Prenatal PM2.5 exposure and its association with Neurodevelopmental impairment in children: a narrative review

Air pollutants, including PM2.5, are an increasing threat to public health. Studies have reported the adverse effect of PM2.5 exposures during pregnancy on neurodevelopment in children. We performed a narrative review using the PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases from 2017 to 2022 using keywords such as prenatal, particulate matter, neurodevelopment, and children. This review aims to identify symptoms of impaired neurodevelopment in children associated with prenatal PM2.5 exposure, the association between the timing of prenatal exposure PM2.5 and symptoms of impaired neurodevelopment in children as well as other factors that may influence the association of prenatal PM2.5 exposure and symptoms of impaired neurodevelopment in children. A total of 25 articles were included in this review. Symptoms of neurodevelopmental impairment associated with prenatal exposure to PM2.5 include language, speech, and communication symptoms; motor skills; behaviour and social skills; memory as well as learning/cognitive symptoms. Neurodevelopmental impairments were associated with exposure to PM2.5 across all three trimesters with impairment in communication and behavioural domains predominating in those exposed during the first trimester. Generally, males were more susceptible to having neurodevelopmental impairment symptoms compared to females. More information regarding the effect of prenatal PM2.5 exposure on neurodevelopmental domains of children will support public health policies that reduce air pollution and improve children’s health

Helicobacter pylori cagA gene variants in Malaysians of different ethnicity

We have defined DNA repeat variability in the 3′-terminus of the cagA gene of Helicobacter pylori strains from Malaysian patients of different ethnicities. We identified different alleles based on the EPIYA repeats. cagA types A-B-D and A-B-B-D are more similar to the sequence of Japanese strains, whereas cagA types A-B-C, A-B-C-C, A-B and A-C displayed similarity to strain 26695 sequences. A significant association was found between cagA genotypes and patients’ ethnicity, with cagA type A-B-D being predominantly isolated from Chinese patients and cagA type A-B-C from Malays and Indians. Our data further corroborate the possibility that variant biological activity of CagA may affect the host specificity and/or pathogenicity of H. pylori

Cost-effectiveness of colorectal cancer genetic testing

Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Approximately 3–5% of CRCs are associated with hereditary cancer syndromes. Individuals who harbor germline mutations are at an increased risk of developing early onset CRC, as well as extracolonic tumors. Genetic testing can identify genes that cause these syndromes. Early detection could facilitate the initiation of targeted prevention strategies and surveillance for CRC patients and their families. The aim of this study was to determine the cost-effectiveness of CRC genetic testing. We utilized a cross-sectional design to determine the cost-effectiveness of CRC genetic testing as compared to the usual screening method (iFOBT) from the provider’s perspective. Data on costs and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of 200 CRC patients from three specialist general hospitals were collected. A mixed-methods approach of activity-based costing, top-down costing, and extracted information from a clinical pathway was used to estimate provider costs. Patients and family members’ HRQoL were measured using the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire. Data from the Malaysian Study on Cancer Survival (MySCan) were used to calculate patient survival. Cost-effectiveness was measured as cost per life-year (LY) and cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). The provider cost for CRC genetic testing was high as compared to that for the current screening method. The current practice for screening is cost-saving as compared to genetic testing. Using a 10-year survival analysis, the estimated number of LYs gained for CRC patients through genetic testing was 0.92 years, and the number of QALYs gained was 1.53 years. The cost per LY gained and cost per QALY gained were calculated. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) showed that genetic testing dominates iFOBT testing. CRC genetic testing is cost-effective and could be considered as routine CRC screening for clinical practice