Displaying publications 61 - 80 of 136 in total

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  1. Lee WS, Ng RT, Chan KW, Lau YL
    World J Gastroenterol, 2016 Dec 28;22(48):10653-10662.
    PMID: 28082818 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i48.10653
    AIM: Infantile-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IO-IBD) with the onset of disease before 12 mo of age, is a different disease entity from childhood IBD. We aimed to describe the clinical features, outcome and role of mutation in interleukin-10 (IL-10) and interleukin-10 receptors (IL-10R) in Asian children with IO-IBD.

    METHODS: All cases of IO-IBD, defined as onset of disease before 12 mo of age, seen at University Malaya Medical Center, Malaysia were reviewed. We performed mutational analysis for IL10 and IL10R genes in patients with presenting clinical features of Crohn's disease (CD).

    RESULTS: Six [13%; CD = 3, ulcerative colitis (UC) = 2, IBD-unclassified (IBD-U) = 1] of the 48 children (CD = 25; UC = 23) with IBD have IO-IBD. At final review [median (range) duration of follow-up: 6.5 (3.0-20) years], three patients were in remission without immunosuppression [one each for post-colostomy (IBD-U), after standard immunosuppression (CD), and after total colectomy (UC)]. Three patients were on immunosuppression: one (UC) was in remission while two (both CD) had persistent disease. As compared with later-onset disease, IO-IBD were more likely to present with bloody diarrhea (100% vs 55%, P = 0.039) but were similar in terms of an associated autoimmune liver disease (0% vs 19%, P = 0.31), requiring biologics therapy (50% vs 36%, P = 0.40), surgery (50% vs 29%, P = 0.27), or achieving remission (50% vs 64%, P = 0.40). No mutations in either IL10 or IL10R in the three patients with CD and the only patient with IBD-U were identified.

    CONCLUSION: The clinical features of IO-IBD in this Asian cohort of children who were negative for IL-10 or IL-10R mutations were variable. As compared to childhood IBD with onset of disease after 12 mo of age, IO-IBD achieved remission at a similar rate.

  2. Gan CS, Chong SY, Lum LC, Lee WS
    Singapore Med J, 2013 Feb;54(2):e35-7.
    PMID: 23462840
    An eight-month-old female infant with severe dengue disease, who was repeatedly given therapeutic paracetamol for severe dengue, developed fulminant liver failure with encephalopathy, gastrointestinal haemorrhage and severe coagulopathy. She responded to supportive measures and N-acetylcysteine infusion. This case highlights the potential danger of administering repeated therapeutic doses of paracetamol in childhood severe dengue disease with hepatitis.
  3. Lee WS, Boey CC, Goh AY, Chang KW, Iyngkaran N
    Singapore Med J, 1998 Sep;39(9):418-21.
    PMID: 9885723
    This is a report of 3 Chinese children with intestinal lymphangiectasia in Malaysia. Two children responded to a low fat diet and medium-chain triglyceride supplement. The third child has recurrent chylous ascites. None of the children has recurrent infections despite low CD4+ cells and low levels of IgG and IgA. Intestinal lymphangiectasia is a rare congenital disorder of the mesenteric lymphatic that leads to the obstruction of the lymphatics of the intestine and protein losing enteropathy. Restriction of dietary fat intake will usually result in remission. Recurrent chylous ascites is a problem and management can be difficult.
  4. Lee WS, Chai PF, Boey CM, Looi LM
    Singapore Med J, 2010 May;51(5):434-9.
    PMID: 20593150
    Little is known about the epidemiology, causes and outcomes of neonatal cholestasis in the Asian population beyond Japan and Taiwan.
  5. Tan KK, Lee WS, Liaw LC, Oh A
    Singapore Med J, 1993 Apr;34(2):109-11.
    PMID: 8266145
    Two hundred and eleven blood transfusions were administered to 26 multi-transfused thalassemic children (aged 9 months-13 years) over a 6-month period. Eighteen children were receiving buffy coat-poor packed red cells (PRC) prepared by centrifuge while 8 children received filtered blood through a leucocyte-filter (Sepacell R-500A). Transfusion reactions occurred in 8.5% (n = 18) of transfusions and in 42.3% (n = 11) of patients. 11.9% (n = 16) and 2.6% (n = 2) of reactions occurred in 50% (n = 9) and 25% (n = 2) of patients receiving buffy coat-poor PRC and filtered blood respectively. Transfusion reactions in toto were significantly reduced in the group receiving filtered blood (p < 0.05). However, febrile reaction alone was not significantly reduced (p > 0.1). The median onset and duration of reaction were 2 hours (range 10 minutes-18 hours) and 4 hours (range 1/2-24 hours) respectively. 72.2% (n = 13) of the reactions occurred occurred during transfusion. 88.8% (n = 16) of the reactions caused only one symptom. 19.2% (n = 5) of all patients had recurrent reactions, all of them receiving buffy coat-poor PRC. The commonest clinical manifestation was fever (n = 7), followed by urticaria (n = 5) and petechial rash (n = 2). The outcome was good, with no patient experiencing symptoms exceeding 24 hours. Only 0.9% (n = 2) of the transfusions were discontinued.
  6. Yong SN, Lee WS, Chieng S, Lim S, Kuan SH
    Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 2023 Aug;107(15):4789-4801.
    PMID: 37314456 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-023-12622-0
    Conventional techniques to remove Fe impurities in kaolin typically involve high environmental impact and cost. Alternative methods have been focused on the use of bioleaching where Fe in kaolin is reduced with microorganisms. Early results established a noticeable effect of the bacteria on the redox state of Fe, but knowledge gaps persist such as details on the bacterial-kaolin interactions during attachment of bacteria onto kaolin surface, the metabolites produced by bacteria, and changes in Fe(II)/Fe(III) ion equilibria in solution. To bridge these gaps, this study was conducted to determine the detailed physicochemical changes in bacteria and kaolin during bioleaching through surface, structural, and chemical analysis. Bioleaching experiments were conducted for 10 days where each of the three Bacillus sp. was put in contact (at 9 × 108 CFU) with 20 g of kaolin powder using 200 mL of 10 g/L glucose solution. All samples treated with bacteria showed increasing trends in Fe(III) reduction up until day 6 or 8 followed by a slight decrease towards the end of the ten-day period. Examination of scanning electron microscope (SEM) images suggests that bacterial activity damaged the edges of kaolin particles during bioleaching. Ion chromatography (IC) results showed that during bioleaching, Bacillus sp. produced organic acids such as lactic acid, formic acid, malic acid, acetic acid, and succinic acid. EDS analysis of kaolin before and after bioleaching showed Fe removal efficiencies of up to 65.3%. Analyses of color properties of kaolin before and after bioleaching showed an improvement in whiteness index of up to 13.6%. KEY POINTS: • Dissolution of iron oxides by Bacillus species proven with phenanthroline analysis. • Organic acid type and concentration unique to species detected during bioleaching. • Whiteness index of kaolin is improved after bioleaching.
  7. Lee WS, Zainuddin H, Boey CC, Chai PF
    World J Gastroenterol, 2013 Dec 21;19(47):9077-83.
    PMID: 24379634 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v19.i47.9077
    AIM: To determine the predictability of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) guideline with regard to appropriate endoscopic practice in children, positive endoscopic findings and contributive yield in clinical practice.

    METHODS: This was a descriptive, retrospective analysis, conducted at the Department of Paediatrics, University Malaya Medical Centre, Malaysia. All children who had esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and colonoscopy from January 2008 to June 2011 were included. An endoscopy was considered appropriate when its indication complied with the NASPGHAN and ASGE guideline. All endoscopic findings were classified as either positive (presence of any endoscopic or histologic abnormality) or negative (no or minor abnormality, normal histology); effecting a positive contributive (a change in therapeutic decisions or prognostic consequences) or non-contributive yield (no therapeutic or prognostic consequences).

    RESULTS: Overall, 76% of the 345 procedures (231 EGD alone, 26 colonoscopy alone, 44 combined EGD and colonoscopy) performed in 301 children (median age 7.0 years, range 3 months to 18 years) had a positive endoscopic finding. Based on the NASPGHAN and ASGE guideline, 99.7% of the procedures performed were considered as appropriate. The only inappropriate procedure (0.3%) was in a child who had EGD for assessment of the healing of gastric ulcer following therapy in the absence of any symptoms. The overall positive contributive yield for a change in diagnosis and/or management was 44%. The presence of a positive endoscopic finding was more likely to effect a change in the therapeutic plan than an alteration of the initial diagnosis. A total of 20 (5.8%) adverse events were noted, most were minor and none was fatal.

    CONCLUSION: The NASPGHAN and ASGE guideline is more likely to predict a positive endoscopic finding but is less sensitive to effect a change in the initial clinical diagnosis or the subsequent therapeutic plan.

  8. Chua KH, Lian LH, Khor WC, Lee WS, Hilmi I, Goh KL, et al.
    J Dig Dis, 2015 Apr;16(4):205-16.
    PMID: 25564941 DOI: 10.1111/1751-2980.12229
    The study aimed to investigate the association between the interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) gene polymorphisms and the onset of Crohn's disease (CD) in a Malaysian cohort.
  9. Lee WS, Lim BT, Chai PF, Kirkwood CD, Lee JK
    Hum Vaccin Immunother, 2012 Oct;8(10):1401-6.
    PMID: 23022710 DOI: 10.4161/hv.21577
    Group A rotavirus (RV-A) genotypes isolated in Malaysia was studied to estimate the effectiveness of a universal RV-A vaccination in Malaysia. A simple mathematical model was used, with input from a two-year, two-center, prospective study on hospitalization of RV-A gastroenteritis (RVGE) in young children, published data on RV-A hospitalizations and genotypes, mortality on childhood GE and published genotype-specific efficacy data on two RV-A vaccines. Assuming a 95% vaccine coverage, the overall projected effectiveness was 75.7 to 88.1% for Rotateq and 78.7 to 90.6% for Rotarix® against RVGE-related hospitalizations. The projected annual reduction in RVGE-related deaths was 27 to 32 deaths (from 34 deaths) for Rotateq and 28 to 32 deaths annually for Rotarix. A universal RV-A vaccine is efficacious in reducing RVGE-related hospitalizations and mortality in Malaysia.
  10. Chua KH, Hilmi I, Lian LH, Patmanathan SN, Hoe SZ, Lee WS, et al.
    J Dig Dis, 2012 Sep;13(9):459-65.
    PMID: 22908971 DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-2980.2012.00617.x
    This study was aimed to investigate the possible association of Crohn's disease (CD) with inflammatory bowel disease gene 5 (IBD5) IGR2198a_1 (rs11739135), IGR2096a_1 (rs12521868) and interleukin-23 receptor (IL23R) genetic variant (rs1004819) in the Malaysian population.
  11. Chua KH, Lian LH, Kee BP, Thum CM, Lee WS, Hilmi I, et al.
    J Dig Dis, 2011 Dec;12(6):459-66.
    PMID: 22118696 DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-2980.2011.00533.x
    The aim of this study was to investigate the association of DLG5 and SLC22A5 gene polymorphisms with the onset of Crohn's disease (CD) in a Malaysian cohort.
  12. Lee WS, Chai PF, Lim KS, Lim LH, Looi LM, Ramanujam TM
    J Paediatr Child Health, 2009 May;45(5):279-85.
    PMID: 19493120 DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1754.2009.01490.x
    This study aimed to determine the outcome of the operation of children with biliary atresia (BA) at a tertiary paediatric referral centre in Malaysia.
  13. Chua KH, Hilmi I, Ng CC, Eng TL, Palaniappan S, Lee WS, et al.
    J Dig Dis, 2009 May;10(2):124-30.
    PMID: 19426395 DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-2980.2009.00374.x
    The NOD2/CARD15 gene has been identified as an important susceptibility gene for Crohn's disease (CD) but the three common disease predisposing mutations (DPM) found in developed countries have not been identified in Asian populations. The aim of our study was to look for the DPM in our multiracial population and to discover whether there were any differences in the three major ethnic groups; Malay, Chinese and Indian.
  14. Lee WS, Rajasekaran G, Pee S, Karunakaran R, Hassan HH, Puthucheary SD
    J Paediatr Child Health, 2006 Sep;42(9):509-14.
    PMID: 16925536
    To study the role of rotavirus in children hospitalised for acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in two urban hospitals in Malaysia.
  15. Lian LH, Lau TP, Lee VL, Lee WS, Hilmi I, Goh KL, et al.
    Genet. Mol. Res., 2013;12(1):167-74.
    PMID: 23408403 DOI: 10.4238/2013.January.24.9
    This study aimed to investigate the potential association of TYK2 and STAT3 genes with the susceptibility to Crohn's disease (CD) among Malaysians. DNA samples were obtained from 80 CD patients and 100 healthy controls. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism methods were employed for genotyping, followed by statistical analysis. In our current study, none of the single nucleotide polymorphisms of either TYK2 or STAT3 was statistically associated with the susceptibility to CD in our local population (P > 0.05). In contrast, there was a statistically significant association between the G/G homozygotes of the STAT3 rs2293152 and the healthy control group (χ(2) = 6.229, P < 0.05). In conclusion, our study does not support the role of the TYK2 and STAT3 genes influencing CD susceptibility.
  16. Lee WS, Teo KM, Ng RT, Chong SY, Kee BP, Chua KH
    Gene, 2016 Jul 15;586(1):1-6.
    PMID: 27050310 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2016.03.049
    Trichohepatoenteric syndrome (THES) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder that is classically associated with intractable diarrhea with an onset within the first few months of life. Herein, we investigated and reported novel mutations in two causal genes in 3 Malaysian cases. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood obtained from patients in two Malaysian Chinese families. The exons of SKIV2L and TTC37 genes were amplified and sequenced by bi-directional sequencing to identify the point mutations within the coding sequence. Three Chinese boys from two families with characteristic features and clinical course were diagnosed with THES. In family-1, two point mutations were identified in the SKIV2L gene (c.1891G>A and c.3187C>T). In family-2, a single-nucleotide duplication (c.3426dupA) was found in the TTC37 gene. These mutations cause the production of abnormal non-functional gene product leading to the clinical manifestations in the patients. We reported three point mutations, which have not been previously described in other patients with THES in SKIV2L and TTC37 genes, including one nonsense, one frameshift, and one missense mutations.
  17. Lee WS, Gudimella R, Wong GR, Tammi MT, Khalid N, Harikrishna JA
    PLoS One, 2015;10(5):e0127526.
    PMID: 25993649 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127526
    Physiological responses to stress are controlled by expression of a large number of genes, many of which are regulated by microRNAs. Since most banana cultivars are salt-sensitive, improved understanding of genetic regulation of salt induced stress responses in banana can support future crop management and improvement in the face of increasing soil salinity related to irrigation and climate change. In this study we focused on determining miRNA and their targets that respond to NaCl exposure and used transcriptome sequencing of RNA and small RNA from control and NaCl-treated banana roots to assemble a cultivar-specific reference transcriptome and identify orthologous and Musa-specific miRNA responding to salinity. We observed that, banana roots responded to salinity stress with changes in expression for a large number of genes (9.5% of 31,390 expressed unigenes) and reduction in levels of many miRNA, including several novel miRNA and banana-specific miRNA-target pairs. Banana roots expressed a unique set of orthologous and Musa-specific miRNAs of which 59 respond to salt stress in a dose-dependent manner. Gene expression patterns of miRNA compared with those of their predicted mRNA targets indicated that a majority of the differentially expressed miRNAs were down-regulated in response to increased salinity, allowing increased expression of targets involved in diverse biological processes including stress signaling, stress defence, transport, cellular homeostasis, metabolism and other stress-related functions. This study may contribute to the understanding of gene regulation and abiotic stress response of roots and the high-throughput sequencing data sets generated may serve as important resources related to salt tolerance traits for functional genomic studies and genetic improvement in banana.
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