METHODS: Subjects were recruited among those responding to a social media announcement or patients attending the SEGi Oral Health Care Centre between May and December 2019, and among some staff at the centre. Five ml of unstimulated whole saliva was collected and salivary LDH enzyme activity levels were measured with a LDH colorimetric assay kit. Salivary LDH activity level was determined for each group and compared statistically.
RESULTS: Eighty-eight subjects were categorized into three groups (control n=30, smokers n=29, and vapers n=29). The mean ± standard deviation (SD) values for salivary LDH activity levels for vapers, smokers, and control groups were 35.15 ± 24.34 mU/ml, 30.82 ± 20.73 mU/ml, and 21.45 ± 15.30 mU/ml, respectively. The salivary LDH activity levels of smoker and vaper groups were significantly higher than in the control group (p = 0.031; 0.017). There was no significant difference of salivary LDH activity level in vapers when compared with smokers (p= 0.234).
CONCLUSION: Our findings showed higher LDH levels in the saliva of vapers when compared with controls, confirming cytotoxic and harmful effects of e-cigarettes on the oral mucosa.
METHODS: A total of 83 normal subjects each underwent two visual field examinations with SITA and SPARK on two separate occasions on a randomly selected eye. The eye examined and the order of strategy examined first was randomised but remained constant over the two perimetry visits.
RESULTS: Visual field examination with SPARK Precision was on average 33% faster than SITA Standard. A positive correlation between group mean sensitivities of SITA Standard and SPARK Precision (rho = 0.713, p
METHOD: The study was divided into two parts: the first part was conducted to derive the EUS features of chronic pancreatitis with adequate interoperator agreement; the second was to prospectively evaluate these features in a multicenter cross-sectional study and determine the optimal combination of features for the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis. Prospectively enrolled cases had standard internationally validated radiologic or histologic features of chronic pancreatitis, and controls were patients without chronic pancreatitis who underwent EUS examination.
RESULTS: The top six EUS features that had good interobserver agreement (mean kappa 0.73, range 0.60 - 0.90) were selected to be further evaluated in part II of the study. These included: hyperechoic foci with shadowing, lobularity with honeycombing, cysts, dilated main pancreatic duct, dilated side branches, and calculi in the main pancreatic duct. A total of 284 subjects (132 cases, 152 controls) were enrolled from 12 centers in Asia. All six features had high accuracy ranging from 63.3 % to 89.1 %. Two or more of these six EUS features accurately defined chronic pancreatitis (sensitivity 94.7 %, specificity 98.0 %), with an area under the receiver operating curve of 0.986.
CONCLUSION: This multicenter Asian study characterized and defined the EUS features of chronic pancreatitis. This provides a useful tool in clinical practice and further research in pancreatic cancer surveillance.
METHODS: This is a retrospective study over 8-year duration in which all the breast FNABs performed in our institution were recategorized in accordance to the IAC Yokohama reporting system. Kappa coefficient was used to evaluate the agreement between the proposed cytological category and corresponding histological diagnosis, with the level of significance set at 5%. Cyto-histopathological correlation and its diagnostic performance were also assessed.
RESULTS: A total of 1136 breast FNABs were analyzed, including 31 repeat FNABs. Of these, 521 (47.1%) cases had matched histopathological results. Respective ROM for each category was: "insufficient" 13.6%, "benign" 0.4%, "atypical" 25.0%, "suspicious" 85.7%, and "malignant" 100%. There was substantial agreement (κ=0.757) between cytology and histopathological results. Our data revealed a high-diagnostic specificity, sensitivity, positive and negative predictive value of 99.3% (95% CI: 97.6%-99.9%), 94.2% (95% CI: 87.9%-97.9%), 98.0% (95% CI: 92.5%-99.5%), 98.0% (95% CI: 96.1%-99.1%) respectively when both the "suspicious" and "malignant" cases were considered as positive tests, with area under the curve of 0.993.
CONCLUSIONS: The IAC Yokohama system is a reliable, evidence-based, and standardized reporting system that helps to facilitate communication among cytopathologists, radiologists, and surgeons toward individualized patient management.
METHODS: The qLAMP assay was optimized targeting the HPV-16 E7 gene. The analytical sensitivity and specificity of the assay were determined using HPV-18 (ATCC® 45152D™), HPV-35 (ATCC® 40330™), HPV-43 (ATCC® 40338™) and HPV-56 (ATCC® 40549™) viral strains and oral bacteria. HPV-16 standard curve was constructed for determination of HPV-16 viral load. The diagnostic performance of the assay was evaluated from 63 OSCC patients comprising 63 tissue, 13 saliva and 49 blood samples, in comparison with p16 immunohistochemistry (IHC), in-house PCR and nested PCR assays.
RESULTS: The detection limit of developed LAMP and PCR assays was 4.68 × 101 and 4.68 × 103 copies/μl, respectively. qLAMP assay enabled detection of positive results as early as 23 min at 67 °C. This assay can detect HPV-16 positivity in 23 % (3/13) saliva and 4.8 % (3/63) tissue samples with the viral load ranging from 4.68 × 101 to 4.68 × 104 copies/μl. HPV-16 positivity was not detected in all the blood samples. The sensitivity and specificity of qLAMP were 100 % in comparison with that of p16 IHC and nested PCR.
CONCLUSION: This study reports for the first time on the use of qLAMP assay for detection of HPV-16 in OSCC in both tissue and saliva as the sample matrix which holds promise in improving the diagnostic application owing to its rapidity, simplicity, high sensitivity and specificity.
METHODS: A total of 71 malaria microscopy positive blood samples collected in blood spots were obtained from the Sarawak State Health Department. Using 18s rRNA as the target gene, nested PCR and SYBR green I LAMP assay were performed following the DNA extraction. The colour changes of LAMP end products were observed by naked eyes.
RESULTS: LAMP assay demonstrated a detection limit of 10 copies/µL in comparison with 100 copies/µL nested PCR. Of 71 P. knowlesi blood samples collected, LAMP detected 69 microscopy-positive samples. LAMP exhibited higher sensitivity than nested PCR assay. The SYBR green I LAMP assay was 97.1% sensitive (95% CI 90.2-99.7%) and 100% specific (95% CI 83.2-100%). Without opening the cap, incorporation of SYBR green I into the inner cap of the tube enabled the direct visualization of results upon completion of amplification. The positives instantaneously turned green while the negatives remained orange.
CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that SYBR green I LAMP assay is a convenient diagnosis tool for the detection of P. knowlesi in remote settings.
RESULTS: A specific assay was developed, since no amplification was observed in viral strains from the same family of Paramyxoviridae, such as canine distemper virus (CDV), Newcastle disease virus (NDV), and measles virus (MeV), and other feline viruses, such as feline coronavirus (FCoV) and feline leukemia virus (FeLV). The lower detection limit of the assay was 1.74 × 104 copies/μL with Cq value of 34.32 ± 0.5 based on the cRNA copy number. The coefficient of variations (CV) values calculated for both intra- and inter-assay were low, ranging from 0.34-0.53% and 1.38-2.03%, respectively. In addition, the clinical sample evaluation using this assay showed a higher detection rate, with 25 (35.2%) clinical samples being FeMV-positive compared to 11 (15.5%) using conventional RT-PCR, proving a more sensitive assay compared to the conventional RT-PCR.
CONCLUSIONS: The TaqMan-based real-time RT-PCR assay targeting the N gene described in this study is more sensitive, specific, rapid, and reproducible compared to the conventional RT-PCR assay targeting the N gene, which could be used to detect early infection in cats.