Displaying all 16 publications

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  1. Ismail A. Hamid, Marzida Mansor, Siok, Gracie Yan Ong, Kumar, N.M.
    MyJurnal
    Since the outbreak of the novel influenza H1N1 in April 2009 in Mexico, more then half a million cases have been recorded with more then 6000 deaths.In contrast to seasonal flu, this virus appears to have a predilection for the young, obese and pregnant.It’s most important and almost fatal complication is Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). Intensive care units (ICU) around the world have scrambled to upgrade various treatment modalities including high frequency oscillation ventilation, inotropes, antivirals and antibiotics in an effort to reduce the mortality arising out of this complication. More importantly, this complication appears reversible if adequate and early therapy is instituted. In particular, rescue therapies that allow the lung to rest appear to have brought success in some clinical settings. This article describes the experiences of seven centers that have used various modalities as rescue therapy in patients having Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). The experiences in 13 patients at the University of Michigan, 58 in Mexico, 168 in Canada, 180 patients at Leicester UK, 194 in Australia and New Zealand and case reports from Hong Kong and Singapore are described.
  2. Safi SZ, Qvist R, Yan GO, Ismail IS
    BMC Med Genomics, 2014;7:29.
    PMID: 24885710 DOI: 10.1186/1755-8794-7-29
    Aberrant epigenetic profiles are concomitant with a spectrum of developmental defects and diseases. Role of methylation is an increasingly accepted factor in the pathophysiology of diabetes and its associated complications. This study aims to examine the correlation between oxidative stress and methylation of β1, β2 and β3-adrenergic receptors and to analyze the differential variability in the expression of these genes under hyperglycemic conditions.
  3. Kassim M, Mansor M, Suhaimi A, Ong G, Yusoff KM
    Int J Mol Sci, 2012;13(9):12113-29.
    PMID: 23109904 DOI: 10.3390/ijms130912113
    Monocytes and macrophages are part of the first-line defense against bacterial, fungal, and viral infections during host immune responses; they express high levels of proinflammatory cytokines and cytotoxic molecules, including nitric oxide, reactive oxygen species, and their reaction product peroxynitrite. Peroxynitrite is a short-lived oxidant and a potent inducer of cell death. Honey, in addition to its well-known sweetening properties, is a natural antioxidant that has been used since ancient times in traditional medicine. We examined the ability of Gelam honey, derived from the Gelam tree (Melaleuca spp.), to scavenge peroxynitrite during immune responses mounted in the murine macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 when stimulated with lipopolysaccharide/interferon-γ (LPS/IFN-γ) and in LPS-treated rats. Gelam honey significantly improved the viability of LPS/IFN-γ-treated RAW 264.7 cells and inhibited nitric oxide production-similar to the effects observed with an inhibitor of inducible nitric oxide synthase (1400W). Furthermore, honey, but not 1400W, inhibited peroxynitrite production from the synthetic substrate 3-morpholinosydnonimine (SIN-1) and prevented the peroxynitrite-mediated conversion of dihydrorhodamine 123 to its fluorescent oxidation product rhodamine 123. Honey inhibited peroxynitrite synthesis in LPS-treated rats. Thus, honey may attenuate inflammatory responses that lead to cell damage and death, suggesting its therapeutic uses for several inflammatory disorders.
  4. Anbazhagan D, Mansor M, Yan GO, Md Yusof MY, Hassan H, Sekaran SD
    PLoS One, 2012;7(7):e36696.
    PMID: 22815678 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0036696
    Quorum sensing is a term that describes an environmental sensing system that allows bacteria to monitor their own population density which contributes significantly to the size and development of the biofilm. Many gram negative bacteria use N-acyl-homoserine lactones as quorum sensing signal molecules. In this study, we sought to find out if the biofilm formation among clinical isolates of Acinetobacter spp. is under the control of autoinducing quorum sensing molecules.
  5. Kassim M, Yusoff KM, Ong G, Sekaran S, Yusof MY, Mansor M
    Fitoterapia, 2012 Sep;83(6):1054-9.
    PMID: 22626749 DOI: 10.1016/j.fitote.2012.05.008
    Malaysian Gelam honey has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, a high antioxidant capacity, and free radical-scavenging activity. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulates immune cells to sequentially release early pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and induces the synthesis of several related enzymes. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the intravenous injection of honey in rats with LPS-induced endotoxemia. The results showed that after 4h of treatment, honey reduced cytokine (tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukins 1β, and 10) and NO levels and increased heme oxygenase-1 levels. After 24h, a decrease in cytokines and NO and an increase in HO-1 were seen in all groups, whereas a reduction in HMGB1 occurred only in the honey-treated groups. These results support the further examination of honey as a natural compound for the treatment of a wide range of inflammatory diseases.
  6. Anbazhagan D, Mui WS, Mansor M, Yan GO, Yusof MY, Sekaran SD
    Braz J Microbiol, 2011 Apr;42(2):448-58.
    PMID: 24031653 DOI: 10.1590/S1517-83822011000200006
    Nosocomial infections are major clinical threats to hospitalised patients and represent an important source of morbidity and mortality. It is necessary to develop rapid detection assays of nosocomial pathogens for better prognosis and initiation of antimicrobial therapy in patients. In this study, we present the development of molecular methods for the detection of six common nosocomial pathogens including Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter spp. Conventional multiplex PCR and SYBR Green based real time PCR assays were performed using genus and species specific primers. Blind testing with 300 clinical samples was also carried out. The two assays were found to be sensitive and specific. Eubacterial PCR assay exhibited positive results for 46 clinical isolates from which 43 samples were detected by real time PCR assay. The sensitivity of the assay is about 93.7% in blind test isolates. The PCR results were reconfirmed using the conventional culture method. This assay has the potential to be a rapid, accurate and highly sensitive molecular diagnostic tool for simultaneous detection of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter spp. This assay has the potential to detect nosocomial pathogens within 5 to 6 hours, helping to initiate infection control measures and appropriate treatment in paediatric and elderly (old aged) patients, pre-and post surgery patients and organ transplant patients and thus reduces their hospitalization duration.
  7. Muniandy S, Qvist R, Yan GO, Bee CJ, Chu YK, Rayappan AV
    J. Med. Invest., 2009 Feb;56(1-2):6-10.
    PMID: 19262007
    Hyperglycemia and insulin resistance are common in many critically ill patients. Hyperglycemia increases the production of reactive oxygen species in cells, stimulates the production of the potent proinflammatory cytokines IL-8 and TNF-alpha, and enhances the expression of haem oxygenase-1, an inducible stress protein. It has been shown that administration of insulin and the semi-essential amino acid glutamine have been beneficial to the septic patient. The aim of our study is to test whether these two molecules, glutamine and insulin used in combination attenuate the proinflammatory responses in endothelial cells which have been triggered by hyperglycaemia. Our results demonstrate that a combination of insulin and glutamine are significantly more effective in reducing the expression of IL-8, TNF-alpha and HO-1 than insulin or glutamine alone.
  8. Sivarajah RS, Keh SA, Ong G, Teo WS, Delilkan AE
    Med J Malaysia, 1984 Jun;39(2):112-5.
    PMID: 6513849
    Continuous brachial plexus block in six patients undergoing reimplantation of severed fingers or hand is described. The technique involved placement of a catheter within the neurovascular sheath enclosing the brachial plexus. This enabled us to give the local anaesthetic as required to last the whole duration of surgery.
  9. Paramsothy M, Ong GSY, Wong BH, Loh TG, Delilkan AE
    Med J Malaysia, 1986 Sep;41(3):189-97.
    PMID: 2823083
    Demonstration of arrested intracerebral blood flow is the ultimate evidence of brain death. Computerized radionuclide cerebral flow study was done on 18 patients diagnosed clinically as brain dead. Correlation was made with clinical neurophysiological and EEG findings. The criteria for diagnosis of arrested intracerebral perfusion using radionuclide flow study were: non-visualization of blood flow activity in the intracranial arteries during the arterial phase, diffused cerebral activity during the capillary phase and non-filling of venous sinuses during the venous phase; visualization of typical 'hot nasal' activity; the time activity curve over the cerebral hemispheres lacks a bolus effect and instead shows a delayed gradual rise of activity. These features are pathognomonic of brain tamponade.
    Arrested intracranial circulation was seen in 16 patients (ten had electrocerebral silence; one had extremely abnormal EEG with small voltage activity and five had no EEG done). In the remaining two patients, some cerebral blood flow was demonstrated (one had no definite cerebral activity and the other had diffused EEG activity).
    Radionuclide cerebral flow study is a very sensitive, accurate, safe, simple, rapid and non-invasive modality in confirming brain death and is especially useful in patients on "brain-protection" regime, in hypothermia or in certain metabolic states where diagnosis based on clinical and EEG criteria is difficult. EEG need not be a required procedure once brain death is established by the demonstration of arrested intracranial circulation.
  10. Safi SZ, Shah H, Qvist R, Bindal P, Mansor M, Yan GOS, et al.
    Cell Physiol Biochem, 2018;51(3):1429-1436.
    PMID: 30485834 DOI: 10.1159/000495591
    BACKGROUND/AIMS: NF-κB induces transcription of a number of genes, associated with inflammation and apoptosis. In this study, we have investigated the effect of β-adrenergic receptor stimulation on NF-κB and IκBα in HUVECs.

    METHODS: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were cultured in high and low glucose concentrations. All HUVECs were treated with different concentrations of isoproterenol and propranolol for different time periods. The analytical procedures consisted of Western Blot, ELISA, DCFH-DA and TUNEL assays.

    RESULTS: Isoproterenol (agonist of a beta-adrenergic receptor) significantly reduced phosphorylation at Ser-536 of NF-κB; and Ser-32 and Ser-36 of IκBα in hyperglycemic HUVECs. Isoproterenol also significantly reduced apoptosis and ROS generation. No effect of IκBα was observed on Tyr-42 phosphorylation. The effect of isoproterenol was reversed by the antagonist propranolol. We also checked if NF-κB inhibitor MG132 causes any change at the level of apoptosis. However, we observed an almost similar effect.

    CONCLUSION: Given data demonstrates that beta-adrenergic receptors stimulation has a protective effect on HUVECs that might be occuring via NF-κβ and IκBα pathway.

  11. Safi SZ, Qvist R, Ong G, Karimian H, Imran M, Shah I
    Arch Med Sci, 2017 Mar 01;13(2):470-480.
    PMID: 28261303 DOI: 10.5114/aoms.2016.64131
    INTRODUCTION: It is a widely held view that a progressive reduction of beta-cell mass occurs in the progression of diabetes. RAF-1 kinase and pancreas duodenal homeobox 1 (PDX-1) are major factors that promote survival of cells and maintain normal insulin functions. In this study we investigated the effect of a β-adrenergic receptor agonist and antagonist on RAF-1 and PDX-1, and their respective effects on apoptosis and insulin release in RIN-m5F cells.

    MATERIAL AND METHODS: RIN-m5F cells were cultured in normal (5 mM) and high (25 mM) glucose to mimic diabetic conditions, followed by treatment with 5 µM, 10 µM and 20 µM of isoproterenol and isoproterenol + propranolol for 6, 12 and 24 h. Western blotting and reverse transcription analysis were performed to examine the expression of RAF-1 and PDX-1. Annexin-V-FITC and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assays were used to investigate apoptosis. ELISA was used to measure insulin levels. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was conducted to investigate the expression of genes.

    RESULTS: Stimulation of β-adrenergic receptors with isoproterenol significantly induced RAF-1 and PDX-1 genes in a concentration-dependent and time-independent manner. Changes were significant both at protein and mRNA levels. Up-regulation of RAF-1 and PDX-1 was accompanied by improved insulin levels and reduced apoptosis. Concentrations of 10 µM and 20 µM for 12 and 24 h were more effective in achieving significant differences in the experimental and control groups. Propranolol reversed the effect of isoproterenol mostly at maximum concentrations and time periods.

    CONCLUSIONS: A positive effect of a β-adrenergic agonist on RAF-1 and PDX-1, reduction in β-cell apoptosis and improved insulin contents can help to understand the pathogenesis of diabetes and to develop novel approaches for the β-cell dysfunction in diabetes.

  12. Kassim M, Mansor M, Kamalden TA, Shariffuddin II, Hasan MS, Ong G, et al.
    Shock, 2014 Aug;42(2):154-60.
    PMID: 24667629 DOI: 10.1097/SHK.0000000000000179
    Excessive free radical production by immune cells has been linked to cell death and tissue injury during sepsis. Peroxynitrite is a short-lived oxidant and a potent inducer of cell death that has been identified in several pathological conditions. Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) is an active component of honeybee products and exhibits antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory activities. The present study examined the ability of CAPE to scavenge peroxynitrite in RAW 264.7 murine macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharide/interferon-γ that was used as an in vitro model. Conversion of 123-dihydrorhodamine to its oxidation product 123-rhodamine was used to measure peroxynitrite production. Two mouse models of sepsis (endotoxemia and cecal ligation and puncture) were used as in vivo models. The level of serum 3-nitrotyrosine was used as an in vivo marker of peroxynitrite. The results demonstrated that CAPE significantly improved the viability of lipopolysaccharide/interferon-γ-treated RAW 264.7 cells and significantly inhibited nitric oxide production, with effects similar to those observed with an inhibitor of inducible nitric oxide synthase (1400W). In addition, CAPE exclusively inhibited the synthesis of peroxynitrite from the artificial substrate SIN-1 and directly prevented the peroxynitrite-mediated conversion of dihydrorhodamine-123 to its fluorescent oxidation product rhodamine-123. In both sepsis models, CAPE inhibited cellular peroxynitrite synthesis, as evidenced by the absence of serum 3-nitrotyrosine, an in vivo marker of peroxynitrite. Thus, CAPE attenuates the inflammatory responses that lead to cell damage and, potentially, cell death through suppression of the production of cytotoxic molecules such as nitric oxide and peroxynitrite. These observations provide evidence of the therapeutic potential of CAPE treatment for a wide range of inflammatory disorders.
  13. Rai VRH, Phang LF, Sia SF, Amir A, Veerakumaran JS, Kassim MKA, et al.
    BMC Anesthesiol, 2017 06 15;17(1):81.
    PMID: 28619005 DOI: 10.1186/s12871-017-0369-4
    BACKGROUND: Head injury is one of the top three diagnosis leading to intensive care unit (ICU) admission in Malaysia. There has been growing interest in using immunonutrition as a mode of modulating the inflammatory response to injury or infection with the aim of improving clinical outcome. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of an immunonutrition on biomarkers (IL-6, glutathione, CRP, total protein and albumin) in traumatic brain injury patients.

    METHODS: Thirty six patients with head injury admitted to neurosurgical ICU in University Malaya Medical Centre were recruited for this study, over a 6-month period from July 2014 to January 2015. Patients were randomized to receive either an immunonutrition (Group A) or a standard (Group B) enteral feed. Levels of biomarkers were measured at day 1, 5 and 7 of enteral feeding.

    RESULTS: Patients in Group A showed significant reduction of IL-6 at day 5 (p 

  14. Hwa WE, Subramaniam G, Mansor MB, Yan OS, Gracie, Anbazhagan D, et al.
    Indian J Med Res, 2010 Apr;131:578-83.
    PMID: 20424311
    Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter spp. have gained increasing significance as opportunistic pathogens in hospitalized patients. Carbapenem resistance is often associated with the loss and/or decrease in outer membrane proteins (OMP) and overexpression of multidrug efflux systems. However, carbapenem-hydrolysing beta-lactamases of Ambler Class B (metallo-enzymes) and Ambler Class D (oxacillinases) have also been detected in Acinetobacter spp. In this study we have investigated the role of the iron regulated outer membrane protein (IROMPs) and the loss of a 29-kDa OMP in carbapenem resistance of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus.
  15. Walsh M, Wang CY, Ong GS, Tan AS, Mansor M, Shariffuddin II, et al.
    J Am Soc Nephrol, 2015 Oct;26(10):2571-7.
    PMID: 25711126 DOI: 10.1681/ASN.2014060536
    Cardiac troponin T (cTnT), even at low concentrations, is a risk factor for 30-day mortality in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery, but it is uncertain whether that risk is generalizable to patients with poor kidney function. We, therefore, evaluated the relationship between cTnT concentration and kidney function on the outcome of 30-day mortality in a post hoc analysis of a prospective cohort study of patients undergoing noncardiac surgery. cTnT was measured for 3 days after surgery and considered abnormal if the peak was ≥0.02 ng/ml. Of the included 14,037 patients, 267 (1.9%) patients died within 30 days of surgery. The adjusted hazard ratios for death with an abnormal cTnT concentration were 4.37 (95% confidence intervals [95% CI], 3.21 to 6.22), 6.15 (95% CI, 2.95 to 140.9), 6.30 (95% CI, 3.12 to 21.23), 1.33 (95% CI, 0.56 to 4.85), and 1.46 (95% CI, 0.46 to 9.21) for eGFR≥60, 45 to <60, 30 to <45, 15 to <30, and <15 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) or on dialysis, respectively. Compared with patients with eGFR≥60 ml/min per 1.73 m(2), the adjusted hazard ratio was significantly lower for patients with eGFR=15 to <30 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) (interaction P value=0.02). Redefining abnormal cTnT concentration as ≥0.03 ng/ml or a change of ≥0.02 ng/ml did not alter results. Because the risk associated with postoperative cTnT levels may be different for patients with eGFR<30 ml/min per 1.73 m(2), additional research is required to determine how to interpret perioperative cTnT values for patients with low kidney function.
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