Karim Al-Jashamy

Practice of Breast Self-Examination Among Women in Malaysia

OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to examine the practice and associated factors of breast self- examination (BSE) among Malaysian women. METHODS For this cross-sectional study 250 women were selected by a simple random sampling technique. The questionnaire was consisted of three parts: socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge about BSE, and practice of BSE. Obtained data was analyzed using SPSS version 13. T-test and ANOVA test were used to explore the relation between socio-demographic characteristics and the practice of BSE. RESULTS About 32% of the participants reported that they have had family history of cancer and about 20% of the participants reported that they have had family history of breast cancer. The majority of the participants (88.8%) have heard about breast cancer and 78.4% of the participants have heard about BSE. Race, marital status, residency, regular exercise, awareness about breast cancer, belief that breast cancer can be detected early, belief that early detection improves the chance of survival, family history of cancer, family history of breast cancer, awareness about BSE, and belief that BSE is necessary, significantly influenced the practice of BSE among women. Practice of BSE on monthly basis was found to be 47.2% among the study participants. CONCLUSION The socio-demographic characteristics significantly influence the practice of BSA among women in Malaysia. The findings of this study might not only influence the planning of specific screening interventions and strategies in Malaysia but might also be important for the relevant international communities, interested in the peculiarities of BSE incidence in different countries.

Thymoquinone inhibits murine leukemia WEHI-3 cells in vivo and in vitro.

Background Thymoquinone is an active ingredient isolated from Nigella sativa (Black Seed). This study aimed to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo anti-leukemic effects of thymoquinone on WEHI-3 cells. Methodology/Principal Findings The cytotoxic effect of thymoquinone was assessed using an MTT assay, while the inhibitory effect of thymoquinone on murine WEHI-3 cell growth was due to the induction of apoptosis, as evidenced by chromatin condensation dye, Hoechst 33342 and acridine orange/propidium iodide fluorescent staining. In addition, Annexin V staining for early apoptosis was performed using flowcytometric analysis. Apoptosis was found to be associated with the cell cycle arrest at the S phase. Expression of Bax, Bcl2 and HSP 70 proteins were observed by western blotting. The effects of thymoquinone on BALB/c mice injected with WEHI-3 cells were indicated by the decrease in the body, spleen and liver weights of the animal, as compared to the control. Conclusion Thymoquinone promoted natural killer cell activities. This compound showed high toxicity against WEHI-3 cell line which was confirmed by an increase of the early apoptosis, followed by up-regulation of the anti-apoptotic protein, Bcl2, and down-regulation of the apoptotic protein, Bax. On the other hand, high reduction of the spleen and liver weight, and significant histopathology study of spleen and liver confirmed that thymoquinone inhibited WEHI-3 growth in the BALB/c mice. Results from this study highlight the potential of thymoquinone to be developed as an anti-leukemic agent.

Determination of Chemical Composition of Gallbladder Stones and their Association with Induction of Cholangiocarcinoma

Gallstone disease is a major surgical problem in many populations; it is probably related to diet, especially excessive consumption of meat. The objective of this study was to determine the chemical composition of gallstones and their association with neoplastic changes including cholangiocarcinomas in cholecystectomised patients. The chemical composition of gallstones from 40 patients (8 males and 32 females) was analyzed. This is a prospective study performed in Baquba teaching hospital in the period from 1/10/2012 to 1/1/2013 in which we collected the gallstones for the patients who underwent cholecystectomy, whether open or laparoscopic. The stones were classified according to their chemical composition as a mixed stones (MS), and examined using a stone analysis set (chemical qualitative method) for calcium, magnesium, phosphate, uric acid and oxalate which was used reagent for qualitative determination of main individual components of stones. The results of this study showed the highest incidence of gallstones in the age group 40-49 was 13 cases followed by 11, 8 and 4 cases for age groups 30-39, 50-59, 20-29 and 60 and above, respectively. The chemical analysis showed the majority of gallstones were mixed, 38 containing calcium followed by 37 cases with uric acid, 28 with magnesium, and 25 and 22 stones with oxalate and phosphate, respectively. Microscopically, we confirmed neoplastic changes (17.5%) as cholangiocarcinomas (CCCs) (7.55%) and dysplastic cells of carcinoma in situ in 4 (10%), 31 (77.5%) cases were chronic cholecystitis and 2 (5%) cases were acute cholecystitis with empyema out of bile duct disorders patients. In conclusion, majority of cases had mixed gallstones that involved five and four of inorganic chemicals of calcium, magnesium and phosphate, the highest incidence of gallstones in age group 40-49 years old was 13 cases, and neoplastic changes were confirmed (17.5%) including CCCs, (7.5%) and dysplastic cells of carcinoma in situ (10%), while 31 (77.5%) cases were chronic cholecystitis.

Perception of undergraduate university students towards sexually transmitted diseases: A qualitative study

Abstract Background University students as young adult population are reportedly at higher risk for HIV infection than the general population. The objective of this study was to explore the perceptions of undergraduate university students towards the sexual transmitted diseases (STDs). Methods An in-depth interview was conducted among 26 university students. The participants were selected randomly from their respective faculty. Results Most of the participants (73%) heard about the STDs. The majority of the participants (65%) also knew about the causes of STDs. Less than half of the participants (46%) considered the sexual intercourse as the common mode of the transmission of STDs. Multiple sex partners and prostitute as the most risk at groups were respectively mentioned by 27% and 15% of the participants. More than half (57.7%) and less than half (42.3%) of the participants respectively mentioned practice of safe sex by using condom and public education as preventive measures of STDs infection. Conclusions Most of the participants heard about STDs, knew about the causes and some of the preventive measures. However, more than half of the participants did not know about the mode of the transmission of STDs as well as the high risk groups of STDs.

Differential Expression of Serum Ceruloplasmin and Alpha2-HS Glycoprotein among Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients

The two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) approach was used to evaluate the simultaneous expression of serum proteins in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and to detect differentially expressed proteins which could be used as specific and sensitive biomarkers for early diagnosis of the disease. We have subjected unfractionated whole sera of ten newly diagnosed Malaysian Chinese patients with World Health Organization (WHO) type III NPC to 2-DE and image analysis. The results obtained were then compared to that generated from sera of ten normal healthy controls of the same ethnic group and range of age. Our data showed higher expression of ceruloplasmin (CPL) and lower expression of α2-HS glycoprotein (AHS) in the serum high abundance 2-DE protein profiles of NPC patients as compared to that of the normal healthy controls. The ceruloplasmin (CPL) and α2-HS glycoprotein (AHS) spots were identified by mass spectrometric analysis and Mascot database search. In conclusions, this information may help in early diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Protein Map Standardization of Human Saliva Using Two Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis (2-DE)

Over the past decade, the use of saliva as an auxiliary diagnostic tool for biomarker detection has gained considerable acceptance as a non-invasive, inexpensive alternative to conventional serum method. In proteomics, the most promising technique which can be used for detecting salivary biomarker with sufficient resolving power is two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) that provides a unique platform for the simultaneous separation of proteins in a complex mixture. However, as a fact most of the new scientists in developing countries are still facing problems with optimization of 2-DE techniques because the performance of optimization techniques in proteomics research using 2-DE has its own limitations. Therefore, the present study was established to generate a reproducible and optimized protocol to display the 2-DE protein map of human saliva. Our results showed the standard optimization of the 2-DE protein mapping was achieved at pH 3-10 with 60 μg proteins loading. This protocol could be used by other scientists along with identification of differentially expressed proteins by mass spectrometry when 2-DE protein map of patients saliva are compared to that of normal healthy individuals. These differentially expressed proteins could be later used as specific and sensitive biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis of the disease in question. In conclusion, the procedure used in our study generated a highly reproducible and optimized reference 2-DE protein mapping of human saliva.