This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of bacterial vaginosis among women of age 20 to 59 years at Sarawak General Hospital by examining the conventional Pap smear. The prevalence of this infection was studied among the five main ethnic groups comprising the Iban, Chinese, Malay, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu. Microscopic screening of 300 conventional Pap smears which had been processed and stained with the Papanicolaou staining method was conducted. Based on the information provided in the Pap smear screening form, the clinical manifestations were observed which may provide some indications on the type of infection. The details of the clinical manifestations were very important because in an infection or inflammation, Pap smears would usually demonstrate changes on the cyto-morphology of the epithelial cells. The age factor among the different ethnics also played important role in the assessment of the infection frequency. Bacterial vaginosis was detected in 79.7% (239/300) of cases. The infection occurred in all ethnic groups and the infections were more frequently seen among the 20 to 39 years age group. Majority of the cases (93.9%) presented with clinical signs and symptoms. The results of this study revealed the importance of undergoing a Pap smear screening for bacterial vaginosis detection besides screening for the early detection of cervical cancer

Background: Pre-hypertension is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Chronic inflammation plays an important role in the pathophysiology of essential hypertension, with epigenetic dysregulation involvement. Nevertheless, the role of DNA methylation in prehypertensive state is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between DNA methylation level of interleukin-6 (IL-6) promoter in pre-hypertensive (PreHT) and normotensive (NT) young adults. Methods: A total of 80 NT and 80 PreHT healthy subjects aged between 18–45 years were recruited in Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia using an observational cross-sectional study approach. DNA methylation level of IL-6 promoter in peripheral leukocytes were measured using bisulphite conversion and MethyLight assay. Results: There was no significant difference in age between NT and PreHT (P = 0.655). The mean blood pressure was 110(8)/73(5) mmHg in NT and 125(7)/82(5) mmHg in PreHT subjects. The IL-6 promoter methylation level was significantly lower in PreHT compared to NT subjects (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The current study demonstrates that hypomethylation of IL-6 promoter was associated with pre-hypertension in young adults. Thus, IL-6 methylation could be used as an early indicator for predicting hypertension and related risk of cardiovascular diseases in prehypertensive subjects. Gene expression and longitudinal studies are warranted to examine the methylation effect on IL-6 expression over time

Introduction: Laboratory tests account for 66% of clinical decision making and reducing inappropriate test utilisation is a step towards optimising patients’ care and hospital cost savings. This study aims to identify the rate and cost of redundant test requests in our centre. Methods: A cross-sectional study comprising laboratory results of 14 analytes in renal function test (RFT) and liver function test (LFT) were made. Data involved blood results from adult patients admitted to Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia from January to December 2018. The redundant test is defined as test results consecutively normal twice and requested within 26 hours for analytes in RFT and 50 hours for analytes in LFT. Cost contributions were estimated by multiplying cost-per-test with total redundant requests. The test redundancy in different wards and disease groups were also evaluated. Results: Equal distribution of RFT and LFT requests were observed in both genders (50% respectively), with the most requests seen in the 60 – 79 years age group. More than 20% redundancy rate was observed for seven analytes (ALT, total bilirubin, sodium, urea, potassium, AST, Chloride), and overall redundancy was 19.7%, equals to Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) 669,105.00. Oncology wards and genitourinary diseases contribute to the highest redundancy rate. Conclusion: This study estimated MYR 600 thousands of saving if test redundancy were to be eliminated. The finding is hoped to serve as a platform for future intervention and policymaking. Future planning to optimise the current laboratory request system and collaboration among physicians and laboratory professionals can minimise test inappropriateness.