Association between Socio-demographic Factors, Involvement Status in Gardening and Diet Quality among B40 Households in Taman Keramat, Kuala Lumpur

@#Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the livelihood of Malaysians and gardening activities have contributed positively to the diet quality. This study aimed to determine the factors associated with diet quality among adults in AU2 Keramat, Kuala Lumpur. Methods: The cross-sectional study involved adults aged 18 to 59 via convenience sampling. The socio-demographic, physical activity level and involvement status in gardening were obtained through a questionnaire, while food intake was from a single-day 24-hour diet recall. The diet quality was determined through Malaysian Healthy Eating Index (MHEI) and dietary misreporting was calculated using the Goldberg cut-off method. Results: A total of 117 respondents (65.8% females, 35.2% males) with a mean age of 40.98 were involved in this study. Findings showed that most respondents did not engage in gardening activities (72.6%) and the prevalence of poor diet quality in this study was 89.7%, with a mean score of 44.51. The older respondents (r= 0.20, p= 0.034) and community gardeners (t= -2.63, p= 0.011) had a significantly higher diet quality but not home gardeners (t= 0.12, p= 0.902). The respondents involved in gardening activity also had a significantly higher fruit serving intake, Mann-Whitney U= 1045.00, p= 0.036) and lower total fat intake (t= 2.27, p= 0.025). Conclusion: The diet quality of the respondents remains poor but community gardeners had significantly higher diet quality and fruit intake while lower total fat intake. Interventions need to be developed to address the persistent poor diet quality of adults in the community.

Clinical information and management status of de novo stage IV breast cancer patients: a Chinese multicenter investigation (CSBrS-002) / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUND@#Although de novo stage IV breast cancer is so far incurable, it has entered an era of individualized treatment and chronic disease management. Based on systemic treatment, whether the surgical resection of primary or metastatic foci of de novo stage IV breast cancer can bring survival benefits is currently controversial. We aimed to explore the clinicopathological factors and current status of the management of de novo stage IV breast cancer in China to provide a reference for clinical decisions.@*METHODS@#Based on the assistance of Chinese Society of Breast Surgery, a retrospective study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of patients with de novo stage IV breast cancer in 33 centers from January 2017 to December 2018. The relationship between basic characteristic (age, menstrual status, family history, reproductive history, pathological type, estrogen receptor [ER] status, progesterone receptor [PR] status, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 [HER2] status, Ki-67 percentage, and molecular subtype), and metastasis sites (lung metastasis, liver metastasis, and bone metastasis) was examined by Pearson Chi-square tests.@*RESULTS@#A total of 468 patients with de novo stage IV breast cancer were enrolled. The median age of the enrolled patients was 51.5 years. The most common pathological type of primary lesion was invasive carcinoma (97.1%). Luminal A, luminal B, HER2 overexpressing, and triple-negative subtypes accounted for 14.3%, 51.8%, 22.1%, and 11.8% of all cases, respectively. Age, PR status, and HER2 status were correlated with lung metastasis (χ2 = 6.576, 4.117, and 8.643 and P = 0.037, 0.043, and 0.003, respectively). Pathological type, ER status, PR status, and molecular subtype were correlated with bone metastasis (χ2 = 5.117, 37.511, 5.224, and 11.603 and P = 0.024, <0.001, 0.022, and 0.009, respectively). Age, PR status, HER2 status, Ki-67 percentage, and molecular subtype were correlated with liver metastasis (χ2 = 11.153, 13.378, 10.692, 21.206, and 17.684 and P = 0.004, <0.001, 0.001, <0.001, and 0.001, respectively). Combined treatment with paclitaxel and anthracycline was the most common first-line chemotherapy regimen for patients with de novo stage IV breast cancer (51.7%). Overall, 91.5% of patients used paclitaxel-containing regimens. Moreover, 59.3% of hormone receptor-positive patients underwent endocrine therapy.@*CONCLUSIONS@#In 2018, 1.07% of patients from all studied centers were diagnosed with de novo stage IV breast cancer. This study indicated that 95.1% of patients received systemic therapy and 54.2% of patients underwent surgical removal of the primary lesion in China.

Expression of Serum miR-141 and miR-224 in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Its Clinical Significance / 现代检验医学杂志

Objective To investigate the expression of miR-141 and miR-224 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its clinical significance.Methods The levels of serum miR-141,miR-224 and squamous cell carcinoma associated antigen (SCC-Ag) were detected by RT-PCR in 128 patients with NSCLC,60 patients with benign lesions (benign group) and 60 healthy subjects (control group).To analyze the relationship between the expression levels of miR-141 and miR-224 and the clinicopathological features of NSCLC.The sensitivity and specificity of miR-141,miR-224 and SCC-Ag in the diagnosis of NSCLC were evaluated by ROC curve,and the correlation between serum miR-141 and miR-224,SCC-Ag were analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis in NSCLC patients.Results The levels of serum miR-141,miR-224 and SCC-Ag in NSCLC group were significantly higher than those in the benign group and the control group[miR-141(2-△△Ct):2.56±0.48 vs 1.08±0.24 and 1.02±0.21,miR-224 (2-△△Ct):3.94±0.82 vs 1.42±0.35 and 1.26±0.30,SCC-Ag (ng/ml):2.75±1.36 vs 0.64±0.47 and 0.52±0.24,all P＜0.01].In patients with NSCLC,the levels of serum miR-141 and miR-224 were correlated with pathological stage,pathological grade and lymph node metastasis (P＜0.05).ROC curve analysis showed that the optimal cut-off values of serum miR-141,miR 224 and SCC Ag (ng/ml) for diagnosis of NSCLC were 1.84,2.85 and 2.03,respectively.The AUC (0.913) of the three combined diagnosis of NSCLC was the largest,and the sensitivity and specificity were better,with 92.5 ％ and 82.7 ％,respectively.Pearson correlation analysis showed that serum miR-141 were positively corre lated with miR-224 and SCC-Ag (r=0.782,0.594,all P＜0.01),and serum miR 224 was positively correlated with SCC-Ag (r=0.594,P＜0.01).Conclusion Serum miR-141 and miR-224 are up-regulated in patients with NSCLC and are associated with clinicopathological features,and may be a new biomarker for the diagnosis of NSCLC.

Daily calorie restriction and alternate day fasting for type 2 diabetes prevention / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

[Summary] Lifestyle intervention is one of the important strategies for the prevention of type 2 diabetes. Recently, caloric restriction regimen has become a hot topic as one of the cornerstone of lifestyle intervention. The alternate day fasting regimen is simple, and increases the patient compliance. Both daily calorie restriction and alternate day fasting regimen can reduce body-weight significantly in pre-diabetes subjects, and reduce the visceral fat mass and the fasting insulin levels, and improve the insulin sensitivity, as well as maintain the lean mass, though the effect on fasting blood glucose was not significant. Nevertheless, the most recent studies have demonstrated that daily calorie restriction,in particular, alternate day fasting regimens can be effective in individuals with pre-diebates in order to prevent type 2 diabetes.

Effect of pharmacological intervention on MIP-1α, MIP-1β and MCP-1 expression in patients with psoriasis vulgaris

OBJECTIVE@#To detect the expression level of macrophage inflammatory protein-1 (MIP-1)α, MIP-1β and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in with psoriasis vulgaris and explore the role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis vulgaris.@*METHODS@#The level of MIP-1α, MIP-1β and MCP-1 in peripheral blood from 50 patients with psoriasis vulgaris and 50 normal controls were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The correlation with psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) was analyzed. The level of MIP-1α, MIP-1β and MCP-1 was compared between psoriasis vulgaris patients at active stage and resting stage. And the change in MIP-1α, MIP-1β and MCP-1 before and after therapy was also observed.@*RESULTS@#The content of MIP-1α, MIP-1β and MCP-1 in patients with psoriasis vulgaris was (1342.78 ± 210.30), (175.28 ± 28.18) and (266.86 ± 32.75) ng/L, respectively, significantly higher than those in control group (P<0.05). The expression level of MIP-1α, MIP-1β and MCP-1 in peripheral blood of patients with psoriasis vulgaris was positively correlated with PASI (P<0.01). After acitretin therapy, expression level of MIP-1α, MIP-1β and MCP-1 in peripheral blood of patients with psoriasis vulgaris was significantly decreased.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Chemokine factor MIP-1α, MIP-1β and MCP-1 may be involved in the pathogenesis of psoriasis vulgaris.

Effect of Yinxieling decoction on PASI, TNF-α and IL-8 in patients with psoriasis vulgaris

OBJECTIVE@#To study the effect of Yinxieling decoction on PASI, TNF-α and IL-8 in patients with psoriasis vulgaris.@*METHODS@#A total of 120 cases of psoriasis vulgaris were divided into 4 groups according to syndrome differentiation of TCM and randomized controlled method: wind heat syndrome group (group A), blood stasis syndrome group (group B), blood dryness syndrome group (group C) and control group (group D) (n=30 per group). Patients in observation groups were treated with Yinxieling decoction, while patients in control group were treated by placebo for 8 weeks. Levels of TNF-α and IL-8 were determined before treatment, 4 and 8 weeks after treatment. psoriasis area and severity index score was also performed before and after treatment.@*RESULTS@#psoriasis area and severity index score and serum level of TNF-α, IL-8 were significantly decreased in all groups. The decrease in three observation groups was more significant (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and the decrease in wind heat syndrome group was the most significant (P<0.01). psoriasis area and severity index was positively correlated with TNF-α and IL-8, respectively (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Yinxieling decoction has therapeutical effect on psoriasis vulgaris via regulating TNF-α and IL-8.

Clinical implications of thyrotropin receptor antibody measurement / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

It has been 50 years since the discovery of thyrotropin receptor autoantibody (TRAb). Advances in the knowledge of thyrotropin receptor ( TSHR) structure and function, combined with the elucidation of TSHR signaling and TSHR-autoantibody interaction have greatly facilitated our understanding of TRAb and their clinical applications. Measurement of TRAb activity plays an important role in the diagnosis of Graves' disease ( GD) and Graves' opthalmopathy. It has also been well recognized that TRAb is an effective predictor of GD relapse or remission after antithyroid drug and radioactive iodine treatment. TRAb test is of particular help in pregnant women and lactating mothers with recent iodine load, where radioactive iodine or technetium tests are contraindicated. In addition, it is useful in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of fetal and neonatal hyperthyroidism as well as some rare forms of thyrotoxicosis in clinical practice. Accumulating evidence also indicates the possible correlation between thyroid cancer occurring in GD patients with positive TRAb and adverse outcomes. However, further innovation and standardization of TRAb tests are required to help pave the way for clinical applications.

A dynamic study on titer of EB virus VCA/IgA and EA/IgA in nasopharygeal carcinoma patients / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the change of EB virus VCA/IgA and EA/IgA titer during the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), and the role in screening for NPC.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>VCA/IgA and EA/IgA were monitored in a period of 12 years by immunoenzymatic titration from the sera of 54 NPC patients after primary serological screening.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>VCA/IgA and EA/IgA titer had shown gradual increment 1 - 7 years before NPC was pathologically diagnosed. The mean titer of VCA/IgA was 1:21.04, 7 - 4 years before diagnosis. VCA/IgA titer ascended quickly within 3 years before diagnosis. The geometric mean titer (GMT) of VCA/IgA and EA/IgA were 1:76.86 and 1:6.49 when NPC was diagnosed, which descended quickly after radiotherapy and, in 4 years, approached the average titer of VCA/IgA positive population.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>VCA/IgA titer rises uninterruptedly 3 years before NPC is diagnosed pathologically in most patients but their EA/IgA titer rises slowly. The detection of VCA/IgA titer can be used to find early NPC, whereas EA/IgA can not. The pre-clinical phase of NPC is 3 years according to this dynamic study.</p>