Malaysian Malay Research Articles

Pharmacogenetic assessment of 5‐HT1A‐rs6295 (C1019G) and 5‐HT2A‐rs6311 (G1438A) Receptor gene polymorphisms in SSRI treatment outcome among Malays in malaysia

SSRI medications had steadily manifested unacceptable level of low efficacy and higher adverse effect over time. There are several pharmacogentic studies that revealed an association between serotonergic genes such as rs6295‐HT1A and rs6311‐HT2A with treatment outcome among MDD patents. Nevertheless, there are other studies that failed to replicate these association findings. The mechanisms through which these polymorphisms influence treatment outcome are not entirely known. Functional studies had revealed that both C>G change of rs6295 and G>A change for rs6311 were associated with increased activity and expression of the receptor protein encoded by the genes. At present, there are no objective methods for determining whether a patient would experience a favourable or unfavourable treatment outcome. The current study aims to determine the association between 5‐HT1A‐rs6295 (C1019G) and 5‐HT2A‐rs6311 (G1438A) gene polymorphisms with six weeks SSRI treatment outcome among Malays diagnosed with first episode MDD. Recruitment with blood sampling of consenting MDD patient by consecutive sampling technique was done. Montgomery asberg Depression Rating Scale‐self Rated (MADRS‐S) instrument was used in determining the severity of depression before and after 6 weeks of treatment. Different paradigms of treatment response, which points to different cut‐off values in changes for MADRS score; such as clinical response (≥50%), specific clinical response (≥55%), partial early response (≥25%) and remission response (≥85%) were assessed. Adverse effects (AE) were assessed using patient‐rated inventory of side effect (PRISE) at the end of the study. Adjusted logistic regression evaluation for association findings were carried out. There were 128 patients with completed data on adverse effect and 120 patients with response to treatment data. The treatment response paradigms reported in this study were clinical response (82 (68%)), specific clinical response (68 (68%)), partial‐early response (85 (70.8%)) and remission response (38 (31.4%)) respectively. SSRI treatment induced adverse effect was observed in 109 (85.2%) patients. Heightened odds for both clinical response (OR=47.619, CI=4.484–500.000, p=0.001) and specific clinical response (OR=408.29 (CI=9.86–16900.69; p=0.001) were observed for rs6295‐G/G when assessed using a co‐dominant model. Rs6311‐A/A (HT2A), was associated with an increased odd for specific clinical response especially when it was evaluated using a dominant model (OR= 58.598, CI=4.857–706.921, p=0.001). There was an increase in odds for dry skin among carriers of rs6295‐C/G (p=0.048, OR=7.936, CI=1.020–62.500) when it was assessed in a co‐dominant model. Patients carrying rs6311‐A allele were observed to be at increased odd for nausea/vomiting (p=0.024, OR=10.526, CI=1.369–83.333) when assessed through a recessive model.ConclusionRs6295‐G and RS6311‐A predict different paradigm of treatment responses, dry skin A.E and nausea/vomiting A.E among Malay patients diagnosed with FEMDD.Support or Funding InformationI am a postgraduate student at Universti Putra Malaysia and am fully sponsoring my self for the conference tripThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Alerters in Malay and English Speech Act of Request: A Contrastive Pragmatics Analysis

This study focuses on the speech act of requests, specifically on the alerters. An ‘alerter’ refers to the discourse feature used in initiating a conversation or the getting attention of the hearer. Request as a speech act is much investigated for its Head Acts and Supportive Moves, however, alerter as one of its initial discourse features has not been much looked into. In the context of contrastive pragmatics study on the Malay language in Malaysia, the study of alerters in request has yet to be explored. Hence, the aim of this study is as follows: 1 - to classify the Malay categories of alerters by Malaysian Malay speakers, and 2 – to compare them with alerters in the English language. The participants consist of 400 native speakers’ of Malays from a central city and a rural area, aged between 12 to 56 years old, and varied in social backgrounds. The data was collected via Discourse Completion Task within a span of 3 months, and also coded and analysed using the framework of Cross Cultural Speech Act Realization Project (CCSARP) by Blum-Kulka & Olshtain (1984). The findings revealed 10 categories of alerters by Malay speakers. The findings also indicated similarities and differences in the categories of Malay alerters and English alerters which could be the result of intercultural fusion in the sociopragmatis of doing requests within English, and the languages in Malaysia with the Malay language. Keywords: Alerters; English Requests; Malay Requests; Sociopragmatics competence; contrastive pragmatics

Understanding Malaysian Malays Communication Characteristics in Reducing Psychological Impact on Flood Victims

Culture has a very important function in the daily lives of Malaysians. In spite of its importance, less attention has been paid to identifying Malaysian ethnic values from their own perspective. Most of previous studies have focused on a universal approach to identify the values of Malaysians. By addressing the gap, this paper hopes to identify a more comprehensive list of values related to Malaysian communication characteristics in flood disaster management context. Over the past decade, flood has become Malaysia’s most common natural disaster. Sustainable flood mitigation and relief management is important as it reflects the ruling government for dealing with crisis. The psychological support on victims’ wellbeing, during and after the disaster is substantial from the humanitarian perspective. Hence, this paper discusses the communication practices from indigenous perspective to help reduce the psychological impact of flooding. This paper presents qualitative data, based on in-depth interviews with 13 flood victims. The findings indicate that local values are important characteristics of effective communication surplus to the aids that bound to reduce the psychological impact of a disaster. This research intends to contribute in terms of the identification of the local code of conduct in communication in an attempt to obtain insights about flood disaster management. Besides, the outcome of the study could help to develop policies for aid agencies, information resources and community organisations in relation to the competency in communication to advocate the betterment and well-being of flood disaster victims. Keywords: Communication, disaster management, well-being, local values, psychological impact .

Politeness Strategies and Gender Differences in the Speech Act of Rejection among the Malays in Malaysia

Men and women utilise language to serve various purposes. Making rejection falls as one of the functions through which gender differences in the language may be identified. Research seems to suggest that men and women construct and incorporate politeness differently while performing speech acts of rejection. Therefore, this study aims to identify the positive and the negative politeness strategies that both genders use in making a rejection and also to compare, to what extent politeness strategies of males differ from those of females in making rejection. This study employs the framework of Brown and Levinson’s Model of Politeness (1987) where it is realised through a set of questionnaire involving nine different situations and is formulated based on an oral Discourse Completion Task. The oral DCT is tested on 50 male and 50 female students of International Islamic University Malaysia. As a whole, males use more positive and negative politeness strategies than females when making rejections. While in a broader context, both genders are generally explanative and apologetic when making rejections. Therefore, this study is able to suggest better ways for society members in the future on how to make appropriate rejections to each other.

Variants in MCCC1/LAMP3 and DGKQ identified through GWAS are not associated with PD in a Malaysian Malay cohort

Variants in MCCC1/LAMP3 and DGKQ identified through GWAS are not associated with PD in a Malaysian Malay cohort

Stature estimation by CT scan images of metacarpal measurements in Malaysian Malay Males

Four basic biological profile were useful for human identification including stature. The aim is to develop regressions for stature using ten metacarpals in Malay males. The samples were retrieved from Hospital Kuala Lumpur from PMCT images, which comprised 200 males from 20 to 53 years old. The parameters were lengths often metacarpals measured by Osirix, in which strong correlations with stature were evident. Single linear regressions were developed with good accuracy, where both true and estimated statures showed close values by paired t-test. It is concluded that regression equations are useful to estimate stature in Malay males.

DNA methylation of membrane-bound catechol-O-methyltransferase in Malaysian schizophrenia patients.

This study examined catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) DNA methylation in the peripheral blood of schizophrenia patients and also in healthy controls to investigate its potential use as a peripheral biomarker of schizophrenia and its relations with the clinical variables of schizophrenia patients. We examined the DNA methylation levels of COMT using genomic DNA from the peripheral blood of schizophrenia patients (n = 138) and healthy control participants (n = 132); all were Malaysian Malays. The extracted DNA was bisulfite converted, and the percentage methylation ratio value was calculated based on the results following a MethyLight protocol analysis. The percentage methylation ratio of COMT was lower in schizophrenia than it was in the healthy controls (P < 0.001) and was different between the body mass index (P = 0.003) and antipsychotic (P = 0.004) groups. The COMT DNA methylation rate was lower in patients receiving atypical antipsychotics (P = 0.004) and risperidone (P = 0.049) as compared to typical antipsychotics. The Excitement and Depressed subdomains of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale were inversely related (P < 0.001) and therefore predictors (Excitement: b = -11.396, t = -4.760, P < 0.001; Depressed: b = -7.789, t = -3.487, P = 0.001) of COMT DNA methylation. Our results suggested that the methylation level was affected by the severity of the clinical symptoms of schizophrenia and might also be influenced by pharmacological treatment. The epigenetic alteration of COMT in the peripheral blood could be a potential peripheral biomarker of schizophrenia.

Breast Cancer Associated Mutations Reported Among Malaysian Malay, Chinese and Indian Patients

Breast cancer among women has reached an alarming stage compared to 20 years ago. It was found that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) play an important role in the development of breast cancer. SNPs may suppress or activate the functional genes, which then leads to an increased survival of cells due to the suppression of tumour suppressor genes or increased activity in detrimental proteins, resulting in cancers. Recently, breast cancer research is given significant attention due to the increasing number of breast cancer patients in Malaysia each year. However, breast cancer researches in Malaysia are mainly focused on well known breast cancer genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2. There is less emphasis on the other breast cancer contributing genes. This paper was aimed to review the research findings on mutations associated with breast cancer in Malaysian Malay, Malaysian Chinese and Malaysian Indian as it has never been cumulatively reported and to ascertain the common mutations found in these three major Malaysia ethnicity.

An analysis of genetic association in opioid dependence susceptibility.

Drug addiction is a novelty-seeking personality trait that is associated with the candidate genes OPRD1 (opioid delta receptors), OPRK1 (opioid kappa receptors) and PDYN (prodynorphin). However, associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs1042114 (80G>T) of the OPRD1 gene, rs702764 (843 A>G) of the OPRK1 gene, and rs910080 (3' UTR _743T>C), rs1997794 (5' UTR -381A>G) and rs1022563 (3' UTR) of the PDYN gene and novelty seeking remain controversial as reported results have not been reproducible. The goal of this study was to determine the frequencies of SNPs rs1042114, rs702764, rs1997794, rs1022563 and rs910080 in the Malaysian population and to study their association with opioid dependence in Malaysian Malays. A total of 459 Malay male with opioid dependence and 543 healthy male (controls) subjects were included in this study. SNPs were genotyped using the TaqMan SNP genotyping assay. Statistical analysis was performed using Golden Helix SVS software suite to identify the distribution of allele and genotype frequencies, and SNP-SNP interactions were also analysed in this study. SNP rs1042114 in the OPRD1 gene is strongly associated with opiate addiction (P=.0001). In individuals homozygous for this risk allele, the likelihood of opiate addiction is increased by a factor 1.62 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.412-1.875). Polymorphic alleles at SNP rs702764 of OPRK1 were not associated with opioid dependence. A significant association between opioid dependence and SNP rs910080 of PDYN (P=.0217) was detected, but there was no association for SNPs rs199774 and rs1022563. A significant interaction was also identified between homozygous wild-type genotype TT of rs702764 with the risk genotypes TG/GG of rs1042114 (odds ratio (OR)=2.111 (95% CI 1.227-3.631), P=.0069) and with the risk genotypes GA/AA of rs910080 (OR=1.415 (95% CI 1.04-1.912), P=.0239). The results indicate that SNPs rs1042114 and rs910080 contribute to vulnerability to opioid dependence in the Malaysian Malay population. These results will help us to understand the effect of the SNPs and the SNP-SNP interaction on opioid dependence and may assist in efforts to screen vulnerable individuals and match them with individually tailored prevention and treatment strategies.

SNP variants associated with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) correlate with human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II expression

Large consortia efforts and genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have linked a number of genetic variants within the 6p21 chromosomal region to non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Complementing these efforts, we genotyped previously reported SNPs in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I (rs6457327) and class II (rs9271100, rs2647012 and rs10484561) regions in a total of 1,145 subjects (567 NHL cases and 578 healthy controls) from two major ethnic groups in Malaysia, the Malays and the Chinese. We identified a NHL-associated (PNHL_add = 0.0008; ORNHL_add = 0.54; 95% CI = 0.37–0.77) and B-cell associated (PBcell_add = 0.0007; ORBcell_add = 0.51; 95% CI = 0.35–0.76) SNP rs2647012 in the Malaysian Malays. In silico cis-eQTL analysis of rs2647012 suggests potential regulatory function of nearby HLA class II molecules. Minor allele rs2647012-T is linked to higher expression of HLA-DQB1, rendering a protective effect to NHL risk. Our findings suggest that the HLA class II region plays an important role in NHL etiology.

Language planning for Malay in Malaysia: A case of failure or success?

AbstractThis article looks at the language planning that has been carried out since Independence in Malaysia for the promotion of Malay, the national language. After a sociolinguistic outline of the country, the different phases language planning is normally divided into are examined in detail, highlighting both the points that have proven to be successful and those that have not. In the second part of the article the problems that have been encountered during language planning and the reasons why Malay has not succeeded in becoming a full-blown national language which even the non-Malays can identify with are examined. Together with the problems, some possible solutions are put forward that may improve the given situation and make Malay a useful and prestigious language also for the non-Malays, who make up more than one third of the total population, and perhaps even internationally.

Online Advertising: An Investigation of Factors Affecting Positive Attitude among the Malays in Malaysia

Online Advertising: An Investigation of Factors Affecting Positive Attitude among the Malays in Malaysia

Impact of IL1B gene polymorphisms and interleukin 1B levels on susceptibility to spontaneous preterm birth.

Genetic factors influence susceptibility to preterm birth (PTB) and the immune pathway of PTB that involves the production of cytokines such as interleukins has been implicated in PTB disease. The aim of this study is to investigate the association of interleukin 1β (IL1B) gene polymorphisms and IL1B levels with spontaneous PTB. Peripheral maternal blood from 495 women was used for extraction of DNA and genotyping was carried out using the Sequenom MassARRAY platform. Maternal plasma was used to measure IL1B levels. There was no significant association between the allelic and genotype distribution of IL1B single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (rs1143634, rs1143627, rs16944) and the risk of PTB among Malaysian Malay women (rs1143634, P=0.722; rs1143627, P=0.543; rs16944, P=0.615). However, IL1B levels were significantly different between women who delivered preterm compared with those who delivered at term (P=0.030); high mean levels were observed among Malay women who delivered at preterm (mean=32.52) compared with term (mean=21.68). IL1B SNPs were not associated with IL1B plasma levels. This study indicates a significant association between IL1B levels and reduced risk of PTB among the Malaysian Malay women. This study shows the impact of IL1B levels on susceptibility to PTB disease; however, the high levels of IL1B observed among women in the preterm group are not associated with IL1B SNPs investigated in this study; IL1B high levels may be because of other factors not explored in this study and therefore warrant further investigation.

PSY26 - Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Disclosure to the Health Care Providers: A Qualitative Insight from Malaysia Thalassemia Patients

This study sought to evaluate Malaysian oncology patients CAM disclosure to the health care providers. Patients were interviewed across three major Malaysian ethnic groups, Malay, Chinese and Indian. Thematic content analysis identified three themes: reasons of CAM disclosure, reasons of CAM nondisclosure and preference of CAM discussion to health care providers. Patients agreed that CAM disclosure is important to avoid any interaction with the conventional medicines. Perceived lack of physicians’ knowledge & interest in CAM, fear of termination of therapy by the physicians upon CAM disclosure, and perceived simplicity of some of the CAM therapies were among the reasons of nondisclosure. Given the option of oncologists, pharmacists or nurses, patients described oncologists as the most suitable person to discuss or disclose CAM use due to confidence in their clinical skills. Understanding the underlying beliefs of patients’ reluctance to disclose CAM to health care providers is important especially when they are on an ongoing treatment for cancer.

Protocol for a between-group experimental study examining cultural differences in emotion processing between Malay and Caucasian adults with and without major depressive disorder

IntroductionDepression is a mood disorder that affects a significant proportion of the population worldwide. In Malaysia and Australia, the number of people diagnosed with depression is on the rise. It...

Malaysian Malay’s Perspective on Printed Sexy Advertisement

This paper sets out to extend current knowledge on reaction towards different levels of sexiness in printed advertisement by Malaysian Malays. This research test these affected based on male models in the communication and advertising literature on Malay in Malaysia utilizing questionnaire based on a set of different levels of sexiness in advertisement. The advertisement used was for non-controversial product (perfume) but some of the advertisement was contentious. Researcher used three levels of advertisements; a fully clothed male model, a revealing attire male model, and a partially sexy male model. Data collected was analyzed using Mean and compared against the response of male and female respondents. Findings indicates that Malay respondents preferred to view fully clothed advertisement followed by revealing attire and partially sexy advertisements. Main limitation for this research is the study used three different advertisements, but each respondents saw only one. Future research will benefit from further improvement (use female and both male and female models) and replication to other ethnic groups. Implications for business are then provided in this paper. ng produced by UAE-listed firms.

Malay Culture in Chinese Muslim Newly Convert (Muallaf) Perspective: Selangor Case Study

This study aims to identify the different understanding of Chinese converts groups on Malays culture in the Selangor state. Their understanding of Malay culture affects their Islamic practices. This study analyzes the understanding differences of 408 Chinese converts in the Selangor state based on age, gender, marital status, academic qualifications and employment. The study found that the group of Chinese converts in the age less than 20 years have higher understanding than the age of 21-30 years, 31-40 years, and older than 40 years. From the aspect of gender, there were no significant differences in understanding between men and women. In terms of marital status, the study found that Chinese converts single status have a higher understanding than the marriage, widows and widowers. While in terms of academic qualifications, those who graduated with a degree have higher understanding of cultural community of Malay as compared with those graduated having the approval of UPSR, PMR, SPM and Diploma. From the aspects of work, those who work at the government have a better understanding than self-employed, private and unemployment. The implication is, these contributing factors can give enlightenment to the Muslim Malay community to know that Chinese convert groups have better understanding on Malay cultural community to maintain the cultural integration between Chinese and Malays in Malaysia. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n2s1p325

Sagittal and Vertical Occlusal Cephalometric Analyses of Pancherz among Malaysian Malays and Malaysian Chinese

Sagittal and Vertical Occlusal Cephalometric Analyses of Pancherz among Malaysian Malays and Malaysian Chinese

Analysis of selected glutathione S-transferase gene polymorphisms in Malaysian type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with and without cardiovascular disease.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is believed to be associated with excessive production of reactive oxygen species. Glutathione S-transferase (GST) polymorphisms result in decreased or absent enzyme activity and altered oxidative stress, and have been associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). The present study assessed the effect of GST polymorphisms on the risk of developing T2DM in individuals of Malaysian Malay ethnicity. A total of 287 subjects, consisting of 87 T2DM and 64 CVD/T2DM patients, as well as 136 healthy gender- and age-matched controls were genotyped for selected polymorphisms to evaluate associations with T2DM susceptibility. Genomic DNA was extracted using commercially available kits, and GSTM1, GSTT1, and α-globin sequences were amplified by multiplex polymerase chain reaction. Biochemical parameters were measured with a Hitachi autoanalyzer. The Fisher exact test, the chi-square statistic, and means ± standard deviations were calculated using the SPSS software. Overall, we observed no significant differences regarding genotype and allele frequencies between each group (P = 0.224 and 0.199, respectively). However, in the combined analysis of genotypes and blood measurements, fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c, and triglyceride levels, followed by age, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, and history of T2DM significantly differed according to GST polymorphism (P ˂ 0.05). Genetically induced absence of the GSTT1 enzyme is an independent and powerful predictor of premature vascular morbidity and death in individuals with T2DM, and might be triggered by cigarette smoking's oxidative effects. These polymorphisms could be screened in other ethnicities within Malaysia to determine further possible risk factors.

Craniofacial Morphology of Class III Malocclusion with DUSP6 Gene: Mutation and Non-Mutation Groups

The etiology of developing class III malocclusion and the role of craniofacial structures in this phenotype remain indistinct. The purpose of this study was to compare the relative relationship of craniofacial structures of DUSP6 gene mutation and non-mutation groups in class III malocclusion of Malaysian Malay families and their three generations. Thirty class III cephalometric radiographs of ten Malaysian Malay families including three generations with an average age 23, 54 and 79 years of each generation respectively were studied. All landmarks were positioned, determined and consequently tracings were completed Romexis software (Planmeca, Finland) to accomplish craniofacial morphology investigation. The statistical comparisons of the mutation and non-mutation group were conducted with independent t test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to evaluate the values for three generations in class III malocclusion among all measurements. The result of the current study revealed that in mutation group, there are significant differences in Co-Gn-B and SN-MDP variables compare to non-mutation group. However, almost all craniofacial variables show no significant differences among three generations. This study may suggest that in mutation group mandible is more deviated from cranial base compare to non-mutation group and there are virtually no skeletal changes among three generations with age in case of growing class III malocclusion.