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Displaying publications 121 - 129 of 129 in total

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Thioredoxin-albumin fusion protein prevents copper enhanced zinc-induced neurotoxicity via its antioxidative activity

Tanaka KI, Shimoda M, Chuang VTG, Nishida K, Kawahara M, Ishida T, et al.

Int J Pharm, 2018 Jan 15;535(1-2):140-147.
PMID: 29122608 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2017.11.012

Zinc (Zn) is a co-factor for a vast number of enzymes, and functions as a regulator for immune mechanism and protein synthesis. However, excessive Zn release induced in pathological situations such as stroke or transient global ischemia is toxic. Previously, we demonstrated that the interaction of Zn and copper (Cu) is involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Furthermore, oxidative stress has been shown to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of various metal ions induced neuronal death. Thioredoxin-Albumin fusion (HSA-Trx) is a derivative of thioredoxin (Trx), an antioxidative protein, with improved plasma retention and stability of Trx. In this study, we examined the effect of HSA-Trx on Cu2+/Zn2+-induced neurotoxicity. Firstly, HSA-Trx was found to clearly suppress Cu2+/Zn2+-induced neuronal cell death in mouse hypothalamic neuronal cells (GT1-7 cells). Moreover, HSA-Trx markedly suppressed Cu2+/Zn2+-induced ROS production and the expression of oxidative stress related genes, such as heme oxygenase-1. In contrast, HSA-Trx did not affect the intracellular levels of both Cu2+ and Zn2+ after Cu2+/Zn2+ treatment. Finally, HSA-Trx was found to significantly suppress endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response induced by Cu2+/Zn2+ treatment in a dose dependent manner. These results suggest that HSA-Trx counteracted Cu2+/Zn2+-induced neurotoxicity by suppressing the production of ROS via interfering the related gene expressions, in addition to the highly possible radical scavenging activity of the fusion protein. Based on these findings, HSA-Trx has great potential as a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of refractory neurological diseases.

Matched MeSH terms: Dementia, Vascular
Fulltext Lipid Peroxidation in Chronic Cerebral HypoperfusionInduced Neurodegeneration in Rats

Anil Kumar, S., Saif, S.A., Oothuman, P., Mustafa, M.I.A.

International Medical Journal Malaysia, 2011;10(2):3-6.
MyJurnal

Introduction: Reduced cerebral blood ﬂ ow is associated with neurodegenerative disorders and dementia, in particular. Experimental evidence has demonstrated the initiating role of chronic cerebral hypoperfusion in neuronal damage to the hippocampus, the cerebral cortex, the white matter areas and the visual system. Permanent, bilateral occlusion of the common carotid arteries of rats (two vessel occlusion - 2VO) has been introduced for the reproduction of chronic cerebral hypoperfusion as it occurs in Alzheimer’s disease and human aging. Increased generation of free radicals through lipid peroxidation can damage neuronal cell membrane. Markers of lipid peroxidation have been found to be elevated in brain tissues and body ﬂ uids in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Materials and Methods: Malondialdehyde (MDA), ﬁ nal product of lipid peroxidation, was estimated by thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) assay kit at eight weeks after induction of 2VO in the rats and control group. Results: Our study revealed a highly signiﬁ cant (p

Matched MeSH terms: Dementia
Fulltext Development of clinical pathway for Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia to quantify cost of age-related cognitive disorders in Malaysia

Syed Mohamed Aljunid, Namaitijiang Maimaiti, Zafar Ahmed, Amrizal Muhammad Nur, Norashidah Mohamed Nor, Normazwana Ismail, et al.

Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine, 2014;14(3):0-0.
MyJurnal

As the Malaysian population ages, the burden of age-related cognitive disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease will increase concomitantly. This is one of the sub-study under a research project titled by quantify the cost of age-related cognitive impairment in Malaysia, which was undertaken to develop a clinical pathway for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Dementia. The clinical pathway (CP) will be used to support the costing studies of MCI and Dementia. An expert group discussion (EGD) was conducted among selected experts from six (6) government hospitals from different states of Malaysia, Ministry of Health, and United Nations University, International Institute for Global Health, UKM and UPM. The expert group includes psychiatrist specialists and public health medicine specialists. A total of 15 participants took part in the EGD. The group was presented with the different approach in managing MCI and Dementia. Finally, the group came to the consensus agreement on the most appropriate and efficient ways of managing the two conditions. In the EGD, an operational definition for MCI and Dementia was agreed upon and a pathway was developed for the usual practice in the Malaysian health system. A typical case used, as a reference is a 60-year-old patient referred to a memory clinic with complaint of “forgetfulness”. After three outpatient visits in the clinic, the diagnosis of MCI and Dementia could be clinically established. The clinical pathways covered all active clinical and non-clinical management of the patient over a period of one year. The experts identified the additional resources required to manage these patients for the whole spectrum of lifetime based on the expected life expectancy. The Clinical pathway (CP) for MCI and Dementia was successfully developed in EGD with strong support from practitioners in the health system. The findings will help the researchers to identify all-important clinical activities and interventions that will be included in the costing study.

Matched MeSH terms: Dementia
Fulltext Memantine augmentation in the treatment of frontal lobe syndrome in patients with end-stage renal disease: a case report

Aida Abdul Razak, Maniam, T., Hatta Sidi, Shalisah Sharip, Suriati Mohamed Saini

ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, 2014;15(1):93-96.
MyJurnal

Objective: This case report highlights the challenges in managing Frontal Lobe Syndrome (FLS) in a patient with end-stage renal disease. Methods: This is a case description of a 58 year-old gentleman who presented with behavioural changes: irritability, mood lability, aggression, psychosis, and overfamiliarity. His presenting symptoms were in keeping with (FLS) with positive findings on Computed Tomography (CT) scan of the brain and also neuropsychological assessments. Difficulties arose in attempts to control his aggression without further compromising his renal function. Results: The usage of the commonly used antipsychotics in controlling aggression was restricted in view of the patient’s renal impairment. Augmentation with low dose memantine proved to be beneficial in this case, without causing further deterioration in renal function. Conclusion: The use of memantine to augment the effect of risperidone was observed to be safe and successful in managing the behavioural changes associated with FLS in adults with end-stage renal disease. ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 15 (1): January - June 2014: 93-96.

Matched MeSH terms: Frontotemporal Dementia
Fulltext Automatic Artifact Removal in EEG of Normal and Demented Individuals Using ICA-WT during Working Memory Tasks

Al-Qazzaz NK, Hamid Bin Mohd Ali S, Ahmad SA, Islam MS, Escudero J

Sensors (Basel), 2017 Jun 08;17(6).
PMID: 28594352 DOI: 10.3390/s17061326

Characterizing dementia is a global challenge in supporting personalized health care. The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a promising tool to support the diagnosis and evaluation of abnormalities in the human brain. The EEG sensors record the brain activity directly with excellent time resolution. In this study, EEG sensor with 19 electrodes were used to test the background activities of the brains of five vascular dementia (VaD), 15 stroke-related patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 15 healthy subjects during a working memory (WM) task. The objective of this study is twofold. First, it aims to enhance the recorded EEG signals using a novel technique that combines automatic independent component analysis (AICA) and wavelet transform (WT), that is, the AICA-WT technique; second, it aims to extract and investigate the spectral features that characterize the post-stroke dementia patients compared to the control subjects. The proposed AICA-WT technique is a four-stage approach. In the first stage, the independent components (ICs) were estimated. In the second stage, three-step artifact identification metrics were applied to detect the artifactual components. The components identified as artifacts were marked as critical and denoised through DWT in the third stage. In the fourth stage, the corrected ICs were reconstructed to obtain artifact-free EEG signals. The performance of the proposed AICA-WT technique was compared with those of two other techniques based on AICA and WT denoising methods using cross-correlation X C o r r and peak signal to noise ratio ( P S N R ) (ANOVA, p ˂ 0.05). The AICA-WT technique exhibited the best artifact removal performance. The assumption that there would be a deceleration of EEG dominant frequencies in VaD and MCI patients compared with control subjects was assessed with AICA-WT (ANOVA, p ˂ 0.05). Therefore, this study may provide information on post-stroke dementia particularly VaD and stroke-related MCI patients through spectral analysis of EEG background activities that can help to provide useful diagnostic indexes by using EEG signal processing.

Matched MeSH terms: Dementia, Vascular
Fulltext A better mental health for all

Jasraj, S., Viknesh, N.

Malaysian Journal of Psychiatry, 2017;26(1):0-0.
MyJurnal

Psychiatric services have progressed well throughout history, marked by a shift from heavily inpatient asylums to outpatient management via deinstitutionalization, and advances in psychopharmacology. An overview of important themes is discussed at public mental health level. Firstly, differences between sexes are touched upon from theoretical and societal perspectives. Next, among the disabled, the phenomenon of diagnostic overshadowing, attributing apparent mental health problems to learning disability, contributes to their overall poorer quality of life. Mental health at both extremes of age is another important theme, whereby dementia and depression are keenly observed in the older age group, while maternal risk factors and parenting play a role in the mental well-being of the younger age group. Fourthly, inequalities, stigma and discrimination, are rife among people living with mental illness, and thereby detrimental in their road to recovery. Deinstitutionalization is explained as being more than just downsizing the inpatient load, gaining prominence with the emergence of community psychiatry services, and found to be helpful in overcoming stigma. Demographically, it was demonstrated that developing countries, as opposed to developed countries, have advantages in their approaches to psychiatric services, including better integration of people living with mental illness into society. Lastly, the psychological well-being of mental health workers should not be discounted, with measures such as stress management and resilience training proving to be key in combating burnout.

Matched MeSH terms: Dementia
Prevalence and factors associated with physical inactivity among older adults in Malaysia: A cross-sectional study

Chan YY, Lim KK, Omar MA, Mohd Yusoff MF, Sooryanarayana R, Ahmad NA, et al.

Geriatr Gerontol Int, 2020 Dec;20 Suppl 2:49-56.
PMID: 33370865 DOI: 10.1111/ggi.13977

AIM: Physical inactivity in older adults is linked to increased risk of chronic diseases, disability and various poor health outcomes. As the aging population rises, the prevalence of diseases associated with aging also increases. Regular physical activity in older adults is important to improve overall health and promote healthy aging. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with physical inactivity among older adults in Malaysia.

METHODS: This study was based on 3969 Malaysian older adults aged ≥60 years who completed the physical activity module in the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2018, a population-based cross-sectional survey. Physical activity was measured using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire through a face-to-face interview. Participants were classified as physically active or inactive. Associations between physical inactivity, sociodemographic characteristics and a range of selected independent variables were examined using multivariable logistic regression.

RESULTS: Overall, three out of 10 (29.8%) Malaysian older adults were physically inactive. Results of multivariable analysis showed that older age group (≥80 years), of Bumiputera Sarawak ethnicity, unemployed/retirees/homemakers, functional limitation, diabetes mellitus and dementia were significantly associated with a higher risk of physical inactivity. Women, with secondary education level and good social support were less likely to be physically inactive.

CONCLUSIONS: The present study reported the status of physical inactivity among older adults in Malaysia. There is the need to design effective public health programs and interventions to promote active living and healthy aging among Malaysian older adults, particularly in those at-risk older population subgroups. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2020; 20: 49-56.

Matched MeSH terms: Dementia
Prevalence and Risk Factors of Caregiver Dependence among Older Adults in a Southeast Asian Population

Picco L, Abdin E, Vaingankar JA, Pang S, Shafie S, Sambasivam R, et al.

Ann Acad Med Singap, 2016 Nov;45(11):486-494.
PMID: 27922142

INTRODUCTION: Currently very little is known about the prevalence or magnitude of caregiver dependence in Singapore and thus, there is a need to fill this gap in this multiethnic ageing population. This study aims to determine the prevalence and risk factors of caregiver dependence among older adults in Singapore.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were used from the Well-being of the Singapore Elderly (WiSE) study, a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey among Singapore residents aged 60 years and above. Caregiver dependence was ascertained by asking the informant (the person who knows the older person best) a series of open-ended questions about the older person's care needs.
RESULTS: The older adult sample comprised 57.1% females and the majority were aged 60 to 74 years (74.8%), while 19.5% were 75 to 84 years, and 5.7% were 85 years and above. The prevalence of caregiver dependence was 17.2% among older adults. Significant sociodemographic risk factors of caregiver dependence included older age (75 to 84 years, and 85 years and above, P <0.001), Malay and Indian ethnicity (P <0.001), those who have never been married (P = 0.048) or have no education (P = 0.035), as well as being homemakers or retired (P <0.001). After adjusting for sociodemographic variables and all health conditions in multiple logistic regression analyses, dementia (P <0.001), depression (P = 0.011), stroke (P = 0.002), eyesight problems (P = 0.003), persistent cough (P = 0.016), paralysis (P <0.001), asthma (P = 0.016) and cancer (P = 0.026) were significantly associated with caregiver dependence.
CONCLUSION: Various sociodemographic and health-related conditions were significantly associated with caregiver dependence. Dependent older adults will put greater demands on health and social services, resulting in greater healthcare expenditures. Hence, effective planning, services and support are crucial to meet the needs of dependent older adults and their caregivers.

Matched MeSH terms: Dementia/epidemiology*
Fulltext Cognitive health of older persons in longitudinal ageing cohort studies

Ng TP

Sains Malaysiana, 2016;45:1351-1355.

Dementia poses a major global burden of care to society and health systems in ageing populations. The majority (over 60%) of persons with dementia in the world are found in Asia and developing countries with rapid rates of population ageing. Improving and maintaining the cognitive health of older persons is vital to national strategies for dementia prevention. Increasing numbers of population-based ageing cohort studies in the past decade have provided a better understanding of the factors that contribute to cognitive function and decline in old age. The roles of major demographic, psychosocial, lifestyle, behavioral and cardiovascular risk factors contributing to cognitive health were discussed using examples from the Singapore Longitudinal Ageing Studies. They include socio-demographic factors, particularly education and marital status, leisure time activity such as physical activity, social engagement and mental activities, psychological factors such as depression, cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors: obesity, diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia, and the metabolic syndrome, under-nutrition, low albumin, low hemoglobin, nutritional factors such as blood folate, B12 and homocysteine, omega-3 poly-unsaturated fatty acids, tea drinking and curcumin-rich turmeric in curry meals. These factors are found to be associated variously with cognitive functions (memory and learning, language, visuospatial, attention and information processing speed), rates of cognitive impairment and cognitive decline, or increased risk of developing MCI and progression to dementia.

Matched MeSH terms: Dementia