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Displaying publications 41 - 48 of 48 in total

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Fulltext Flexor tendon degeneration affects short-term outcomes of open trigger digit release

Abdul Nasir M, Ahmad TS, Low TH, Devarajooh C, Gunasagaran J

PLoS One, 2023;18(5):e0286301.
PMID: 37252923 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0286301

We aimed to investigate the association between flexor tendon degeneration and outcome of open trigger digit release. We recruited 162 trigger digits (136 patients) who had open trigger digit release from February 2017 to March 2019. Intraoperatively, six features of tendon degenerations were identified: irregular tendon surface, tendon fraying, intertendinous tear, synovial thickening, hyperaemia of sheath and tendon dryness. Longer duration of preoperative symptoms was associated with worsening tendon surface irregularity and fraying; increased number of steroid injections was associated with worsening tendon surface irregularity and dryness; higher DASH score was associated with severe tendon fraying, dryness and intertendinous tear; limited proximal interphalangeal joint (PIPJ) motion was associated with severe tendon dryness. At 1-month post-surgery, DASH score remained high in severe intertendinous tear group while PIPJ motion remained limited in severe tendon dryness group. In conclusion, the severity of various flexor tendon degenerations influenced the outcome of open trigger digit release at 1-month but did not affect the outcome at 3- and 6-months post-surgery.
Fulltext Anatomic Variation in Morphometry of Human Coracoid Process among Asian Population

Fathi M, Cheah PS, Ahmad U, Nasir MN, San AA, Abdul Rahim E, et al.

Biomed Res Int, 2017;2017:6307019.
PMID: 28484716 DOI: 10.1155/2017/6307019

Ethnic origin plays an important role in bone morphometry. Studies examining the influence of coracoid process have focused primarily on adults and have not included people from diverse Asian ethnic backgrounds. Our goal was to explore ethnic differences in morphometry of coracoid among Asian population. We performed morphometric measurements of coracoid process on cadaveric shoulders and shoulder CT scans from 118 specimens. The cadaveric sample included Indian (46%), Chinese (27%), and Myanmarese (27%) subjects, while the CT scans sample included Chinese (67%) and Malay (33%) subjects. The morphometric measurements were performed using digital caliper and software developed at Golden Horses Health Sanctuary (GHHS). In the Indian cadaveric shoulders, the coracoid process is better developed than the other groups with the exception of the tip width of coracoid process. There are significant differences in almost all measurements (P< 0.05) between the ethnic groups. On the other hand, the morphometry of coracoid process from CT scans data is bigger in Chinese than Malay subjects when stratified by sex (P< 0.05). Moreover, in all morphometric measurements, the females had smaller measurements than males (P< 0.05). Understanding such differences is important in anatomy, forensic and biological identity, and orthopaedic and shoulder surgeries.
Isolation by culture and PCR identification of LipL32 gene of pathogenic Leptospira spp. in wild rats of Kuala Lumpur

Latifah I, Abdul Halim A, Rahmat MS, Nadia MF, Ubil ZE, Asmah H, et al.

Malays J Pathol, 2017 08;39(2):161-166.
PMID: 28866698 MyJurnal

BACKGROUND: A study was conducted to confirm the status of rats as the carrier of pathogenic leptospira in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
METHOD: A total of 140 urine samples were collected from trapped rats. These samples were cultured in EMJH enriched media and 18 of these samples (12.9%) were found to be positive when observed under x40 by dark field microscope. Genomic DNA was extracted from all the 18 native isolates for PCR.
RESULT: All the 18 isolates generated the expected 786 base pair band when the set of primers known to amplify LipL32 gene were utilized. These results showed that the primers were suitable to be used for the identification of pathogenic leptospira from the 18 rat samples.
CONCLUSION: The sequencing of the PCR products and BLAST analysis performed on each representative isolates confirmed the pathogenic status of all these native isolates as the LipL32 gene was detected in all the Leptospira isolates. This indicates that the rats are carriers of the pathogenic leptospira in the study area, and therefore are of public health importance.
Comparative molecular docking analysis for analyzing the inhibitory effect of Anakinra and Ustekinumab against IL17F

Nisar H, Attique SA, Javaid A, Ain QU, Butt F, Zaid M, et al.

J Biomol Struct Dyn, 2023;41(22):13302-13313.
PMID: 36715128 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2173299

Interleukin 17 F is a member of IL-17 cytokine family with a 50% structural homology to IL-17A and plays a significant role either alone or in combination with IL-17A towards inflammation in Rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A growing number of drugs targeting IL-17 pathway are being tested against population specific disease markers. The major objective of this research was to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of Anakinra (an IL-1 R1 inhibitor) and Ustekinumab (an IL-12 and IL-23 inhibitor) by targeting IL17F. The three dimensional structures of IL17F was taken from PDB while structures of drugs were taken from PubChem database. Docking was performed using MOE and Schrodinger ligand docking software and binding energies, including s-score using London-dG fitness function and glide score using glide internal energy function, between drug and targets were compared. Furthermore, Protein-Drug complex were subjected to 150 ns Molecular Dynamics (MD) Simulations using Schrodinger's Desmond Module. Docking and MD simulation results suggest anakinra as a more potent IL17F inhibitor and forming a more structurally stable complex.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
Fulltext Whole Grain Intakes in the Diets Of Malaysian Children and Adolescents--Findings from the MyBreakfast Study

Ak N, Koo HC, Hamid Jan JM, Mohd Nasir MT, Tan SY, Appukutty M, et al.

PLoS One, 2015;10(10):e0138247.
PMID: 26473369 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0138247

Diets rich in whole grain are associated with several health benefits. Little is known however, about whole grain consumption patterns in Malaysia. The aim of this study was to assess whole grain intakes and dietary source in Malaysian children and adolescents.
Fulltext Validity of self-reported weight and height: a cross-sectional study among Malaysian adolescents

Kee CC, Lim KH, Sumarni MG, Teh CH, Chan YY, Nuur Hafizah MI, et al.

BMC Med Res Methodol, 2017 Jun 02;17(1):85.
PMID: 28577547 DOI: 10.1186/s12874-017-0362-0

BACKGROUND: Self-reported weight and height are commonly used in lieu of direct measurements of weight and height in large epidemiological surveys due to inevitable constraints such as budget and human resource. However, the validity of self-reported weight and height, particularly among adolescents, needs to be verified as misreporting could lead to misclassification of body mass index and therefore overestimation or underestimation of the burden of BMI-related diseases. The objective of this study was to determine the validity of self-reported weight and height among Malaysian secondary school children.

METHODS: Both self-reported and directly measured weight and height of a subgroup of 663 apparently healthy schoolchildren from the Malaysian Adolescent Health Risk Behaviour (MyAHRB) survey 2013/2014 were analysed. Respondents were required to report their current body weight and height via a self-administrative questionnaire before they were measured by investigators. The validity of self-reported against directly measured weight and height was examined using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), the Bland-Altman plot and weighted Kappa statistics.

RESULTS: There was very good intraclass correlation between self-reported and directly measured weight [r = 0.96, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.93, 0.97] and height (r = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.90, 0.96). In addition the Bland-Altman plots indicated that the mean difference between self-reported and direct measurement was relatively small. The mean difference (self-reported minus direct measurements) was, for boys: weight, -2.1 kg; height, -1.6 cm; BMI, -0.44 kg/m2 and girls: weight, -1.2 kg; height, -0.9 cm; BMI, -0.3 kg/m2. However, 95% limits of agreement were wide which indicated substantial discrepancies between self-reported and direct measurements method at the individual level. Nonetheless, the weighted Kappa statistics demonstrated a substantial agreement between BMI status categorised based on self-reported weight and height and the direct measurements (kappa = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.67, 0.84).

CONCLUSION: Our results show that the self-reported weight and height were consistent with direct measurements and therefore can be used in assessing the nutritional status of Malaysian school children from the age of 13 to 17 years old in epidemiological studies and for surveillance purposes when direct measurements are not feasible, but not for assessing nutritional status at the individual level.
Fulltext Structural, Physical, and Mechanical Analysis of ZnO and TiO2 Nanoparticle-Reinforced Self-Adhesive Coating Restorative Material

Idrees QTA, Gul N, Fareed MA, Mian SA, Muzaffar D, Nasir M, et al.

Materials (Basel), 2021 Dec 07;14(24).
PMID: 34947103 DOI: 10.3390/ma14247507

This study aimed to modify an EQUIA coat (EC; GC, Japan) by incorporating 1 and 2 wt.% of zinc oxide (ZnO; EC-Z1 and EC-Z2) and titanium dioxide (TiO2; EC-T1 and EC-T2) nanoparticles, whereby structural and phase analyses were assessed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. Thermogravimetric analysis/differential scanning calorimetry, micro-hardness, and water absorption analyses were conducted, and the microstructure was studied by scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive spectroscopy. FTIR spectra showed a reduction in peak heights of amide (1521 cm-1) and carbonyl (1716 cm-1) groups. XRD showed peaks of ZnO (2θ ~ 31.3°, 34.0°, 35.8°, 47.1°, 56.2°, 62.5°, 67.6°, and 68.7°) and TiO2 (2θ ~ 25.3°, 37.8°, 47.9, 54.5°, 62.8°, 69.5°, and 75.1°) corresponding to a hexagonal phase with a wurtzite structure and an anatase phase, respectively. Thermal stability was improved in newly modified materials in comparison to the control group. The sequence of obtained glass transitions was EC-T2 (111 °C), EC-T1 (102 °C), EC-Z2 (98 °C), EC-Z1 (92 °C), and EC-C (90 °C). EC-T2 and EC-T1 showed the highest (43.76 ± 2.78) and lowest (29.58 ± 3.2) micro-hardness values. EC showed the maximum water absorption (1.6%) at day 7 followed by EC-T1 (0.82%) and EC-Z1 (0.61%). These results suggest that EC with ZnO and TiO2 nanoparticles has the potential to be used clinically as a coating material.
Fulltext Establishment of Wolbachia Strain wAlbB in Malaysian Populations of Aedes aegypti for Dengue Control

Nazni WA, Hoffmann AA, NoorAfizah A, Cheong YL, Mancini MV, Golding N, et al.

Curr Biol, 2019 Dec 16;29(24):4241-4248.e5.
PMID: 31761702 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.11.007

Dengue has enormous health impacts globally. A novel approach to decrease dengue incidence involves the introduction of Wolbachia endosymbionts that block dengue virus transmission into populations of the primary vector mosquito, Aedes aegypti. The wMel Wolbachia strain has previously been trialed in open releases of Ae. aegypti; however, the wAlbB strain has been shown to maintain higher density than wMel at high larval rearing temperatures. Releases of Ae. aegypti mosquitoes carrying wAlbB were carried out in 6 diverse sites in greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with high endemic dengue transmission. The strain was successfully established and maintained at very high population frequency at some sites or persisted with additional releases following fluctuations at other sites. Based on passive case monitoring, reduced human dengue incidence was observed in the release sites when compared to control sites. The wAlbB strain of Wolbachia provides a promising option as a tool for dengue control, particularly in very hot climates.