A note on the platelet count in Thai vegans.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Diet, Vegetarian↗
Biomedical subjects
Viroj Wiwanitkit
Publications and source records attributed to Viroj Wiwanitkit.
Platelet count in reported cases of bird flu infection in Thailand.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Blood Platelets↗
A note on urinary trans,trans-muconic acid level among Thai press workers.
Benzene is a common toxic volatile substance associated with many industrial processes. Benzene exposure is of particular concern because recent research indicates that it can result in chronic toxicity and thousands of workers in industrial plants experience ongoing exposure. Therefore, the determination and control of benzene exposure among at-risk workers is very important. Urinary trans,trans-muconic acid (ttMA) determination is a helpful test for monitoring groups of at-risk workers for exposure to benzene. In this study, 103 urine samples were obtained from 60 controls and 43 occupational exposed press workers in a press factory in Bangkok. All samples were analysed for ttMA using a previously reported method. The average urinary ttMA levels for the control and exposed groups were 0.08+/-0.03 mg g(-1) creatinine and 0.56+/-0.65 mg g(-1) creatinine, respectively. Significantly higher urinary ttMA levels were observed among the press workers (p=0.03). The introduction of public health policies concerning the prevention of exposure to benzene among at-risk workers is recommended, and more widespread use of biological monitoring for the assessment and control of occupational exposure to industrial chemicals is encouraged.
Adult↗
Emerging of admitted pneumonia after tsunami in Phuket, Thailand.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Communicable Diseases, Emerging↗
Prostate specific antigen for screening for prostate cancer: an appraisal of Thai reports.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in male populations in many parts of the world. It is a slowing growing deadly cancer with very few signs and symptoms in the early stage. For screening, prostate specific antigen (PSA) has been proposed as a marker in the serum. It is widely employed in western countries, but use of PSA for prostate cancer screening in developing Asian countries is not generalized. Here, the author performed an appraisal on the diagnostic properties of serum PSA in screening prostate cancer among the Thais. Four reports from the literature were recruited for further metanalysis of a total of 1,321 cases. The overall diagnostic activity with regard to sensitivity, specificity, false positive and false negative rates, values being 95.8 %, 66.2 %, 33.8 % and 4.2 %, respectively. Therefore the test has good sensitivity, and sufficiently good diagnostic properties for screening when compared to digital rectal examination (DRE). However, serum PSA cannot be used for a definitive diagnosis, for which pathological confirmation is also necessary.
Aged↗
A survey on breast self-examination among Thai adult women in a rural distant subdistrict.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Adolescent↗
Seroprevalence of hepatitis virus B seropositive in the patients with cholangiocarcinoma: a summary.
The exact etiology of cholangiocarcinoma remains undetermined. One of the related risk factors for its development might be chronic viral hepatitis infection. Concerning hepatitis B infection, a correlation with cholangiocarcinoma has been documented. Here, we summarize knowledge on the prevalence of hepatitis B seropositivity among patients with cholangiocarcinomas. According to the literature review, five reports were recruited for further metanalysis, covering 565 cases. The overall prevalence of seropositive cancer was 14.5% (83/565). Further analysis revealed no correlation between prevalence rate and nationality of the studied population (P > 0.05). Therefore, hepatitis B infection might be a contributing factor for cholangiocarcinoma development.
Bile Duct Neoplasms↗
Hepatitis G virus RNA positivity among the voluntary blood donors: a summary.
Hepatitis virus infection is an increasing problem. Millions of humans all over the world are infected. Viral hepatitis is accepted as a significant public health problem with several life altering complications. Recently, new viruses have been identified for their association with hepatitis. Hepatitis G virus (HGV) is a single stranded RNA virus which represents a newly discovered virus belonging to the flavivirus family. Epidemiological data indicate that the virus is transmitted via blood/blood products, sexually and vertically from infected mothers to children. There are some previous reports on the prevalence of HGV infection among the blood/blood products. The purpose of this study is to summarize the prevalence of HGV infection, defined as HGV RNA positivity, among the voluntary blood donors in the previous reports. Due to this study, there have been at least 30 reports. Of 13,610 documented voluntary donors, there are 649 cases with HGV RNA positivity. The summative percentage for HGV RNA positivity is 4.8%: 4.5% in Caucasian, 3.4 % in Asian and 17.2% in Negroid. There is no significant association between ethnicity of donors and prevalence of HGV RNA positivity (p > 0.05). The HGV infection seems to distribute in all ethnicities all over the world, implying the global importance of this hepatitis virus infection. Screening for HGV RNA might be an important test in blood bank process in the future.
Blood Donors↗
Hepatitis virus B is not a risk factor in hepatoblastoma patients.
The prevalence of primary liver cancer varies throughout the world. Hepatoblastoma is the most common pediatric liver malignancy, comprising approximately 1% of all pediatric cancers. The exact etiology of hepatoblastoma remains undetermined. Concerning hepatitis B infection, whether there are links with hepatoblastoma is poorly documented. Here, we summarize knowledge on the prevalence of hepatitis B seropositives among the patients with hepatoblastoma. According to the literature review, six reports were recruited for metanalysis, with a total of 60 cases. The overall prevalence of seropositive cancer was 3.3 % (2/560). Further analysis revealed no correlation between prevalence rate and nationality of the studied population (P > 0.05). Therefore, hepatitis B infection does not appear to be a contributing factor for hepatoblastoma. Further studies are needed to clarify which are the risk factors for the hepatoblastoma.
Child↗
Individuals with HGV-RNA are at high risk of B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma development.
Lymphoma is a common hematological malignancy. Hepatitis viruses, especially hepatitis B and hepatitis C, are known risk factors for development of non-Hodgkin lymphomas. However, there are a number of patients with hepatitis in whom no virus can be identified and it was therefore postulated that there may be other agents which may be causing hepatitis. Many new hepatitis viruses have indeed been identified and proposed to have possible roles in pathogenesis of many disorders. Hepatitis G virus (HGV) is an example of a newly detected hepatitis virus. Whethere there is a correlation between infection and development of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is of interest. Therefore an appraisal of the prevalence of HGV RNA among patients with B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma comparing with healthy control subjects was performed. According to the literature review, three reports covering 247 cases of non Hodgkin's lymphoma were recruited. The overall prevalence of HGV RNA positivity was found to be 7.2 % (18/247). Of the three reports, only two had complete data on the prevalence in both patients with B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and healthy control subjects andwere used for further metanalysis study, covering 178 cases and 355 healthy subjects. The overall antibody positive rate in the patients and healthy subjects were 8.4 % (15/178) and 0.8 % (3/355), respectively, with an odds ratio is 10.8. According to this study, it can be seen that individuals who are HGV RNA positive may be at very high risk of B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma development.
GB virus C↗
Urinary bladder carcinoma and human papilloma virus infection, an appraisal of risk.
Human papilloma virus (HPV) is a well known risk factor for cancer development in different body sites, involved in the pathogenesis of several intraepithelial lesions and cancers, for example of the upper alimenatry and respiratory tracts and cervix. Urinary bladder carcinoma is a common urological malignancy for which a relationship with human HPV has been indicated, but the results are controversial. Here, the author performed an appraisal of the previous reports on the studies to document correlation between HPV infection, defined as DNA positive, and urinary bladder carcinoma. According to the literature review, 5 reports were recruited for metanalysis, including 239 cases and 52 healthy subjects. The overall HPV DNA positive rates for the patients and healthy control subjects were 25.5 % (61/239) and 11.5 % (6/52), respectively, the odds ratio of 2.6 pointing to potential as a risk factor.
Humans↗
Cancer risk for Thai traffic police exposed to traffic benzene vapor.
Benzene exposure is of particular concern because recent research indicates that it can result in chronic toxicity, with an elevated risk of carcinogenesis. Exposure to benzene from automobile exhaust can be an important occupational problem for police. The present study was conducted to estimate risk of Thai traffic police developing cancer due to contact with traffic benzene vapor during daily work. According to the data obtained, the estimated predicted cancer incidence for traffic police is 0.05 case per 70-year period, simply translated as 1.8 cancer cases per 100,000 traffic police per year. This is clearly a cause of concern and annual check up and monitoring for benzene exposure among traffic police should be set up as part of a program for primary prevention of occupation -- related cancer.
Benzene↗
Inhibition of Heinz body induction in an in vitro model and total antioxidant activity of medicinal Thai plants.
Herbs have been used for medicinal purposes for centuries and known to possess antioxidant properties that may help to reduce the risk of chronic diseases, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. We screen aqueous extracts from 20 medicinal plants in Thailand that were believed to possess anti-tumor activity, help immune-stimulating property and maintain blood stasis. The antioxidant activities were investigated in two bioassays. Firstly, we demonstrated inhibition of Heinz bodies induction caused by oxidants under in vitro condition. The percentages of Heinz body inhibition activity in plant extracts from Terminalia citrina, Cassia timoriensis, and Derris elliptica were the highest followed by Anamirta cocculus, and Oroxylum indicum respectively. In addition, we investigated total antioxidant activity in plant extracts by improved ABTS radical cation decolorization assay. The total antioxidant activity of the extract from Terminalia citrina was also the highest activity followed by Ficus pubigera, Derris elliptica, Anamirta cocculus, Caesalpinia sappan, and Oroxylum indicum respectively. Our results suggest medicinal Thai plants as valuable sources of antioxidants, which may have a potential anti-carcinogenic activity.
Benzothiazoles↗
Alpha fetoprotein for screening for hepatocellular cancer in populations with viral hepatitis B: an appraisal of Thai reports.
Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is a common gastrointestinal malignancy in hepatitis cases which is difficult to detect in early stages. Alpha fetoprotein (AFP) is a tumor marker which has been introduced for screening but in Southeast Asia where the rate of hepatitis B seropositivity is very high, the diagnostic benefit is still doubtful. Here, a literature review of three Thai reports was conducted, covering 4,295 cases. The overall diagnostic activity showed sensitivity, specificity, false positives and false negatives of 73.5%, 98.9%, 26.5% and 1.1%, respectively. Thus the sensitivity is insufficient for screening purposes and serum AFP can not be recommended for hepatitis B carriers over standard tests.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular↗
Molecular structure of BRCA1-estrogen receptor alpha-estrogen complex: relevance to breast cancer?
Recent studies indicate that BRCA1, the first breast cancer susceptibility gene to be identified and cloned, interacts with and regulates the activity of estrogen receptor alpha. The availability of genetic tests for BRCA gene mutations has prompted cancer geneticists to generate information about genetic risk and inform women with a personal or family history of breast or ovarian cancer of preventive measures. However, knowledge on the human BRCA1-estrogen receptor alpha-estrogen complex is limited. Here, the author focuses on its 3D molecular structure and properties.
BRCA1 Protein↗
Classification of risk occupation for benzene exposure by urine trans, trans-munconic acid level.
Leukemogenesis due to benzene exposure is of particular concern because of ongoing exposure to thousands of workers in industrial plants. Monitoring of at-risk workers is recommended and of several biomarkers, urine trans,trans-muconic acid (ttMA) determination is a helpful test. The aim of this work was to classify risk occupation for benzene exposure by urine ttMA level. Here, the author compared exposure risk ratios from 6 previous reports concerning urine ttMA determination. Of interest, the high risk occupations were found to be those which have direct contact with benzene in environmental ambient air, with petroleum fuel as the common source.
Benzene↗
Screening for cervical cancer, results from Thailand.
Pap smears are recommended asa general screening methods to early diagnose cervical cancer in order to decrease morbidity and or mortality. Women in Thailand have a relatively high risk. Here, the author summarizes reported results from cervical screening programs set in Thailand. A total of 101,107 subjects of screening were included. The overall prevalence of cervical cancer was 0.38% (383 cases). The overall prevalence of pre-cancerous cases and other lesions (infection and inflammation) were 2.4% (2,405) and 5.3% (5,358). There was no significant association between the prevalence rate and the region. These results document the importance of cervical cancer in Thailand and the high detection rate of pre-cancerous lesion supports the utility of screening programs for secondary prevention of cervical cancer. Health education seems to play an important role in success of the cervical cancer screening program for Thai females.
Female↗