Endothelial Microparticles as Potential Biomarkers in the Assessment of Endothelial Dysfunction in Hypercholesterolemia.

Background and Objectives: Endothelial microparticles (EMP) particularly CD31+/42−/AV+, CD144+/AV+ and CD62e+/AV+ have been reported as having increased in cardiovascular-related diseases, making them potential biomarkers for endothelial dysfunction. This study aimed to compare these EMPs in patients with hypercholesterolemia and healthy controls and to correlate their levels with endothelium-dependent vasodilation (EDV) assessed via pulse wave analysis (PWA); an established method of assessing endothelial function. Materials and Methods: EMPs from 88 subjects (44 hypercholesterolemia patients and 44 controls) were quantified from whole blood using flow cytometry analysis. Endothelial function was determined using PWA combined with pharmacological challenge. Results: CD31+/42−/AV+ (3.45 ± 4.74 count/µL vs. 1.33 ± 4.40 count/µL; p = 0.03), CD144+/AV+ (7.37 ± 12.66 count/µL vs. 1.42 ± 1.71 count/µL; p = 0.003) and CD62e+/AV+ (57.16 ± 56.22 count/µL vs. 20.78 ± 11.04 count/µL; p < 0.001) were significantly elevated in the hypercholesterolemic group compared with the controls, respectively. There was a significant inverse moderate correlation between all circulating EMPs and EDV: CD31+/42−/AV+ (r = −0.36, p = 0.001), CD144+/AV+ (r = −0.37, p = 0.001) and CD62e+/AV+ (r = −0.35, p = 0.002). Conclusions: All EMPs were raised in the patients with hypercholesterolemia, and these values correlated with the established method of assessing endothelial function.

Psychometric properties of the 'Skala Kepuasan Interaksi Perubatan-11' to measure patient satisfaction with physician-patient interaction in Malaysia.

BACKGROUND: Patient satisfaction influences the outcomes of the patient-physician encounter. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to validate the Malay version patient satisfaction (MISS-21) questionnaire using a confirmatory validity approach. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 252 patients attending primary health clinic, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. Construct validity (convergent and discriminant) using confirmatory factor analysis and internal consistency were performed after the translation, content validity and face validity processes. Criterion validity was assessed using Pearson correlations with the scale of shared decision making 9-item questionnaire (SDMQ-9). The data was analysed using Analysis of Moment Structure version 19. RESULTS: A total of 252 (100%) outpatients responded to this study. The final model that consists of three domains with 11 items had a good fit; (χ (2) (df) = 65.805 (32), P < 0.001, Tucker-Lewis indices = 0.902, comparative fit index = 0.927, root mean square error of approximation = 0.061, standardized root mean square residual = 0.058). Composite reliability and average variance extracted of the domains ranged from 0.541 to 0.760 and 0.240 to 0.522, respectively. The SDMQ-9 had a moderate correlation with the total score of the final construct (r = 0.406, P <0.001). CONCLUSION: The study suggested that the three-factor model with 11 items of the Malay version MISS-21 could be used to assess patient satisfaction on patient-physician interaction in primary health care setting because it is acceptably valid, reliable and simple. The validated Malay version questionnaire was called as 'Skala Kepuasan Interaksi Perubatan-11'.

Medical Experts' Agreement on Risk Assessment Based on All Possible Combinations of the COVID-19 Predictors-A Novel Approach for Public Health Screening and Surveillance.

During the initial phase of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there was a critical need to create a valid and reliable screening and surveillance for university staff and students. Consequently, 11 medical experts participated in this cross-sectional study to judge three risk categories of either low, medium, or high, for all 1536 possible combinations of 11 key COVID-19 predictors. The independent experts' judgement on each combination was recorded via a novel dashboard-based rating method which presented combinations of these predictors in a dynamic display within Microsoft Excel. The validated instrument also incorporated an innovative algorithm-derived deduction for efficient rating tasks. The results of the study revealed an ordinal-weighted agreement coefficient of 0.81 (0.79 to 0.82, p-value < 0.001) that reached a substantial class of inferential benchmarking. Meanwhile, on average, the novel algorithm eliminated 76.0% of rating tasks by deducing risk categories based on experts' ratings for prior combinations. As a result, this study reported a valid, complete, practical, and efficient method for COVID-19 health screening via a reliable combinatorial-based experts' judgement. The new method to risk assessment may also prove applicable for wider fields of practice whenever a high-stakes decision-making relies on experts' agreement on combinations of important criteria.

The upper respiratory tract microbiome of indigenous Orang Asli in north-eastern Peninsular Malaysia.

Much microbiome research has focused on populations that are predominantly of European descent, and from narrow demographics that do not capture the socio-economic and lifestyle differences which impact human health. Here we examined the airway microbiomes of the Orang Asli, the indigenous peoples of Malaysia. A total of 130 participants were recruited from two sites in the north-eastern state of Terengganu in Peninsular Malaysia. Using 16S rRNA sequencing, the nasal microbiome was significantly more diverse in those aged 5-17 years compared to 50+ years (p = 0.023) and clustered by age (PERMANOVA analysis of the Bray-Curtis distance, p = 0.001). Hierarchical clustering of Bray-Curtis dissimilarity scores revealed six microbiome clusters. The largest cluster (n = 28; 35.4%) had a marked abundance of Corynebacterium. In the oral microbiomes Streptococcus, Neisseria and Haemophilus were dominant. Using conventional microbiology, high levels of Staphylococcus aureus carriage were observed, particularly in the 18-65 age group (n = 17/36; 47.2% 95% CI: 30.9-63.5). The highest carriage of pneumococci was in the <5 and 5 to 17 year olds, with 57.1% (4/7) and 49.2% (30/61), respectively. Sixteen pneumococcal serotypes were identified, the most common being the nonvaccine-type 23A (14.6%) and the vaccine-type 6B (9.8%). The prevalence of pneumococcal serotypes covered by pneumococcal conjugate vaccines support introduction into a Malaysian national immunisation schedule. In addition, the dominance of Corynebacterium in the airway microbiomes is intriguing given their role as a potentially protective commensal with respect to acute infection and respiratory health.

Tualang honey supplementation as cognitive enhancer in patients with schizophrenia.

INTRODUCTION: Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness with clusters of symptoms, including cognitive impairment. This study aimed to explore the effect of Tualang Honey (TH) on cognitive domains, especially as it pertained to the verbal memory of schizophrenia patients. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional study involved 80 individuals, diagnosed with schizophrenia. The Malay Version Auditory Verbal Learning Test (MVAVLT) was used. Data were analysed using SPSS 20.0 software. Intention to treat analysis was applied. RESULT: A comparison of the total learning score at eight weeks between the two groups based on time effect and time-treatment interaction favoured TH group. CONCLUSION: This study concludes that by supplementing schizophrenia patients with 8-week of TH did improve total learning performance across domains in the immediate memory among patients with schizophrenia.