and its metabolite profiles. The Variable Influence on Projection (VIP) and correlation coefficient (p(corr)) values values were used to determine the highly relevant metabolites for explaining the anticipated inhibitory action.
CONCLUSION: NMR and LC-MS annotations allow the identification of flavan-3-ols and proanthocyanidins as the key bioactive factors. Our current results demonstrated the value of multivariate data analysis to predict the quality of herbal materials from both biological and chemical aspects.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed records of medico-legal autopsy cases performed at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Hospital Sungai Buloh, for a period of five years, from January 2012 until December 2016. Subjects' demographic data such as age, gender, nationality, ethnicity and cause of death were recorded.
RESULTS: A total of 122 homicide cases were documented. 90% of the victims were 18 to 65 years old. Males contributed 80% of the subjects. An alarming 42% of the subjects comprised of non-Malaysians. Indonesian subjects contributed one-third of the non-citizen category, followed by Bangladeshis at 20.4%. Other nationalities were Burmese, Nepalese, Pakistani, Vietnamese and unspecified. Among Malaysians, 50% of the subjects were Indians, followed by Malay (31.5%) and Chinese (17.8%). Sharp and blunt force traumas were the most common injuries found, contributing 33% and 32% respectively. Asphyxiation and firearm injuries recorded an almost similar frequency, contributing 25% in combination. Other patterns included combined sharp and blunt objects (4.9%) and burns (3%).
CONCLUSIONS: A large number of immigrants in the country have significantly increased the forensic casework. Sharp and blunt objects continue to be the weapon of choice due to its easy accessibility. As domestic violence including fatal spousal and child abuse continue to rise, in-depth study in the area is warranted.
STUDY DESIGN: A review of articles was performed.
METHODS: A search strategy was used by using electronic bibliographic databases including PubMed, Embase and CENTRAL for published studies and reference list of published studies. The articles were exported to a bibliographic database for further screening process. Two reviewers worked independently to screen results and extract data from the included studies. Any discrepancies were resolved and confirmed by the consensus of all authors.
RESULTS: There were three screening approaches for detecting MCI and dementia - screening by a healthcare provider, screening by a self-administered questionnaire and caretaker informant screening. Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was the most common and preferable tool for MCI screening (sensitivity [Sn]: 81-97%; specificity [Sp]: 60-86%), whereas Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (ACE) was the preferable tool for dementia screening (Sn: 79-100%; Sp: 86%).
CONCLUSION: This systematic review found that there are three screening approaches for detecting early dementia and MCI at primary health care. ACE and MoCA are recommended tools for screening of dementia and MCI, respectively.
OBJECTIVE: We aimed to compare the phytochemical composition of 7 varieties growing in different conditions at various geographical locations. We also aimed to establish the quality control markers for the authentication of these varieties.
METHODS: We applied untargeted UHPLC-TOFMS metabolomics to discriminate 100 leaf samples of F. deltoidea collected from 6 locations in Malaysia. A genetic analysis on 21 leaf samples was also performed to validate the chemotaxonomy differentiation.
RESULTS: The PCA and HCA analysis revealed the existence of 3 chemotypes based on the differentiation in the flavonoid content. The PLS-DA analysis identified 15 glycosylated flavone markers together with 1 furanocoumarin. These markers were always consistent for the respective varieties, regardless of the geographical locations and growing conditions. The chemotaxonomy differentiation was in agreement with the DNA sequencing. In particular, var. bilobata accession which showed divergent morphology was also differentiated by the chemical fingerprints and genotype.
CONCLUSION: Chemotype differentiation based on the flavonoid fingerprints along with the proposed markers provide a powerful identification tool to complement morphology and genetic analyses for the quality control of raw materials and products from F. deltoidea.
METHODS: The study samples comprised 140 subjects aged 18 to 50 years old, natural and unnatural causes of sudden death brought to the Department of Forensic Medicine, Hospital Sungai Buloh (HSgB) and Hospital Sultanah Aminah Johor Bahru (HSAJB) for a period of 12 months. The subjects were categorised into 5 groups: cardiovascular disease (CVD), sudden unexplained death (SUD), thoracic trauma (TT), non-thoracic trauma (NTT) and other diseases (OD).
RESULTS: Median troponin concentration in cases of CVD, SUD, TT, NTT, and OD were 0.51 μg/L, 0.17 μg/L, 0.62 μg/L, 0.90 μg/L and 0.51 μg/L respectively. We found no significant difference of troponin T level in different causes of death (p ≥ 0.05). NTT has the highest median troponin concentration with 0.90 μg/L, SUD possessed the lowest median concentration with 0.17 μg/L.
CONCLUSION: Troponin T is neither specific nor useful as cardiac biomarker for post mortem sample. Therefore, it may not be a useful diagnostic tool at autopsy.