An In vitro Study of Orthosiphon stamineus (Misai Kucing) Standardized Water Extract as a Chemolytic Agent in Urolithiasis.

Background: Orthosiphon stamineus was reported to have diuretic effects in experimental rats, and this leads to inhibition of kidney stones through the abundant levels of minerals and flavonoids in it. This study aimed to determine the in vitro effects of O. stamineus water extract as a potential chemolytic agent in urolithiasis. Materials and Methods: In this prospective experiment, a total of 15 stone samples collected from patients who underwent stone extraction were used in each concentration (4 mg/ml, 2 mg/ml, and 1 mg/ml) of the O. stamineus extract and control solution. The effects of pH change in the chemolysis of the stones were assessed using the O. stamineus extract 4 mg/ml under pH 7 and 8. Results: The percentage weight reduction of calcium oxalate stone was highest in the 4 mg/ml concentration. O. stamineus extract 4 mg/ml showed a better effect in terms of chemolytic action on calcium oxalate stone than the potassium citrate solution (70% vs. 41%). Regarding the calcium oxalate stone, the percentage weight reduction has shown about 70% in the pH 5, 48% in pH 7, and <10% in pH 8. The percentage weight reduction of uric acid stone was determined as 47%, 11%, and 14% for pH 5, 7, and 8, respectively. The percentage weight reduction of combination stone was 40%, 60%, and 80% in the pH 5, pH 7, and pH 8, respectively. Data analysis showed that the percentage weight reduction of combination stone was significantly different between acidic, neutral, and alkaline conditions (P = 0.027). Conclusions: In this in vitro study, we are able to show that O. stamineus water extract do have some dissolving capability of urinary stones.

The BRCA1 and BRCA2 Genes in Early-Onset Breast Cancer Patients.

Approximately 5-10% of breast cancers are attributable to genetic susceptibility. Mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are the best known genetic factors to date. The goal of this study was to determine the structure and distribution of haplotypes of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in early-onset breast cancer patients. We enrolled 70 patients diagnosed with early-onset breast cancer. A total of 21 SNPs (11 on BRCA1 and 10 on BRCA2) and 1 dinucleotide deletion on BRCA1 were genotyped using nested allele-specific PCR methods. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis was conducted, and haplotypes were deduced from the genotype data. Two tightly linked LD blocks were observed on each of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Variant-free haplotypes (TAT-AG for BRCA1 and ATA-AAT for BRCA2) were observed at a frequency of more than 50% on each gene along with variable frequencies of derived haplotypes. The variant 3'-subhaplotype CGC displayed strong LD with 5'-subhaplotypes GA, AA, and GG on BRCA1 gene. Haplotypes ATA-AGT, ATC-AAT, and ATA-AAC were the variant haplotypes frequent on BRCA2 gene. Although the clinical significance of these derived haplotypes has not yet been established, it is expected that some of these haplotypes, especially the less frequent subhaplotypes, eventually will be shown to be indicative of a predisposition to early-onset breast cancer.

A Survey on Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS) Among patients with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM).

Patients with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) commonly presents with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), which can be of obstructive symptoms such as hesitancy, incomplete voiding, post void dribbling or of irritative symptoms such as urgency, frequency and nocturia. Various recent studies indicate that nocturia is a very important and bothersome lower urinary tract symptom especially among patients with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). The aims of the study was to determine the frequency of common urinary symptoms among patients with BPH in HUSM as well as to evaluate the extent of bothersomeness of each and every symptom to these patients. This study too was aimed at evaluating the success of TURP in resolving pre operative LUTS. This was a questionnaire-based survey using a validated ICSBPH model whereby patients with BPH were selected and quizzed personally by an investigator. A subset of patients who had undergone TURP were further questioned regarding their satisfaction with the procedure. When nocturia is defined as waking up at night once or more to pass urine, the prevalence of nocturia was about 90%, but only 1 in 6 patients considered this is a very serious symptom. Even if the definition was changed to waking up twice or more, the prevalence is still quite high at over 80%. Urgency were noted in half of the patients, but only a quarter of them consider it a serious problem. 1 in 5 patients experienced significant leak and almost all consider it serious. About one third of the studied population had to be catheterized due to urinary obstruction and interestingly only about half of them considered it as a very serious event. Overall, a great majority of these patients considered suffering from these urinary symptoms for the rest of their life as very devastating. This study conclude that although the prevalence of nocturia was high among BPH patients, but it was not considered serious by majority of them. In fact, LUTS in our BPH patients did not differ much from BPH patients elsewhere. On the whole, TURP resolved most of the LUTS effectively.