A cross-sectional study was undertaken to evaluate if outpatient administration of in-travenous iron sucrose complex (Venofer) was a sensible option in treating iron defi-ciency anaemia during pregnancy and puerperium. A total of 120 patients with iron deficiency anaemia were recruited from the Obstetric Day Care Clinic at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) over 18 months from March 2003 to August 2004. The main outcome measures were haemoglobin increment, patients’ compliance, adverse effects and saving from hospitalization fees. The pre-treatment haemoglobin (Hb) level was 8.5+0.85g/dl for the antenatal patient and 7.6+0.80 g/dl in the post-partum group. The mean post-treatment haemoglobin increment at day four-teenth was 3.52+0.75g/dl. One patient developed skin rash while another had low-grade pyrexia. Seven patients experienced mild metallic taste. There were no serious side effects or anaphylactic reactions. Ten patients (8.3%) did not complete their ther-apy - eight delivered before completion of treatment; another two defaulted following delivery. The average number of Venofer used was seven ampoules i.e. 700mg per person, most of them required three sessions to complete the course. Outpatient treatment allows each patient to save hospitalization fees of RM45 per day, which to-talled up to RM135 for a 3-days ward stay. An estimation of RM16,200 hospitalization fees for the 120 patients was avoided during the study period. In conclusion, outpatient treatment of anaemia in pregnancy and post-partum period using Venofer was safe and feasible, with high patient compliant and cost-savings from hospitalization fees.

The objective of this study was to investigate the angiogenic potential of human chorion-derived stem cells (CDSC) cultured in medium containing bFGF and VEGF (EDM50). Total RNA was extracted from cells cultured in FD+10% FBS and EDM50. Quantitative RT-PCR was carried out to score the differential mRNA expression of genes involve in angiogenesis and endothelial differentiation. Our finding demonstrated that all angiogenic and endothelial associated genes were expressed higher in EDM50. Expression level of ANG-1, eNOS and VEGFR2 were significantly higher in EDM50 compared to FD+10% FBS. Our results suggested that human CDSC cultured in EDM50 can be used for angiogenesis purpose in regenerative medicine.

The aim of the study is to determine the neuronal and glial gene expression of cultured human amniotic epithelial cells (HAECs) in serial passages. HAECs obtained from human term placentae were cultured in F12:DMEM (1:1) + 10% FBS +10ng/ml EGF in serial passages. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to assess the gene expression analysis. The results showed that the cultured HAECs expressed the neural stem cell genes (Nestin, NSE and Vimentin), mature neuronal genes (TH, MAP-2, beta-III-tubulin and NFM) and glial genes (CNPase, MBP and Olig). These neural stem cell genes increased with serial passages while the genes expression for mature neuronal and glial cells were downregulated. These results suggested that HAECs may promote or involve in neurogenesis and gliagenesis.

The aim of the study is to evaluate the stemness gene expression of cultured human amniotic epithelial cells (HAECs) in serial passages. HAECs obtained from human term placentae were cultured in F12:DMEM(1:1) + 10% FBS +10ng/ml EGF in serial passages (P0, P1, P2 and P4). Quantitative RT-PCR was used to assess the gene expression analysis. The results showed that cultured HAECs expressed and downregulated the stemness genes expression for Oct-4, Sox-2, Nanog3, FGF4, Rex-1, FZD-9, BST-1 ABCG2. However, vimentin and nestin gene expression were upregulated. The results suggested that cultured HAECs may have pluripotent and multipotent properties.

Angiogenic induction was made to promote angiogenesis by differentiating stem cells towards endothelial cells. However, the stemness property of induced cells has not been revealed yet. Hence, we aim to evaluate the differential mRNA expression of stemness genes in human chorion-derived stem cells (CDSC) after being cultured in EDM50 comprised bFGF and VEGF. Results indicated that CDSC cultured in EMD50 expressed significantly higher mRNA level of Sox-2, FZD9, BST-1 and Nestin. In addition Oct-4, FGF-4 and ABCG-2 were also upregulated. Our finding suggested that CDSC after angiogenic induction enhanced its stem cell properties. This could be contributed for the mechanism of stem cell therapy in ischemic problem.

Purpose: There are relatively few student-led medical conferences worldwide. A group of medical and nursing students from Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, organized an annual student-led faculty-supported inter-professional Student Medical-Nursing Education Conference (SMEC), which consisted of plenary talks, lectures and workshops, and a scientific competition. This research focused on the evaluation of workshops conducted during the 8th SMEC 2012. Method: The authors used various process variables to survey the conference participants on the educational value of the 4 plenary lectures and 20 workshops, half of which were run by experienced healthcare professionals and the other half by current seniors or recent graduates. Results: A total of 270 medical and nursing students completed the survey. Good to excellent educational value was reported for most of the workshops. Higher educational value was associated with use of props (correlation coefficient, r=0.733 and 0.568), adherence to workshop topic/focus (r=0.608 and 0.815) and openness of presenter to questions (r=0.555 and 0.453). Conclusion: A student-led, faculty-supported interprofessional conference organized by medical and nursing students had good to excellent self-reported education value in helping their fellow medical and nursing students learn about various healthcare disciplines and prepare for medical and nursing school.