METHODS: We observed 70 SUs and 148 DUs for 52 weeks and tested their exhaled carbon monoxide and saliva cotinine to confirm their complete nicotine cessation status through cotinine in saliva. Safety issues were to be identified through self-report. Smoking cessation, CCs reduction of ≥ 50%, and relapsed to CCs smoking and safety issues were also documented.
RESULTS: The nicotine cessation rate was higher in SUs then DUs (15.9% vs. 6.8%; P = 0.048; 95% CI (2.328-0.902). A similar result for smoking cessation (34.8% SUs vs. 17.1% DUs; P = 0.005; 95% CI: 2.031-0.787), whereas CCs ≥ 50% reduction was 23.3% DUs vs 21.7% SUs (P = 0.863; 95% CI :1.020-0.964). Relapse to CC smoking was 47.3% in DUs versus 30.4% in SUs (P = 0.026; 95% CI: 1.555-0.757). The adverse effects reported were coughing and breathing problems, whereas craving smoking was documented as a major withdrawal symptom. Smoking-related diseases were also identified, five in DUs and two in SUs, during the one-year study period.
CONCLUSIONS: Study showed SUs achieved higher complete nicotine and smoking cessation rates as compared to DUs. However, the rates of reduced CC use were not different between both the groups. No serious adverse effects related to the sole use of ECs were detected. However, the safety of the sole use of ECs in absolute terms needs to be further validated in different populations.
Methods: This cross-sectional study included 222 STEMI patients admitted to two tertiary hospitals in Malaysia. By determining symptom-to-door time, the study population was categorised into two definitive treatment seeking groups: early (≤ 3 h) and delayed (> 3 h). Data was collected focusing on socio-demographical data, risk factors and comorbidities, clinical presentation, situational factors and action taken by patients.
Results: The mean age of our patients was 58.0 (SD = 11.9) years old, and the population consisted of 186 (83.8%) males and 36 (16.2%) females. Our study found that the median symptom-to-door time was 130.5 (IQR 240) min, with 64% of subjects arriving early and 36% arriving late. Pre-hospital delays were found to be significant among females (adj OR = 2.42; 95% CI: 1.02, 5.76; P = 0.046), patients with recurrence of similar clinical presentations (adj OR = 2.74; 95% CI: 1.37, 5.46; P = 0.004), patients experiencing atypical symptoms (adj OR = 2.64; 95% CI: 1.11, 6.31; P = 0.029) and patients who chose to have their first medical contact (FMC) for their symptoms with a general practitioner (adj OR = 2.80; 95% CI: 1.20, 6.56; P = 0.018). However, patients with hyperlipidaemia (adj OR = 0.46; 95% CI: 0.23, 0.93; P = 0.030), self-perceived cardiac symptoms (adj OR = 0.36; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.73; P = 0.005) and symptoms that began in public places (adj OR = 0.21; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.69; P = 0.010) tended to seek treatment earlier.
Conclusion: The symptom-to-door time among the Malaysian population is shorter in comparison to other developing countries. Nevertheless, identified, modifiable pre-hospital factors can be addressed to further shorten symptom-to-door time among STEMI patients.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed by recruiting 973 undergraduate students at the health campus of a public university from December 2019 to June 2021. The World Health Organization (WHO) ACE-International Questionnaire and the Youth Risk Behaviour Surveillance System questionnaire were distributed using simple random sampling according to year of study and the selected batch of students. Descriptive statistics were used for demographic findings and logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the association between ACE and HRB.
RESULTS: The 973 participants (male [n = 245] and female [n = 728]) had a median age of 22 years old. The prevalence of child maltreatment among the study population was 30.2%, 29.2%, 28.7%, 9.1% and 6.1% for emotional abuse, emotional neglect, physical abuse, physical neglect and sexual abuse, respectively, among both sexes. The most commonly reported household dysfunctions were parental divorce/separation (5.5%). Community violence was 39.3% among the surveyed participants. The highest prevalence of HRBs among respondents was 54.5% from physical inactivity. The findings confirmed that those exposed to ACEs were at risk of HRBs and that a higher number of ACEs was associated with a higher number of HRBs.
CONCLUSION: ACEs were highly prevalent among participating university students, ranging from 2.6%-39.3%. Hence, child maltreatment is an important public health problem in Malaysia.
OBJECTIVE: The main objective of the present study was to identify the cancer-related genes and gene pathways in the endometrium of healthy and cancer patients.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty endometrial tissues from healthy and type I EC patients were subjected to total RNA isolation. The RNA samples with good integrity number were hybridized to a new version of Affymetrix Human Genome GeneChip 1.0 ST array. We analyzed the results using the GeneSpring 9.0 GX and the Pathway Studio 6.1 software. For validation assay, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to analyze 4 selected genes in normal and EC tissue.
RESULTS: Of the 28,869 genes profiled, we identified 621 differentially expressed genes (2-fold) in the normal tissue and the tumor. Among these genes, 146 were up-regulated and 476 were down-regulated in the tumor as compared with the normal tissue (P < 0.001). Up-regulated genes included the v-erb-a erythroblastic leukemia viral oncogene homolog 3 (ErbB3), ErbB4, E74-like factor 3 (ELF3), and chemokine ligand 17 (CXCL17). The down-regulated genes included signal transducer and activator transcription 5B (STAT5b), transforming growth factor A receptor III (TGFA3), caveolin 1 (CAV1), and protein kinase C alpha (PKCA). The gene set enrichment analysis showed 10 significant gene sets with related genes (P < 0.05). The quantitative polymerase chain reaction of 4 selected genes using similar RNA confirmed the microarray results (P < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: Identification of molecular pathways with their genes related to type I EC contribute to the understanding of pathophysiology of this cancer, probably leading to identifying potential biomarkers of the cancer.
RESULTS: The FLDP-5 and FLDP-8 curcuminoid analogues induced LN-18 cell death through apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner following 24 h of treatment. These analogues induced apoptosis in LN-18 cells through significant loss of mitochondrial mass and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) as early as 1-hour of treatment. Interestingly, N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) pretreatment did not abolish the apoptosis induced by these analogues, further confirming the cell death process is independent of ROS. However, the apoptosis induced by the analogues is caspases-dependent, whereby pan-caspase pretreatment inhibited the curcuminoid analogues-induced apoptosis. The apoptotic cell death progressed with the activation of both caspase-8 and caspase-9, which eventually led to the activation of caspase-3, as confirmed by immunoblotting. Moreover, the existing over-expression of miRNA-21 in LN-18 cells was suppressed following treatment with both analogues, which suggested the down-regulation of the miRNA-21 facilitates the cell death process.
CONCLUSION: The FLDP-5 and FLDP-8 curcuminoid analogues downregulate the miRNA-21 expression and induce extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways in LN-18 cells.
RESULTS: No significant difference in plasma propranolol (mean +/- SEM) levels was seen between races six hours after the last dose (Malays, 59.7 +/- 8.8 ng/ml, Indians, 67.6 +/- 19.3 ng/ml, Chinese, 58.4 +/- 7.9 ng/ml). Chinese were least sensitive to the bradycardic and hypotensive effects of propranolol at rest and exercise. Indians and Malays had significant reduction of supine systolic blood pressure with propranolol but not Chinese. Comparison of percentage reductions of systolic blood pressure at supine, sitting and exercise by repeated measure analysis showed the Malays to have significantly higher change compared to the Chinese (p = 0.022). Similarly, comparison of percentage reductions of heart rate at supine, sitting and exercise by repeated measure analysis showed the Malays to have significantly higher change compared to the Chinese (p = 0.040). Average change in potassium concentrations at peak exercise and recovery showed the Indians to have significantly higher increase in potassium levels with propranolol compared to the Malays (p = 0.038). However, no significant interethnic difference was seen in the reduction of glucose levels at rest, peak exercise or recovery. Also, no significant interethnic difference was seen in reduction of FEV1 values.
CONCLUSION: We, therefore, conclude that ethnic differences in response to blockade of beta-receptors exist among racial groups in Malaysia. These differences were seen at similar plasma drug levels between races suggesting ethnic differences in drug sensitivity, rather than differences in drug disposition.