Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 92 in total

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  1. Gunendren, M., Noordin S.S., Muggundha, R., Nozlena A.S.
    MyJurnal
    Conventional anticoagulant therapy is the mainstay of medical treatment for deep vein thrombosis disorders. However,there are many complications associated with these agents such as bleeding. Hence, the search for novel anticoagulant derived from natural substances such as plants origin is in high demand nowadays. Ocimum sanctum(O.sanctum) also known as Ocimum tenuiform (OT), tulsi or holy basil from the family of Lamiaceae has been widely used for thousands of years in Ayurveda and Unani systems to cure or prevent a number of illnessessuch as headache, malaria, ulcers, bronchitis, cough, flu, sore throat and asthma. The objective is to investigate theeffect ofO. sanctum(Tulsi) aqueous leaf extract on prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and thrombin time (TT) in human plasma. Coagulation activity of O. sanctum was measured via PT, APTT and TT assay in citrated plasma collected from thirty-six healthy regular blood donors. The plasma was tested against different concentrations of O. sanctum aqueous extract as follows: 0.1mg/ml, 0.5 mg/ml and 1.0 mg/ml. Result shows the aqueous extract of O. sanctum prolonged the PT and APTT assays (p0.05). The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis had identified the linolenic acid at 1-10% of ethanol and aqueousconcentration at different retention time which was responsible for the coagulation activities of O. sanctumin human plasma. This study suggests that O. sanctum does affect coagulation activity in human plasma and can be potentially used as naturally derived anticoagulant products in the future.
  2. Norhayaty S., Sangeetha, T, Tai, Evelyn L.M., Wan Hazabbah W.H., Zaidah A.R., Azhany Y.
    MyJurnal
    nfectious endophthalmitis is a devastating and potentially sight-threatening condition.The objective is toanalyse the microbiological profile and visual outcome of culture positive endophthalmitis seen in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. All patients with endophthalmitis admitted to Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia over a 7-year period from January 2007 until December 2013 were recruited into this study. Retrospective review of medical and microbiology records was conducted among patients clinically diagnosed with endophthalmitis in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia from January 2007 until December 2013. Sixteen patients were admitted with endophthalmitis during this study period. Seven (43%) were culture-positive, in which five (71%) cases were from vitreous culture and two (29%) from blood specimens. The mean age for culture positive patients of presentation was44 years. The most common bacterial isolate was Pseudomonas spp., while the most common fungus was Candida spp. Other organisms isolated were Fusariumsp., Aspergillus sp., Staphylococcus sp.and Enterococcus sp. The risk factors for culture-positive cases were ocular trauma, corneal keratitis, ocular chemical injury, severe urinary tract infection and retropharyngeal abscess. Only three of the affected eyes could be salvaged. The final visual acuity waspoor in all the culture-positive eyes. Two cases underwent evisceration while one case underwent enucleation. As a conclusion,Culture-positive endophthalmitis in this study were mainly attributed to Pseudomonas spp. and Candida spp. The visual outcome of culture-positive endophthalmitis was poor.
  3. Neoh, Pei Fang, Tai, Evelyn L.M., Liza Sharmini A.T.
    MyJurnal
    We report a case of cavernous sinus thrombosis in a post-splenectomy male with underlying Haemoglobin E Thalassemia major. A 35-year-old man presented with a first episode of sudden onset of diplopia on lateral gaze for 1 week. He had no other ocular and systemic symptoms. There was no history of trauma or recent infection. However, he admitted that he was not compliant to his oral penicillin V and aspirin, which was prescribed to all post splenectomy patients. Unaided visual acuity in both eyes was 6/6. On examination, there was limited abduction over the left eye, suggestive of left lateral rectus palsy. Full blood count revealed leucocytosis with thrombocytosis. Magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance angiography and magnetic resonance venography of the brain showed bulging of the left cavernous sinus, with a persistent focal filling defect, in keeping with left cavernous sinus thrombosis (CST). He was diagnosed with left isolated sixth nerve palsy secondary to aseptic cavernous sinus thrombosis with pro-thrombotic state post-splenectomy. He was started on subcutaneous fondaparinux and oral warfarin. His diplopia fully resolved after 1 month of treatment with complete resolution of CST on computed tomography venogram.
  4. Leong Abdullah M.F.I., Hami R., Nizuwan A., Mohd Sharif N., Appalanaido, G.K., Md Sharif S.S.
    MyJurnal
    It is important to study optimism as it is negatively correlated with anxiety and depressive and positively correlated with quality of life in cancer patients. This study translated and investigated the psychometric properties of the Malay version of the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) among Malaysian cancer patients. The validated Malay version of the LOT-R will be used for assessing level of optimism among Malaysian cancer patients in future studies and determine factors associated with it in order to design effective psychosocial intervention which will enhance level of optimism in cancer patients. Concurrent translation and back translation of original English version of the LOT-R to Malay was performed and the Malay version was administered to 195 cancer patients of different cancer diagnoses at baseline assessment and repeated 2 months later at follow up. Reliability was assessed with internal consistency (Cronbach’s α) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient), validity was assessed with face, content, convergent, and discriminant validities. Construct validity was examined with exploratory factor analysis. Two third of the participants (n = 129/195; 66%) were of middle age, three forth were females (n = 142/195; 72.8%) and eight tenth were Malays (n = 160/195; 82.1%). The LOT-R (Malay) total score (Cronbach’s α = 0.58; ICC = 0.62) and its domains (Cronbach’s α [Optimism) = 0.60; Cronbach’s α[Pessimism) = 0.42; ICC[Optimism] = 0.61; ICC[Pessimism] = 0.59) demonstrated questionable internal consistencies but acceptable test-retest reliability. Convergent and discriminant validities were achieved by the LOT-R (Malay). Construct validity was also demonstrated by the LOT-R (Malay) as exploratory factor analysis showed that all the items had factor loadings > 0.4.
    The LOT-R (Malay) has acceptable psychometric properties and suitable to assess optimism in Malaysian cancer patients. It should be validated for use in other Malaysian populations.
  5. A’attiyyah A.A., Wan Afiqah Syahirah W.G., Kannan, T.P., Suharni M., Ahmad A., Nor Azah M.A.
    MyJurnal
    Medicinal plants have healing properties and are able to synthesize various chemical compounds. These chemicals (also known as phytochemical compounds) play vital roles in determining the pharmacological properties existing in certain plants. The phytochemical compounds present in plants are associated with primary and secondary constituents. Most of the time, the secondary constituents exhibit the bioactivities in plants such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Some common medicinal plants that have been used in curing various diseases by traditional practitioners in Malaysia are Ficus deltoidea Jack, Andrographis paniculata, Curcuma longa, Clinacanthus nutans and Eurycoma longifolia Jack. This review discusses the morphology, phytochemical compounds and phytochemical properties of selected medicinal plants in Malaysia. The plants of focus have been found to possess anti-cancer and anti-diabetic effects. This review, it is hoped will enable Malaysian researchers to explore further on the potential of these plants in investigating new and novel drugs in the future.
  6. Noorlaila B., Zunaina E., Raja Norliza R.O., Nor Fadzillah A.J., Alice, G.K.C.
    MyJurnal
    We report a case of dural carotid cavernous fistula (CCF) pose a diagnostic dilemma with initial symptoms of the arteriovenous shunt. A 56 year-old man presented with right eye diplopia, thensubsequently developed ptosis, congestion of conjunctiva, dilated episcleral vessels, and gradual rise in intraocular pressure. Initial diagnosis of pseudotumour was made based on negative finding of CCF by computed tomography angiography (CTA). In view of persistent clinical manifestations in spite of steroid therapy, and with the presence of new ocular signs; cock-screw conjunctival vessels, dilated retinal veins, and proptosis, digital subtraction angiography (DSA) was performed and confirmed the diagnosis of dural CCF.The ocular symptoms resolved completely post embolization of the fistula.
  7. Wan Taib W.R., Tengku M.A., Aryati A., Yusoff N.A.M.
    MyJurnal
    Immunization has been introduced for decades to eradicate fatal infectious diseases by inoculating attenuated, killed or toxoid of microorganisms such as bacteria and virus. The triggering action to the immune system would not harm the host; despite can boost the immune responses to any infection. However, several cases of the eradicated infectious disease have re-emerged due to the existence of vaccine hesitancy group. Vaccine hesitancy has been observed emerging worldwide due to rejection in receiving vaccine. The main obstacle in vaccination program was identified according to the misconception that they received from internet or any mass media without boundaries. Various actions from the government have met the needs to enforce and educate the public especially the hesitant group towards better disease prevention with vaccination. The strategy would cover any interaction activities or programs with the public in transferring the information about the vaccination and its benefit to the health of herd community.
  8. Rosdi R.A., Yusoff S., Mohd Yusoff N., Ismail R., Tan, C.S., Musa N.
    MyJurnal
    It has been recognized extensively that studies of pharmacogenetics provide massive examples of causal relationship between genotypes and drug effectiveness to account for interindividual phenotypic variations in drug therapy. In most cases, cytochrome P450 (CYP) polymorphisms are one of the major variables that affecting those drug plasma concentration, drug detoxification and drug activation in humans. Thus, understanding of CYP polymorphisms can be crucially valuable in order to allow early and more accurate drug dosage prediction and improve the drug response accordingly. Despite the high level of homologous amino acid sequences, CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 genes are among the most important CYP genes which metabolize a wide range of clinically therapeutic drugs. Several critical reviews have been published relating to the aforementioned genes. However, this minireview aims to systematically merge reported studies on the SNPs frequencies of both genes concentrating only on Malaysian population. It is hoped that, the minireview can be an opener for new opportunities to reevaluate the evidence on the prevalence of CYP2C genes as a potential genetic factor influencing a particular drug efficacy and safety among Malaysian. Such evaluation can be developed to the next level of early prediction of better and specific drug treatment, thereby improving the drug response while helping the government in minimising the drug expenditures.
  9. Kua, Vee May Dianne, Ng Woei Kean, Sreenivasan, Sasidharan, Lai, Ngit Shin
    MyJurnal
    Opioids are opium-like drugs which are commonly used as analgesics to treat moderate to severe pain. Apoptosis is a type of programmed cell death to remove unnecessary or damaged cells in an organism. Recently, the ability of opioids to induce apoptosis especially in cancer cell lines hasgained the interest of many researchers. This fascinating finding hasled to more testing of different kindsof opioids against different kindsof cancer cell lines in the course to search for the potential anticancer drugs. This review provides current information about opioids and apoptosis, and more importantly the compilations of researches over the years on how opioids are related to apoptotic cells death.
  10. Ying, C.K., W.A. Kamil, Matsufuji, Naruhiro
    MyJurnal
    Charged particle therapy with carbon ions has advantages over conventional radiotherapy using x-ray beams. The application of charged particle therapy has rapidly increased over the last decades. This is due to its characteristic Bragg peak which has relatively low entrance doses and favourable doses distribution. In this research work, Geant4 based Monte Carlo simulation (MC) method has been used to calculate the radiation transportation and dose distributions in tissue-like media. The main objective of the work was to compare the Geant4 simulated depth dose distributions with experimental measurements and verify the capability of the geant4 simulation toolkit. The carbon ion beams for the therapeutic energy of 350 MeV/u and 400 MeV/u respectively were simulated, with the same settings as the experimental work carried out at the treatment room at Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator (HIMAC), National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS), Chiba, Japan. The simulation results were verified with measurements data. The work was to measure the accuracy and quality of the dose distributions by Geant4 MC methods. The results show that the Bragg peak and spread out Bragg peak (SOBP) distributions in simulation has fairly good agreement with measurements.
  11. Adam, M., Irfan, M., Muhammad Nasri AB, Arfahiza S.
    MyJurnal
    Laryngopharyngeal tuberculosis (TB) is a rare disease and usually associated with pulmonary tuberculosis. Mostly, it occurs in adults without BCG vaccination or in immuno-compromised patients (such as AIDS patients). A 34-year-old gentleman with odynophagia and poor oral intake was referred to us to rule out malignancy. Direct laryngoscopy examination revealed ulcerative lesion involving right tonsillar fossa extending downward till right pyriform sinus. Panendoscopy and biopsy was performed. Laryngopharyngeal TB was diagnosed based on the histopathological examination and Ziehl-Neelsen staining.
  12. Ghani Siti-Ilyana, Ang, Wen-Jeat, Wan-Hazabbah Wan-Hitam, Embong Zunaina
    MyJurnal
    Pre-eclampsia may have an impact on women’s health beyond their
    pregnancies and has been associated with increased risks for future hypertension
    and cardiovascular disease. We report a case of a patient with history of preeclampsia and emergency caesarean section at 31 weeks of gestation due to
    impending eclampsia who defaulted follow up and presented with malignant
    hypertension and acute loss of vision 10 years later. A 34-year-old Malay female,
    presented with generalized painless reduced vision of 5 days duration which was
    preceded by an intermittent headache for 1 months duration. She had a history of
    pre-eclampsia during her last childbirth 10 years ago and was not started on any
    antihypertensive medication as her blood pressure normalized 2 weeks post-delivery.
    Subsequently, she defaulted on her follow up. Visual acuity was counting finger at 1
    meter in both eyes with no relative afferent pupillary defect. Funduscopy revealed
    bilateral grade IV hypertensive retinopathy with the presence of optic disc swelling
    and macular star. Optical coherence tomography showed bilateral sub-retinal fluid at
    the macula. Her blood pressure was 255/168 mmHg with other systemic
    examinations being normal. Ultrasonography of the kidneys showed the presence of
    bilateral renal parenchymal disease with elevation of serum urea and creatinine
    levels. Her blood pressure was controlled with triple oral antihypertensive agents. Her
    vision improved to 6/36 and 6/6 with a pinhole in both eyes and resolution of
    papilloedema and sub-retinal fluid at three months follow-up. Patients with a history
    of pre-eclampsia must be closely monitored during the postpartum period. Even
    though her blood pressure was normalized, careful monitoring and long-term medical
    follow up plan must be clearly explained to the patient as she might develop chronic
    or essential hypertension afterward. Our patient most likely had essential
    hypertension superimposed with pre-eclampsia during her last pregnancy and
    currently presented with malignant hypertension due to undiagnosed chronic
    hypertension as she defaulted her medical follow up.
  13. Royan, Jeyarine, Teo, Khairy Shamel Sonny, Vengadasalam, Selva Raja
    MyJurnal
    To report on a rare case of an intralenticular foreign body which
    demonstrates that use of a spring-powered airsoft gun can result in a severe
    ocular injury. A 2-year-old male presented following a trauma to the left eye.
    The trauma was caused by a wooden matchstick from a spring-powered airsoft
    gun being shot into his eye. On examination, there was a shallow anterior
    chamber with a full thickness corneal laceration, with fragmented matchstick
    pieces embedded in the cornea and in the lens. The corneal foreign bodies
    were removed, corneal laceration wound sutured and lensectomy done. There
    were no post-operative complications, and the cornea wound healed with a
    scar. A few months later, he underwent a successful secondary intraocular lens
    implantation surgery with an iris claw lens. Airsoft guns are easily available to
    children who are unaware of its dangers. It can cause significant ocular
    morbidity despite successful surgical treatment of the injury.
  14. Ghani Siti-Ilyana, Koh, Yi-Ni, Embong Zunaina
    MyJurnal
    Toxoplasmic optic neuropathy is rare and usually occurs monoocularly. This case report demonstrates a rare presentation of bilateral
    juxtapapillary retinochoroiditis (Jensen disease) due to toxoplasma infection in
    a young healthy patient. A 20-year-old lady presented with bilateral painless
    blurring of central vision for 5 days duration. It was preceded by fever, upper
    respiratory tract symptoms and headache. There was no history of contact or
    being scratched by a cat. Visual acuity was counting fingers for the right eye
    and 6/45 for the left eye. There was presence of relative afferent pupillary
    defect in the right eye. Optic nerve functions were impaired bilaterally which
    was severe in the right eye. Both eyes showed the presence of mild anterior
    segment inflammation and vitritis. Fundus examination revealed juxtapapillary
    retinochoroiditis bilaterally with swollen optic disc. Optical coherence
    tomography (OCT) showed presence of intra-retinal and sub-retinal fluid at
    macular area bilaterally. Serology for anti-toxoplasma Immunoglobulin G (IgG)
    was positive with titre of 1450 IU/ml. Computed tomography scan (CT scan) of
    brain and orbit was normal. A diagnosis of bilateral juxtapapillary
    retinochoroiditis or Jensen disease was made. Oral azithromycin 500 mg daily
    and guttae prednisolone 4 hourly for 6 weeks was commenced. Oral
    prednisolone 50 mg daily (1 mg/kg/day) was added after completion of 1 week
    of antibiotic and was tapered down within 5 weeks. There was improvement of
    vision as early as 3 weeks post initiation of the treatment. Upon 6 weeks
    completing the treatment, her vision has improved to 6/7.5 on both eyes with
    resolution of optic disc swelling and sub-retinal fluid. Early recognition and
    initiation of treatment in toxoplasma infection associated with juxtapapillary
    retinochoroiditis usually result in good visual prognosis.
  15. Haiyuni, M.Y., Aziee S., Heba A., Rosline H., Abdullah W.Z., Johan M.F., et al.
    MyJurnal
    Introduction: Isolation of specific cell types is important in providing a better understanding of hematological disorders. The knowledge of molecular biology aspect in β-thalassemia is still limited. This is because hemoglobin disorder involves various erythropoietic processes in which the genetic information is lack due to enucleation of red blood cells occurs in bone marrow. It is invasive to collect samples from bone marrow and cord blood although nucleated red blood cells (NRBCs) are abundant in these sites. NRBCs are precursors of red blood cells and typically found in peripheral blood (PB) of β-thalassemia major patients and abundant post-splenectomy. The utilization of PB NRBCs will provide a further understanding of the molecular aspects of ineffective erythropoiesis in β-thalassemia major patients. Objective: The objective of this study was to isolate the NRBCs using CD71 magnetic beads from PB of β-thalassemia major; non-splenectomy and post-splenectomy patients. Methods: NRBCs were isolated from 6 mL PB of β-thalassemia major patients based on density gradient and magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS) for NRBCs enrichment using a CD71 marker. Cell count was determined by using hemocytometer (Weber Scientific, NJ, USA) and BD FACSCantoTM II flow cytometry (Becton-Dickson, NJ, USA) was performed for method validation. Results: NRBCs were successfully isolated from the PB of both non-splenectomy and post-splenectomy β-thalassemia major patients with >90% specificity by flow cytometric analysis. The median number of enriched NRBCs (x104 ) was 58.5 (283) and 340 (338) respectively using hemocytometer. Conclusion: The MACS method was found to be convenient and efficient in the isolation of the targeted cells for downstream applications.
  16. Long, Tuan Kechik TSM, Berahim Z., Shahidan WNS
    MyJurnal
    Gene expression is the most fundamental level at which the
    genotype gives rise to phenotype. The development of human salivary
    exosomes has become one of the promising researches to improve cell-based
    tissue engineering but their functions in human periodontal ligament fibroblast
    (HPdLF) cells are not well studied. To study the effect of human salivary
    derived exosomes on the gene expression of HPdLF cells. In vitro, HPdLF
    cells were cultured for 24 hours with 10 µg/ml of human salivary exosomes.
    Determination of gene expression levels of basic fibroblast growth factor
    (bFGF) and collagen type I (COL1) in the presence and absence of human
    salivary exosomes in HPdLF culture was performed using quantitative reverse
    transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Human salivary
    exosomes significantly upregulated bFGF gene expression but not COL1
    gene in HPdLF cells after 24 hours of culture. Human salivary exosomes are
    able to upregulate bFGF gene in HPdLF cells. Thus, they might have potential
    to be used as an alternative biomaterial in tissue engineering for periodontal
    regeneration.
  17. Nadia Yaacob, Adil Hussein, Maizan Yaakob, Zuraidah Mustari
    MyJurnal
    The presence of retinal vasculitis in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis is not uncommon. However, asymptomatic presentations are quite rare. Here, we present a case of 25-year-old Malay gentleman with pulmonary tuberculosis, who was referred for an eye assessment following initiation of anti-tuberculosis drugs. His vision was good; he had no other symptoms despite having retinal neovascularization, pre-retinal haemorrhages and healed choroiditis at the fundus of the left eye. Fundus fluorescein angiography showed multiple areas of capillary fallouts at the superotemporal quadrant of the left eye with leakage from the retinal neovascularization. He was treated with laser retinal photocoagulation and oral steroids for 6 weeks, while the anti-tuberculosis drugs were continued for 9 months. Subsequent follow-ups showed regression of the neovascularization. He has remained asymptomatic since his initial visit to the eye clinic.
  18. Fitreena A.A., Shahidah C.A., Mohd. Nizam M.H., Wan Zainira W.Z., Wong, M.P.K.
    MyJurnal
    Hernia is a common surgical problem. However, worldwide
    incidence of obturator hernia is
  19. Nafiu Aminu, Chan, Siok-Yee, Toh, Seok-Ming
    MyJurnal
    The aim of this study was to design and systematically optimize
    triclosan loaded nanoparticles (TCS-loaded NPs) formulation for the treatment
    of periodontal disease. Triclosan (TCS) is a broad spectrum antimicrobial
    agent that has been used in the treatment of the disease. The free drug has
    poor aqueous solubility and therefore may encounter permeability problems
    when applied to the oral cavity. Resolution IV model of Design-Expert®
    software (version 10) was used for the design of experiment and optimization
    of TCS-loaded NPs. The nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared using the solvent
    displacement method. Effect of factors that were investigated include drugpolymer ratio, surfactant concentration, stirring speed, stirring duration, and
    drug-polymer injection rate. Particle size, zeta potential, polydispersity index
    (PDI) and entrapment efficiency (EE) were the critical quality attributes
    selected for the study. Desirability function determined by the software for
    optimized TCS-loaded NPs was 0.704. The observed particle size, PDI, zeta
    potential and EE of the optimized TCS-loaded NPs was found to be 135 ± 2.3
    nm, 0.1 ± 0.012, -30 ± -4 mV and 75 ± 6%, respectively. It was found that
    particle size increases by elevating the concentration of polymer and
    decreases with an increase in surfactant concentration and stirring speed.
    Zeta potential was found to increase when surfactant concentration was
    reduced. Both surfactant concentration and drug to polymer ratio were found
    to negatively affect PDI while % EE was positively influenced by the increase
    in polymer concentration and decrease in surfactant concentration. The use of
    Design-Expert®
    software helped in identifying suitable levels of critical quality
    parameters for preparing improved NPs formulation for delivery of TCS into
    the periodontal pocket.
  20. Sa’adiah Shahabudin, Rohayu Hami, Lim, Lee-Sim, Amalina Salleh
    MyJurnal
    The aim of this study to assess the efficiency of flushing
    method of Dental Unit Waterline (DUWL) system in reducing the
    number of microorganism. Water samples were taken before and after
    two minutes of flushing from air-water syringes system in ten randomly
    selected dental units in a Dental Teaching Centre. These samples
    were immediately transferred to the microbiology laboratory in the cool
    box within 8 hours for the heterotrophic plate count (HPC) test. Paired
    t-test was used to analyse number of microbe before and after flushing.
    The numbers of colony forming unit (CFU) ranged from 13,000 to
    120,000CFU/ml in unflushed samples, and 3,000 to 15,000CFU/ml in
    flushed samples. The mean HPC post-flushing was lower than preflushing [8360.00 (4561.48) vs 63300.00 (44587.12) CFU/ml]. The
    mean HPC between pre- and post-flushing was significantly different
    (P=0.004, 95% CI 22039.52, 87840.48). The coliform count from the
    control was 140 CFU/ml. In conclusion, flushing method of DUWL
    system significantly reduces the number of microorganisms in the
    dental unit. However, the level of microorganisms still does not meet
    the standard guideline by Environmental Protection Agency for safe
    drinking water, which should be below 500 CFU/ml. In our opinion, the
    duration of flushing should be increased and additional chemical
    treatments of the dental units should be implemented to ensure the
    safety of patients and dental personnel.
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