1.Impact of Knowledge and Attitudes on Lifestyle Practices in Preventing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
Benson Wg ANG ; Mui Yee TAN ; Cheryl My GOH ; Sylwan RAHARDJA ; Beatrice Y LIM ; Wenqi CHIEW ; Thurston Yj HENG ; Kuang Ian TAN ; Jenies Hx FOO ; Sarah Zl THAM ; Jason Ks CHNG ; Wei Jie SEOW ; Nan LUO
Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore 2019;48(8):247-263
INTRODUCTION:
Diabetes mellitus is a major public health issue in Singapore. To shape healthcare policies for the primary prevention of diabetes, it is crucial to understand Singaporeans' knowledge, attitudes and practices related to diabetes and its prevention. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes and lifestyles of individuals without diabetes.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
A cross-sectional household survey was performed between 31 January to 3 February 2019 to examine knowledge, attitudes and practices related to diabetes. Inclusion criteria of the participants included: 1) Singaporeans/permanent residents, 2) between 30 to 64 years old, and 3) who did not have a diagnosis of diabetes. Logistic and linear regression models were used to analyse the association of knowledge and attitudes with physical activity and diet habits, respectively.
RESULTS:
Among 806 participants, 72.2% did not meet the Health Promotion Board's physical activity recommendation. Physical activity was associated with better diabetes knowledge (odds ratio [OR] 5.38, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.65-17.53, = 0.049), stronger beliefs in diabetes prevention (OR 3.36, 95% CI = 1.02-11.12, = 0.047) and lower levels of worry about diabetes (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.17-1.00, = 0.049). Neither knowledge nor beliefs or worries about diabetes was associated with diet.
CONCLUSION
There is a need to reinforce the importance of physical activity and healthy diet in preventing diabetes. Although improving the knowledge level of diabetes may increase physical activity of the population, it is unlikely to improve dietary choices without effective behavior change interventions.
2.Cell-derived nanovesicles from mesenchymal stem cells as extracellular vesicle-mimetics in wound healing.
Yub Raj NEUPANE ; Harish K HANDRAL ; Syed Abdullah ALKAFF ; Wei Heng CHNG ; Gopalakrishnan VENKATESAN ; Chenyuan HUANG ; Choon Keong LEE ; Jiong-Wei WANG ; Gopu SRIRAM ; Rhonnie Austria DIENZO ; Wen Feng LU ; Yusuf ALI ; Bertrand CZARNY ; Giorgia PASTORIN
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2023;13(5):1887-1902
Wound healing is a dynamic process that involves a series of molecular and cellular events aimed at replacing devitalized and missing cellular components and/or tissue layers. Recently, extracellular vesicles (EVs), naturally cell-secreted lipid membrane-bound vesicles laden with biological cargos including proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids, have drawn wide attention due to their ability to promote wound healing and tissue regeneration. However, current exploitation of EVs as therapeutic agents is limited by their low isolation yields and tedious isolation processes. To circumvent these challenges, bioinspired cell-derived nanovesicles (CDNs) that mimic EVs were obtained by shearing mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) through membranes with different pore sizes. Physical characterisations and high-throughput proteomics confirmed that MSC-CDNs mimicked MSC-EVs. Moreover, these MSC-CDNs were efficiently uptaken by human dermal fibroblasts and demonstrated a dose-dependent activation of MAPK signalling pathway, resulting in enhancement of cell proliferation, cell migration, secretion of growth factors and extracellular matrix proteins, which all promoted tissue regeneration. Of note, MSC-CDNs enhanced angiogenesis in human dermal microvascular endothelial cells in a 3D PEG-fibrin scaffold and animal model, accelerating wound healing in vitro and in vivo. These findings suggest that MSC-CDNs could replace both whole cells and EVs in promoting wound healing and tissue regeneration.