MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study involved archival search of patients with GI biopsies that showed eosinophilic infiltration from January 2004 to December 2012. Patients' clinical data from computerised hospital records and clinical notes was reviewed. Diagnostic criteria for EG included presence of GI symptoms with more than 30 eosinophils/high power field on GI biopsies. Patients with secondary causes for eosinophilia were excluded.
RESULTS: Eighteen patients with EG were identified (mean age 52 years; male/female: 11/7). Fifteen patients (83%) had peripheral blood eosinophilia. Seven patients (39%) had atopic conditions. Most common symptoms were diarrhoea and abdominal pain. Small intestine was the most common site involved. Endoscopic finding was non-specific. Ten patients were treated with corticosteroids (nine prednisolone, one budesonide): eight patients (89%) responded clinically to prednisolone but four patients (50%) relapsed following tapering-off of prednisolone and required maintenance dose. One patient each responded to diet elimination and montelukast respectively. Half of the remaining six patients who were treated with proton-pump inhibitors, antispasmodic or antidiarrheal agents still remained symptomatic.
CONCLUSION: Prednisolone is an effective treatment though relapses are common. Small intestine is most commonly involved. EG should be considered in the evaluation of unexplained chronic recurrent GI symptoms.
OBJECTIVE: We examined whether adipocytokines might explain the ethnic differences in the relationship between obesity and insulin resistance among the three major ethnic groups in Singapore.
DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: This was a cross-sectional study of 101 Chinese, 82 Malays, and 81 South Asian men. Insulin sensitivity index (ISI) was measured using hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp. Visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) volumes were quantified using magnetic resonance imaging.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Plasma total and high-molecular-weight adiponectin, leptin, visfatin, apelin, IL-6, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), retinol binding protein-4 (RBP 4), and resistin were measured using enzyme-linked immunoassays.
RESULTS: Principle component (PC) analysis on the adipocytokines identified three PCs, which explained 49.5% of the total variance. Adiponectin loaded negatively, and leptin and FGF21 loaded positively onto PC1. Visfatin, resistin, and apelin all loaded positively onto PC2. IL-6 loaded positively and RBP-4 negatively onto PC3. Only PC1 was negatively associated with ISI in all ethnic groups. In the path analysis, SAT and VAT were negatively associated with ISI in Chinese and Malays without significant mediatory role of PC1. In South Asians, the relationship between VAT and ISI was mediated partly through PC1, whereas the relationship between SAT and ISI was mediated mainly through PC1.
CONCLUSIONS: The relationships between abdominal obesity, adipocytokines and insulin sensitivity differ between ethnic groups. Adiponectin, leptin, and FGF21 play a mediating role in the relationship between abdominal adiposity and insulin resistance in South Asians, but not in Malays or Chinese.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey study. Oncology practitioners were recruited from a major cancer center in Singapore and through two regional cancer meetings that took place in Singapore and Malaysia in 2013.
RESULTS: A total of 126 oncology practitioners from various Southeast Asian countries, mostly nurses (58.7 %) and physicians (37.3 %), were recruited. The majority of the respondents agreed that fatigue (78.4 %) and anxiety (69.1 %) were the most common physical and psychosocial problems experienced by BCS. Monitoring for physical and treatment-related adverse effects (80.7 %) and reviewing patients' noncancer medical history (65.3 %) were the most practiced aspects of follow-up care. Compared with the other practitioners, the physicians were more likely to communicate with other healthcare professionals (adjusted OR = 4.24, 95 % CI 1.54 to 11.72; p = 0.005). Most of the respondents also agreed that patient-specific barriers were the main impediments to follow-up care.
CONCLUSION: This study provides insights into the various aspects of breast cancer survivorship care from the perspectives of oncology practitioners and shows that survivorship care is relatively inadequate in Asia. There is a need for new survivorship care models to meet the needs of Asian BCS and to complement the unique healthcare systems of Asia.
METHODS: Male subjects included in this study were drawn from those undergoing routine annual medical examinations offered by their employers. Venous blood was obtained from these patients after an overnight fast and from which genomic DNA was extracted. Genotyping was carried out by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by digestion with restriction enzyme NciI. Personal and family medical history of the subjects were also taken.
RESULTS: The genotype distribution of the individuals studied was in accordance to a population at Hardy Weinberg equilibrium. The frequency of the PI(A2) allele was 0.1, 0.01 and 0.01 in the Indians, Malays and Chinese, respectively. The differences in frequencies of the PI(A2) variant are significant among different ethnic groups (P<0.001 for Indians vs. Chinese and Indians vs. Malays).
CONCLUSIONS: We observed a significantly higher frequency of the PI(A2) allele among Indians relative to the Chinese and Malays in Singapore. The effect of this genotype may partially explain the higher rate of ischaemic heart disease seen among Indians compared to the Chinese and Malay ethnic groups.