MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective descriptive study. We identified 1041 patients (810 Chinese, 139 Malays, 92 Indians) without previous history of cardiovascular disease who underwent cardiac computed tomography for atypical chest pain evaluation. A cardiologist, who was blinded to the patients' clinical demographics, reviewed all scans. We retrospectively analysed all their case records.
RESULTS: Overall, Malays were most likely to be active smokers (P = 0.02), Indians had the highest prevalence of diabetes mellitus (P = 0.01) and Chinese had the highest mean age (P <0.0001). The overall prevalence of patients with non-calcified plaques as the only manifestation of sub-clinical coronary artery disease was 2.1%. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of CAC, mean CAC score or prevalence of non-calcified plaques among the 3 ethnic groups. Active smoking, age and hypertension were independent predictors of CAC. Non-calcified plaques were positively associated with male gender, age, dyslipidaemia and diabetes mellitus.
CONCLUSION: The higher MI rates in Malays and Indians in Singapore cannot be explained by any difference in CAC or non-calcified plaque. More research with prospective follow-up of larger patient populations is necessary to establish if ethnic-specific calibration of CAC measures is needed to adjust for differences among ethnic groups.
METHODS: In the current study, the crude methanol and fractionated extract of the rhizomes of Alpinia pahangensis were investigated for their antioxidant activity using four different assays namely, the DPPH scavenging activity, superoxide anion scavenging, β-carotene bleaching and reducing power assays whilst their phenolic contents were measured by the Folin-Ciocalteu's method.In vitro neutral red cytotoxicity assay was employed to evaluate the cytotoxic activity against five different cancer cell lines, colon cancer (HCT 116 and HT-29), cervical cancer (Ca Ski), breast cancer (MCF7) and lung cancer (A549) cell lines, and one normal cell line (MRC-5). The extract that showed high cytotoxic activity was further investigated for its chemical constituents by GC-MS (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) analysis.
RESULTS: The ethyl acetate fraction showed the strongest DPPH radical scavenging (0.35 ± 0.094 mg/ml) and SOD activities (51.77 ± 4.9%) whilst the methanol extract showed the highest reducing power and also the strongest antioxidant activity in the β-carotene bleaching assays in comparison to other fractions. The highest phenolic content was found in the ethyl acetate fraction, followed by the crude methanol extract, hexane and water fractions. The results showed a positive correlation between total phenolic content with DPPH radical scavenging capacities and SOD activities. The hexane fraction showed potent cytotoxic effect against KB, Ca Ski and HCT 116 cell lines with IC₅₀ of 5.8 ± 0.1 and 9.1 ± 2.0 ug/ml, respectively. The major components of hexane fraction analysed by GC-MS analysis were mostly methyl esters.
CONCLUSIONS: The current study suggests that the methanol extract and ethyl acetate fraction of A. pahangensis is a potential source of natural antioxidant for protective as well as prevention of life-threatening diseases. The hexane fraction of A. pahangensis may have the potential to be developed into therapeutic option for treating cancer.
METHODS: This prospective cross-sectional study involved 70 patients with diabetic nephropathy; 40 were categorized into the group with nondeficient serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels [25(OH)D >50 nmol/l], whereas 30 patients were categorized to the group with deficient serum 25(OH)D (<50 nmol/l). Microvascular endothelial function was determined using laser Doppler fluximetry and the process of iontophoresis. Acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside were used to determine endothelium-dependent and independent vasodilatation.
RESULTS: Mean age of patients was 56.7 ± 3.8 years; 50 were men, whereas 20 were women. Mean serum 25(OH)D in the vitamin D-nondeficient group was 69.4 ± 2.9 nmol/l; the level in the vitamin D-deficient group was 42.1 ± 1.3 nmol/l, P < 0.001. Endothelium-dependent vasodilatation was lower in the vitamin D-deficient group compared with the vitamin D-nondeficient group (23.6 ± 2.7 versus 37.3 ± 3.8 arbitrary units, P = 0.004). No significant differences were observed between the two groups in their hsCRP levels, mean age, estimated glomerular filtration rate, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and glycosylated haemoglobin.
CONCLUSION: Microvascular endothelial function was significantly reduced in diabetic nephropathy patients with deficient vitamin D levels compared with those with nondeficient levels.
METHODS: Clinicopathological data were retrieved from the archived formal pathology reports for surgical specimens diagnosed as invasive ductal carcinoma, NOS. Microvessels were immunohistochemically stained with anti-CD34 antibody and quantified as microvessel density.
RESULTS: At least 50% of 94 cases of invasive breast ductal carcinoma in the study were advanced stage. The majority had poor prognosis factors such as tumor size larger than 50mm (48.9%), positive lymph node metastasis (60.6%), and tumor grade III (52.1%). Higher percentages of estrogen and progesterone receptor negative cases were recorded (46.8% and 46.8% respectively). Her-2 overexpression cases and triple negative breast cancers constituted 24.5% and 22.3% respectively. Significantly higher microvessel density was observed in the younger patient age group (p=0.012). There were no significant associations between microvessel density and other clinicopathological factors (p>0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: Majority of the breast cancer patients of this institution had advanced stage disease with poorer prognostic factors as compared to other local and western studies. Breast cancer in younger patients might be more proangiogenic.