METHODS: Clarithromycin susceptibility of H pylori isolates was determined by E test. Analyses for point mutations in the domain V of 23S rRNA genes in clarithromycin-resistant and -sensitive strains were performed by sequence analysis of amplified polymerase chain reaction products. Restriction fragment length polymorphism was performed using BsaI and MboII enzymes to detect restriction sites that correspond to the mutations in the clarithromycin-resistant strains.
RESULTS: Of 187 isolates from 120 patients, four were resistant to clarithromycin, while 183 were sensitive. The MIC of the resistant strains ranged from 1.5 to 24 microg/mL. Two isolates had an A2142G mutation and another two had A2143G mutations. A T2182C mutation was detected in two out of four clarithromycin-resistant isolates and in 13 of 14 clarithromycin-sensitive isolates. Restriction enzyme analyses with BsaI and MboII were able to detect the mutations.
CONCLUSION: Clarithromycin resistance is an uncommon occurrence among Malaysian isolates of H pylori strains and the mutations A2142G and A2143G detected were associated with low-level resistance.
METHODS: The review aims to determine the availability of group-based therapy for smoking cessation in Asian countries. The outcome measured was abstinence from smoking following group therapy. Electronic database searches in PubMed, OVID Medline, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, and PsycINFO, using keywords such as: 'smoking', 'cigarette', 'tobacco', 'nicotine', 'group therapy' and 'cessation' (smok*, *cigarette*, tobacco, nicotine, group therap*, cessation) were used. The results were reported following PRISMA and PROSPERO guidelines. Review Manager was used for data analysis.
RESULTS: A total of 21251 records were retrieved for screening the abstracts. In all, 300 articles for review were identified and assessed for eligibility. Nine articles, including Cochrane reviews, randomized control trials, cohort, observational and cross-sectional studies, were included in the final review. There were three observational qualitative studies, two prospective cohort studies, two crosssectional studies, one non-randomized quasi-experimental study and a single cluster-randomized, controlled trial. Group therapy was found to significantly increase the abstinence rate. Group therapy provided at the workplace, smoking cessation services, availability of pharmacotherapy, and socioeconomic status, appear to be key factors determining success.
CONCLUSIONS: Evidence of the use of group therapy for smoking cessation in Asian countries is still lacking despite publications in the Western population showed that group therapy was effective. Further research on group-based interventions for smoking cessation in Asian countries is required and direct one-to-one comparisons between group therapy and individual therapy for smokers who want to quit smoking, are needed.
METHODOLOGY: A total of 56 consecutive children aged 6 to 18 years old were recruited from the pediatric obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) clinic in University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) from 2016 to 2019. Data on anthropometric measurements, clinical components of metabolic syndrome and fasting serum insulin were collected. Triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (TG: HDL-C), Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) and Single Point Insulin Sensitivity Estimator (SPISE) were calculated. Transient elastography was performed with hepatic steatosis and liver fibrosis assessed by controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) and liver stiffness measurement (LSM), respectively.
RESULTS: A total of 44 children (78.6%) had liver steatosis and 35.7% had presence of significant liver fibrosis (stage F≥2). Majority (89.3%) are obese and 24 children (42.9%) were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. Higher number of children with T2DM and significant liver fibrosis were associated with higher tertiles of TG: HDL-C ratio (p<0.05). Top tertile of TG: HDL-C ratio was an independent predictor of liver fibrosis (OR=8.14, 95%CI: 1.24-53.36, p=0.029). ROC analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of HOMA-IR (0.77) and TG: HDL-C ratio (0.71) were greater than that of metabolic syndrome (0.70), T2DM (0.62) and SPISE (0.22). The optimal cut-off values of HOMA-IR and TG: HDL-C ratio for detecting liver fibrosis among children with NAFLD are 5.20 and 1.58, respectively.
CONCLUSION: Children with NAFLD and higher TG: HDL-C ratio are more likely to have liver fibrosis. TG: HDL-C ratio is a promising tool to risk stratify those with NAFLD who are at risk of developing advanced liver disease.
METHODS: A total of 623 subjects were included in this study, of whom, 423 were chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients without liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 103 CHB with either liver cirrhosis ± HCC and 97 individuals who had resolved HBV. Two single-nucleotide polymorphisms rs3739298 and rs532841 of DLC1 gene were genotyped using the Sequenom MassARRAY platform.
RESULTS: Our results indicated significant differences between the chronic HBV and resolved HBV groups in genotype and allele frequencies of DLC1-rs3739298 [odds ratio (OR) = 2.23; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.24-3.99; P = 0.007] and (OR = 1.54; 95% CI: 1.07-2.22; P = 0.021), respectively. Moreover, haplotype analysis revealed significant associations between chronicity of HBV with TG and GA haplotypes (P = 0.041 and P = 0.042), respectively.
CONCLUSION: A significant association exists between the rs3739298 variant and susceptibility to CHB infection.