Tumoricidal effect of skeletal vibratory signal during Al-Fatihah recitation on human cancer cells

This research attempts to study if physical vibration generated in the human body during recitation of AIFatihah has an effect on cancer cells. This includes working sequentially on two main objectives. The first objective is to measure and model skin vibration signals using accelerometer (skin acceleration level) on a cohort of verified reciters whereby measurement is carried out during recitation. Subsequently the modeled vibration is simulated on cancer cells (NCI H929: Myeloma) and its growth and viability assessed. At the time of this final report the first objective was not achieved hence prevented progression to the second objective. A cohort of 15 reciters has been established but we could not proceed to gauge skin acceleration level as currently available methods were found to be unreliable. Current methods of mounting accelerometer to the skin produce highly variable acceleration amplitudes. Various alternatives were devised and attempted, such as using polystyrene, plastic holders etc failed to fulfil gage repeatability and reproducibility criteria. Towards the end, preliminary gage study using suction cups as accelerometer mounting adapter showed promise but the final measurement analysis is yet to be carried out. This research is still ongoing in spite of the end of study period

Validation of international prognostic index for non-hodgkin's lymphoma in northeast Peninsular Malaysian Malays

Indeks Prognosis Antarabangsa {IPI) telah diketengahkan untuk menstratumkan risiko pesakit limfoma bukan Hodgkin (NHL) dan mengenalpasti subset pesakit berisiko tinggi yang mungkin tidak dapat bertindakbalas terhadap kemoterapi dengan memuaskan. IPI telah dibentuk berlandaskan model populasi pesakit berbangsa barat. Kami telah menlaksanakan suatu kajian longitudinal melibatkan pesakit NHL aggresif yang menerima rawatan di Hospital USM dari I haribulan J anuari 1990 ke 31 haribulan Disember 2000. Kajian ini hanya melibatkan pesakit berbangsa Melayu. Ini bertujuan untuk menguji kesesuaian penggunaan IPI ke atas etnik tersebut. Ciri-ciri klinikal sepertimana yang telah diuji dalam model IPI yang asal, telah diuji ke atas kohort kami. Pencapaian pesakit dari segi kadar respons sempurna (complete response rate : CR), kadar kemandirian keseluruhan (overall survival rate: OS) dan kadar kemandirian bebas penyakit (disease free survival rate: DFS) bagi setiap faktor eli atas telah eli olah. Pada masa yang sama data-data yang diperolehi telah digunakan untuk membentuk profit penyakit NHL dalam populasi kami. International prognostic index (IPI) was introduced to risk stratify non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients and to identify high-risk patient who might not respond favorably to standard chemotherapy. IPI was modeled from a Caucasian based patient population. We undertook a single center, observational longitudinal study involving all available patients with aggressive NHL who had received treatment from Hospital USM between 1st Jan 1990 and 31st Dec 2000. We confined our study to adult Malay patients to test the applicability of IPI in this racial group. Individual presenting clinical features was categorized as in the IPI study, and the patients' outcome in terms of complete response (CR), overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) rates for each of the above features were determined. At the same time the available data was used to characterize NHL disease profile in our patient population

A Review on Secondary Immune Thrombocytopenia in Malaysia

Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an acquired autoimmune disease that occurs in adults and children. In Malaysia, the clinical practice guideline (CPG) for the management of ITP was issued in 2006, which focused almost exclusively on primary ITP (pITP), and only a few secondary ITP (sITP) forms were addressed. All published (twenty-three) sITP articles among children and adults in Malaysia, identified on the academic databases were retrieved. The articles were published between 1981 and 2019, at a rate of 0.62 publications per year. The publications were considered low and mainly focused on rare presentation and followed-up of secondary diseases. This review revealed that sITP in Malaysia is commonly associated with autoimmune diseases (Evan’s syndrome, SLE and WAS), malignancy (Kaposi’s sarcoma and breast cancer) and infection (dengue haemorrhagic fever, Helicobacter pylori and hepatitis C virus). The relationship between ITP and autoimmune diseases, malignancy and infections raise the question concerning the mechanism involved in these associations. Further studies should be conducted to bridge the current knowledge gap, and the further information is required to update the existing CPG of management of ITP in Malaysia

Antileukemic Effect of Tualang Honey on Acute and Chronic Leukemia Cell Lines

Complementary medicine using natural product as antitumor is on the rise. Much research has been performed on Tualang Honey and it was shown to have therapeutic potential in wound healing, and antimicrobial activity and be antiproliferative against several cancer models such as human osteosarcoma (HOS), human breast (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231), and cervical (HeLa) cancer cell lines. To date, there was limited study on antileukemic properties of Tualang (Koompassia excelsa) Honey. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antileukemic effect of Tualang Honey on acute and chronic leukemia cell lines. Leukemia cell lines (K562 and MV4-11) and human mononuclear cell isolated from peripheral blood were grown in RPM1 1640 culture medium. The cells were incubated with increasing concentrations of Tualang Honey. After incubation, the evaluation of viability and apoptosis was performed. The morphological changes of leukemia cells were the presence of cytoplasmic blebs followed by apoptotic bodies and round shape of cells. IC50 against K562 and MV4-11 was determined. Tualang Honey gave 53.9% and 50.6% apoptosis activity on K562 and MV4-11, respectively, while on human mononuclear cell it was 37.4%. Tualang Honey has the apoptosis-inducing ability for acute and chronic myeloid leukemia (K562 and MV4-11) cell lines

Contribution of BCR-ABL kinase domain mutations to imatinib mesylate resistance in Philadelphia chromosome positive Malaysian chronic myeloid leukemia patients

Development of resistance to imatinib mesylate (IM) in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients is mediated by different mechanisms that can be classified as <em>BCR-ABL</em> dependent or <em>BCR-ABL</em> independent pathways. <em>BCR-ABL</em> dependent mechanisms are most frequently associated with point mutations in tyrosine kinase domain (TKD) of <em>BCR-ABL1</em> and also with <em>BCR-ABL</em> gene amplification. Many different types and frequencies of mutations have been reported in different studies, probably due to the different composition of study cohorts. Since no reports are available from Malaysia, this study was undertaken to investigate the frequency and pattern of <em>BCR-ABL</em> kinase domain mutations using dHPLC followed by sequencing, and also status of <em>BCR-ABL</em> gene amplification using fluorescence <em>in situ</em> hybridization (FISH) on 40 IM resistant Malaysian CML patients. Mutations were detected in 13 patients (32.5%). Five different types of mutations (T315I, E255K, Y253H, M351T, V289F) were identified in these patients. In the remaining 27 IM resistant CML patients, we investigated the contribution made by <em>BCR-ABL</em> gene amplification, but none of these patients showed amplification. It is presumed that the mechanisms of resistance in these 27 patients might be due to<em> BCR-ABL</em> independent pathways. Different mutations confer different levels of resistance and, therefore, detection and characterization of TKD mutations is highly important in order to guide therapy in CML patients