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Therapeutic uses of epicatechin in diabetes and cancer

Abdulkhaleq LA, Assi MA, Noor MHM, Abdullah R, Saad MZ, Taufiq-Yap YH

Vet World, 2017 Aug;10(8):869-872.
PMID: 28919675 DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2017.869-872

Epicatechin is a natural flavonoid found in green tea. It has been reported to possess an immense antioxidant effect which contributes to its therapeutic effect against a handful of ailments. In this review, we discuss its therapeutic role in the management of two of the most important human diseases; diabetes and cancer. The consumption of epicatechin has been shown to reduce blood glucose levels in diabetic patients, while is anticancer effect was attributed to its antioxidant properties, antiangiogenic and direct cytotoxicity to cancer cells. Although the exact mechanism of action of epicatechin is still being explored, there is no doubt that it is a promising candidate as an alternative. The significance of this review is to highlight the importance of the usage of natural products (in this case, epicatechin) as an alternative for the treatment of two potentially fatal diseases which is diabetes and cancer. The aim of this review is to educate the scientific community on the role of epicatechin in ameliorating the effects of diabetes and cancers on human while understanding the potential mechanisms of these aforementioned effects.
Fulltext Educational Module Intervention for Radiographers to Reduce Repetition Rate of Routine Digital Chest Radiography in Makkah Region of Saudi Arabia Tertiary Hospitals: Protocol of a Quasi-Experimental Study

Almalki AA, Abdul Manaf R, Hanafiah Juni M, Kadir Shahar H, Noor NM, Gabbad A

JMIR Res Protoc, 2017 Sep 26;6(9):e185.
PMID: 28951379 DOI: 10.2196/resprot.8007

BACKGROUND: Repetition of an image is a critical event in any radiology department. When the repetition rate of routine digital chest radiographs is high, radiation exposure of staff and patients is increased. In addition, repetition consumes the equipment's life span, thus affecting the annual budget of the department.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to determine the impact of a printed educational module on reducing the repetition rate of routine digital chest radiography among radiographers in Makkah Region tertiary hospitals.
METHODS: A quasi-experimental time series with a control group will be conducted in Makkah Region tertiary hospitals for 8 months starting in the second quarter of 2017. Four hospitals out of 5 in the region will be selected; 2 of them will be selected as the control group and the other 2 as the intervention group. Stratification and a simple random sampling technique will be used to sample 56 radiographers in each group. Pre- and postintervention assessments will be conducted to determine the radiographer knowledge, motivation, and skills and repetition rate of chest radiographs. Radiographs of the chest performed by sampled radiographers in the selected hospitals will be collected for 2 weeks before and after the intervention. A piloted questionnaire will be distributed and collected by a researcher in both groups. One-way multivariate analysis of variance and 2-way repeated multivariate analysis of variance will be used to analyze the data.
RESULTS: It is expected that the repetition rate in the intervention group will decline after implementing the intervention and the change will be statistically significant (P
Heavy metals found in the breathing zone, toenails and lung function of welders working in an air-conditioned welding workplace

Hariri A, Mohamad Noor N, Paiman NA, Ahmad Zaidi AM, Zainal Bakri SF

Int J Occup Saf Ergon, 2018 Dec;24(4):646-651.
PMID: 28849717 DOI: 10.1080/10803548.2017.1368950

Welding operations are rarely conducted in an air-conditioned room. However, a company would set its welding operations in an air-conditioned room to maintain the humidity level needed to reduce hydrogen cracks in the specimen being welded. This study intended to assess the exposure to metal elements in the welders' breathing zone and toenail samples. Heavy metal concentration was analysed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The lung function test was also conducted and analysed using statistical approaches. Chromium and manganese concentrations in the breathing zone exceeded the permissible exposure limit stipulated by Malaysian regulations. A similar trend was obtained in the concentration of heavy metals in the breathing zone air sampling and in the welders' toenails. Although there was no statistically significant decrease in the lung function of welders, it is suggested that exposure control through engineering and administrative approaches should be considered for workplace safety and health improvement.
Fulltext Data on RNA-seq analysis of Garcinia mangostana L. seed development

Mazlan O, Abdul-Rahman A, Goh HH, Aizat WM, Mohd Noor N

Data Brief, 2018 Feb;16:90-93.
PMID: 29188226 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2017.11.001

Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.) has exceptional potential for commercial and pharmaceutical applications due to its delicious fruit and medicinal properties. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanism of mangosteen seed development is poorly understood. In this study, we performed transcriptomic analysis of four seed developmental stages; eight, ten, twelve and fourteen weeks after anthesis. Illumina HiSeq™ 4000 sequencer was used to generate raw data of approximately 68 Gb in size. From 451,495,326 raw reads, 406,143,756 clean reads were obtained. The raw data were uploaded to SRA database and the BioProject ID is PRJNA395504. These data provide the basis for further exploration and understanding of the molecular mechanism in mangosteen seed development.
Cling film plastic wrap: An innovation for dead body packaging, preservation and transportation by first responders as a replacement for cadaver body bag in large scale disasters

Khoo LS, Lai PS, Saidin MH, Noor Z, Mahmood MS

Forensic Sci Int, 2018 Apr;285:50-57.
PMID: 29433011 DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2018.01.018

Cadaver body bags are the conventional method to contain a human body or human remains, which includes the use for storage and transportation of the deceased at any crime scene or disaster scene. During disasters, most often than not, the first responders including the police will be equipped with cadaver body bags to do scene processing of human remains and collection of personal belongings at the disaster site. However, in an unanticipated large scale disasters involving hundreds and thousands of fatalities, cadaver body bags supplies may be scarce. The authors have therefore innovated the cling film plastic wrap as an alternative for the cadaver body bag used at the disaster site. The plastic wrap was tested on six different experimental subjects, i.e. both adult and child mannequins; body parts of the mannequin figure (arm and hand); a human adult subject and an unknown dead body. The strengths of the cling film plastic wrap are discussed in comparison with the cadaver body bag in the aspects of costing, weight, duration of the wrap, water and body fluid resistant properties, visibility and other advantages. An average savings of more than 5000% are noted for both adult body wrap and child body wrap compared to the cadaver body wrap. This simply means that the authors can either wrap 25 adult dead bodies or 80 children dead bodies with the cost of 1 cadaver body bag. The cling film plastic wrap has proven to have significant innovation impact for dead body management particularly by the first responders in large scale disasters. With proper handling of dead bodies, first responders can manage the dead with dignity and respect in an overwhelmed situation to facilitate the humanitarian victim identification process later.
Fulltext RNA-seq analysis of mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.) fruit ripening

Abdul-Rahman A, Goh HH, Loke KK, Noor NM, Aizat WM

Genom Data, 2017 Jun;12:159-160.
PMID: 28560167 DOI: 10.1016/j.gdata.2017.05.013

Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.) is known for its delectable taste and contains high amount of xanthones which have been reported to possess anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and other bioactive properties. However, stage-specific regulation of mangosteen fruit ripening has never been studied in detail. We have performed a comparative transcriptomic analysis of three ripening stages (Stage 0, 2 and 6) of mangosteen. We have obtained a raw data from six libraries through Illumina HiSeq 4000. A total of ~ 40 Gb of raw data were generated. Clean reads of 650,887,650 (bp) were obtained from 656,913,570 (bp) raw reads. The raw transcriptome data were deposited to SRA database, with the BioProject accession number of PRJNA339916. These data will be beneficial for transcriptome profiling in order to study the regulation of mangosteen fruit ripening. The lack of a complete sequence database from this species impedes protein identification. These data sets provide a reference data for the exploration of novel genes or proteins to understand mangosteen fruit ripening behaviour.
Fulltext Dystrophin gene expression and intracellular calcium changes in the giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, in response to white spot symptom disease infection

Noor AF, Soo TCC, Ghani FM, Goh ZH, Khoo LT, Bhassu S

Heliyon, 2017 Dec;3(12):e00446.
PMID: 29322096 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2017.e00446

Background: Dystrophin, an essential protein functional in the maintenance of muscle structural integrity is known to be responsible for muscle deterioration during white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection among prawn species. Previous studies have shown the upregulation of dystrophin protein in Macrobrachium rosenbergii (the giant freshwater prawn) upon white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection. The literature has also suggested the important role of calcium ion alterations in causing such muscle diseases. Thus, the interest of this study lies within the linkage between dystrophin functioning, intracellular calcium and white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection condition.
Methods: In this study, the dystrophin gene from M. rosenbergii (MrDys) was first characterised followed by the characterization of dystrophin gene from a closely related shrimp species, Penaeus monodon (PmDys). Dystrophin sequences from different phyla were then used for evolutionary comparison through BLAST analysis, conserved domain analysis and phylogenetic analysis. The changes in mRNA expression levels of dystrophin and the alteration of intracellular calcium concentrations in WSSV infected muscle cells were then studied.
Results: A 1246 base pair long dystrophin sequence was identified in the giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (MrDys) followed by 1082 base pair long dystrophin sequence in P. monodon (PmDys). Four conserved domains were identified from the thirteen dystrophin sequences compared which were classified into 5 different phyla. From the phylogenetic analysis, aside from PmDys, the characterised MrDys was shown to be most similar to the invertebrate phylum of Nematoda. In addition, an initial down-regulation of dystrophin gene expression followed by eventual up-regulation, together with an increase in intracellular calcium concentration [Ca2+]
i
were shown upon WSSV experimental infection.
Discussion: Both the functionality of the dystrophin protein and the intracellular calcium concentration were affected by WSSV infection which resulted in progressive muscle degeneration. An increased understanding of the role of dystrophin-calcium in MrDys and the interactions between these two components is necessary to prevent or reduce occurrences of muscle degeneration caused by WSSV infection, thereby reducing economic losses in the prawn farming industry from such disease.
Fulltext Improvement of spatial learning and memory, cortical gyrification patterns and brain oxidative stress markers in diabetic rats treated with Ficus deltoidea leaf extract and vitexin

Nurdiana S, Goh YM, Hafandi A, Dom SM, Nur Syimal'ain A, Noor Syaffinaz NM, et al.

J Tradit Complement Med, 2018 Jan;8(1):190-202.
PMID: 29322009 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtcme.2017.05.006

Despite the fact that Ficus deltoidea and vitexin played important roles in controlling hyperglycemia, an effective mitigation strategy dealing with cognitive deficit observed in diabetes, little is known about its neuroprotective effects. The study is aimed to determine changes in behavioral, gyrification patterns and brain oxidative stress markers in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats following F. deltoidea and vitexin treatments. Diabetic rats were treated orally with metformin, methanolic extract of F. deltoidea leaves and vitexin for eight weeks. Morris water maze (MWM) test was performed to evaluate learning and memory functions. The patterns of cortical gyrification were subsequently visualized using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). Quantification of brain oxidative stress biomarkers, insulin, amylin as well as serum testosterone were measured using a spectrophotometer. The brain fatty acid composition was determined using gas chromatography (GC). Biochemical variation in brain was estimated using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Results showed that oral administration of F. deltoidea extract and vitexin to diabetic rats attenuated learning and memory impairment, along with several clusters of improved gyrification. Both treatments also caused a significant increase in the superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) values, as well as a significant reduction of TBARS. Strikingly, improvement of cortical gyrification, spatial learning and memory are supported by serum testosterone levels, fatty acid composition of brain and FT-IR spectra.
Fulltext Extreme learning machine based optimal embedding location finder for image steganography

Atee HA, Ahmad R, Noor NM, Rahma AM, Aljeroudi Y

PLoS One, 2017;12(2):e0170329.
PMID: 28196080 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170329

In image steganography, determining the optimum location for embedding the secret message precisely with minimum distortion of the host medium remains a challenging issue. Yet, an effective approach for the selection of the best embedding location with least deformation is far from being achieved. To attain this goal, we propose a novel approach for image steganography with high-performance, where extreme learning machine (ELM) algorithm is modified to create a supervised mathematical model. This ELM is first trained on a part of an image or any host medium before being tested in the regression mode. This allowed us to choose the optimal location for embedding the message with best values of the predicted evaluation metrics. Contrast, homogeneity, and other texture features are used for training on a new metric. Furthermore, the developed ELM is exploited for counter over-fitting while training. The performance of the proposed steganography approach is evaluated by computing the correlation, structural similarity (SSIM) index, fusion matrices, and mean square error (MSE). The modified ELM is found to outperform the existing approaches in terms of imperceptibility. Excellent features of the experimental results demonstrate that the proposed steganographic approach is greatly proficient for preserving the visual information of an image. An improvement in the imperceptibility as much as 28% is achieved compared to the existing state of the art methods.
Fulltext Adjunctive buccal and palatal corticotomy for adult maxillary expansion in an animal model

Le MHT, Lau SF, Ibrahim N, Noor Hayaty AK, Radzi ZB

Korean J Orthod, 2018 Mar;48(2):98-106.
PMID: 29564219 DOI: 10.4041/kjod.2018.48.2.98

Objective: This study aimed to explore the usefulness of adjunctive buccal and palatal corticotomy for adult maxillary expansion in an animal model using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT).
Methods: Twelve adult sheep were randomly divided into two groups (each n = 6): a control group, where no treatment was administered, and a treatment group, where buccal and palatal corticotomy-assisted maxillary expansion was performed. CBCT scans were taken before (T1) and after (T2) treatment. Differences in all transverse dental and alveolar dimensions, alveolar width at crest level, hard palate level, horizontal bone loss, interdental cusp width and inter-root apex were assessed using Wilcoxon signed-rank and Mann-WhitneyU-tests. Kruskal-Wallis tests and pairwise comparisons were used to detect the significance of differences among the inter-premolar and inter-molar widths.
Results: CBCT data revealed significant changes in all transverse dental and alveolar dimensions. The mean interpremolar alveolar width showed an increase of 2.29 to 3.62 mm at the hard palate level, 3.89 to 4.38 mm at the alveolar crest level, and 9.17 to 10.42 mm at the buccal cusp level. Dental changes in the vertical dimension were not significant.
Conclusions: Our findings based on an adult animal model suggest that adjunctive buccal and palatal corticotomy can allow for both skeletal and dental expansion, with the amount of dental expansion exceeding that of skeletal expansion at alveolar crest and hard palate levels by two and three folds, respectively. Therefore, this treatment modality is potential to enhance the outcomes of maxillary expansion in adults.
Fulltext Implementation of maximum surgical blood ordering schedule in a tertiary hospital in Malaysia during COVID-19 pandemic

Tan PP, Abdul Rahman J, Mat Noh S, Mohd Yasin I, Mohd Noor S

Transfus Apher Sci, 2021 Dec;60(6):103280.
PMID: 34593332 DOI: 10.1016/j.transci.2021.103280
Fulltext Channa striatus in inflammatory conditions: A systematic review

Lee VLL, Choo BKM, Norazit A, Noor SM, Shaikh MF

Front Pharmacol, 2022;13:1076143.
PMID: 36545318 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2022.1076143

Channa striatus (CS), or snakehead murrel, is an obligate air-breathing freshwater fish. Besides its wound healing properties, CS has also been reported to exhibit anti-inflammatory effects in multiple studies. While there are anti-inflammatory medications such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), their long-term use is associated with an increased risk of peptic ulcers, acute renal failure, stroke, and myocardial infarction. Thus, it is essential to look at natural methods such as CS extract. While there is an abundant number of investigative studies on the inflammatory properties of CS, the quality of these studies has not been evaluated effectively. Thus, this review aims to summarise, evaluate, and critically appraise currently available literature regarding the anti-inflammatory properties of CS extract. This is done by performing a search using four databases, namely Google Scholar, Embase via Elsevier, Scopus, and Web of Science, with the following terms: Channa striatus AND inflammation. From our review, CS has been experimentally shown to positively affect inflammatory conditions such as gastric ulcers, dermatitis, osteoarthritis, and allergic rhinitis. Beneficial effects were also found on inflammation in the presence of tuberculosis and in situations that involve inflammation, such as wound healing. While CS clearly has potential for treating inflammatory conditions, much work needs to be done on identifying and isolating the active constituents before exact mechanisms of action can be worked out to develop future anti-inflammatory medications.
Fulltext A cross-sectional study of assessing knowledge, attitude, and practice of COVID-19 resuscitation among health care workers in a hybrid hospital for COVID-19 in Malaysia

Mohd Kamil MK, Zambri A, Azizah MA, Noor Azhar AM, Ahmad R

Int Emerg Nurs, 2022 Sep;64:101214.
PMID: 36037702 DOI: 10.1016/j.ienj.2022.101214

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is an international public health emergency. As hospitals receive more severe forms of COVID-19 that necessitate resuscitation, emergency health care workers (HCW) must follow interim COVID-19 resuscitation guidelines.
OBJECTIVE: The aim is to evaluate the levels of knowledge, attitude, and practice among emergency HCW of the COVID-19 resuscitation protocol by the European Resuscitation Council (ERC).
METHODS: A cross-sectional study using a validated questionnaire was conducted among HCW in the emergency department of University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Malaysia from April to June 2021.
RESULTS: A total of 159 respondents were included in the analysis (89% response rate). Sixty-eight percent of respondents had adequate knowledge regarding COVID-19 resuscitation. Majority of the respondents had knowledge on airborne-precaution personal protective equipment (PPE) (99%) and infection control measures (98%). Nearly 73% were pessimistic about the COVID-19 prognosis. Seventy-three percent of respondents thought an arrested COVID-19 patient may benefit from cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and 94% were willing to administer CPR provided airborne-precaution PPE was available. Ninety percent of respondents reported adherence to resuscitation guidelines. There were significant differences in the mean knowledge scores between designation, education levels, and COVID-19 training. Overall, the respondents' level of practice was insufficient (27%), with a mean score of 53.7%(SD = 14.7). There was a lack of practicein the resuscitation oftheintubatedand patients who were beingprone. There was insufficient practice about ventilation technique, use ofsupraglotticdevices, and intubation barriers. There was a positive correlation between adequate knowledge and good practice.
CONCLUSION: Emergency HCW have adequate knowledge, but poor compliance to the ERC COVID-19 guidelines. Emergency HCW were willing and confident to resuscitate COVID-19 patients, despite fears of nosocomial infection and expectation of poor patients' prognosis. Ongoing education and trainingprogramsare recommended to improve their knowledge, cultivate a positive attitude, andachievegood compliance with COVID-19 resuscitation guidelines.
Fulltext Adsorption-Desorption Behavior of Hydrogen Sulfide Capture on a Modified Activated Carbon Surface

Zulkefli NN, Noor Azam AMI, Masdar MS, Isahak WNRW

Materials (Basel), 2023 Jan 03;16(1).
PMID: 36614800 DOI: 10.3390/ma16010462

Metal-based adsorbents with varying active phase loadings were synthesized to capture hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from a biogas mimic system. The adsorption-desorption cycles were implemented to ascertain the H2S captured. All prepared adsorbents were evaluated by nitrogen adsorption, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area analysis, scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. From the results, modified adsorbents, dual chemical mixture (DCM) and a core-shell (CS) had the highest H2S adsorption performance with a range of 0.92-1.80 mg H2S/g. After several cycles of heat/N2 regeneration, the total H2S adsorption capacity of the DCM adsorbent decreased by 62.1%, whereas the CS adsorbent decreased by only 25%. Meanwhile, the proposed behavioral model for H2S adsorption-desorption was validated effectively using various analyses throughout the three cycles of adsorption-desorption samples. Moreover, as in this case, the ZnAc2/ZnO/CAC_OS adsorbents show outstanding performances with 30 cycles of adsorption-desorption compared to only 12 cycles of ZnAc2/ZnO/CAC_DCM. Thus, this research paper will provide fresh insights into adsorption-desorption behavior through the best adsorbents' development and the adsorbents' capability at the highest number of adsorption-desorption cycles.
Fulltext Shoulder Agony: A Painful Glenoid Cyst

Md Yusoff BAH, Ramlan MKR, Mohd Don AF, Muhammed Ali Noor MI, Mohamad N

Cureus, 2023 Jan;15(1):e33726.
PMID: 36788828 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.33726

A ganglion cyst is a benign cystic lesion that can occur intraosseously. It is commonly a multiloculated lesion that consists of fibrous tissue with mucoid change and is usually located in the subchondral bone adjacent to the joint. Here, we present a rare case of a 33-year-old woman who presented to our orthopedic clinic with a five-year history of shoulder pain that gradually worsened. The pain was worst after any activity involving the right shoulder, and it also occurred at night and disturbed her sleep. Physical examination showed that the patient had limitations on the extreme range of movement. MRI revealed a subchondral bone cyst at the glenoid fossa. The ganglion cyst was subsequently curetted and packed with a bone graft from the iliac bone. Postoperatively, the pain resolved and the patient's range of movement improved. At the six-month follow-up, new bone formation over the void area caused by the cyst was observed on MRI.
Improving the reliability of smartphone-based urine colorimetry using a colour card calibration method

Noor Azhar M, Bustam A, Naseem FS, Shuin SS, Md Yusuf MH, Hishamudin NU, et al.

Digit Health, 2023;9:20552076231154684.
PMID: 36798885 DOI: 10.1177/20552076231154684

OBJECTIVE: Urine colorimetry using a digital image-based colorimetry is potentially an accessible hydration assessment method. This study evaluated the agreement between urine colorimetry values measured with different smartphone brands under various lighting conditions in patients with dengue fever.
METHODS: The urine samples were photographed in a customized photo box, under five simulated lighting conditions, using five smartphones. These images were analyzed using Adobe Photoshop to obtain urine Red, Green and Blue (RGB) values with and without colour correction. A commercially available colour calibration card was used for colour correction. Using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), inter-phone and intra-phone agreements of urine RGB values were analyzed.
RESULTS: Without colour correction, the various smartphones produced the highest agreement for Blue and Green values under the 'daylight' lighting condition. With colour correction, ICC values showed 'exceptional' inter-phone and intra-phone agreement for the Blue and Green values (ICC > 0.9). Red values showed 'poor' (ICC < 0.5) agreement with and without colour correction in all lighting conditions. Out of the five phones compared in this study, Phone 4 produced the lowest intra-phone agreement.
CONCLUSIONS: Colour calibration using photo colour cards improved the reliability of smartphone-based urine colorimetry, making this a promising point-of-care hydration assessment tool using the ubiquitous smartphone.
Fulltext Forensic profiling of non-volatile organic compounds in soil using ultra-performance liquid chromatography: a pilot study

Lee LC, Ishak AA, Nai Eyan AA, Zakaria AF, Kharudin NS, Noor NAM

Forensic Sci Res, 2022;7(4):761-773.
PMID: 36817254 DOI: 10.1080/20961790.2021.1899407

Soil is of particular interest to the forensic community because it can be used as valuable associative evidence to link a suspect to a victim or a crime scene. Liquid chromatography is a powerful analytical tool for organic compound analysis. Recently, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has proven to be an efficient method for forensic soil analysis, especially in discriminating soils from proximity locations. However, ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), which is much more sensitive than HPLC, has never been explored in this context. This study proposed a UPLC method for profiling non-volatile organic compounds in three Malaysian soils (red, brown and yellowish-brown soils). The three soils were analysed separately to assess the effects of individual chromatographic parameters: (a) elution programme (isocratic vs. two gradient programmes); (b) flow rate (0.1 vs. 0.2 mL/min); (c) extraction solvent (acetonitrile vs. methanol) and (d) detection wavelength (230 vs. 254 nm). The injection volume and total run time were set to 5 µL and 35 min, respectively. Consequently, each soil sample gave 24 different chromatograms. Results showed that the most desirable chromatographic parameters were (a) isocratic elution; (b) flow rate at 0.2 mL/min and (c) acetonitrile extraction solvent. The proposed UPLC system is expected to be a feasible method for profiling non-volatile organic compounds in soil, and is more chemical-efficient than a comparable HPLC system.
Fulltext Postmortem CT scan in intoxication cases: A necessity or just an indulgence

Soon LP, Subramaniam K, Madon NF, Mohamad Noor MH, Chainchel Singh MK, Mahmood MS

Indian J Radiol Imaging, 2019 10 30;29(3):305-309.
PMID: 31741600 DOI: 10.4103/ijri.IJRI_2_19

Introduction: The aim of this study is to correlate urinary bladder distension and pulmonary edema on postmortem computed tomography (CT) scans with toxicology results in postmortem cases.
Methods and Results: The study population was the postmortem cases of Asian population ranging from 16 to 75 years old in which blood and/or urine samples sent for alcohol and/or drug of abuse (DoA) analysis in year 2016 at our centre. Out of 434 cases, 54 from each group of positive and negative alcohol and/or DoA. Postmortem findings of lungs and postmortem CT scan urinary bladder volume (UBV) were recorded. Statistical significant correlation was obtained between urinary bladder distension on postmortem CT scan and cases with positive alcohol detection. However, the sensitivity was relatively low at 51.7%, whereas the specificity was 75% at the cut-off point. Low sensitivity and specificity at around 52.7% were obtained for pulmonary edema related to alcohol/DoA. This showed that UBV alone or pulmonary edema alone was not really a good indicator for alcohol or DoA intoxication. However, combination of both indicators provided higher sensitivity (73.3%) although specificity was lowered to 53.8%.
Conclusion: The findings of postmortem CT scan bladder distension and pulmonary edema could possibly identify intoxication cases but not conclusive.
Fulltext Nodular Lymphoid Hyperplasia in Children: Recurrent Hematemesis

Che Husin N, Mohd Shah MS, Hassan MR, Wan Mohamad Noor WMR, Md Nor MT

Cureus, 2023 Jan;15(1):e34363.
PMID: 36874652 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.34363

Nodular lymphoid hyperplasia (NLH) is a pathology of the gastrointestinal tract that is commonly found in children. Most of its etiology is benign and associated with some underlying causes such as food hypersensitivity, viral or bacterial infection, giardiasis, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, immunodeficiency, celiac disease, and inflammatory bowel disease. It is characterized by the growth of submucosal lymphoid tissue and a mucosal response to different types of noxious stimuli. In this report, we present the case of a child with recurrent hematemesis.
Fulltext High EZH2 Protein Expression Is a Poor Prognostic Predictor in IDH1 R132H-Negative Gliomas

Wong YP, Che Abdul Aziz R, Noor Aizuddin A, Mohd Saleh MF, Mohd Arshad R, Tan GC

Diagnostics (Basel), 2022 Sep 30;12(10).
PMID: 36292072 DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics12102383

Accumulating data indicates that enhancer of zeste homology 2 (EZH2) and isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) are implicated in promoting tumourigenesis in a myriad of malignancies including gliomas. We aimed to determine the immunoexpression of EZH2 in gliomas and its correlation with clinicopathological variables. The prognostic value of the combined immunoexpression of EZH2 and IDH1 was further explored in a retrospective analysis involving 56 patients with histologically confirmed gliomas in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre from 2010 to 2016. The patients were then followed up for a period of five years. EZH2 and IDH1 R132H immunoexpressions were performed and analysed on respective tissue blocks. Five-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated by Kaplan−Meier analysis. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression models were performed to evaluate the value of EZH2 as an independent factor for the prediction of PFS and OS. High EZH2 immunoexpression was demonstrated in 27 (48.2%) gliomas. High EZH2 expression was significantly correlated with older age (p = 0.003), higher tumour grade (p < 0.001), negative IDH1 R132H immunoexpression (p = 0.039), a poor 5-year PFS (mean = 9.7 months, p < 0.001) and 5-year OS (mean = 28.2 months, p = 0.007). In IDH1 R132H-negative gliomas, there was a trend toward shorter 5-year PFS (mean = 8.0 months, p = 0.001) and 5-year OS (mean = 28.7 months, p = 0.06) in gliomas demonstrating high EZH2 expression compared with those with low EZH2 expression. High EZH2 immunoexpression is an unfavourable independent prognostic predictor of poor survival in gliomas. EZH2 analysis might therefore be of clinical value for risk stratification, especially in patients with IDH1 R132H-negative gliomas.

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