IIUM Medical Journal Malaysia (IMJM)
Not a member yet
    1450 research outputs found

    Azathioprine Treatment in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Double Edged Sword

    Get PDF
    Extremely severe pancytopenia induced by low dosage of azathioprine in systemic lupus erythematosus patients is rare. A 40-year-old Chinese female was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus. She suffered worse erythema, oral ulceration, raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate and high anti-dsDNA in August 2013. Then she was initiated on oral azathioprine 50mg/d and extremely severe pancytopenia was seen in September 2013. She was recovered by a series of treatments. Regular monitoring of blood counts is highly recommended to reduce the possible serious myelosuppression induced by azathioprine

    Investigation of In Vivo Antipyretic Activity of Thottea dependens leaves

    Get PDF
    Introduction: Leaves of Thottea dependens have been used as folk medicine in Malaysia for the treatment of several conditions involving pain and inflammation with accompanying pyrexia. However, there is no scientific evidence for its effectiveness to treat fever. Hence, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the anti-pyretic activity of methanol (MeOH) and aqueous (Aq) extracts of T. dependens leaves in albino mice (ICR strain). Methods: Thirty-six albino mice of both sexes, randomized into six groups (n=6) were used. Group I served as the control and received only the vehicle, normal saline. Group II received paracetamol 150 mg/kg body weight (b.w.) orally, groups III and IV received 100 and 200 mg/kg b.w. of the MeOH extract while groups V and VI  received 100 and 200 mg/kg b.w. of the Aq extract orally. Pyrexia was induced by a subcutaneous injection of 10 mL/kg b.w. of 15% (w/v) yeast suspended in 0.5% (w/v) methylcellulose solution. LD50 of both extracts were determined according to the method of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development guidelines. Phytochemical screening was carried out qualitatively for the presence of different class of biologically active compounds. Results: LD50 values for both extracts were found to be greater than 1000 mg/kg b.w. indicating the wide margin of safety of T. dependens leaves. The MeOH extract at 200 mg/kg b.w. showed statistically significant (P<0.01) dose dependent reduction of brewer’s yeast induced pyrexia in albino mice. Flavonoids, saponins and phenolic compounds were found to be major biologically active phytoconstituents in MeOH extract. Conclusion: The study showed that T. dependens leaves possess significant anti-pyretic activity, thus justifying its ethnomedicinal use in Malaysia to treat fever

    Asthma Control in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan, Malaysia: A Cross-sectional Study

    Get PDF
    Introduction: Various initiatives and medications have been introduced to achieve better control of bronchial asthma. However total control according to Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) remains elusive even at tertiary referral hospitals. Our study is to determine the level of asthma control (according to GINA 2009), Asthma Control Test (ACT) scores and the types of medications used among patients with bronchial asthma in a large tertiary hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional study of all patients with bronchial asthma who attended the Chest Clinic at Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan (HTAA) from 2009 to 2011. Patient demographics, self-administered ACT scores, GINA-defined level of asthma control and medications were documented. Results: 208 patients were recruited. There were 23.2%, 46.3% and 30.5% of patients with controlled, partly controlled and uncontrolled asthma respectively. The median ACT scores was 19 [inter quartile range (IQR) 6]. The most frequently used preventer therapy was inhaled long-acting β-agonist/corticosteroids (LABA/ICS) fixed-dose combination (61.7%), and 9.6% were not on preventer therapy. 75% of patients with controlled asthma were on LABA/ICS compared to 58.5% of the partly controlled and uncontrolled groups (p=0.039). Conclusion: The majority of the asthmatic patients attending the Chest Clinic at HTAA did not have GINA-defined controlled asthma. Patients with higher ACT scores had better control of asthma. There were more patients with controlled asthma who were on LABA/ ICS combination

    Antioxidants and Lipid Peroxidation Status In Women with Breast Cancer

    Get PDF
    Introduction: Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancy in women and is the leading cause of cancer related death worldwide. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play an important role in the development of tumours. Several mechanisms leading to oxidative stress have been proposed in cancer patients. In this study we aimed to measure and compare the levels of zinc, superoxide dismutase, catalase, vitamin C, vitamin E, and malondialdehyde in breast cancer patients and age matched healthy controls. Methods: In this comparative cross sectional study, 30 confirmed breast cancer cases and 30 age and sex matched controls were enrolled after taking their consent. Blood sample was collected in EDTA vial, and the parameters of oxidative stress were evaluated by spectrophotometric and atomic absorption spectrophotometric methods. Results: Zinc and MDA level were significantly higher (p<0.001) in cases (106.4 µg/dl and 7.12 nmol/ml) compared to controls (89.8µg/ dl and 3.99nmol/ml). In contrast, there were lower catalase, vitamin C and E levels in cases (28.7±14.56, 0.92±0.35 and 0.68±0.13 mg/dl) compared to controls (37.1±14.7,1.62±0.59 and 1.02±0.22 mg/dl) and were statistically significant (p<0.05 and p<0.001). Whereas, superoxide dismutase was lower in cases compared to controls, but was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Zinc was found to be higher in our study as it is a pivotal element in all rapidly growing tissues. Enhanced lipid peroxidation observed in the circulation of breast cancer patients in our study can be attributed to over production of ROS and deficiency of antioxidant defences. Oxidative stress in cancer cells may trigger excessive consumption of antioxidants as a compensatory mechanism which lead to its lower concentration

    Imaging and Histopathology Correlation of Solid Papillary Carcinoma of the Breast : A Review of Four Cases

    Get PDF
    Solid papillary breast carcinoma is a rare type of breast carcinoma. We present four cases which highlight the radiological and histological findings of solid papillary carcinoma. Mammogram supplemented with ultrasound played an important role in detecting solid papillary carcinomas which usually presents as intraductal lesions or intracystic mass with Doppler signal. Excision biopsy is a better option than core biopsy as the latter modality may not be representative and the diagnosis of solid papillary breast carcinoma may be missed

    1,429

    full texts

    1,450

    metadata records
    Updated in last 30 days.
    IIUM Medical Journal Malaysia (IMJM)
    Access Repository Dashboard
    Do you manage Open Research Online? Become a CORE Member to access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard! 👇