Review on Variants in Genes Associated with Cancer Risk and Red Meat Metabolism

With the advent of human genome sequencing project, came the wave of personalized genomics. Scientists have now gone beyond scanning of individual genes and epigenetic variations that might alter an individual's predisposition to developing complex diseases. Nutritional genomics is a science which is fast catching up. Efforts to explain the diet-gene interactions often recapitulate the effects of genetic makeup in determining the exact fate of the meal we ate last. Diet-gene interactions play a major role in the metabolism and detoxification of food-derived mutagens and carcinogens. Heterocyclic amines (HCAs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and N-nitroso compounds (NOCs) are a class of mutagens or carcinogens found in red and processed meat that can lead to various types of cancers. Harboring unfavourable mutations or single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) involved in metabolism of HCAs, PAHs, and NOCs can promote cancers. Increasing risks of several types of cancers, such as cancer of the colorectum, breast, prostate, esophagus, and lung, have been associated with high intake of red and processed meat. We attempt to compile some of the variants based on reports published during the past five years on variations involved in red meat metabolism which aims to provide useful insight in aiding us to regulate our red meat intake to avoid spurring of cancer

Investigation of Alexithymia and related psychological factors in relation to body mass index and obesity

Common obesity is thought to be the result of genetic variations influencing susceptibility to environmental circumstances related to food intake, mediated by appetite-regulating pathways, and also affected by emotional processing and other behavioural traits. Alexithymia is a psychological construct for emotional processing deficits, characterised by impaired identification and description of feelings, and externally-oriented thinking. Here, I investigate the relationship between alexithymia, measured by the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia scale (TAS-20), and adiposity in two Northern Finland Birth Cohorts (NFBC1966 and NFBC1986) and in severely-obese adults seeking bariatric surgery in the UK (PMMO clinical trial). Analysis of depression as a possible contributing factor in the relationship between alexithymia and obesity was also conducted in the NFBC1966. Consistent associations between BMI and TAS-20 total scores were observed among adult and adolescent general populations and in severely-obese adults (pre- and post-surgery, assessed longitudinally). Males with clinically-relevant alexithymia status (TAS-20≥ 61) and history of depression diagnosis had higher BMI than males without, at age of 31 years in NFBC1966. In the severe obesity clinical trial cohort (PMMO), participants with history of clinical depression diagnosis had higher TAS-20 total scores and weight at baseline than those who had no clinical depression history. Depression and bariatric surgery type were also moderately associated with TAS-20 total scores after surgery. A genome-wide association study was conducted to identify genetic variants influencing psychological measures (TAS-20 and HSCL-13 scores) in the general adult and adolescent populations. In the NFBC1966 dataset, one SNP, rs2242223 (p= 8.10 x 10-8) in the Parkinson’s disease gene SNCAIP (synuclein alpha interacting protein) was associated with TAS-20 score. There were also significant sex and genotype interactions. These findings raise intriguing questions regarding the direction of causal mechanisms between emotional processing and obesity. Design of treatment strategies for complex conditions, such as obesity, would benefit from enhanced understanding of underlying psychological/behavioural components in the general population and clinical patients.Open Acces

A novel strategy for community screening of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19): Sample pooling method.

The rapid global spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has inflicted significant health and socioeconomic burden on affected countries. As positive cases continued to rise in Malaysia, public health laboratories experienced an overwhelming demand for COVID-19 screening. The confirmation of positive cases of COVID-19 has solely been based on the detection of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). In efforts to increase the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of COVID-19 screening, we evaluated the feasibility of pooling clinical Nasopharyngeal/Oropharyngeal (NP/OP) swab specimens during nucleic acid extraction without a reduction in sensitivity of qRT-PCR. Pools of 10 specimens were extracted and subsequently tested by qRT-PCR according to the WHO-Charité protocol. We demonstrated that the sample pooling method showed no loss of sensitivity. The effectiveness of the pooled testing strategy was evaluated on both retrospective and prospective samples, and the results showed a similar detection sensitivity compared to testing individual sample alone. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using a pooled testing strategy to increase testing capacity and conserve resources, especially when there is a high demand for disease testing

Pneumococcal carriage among children in Malaysia: a case-control study

Streptococcus pneumoniae (SPN) is the most common cause of bacterial pneumonia. In December 2020, the Malaysian government included the 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV10) in the National Immunisation Programme (NIP)