Anthony Rhodes

Introduction: Urbanization often correlates with reduced diversity in human gut microbiota, with notable variations observed between the gut microbiota among the Indigenous communities in rural villages and urban citizens residing in modern settings. Although research has been conducted on the gut microbiota of healthy adults in Malaysia, there has been no study characterising the gut microbiota of Sarawak’s Indigenous communities to date. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the gut microbiota profile of the Sarawak Indigenous groups (specifically Orang Ulu subethnic groups Kayan and Kenyah), comparing them with semi-urbanized Selangor Indigenous communities from Peninsular Malaysia (represented by Proto Malay subtribe Temuan) and Urban communities from Kuala Lumpur. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study and collected stool samples from 86 Indigenous participants from Sarawak and compared them with published data from 45 Malaysian Indigenous participants from Selangor and 18 Urban citizens living in Kuala Lumpur City. DNA was extracted from the stool samples, and subsequently, the V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene was sequenced. The raw sequence data were analyzed using the Quantitative Insights into Microbial Ecology 2 (QIIME2) bioinformatics platform. Results and Discussion: Analysis revealed that the Sarawak Indigenous community exhibited the highest gut microbial diversity, followed by the Peninsular Indigenous and Urban groups. The Prevotella / Bacteroides (P/B) ratio revealed that the Sarawak Indigenous community showed the highest presence of Prevotella at 88.3%, while Kuala Lumpur Urban residents had a predominantly Bacteroides composition at 61%. The Selangor Indigenous community also exhibited a Prevotella -dominant profile at 75.5%. VANISH microbes ( Prevotella , Faecalibacterium , and Succinivibrio ) were identified as dominant genera in the Sarawak Indigenous gut microbiota, contrasting with the BIoSSUM microbe ( Bacteroidaceae ) found in the Kuala Lumpur cohort. Conclusion: This study sheds light on the distinct gut microbiota composition of Sarawak’s Indigenous community, which has not been previously explored. It highlights the impact of urbanization on gut microbiota composition during lifestyle transitions.

Context: Immunohistochemical (IHC) testing of estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors (PR), HER2 and Ki-67 on breast cancer samples is carried out in the majority of clinical departments to predict response to therapies and to determine prognosis. Issues surrounding the reproducibility of testing are well documented and guidelines recommend laboratories participate in external quality assessment (EQA) in order to ensure reliability of results. Objective: To assess the reproducibility of IHC testing for these markers in hospitals from the south, north, and centre of Vietnam, estimated to be approximately half of all clinical hospitals in the country performing these tests. Design: As cases are referred for testing between hospitals, an EQA ring study was designed that included the testing of samples from all participating laboratories. Participants were provided with unstained slides of invasive breast carcinomas with different expression levels for ER, PR, HER2 and Ki-67. Results: There was a significant level of reproducibility for all four biomarkers, with ER testing giving the least variation in results (kappa 0.822, coefficient of variation [CV] 4.8%) and Ki-67 the greatest variation (kappa 0.647 CV 17%). However, 328/392 (84%) and 317/392 (81%) of the Ki-67 evaluations were in agreement when employing the clinically relevant cut points of ≥30% and ≥20%, respectively. The reproducibility of testing for HER2-low expression was relatively poor (kappa 0.323, 95% CI 0.223–0.424), compared to overall agreement for HER2 testing (kappa 0.794, 95% CI 0.753–0.836). Conclusion: This is the first EQA ring study held within Vietnam for ER, PR, HER2 and Ki-67 and sets the base line as to the current level of reproducibility in the country. Continued participation in the program will help ensure the reliability of testing for clinical use.

Context The continuous rise in urbanisation and its associated factors have been reflected in the structure of the human gut ecosystem. Objective The main focus of the review is to discuss and summarise the major risk factors associated with urbanisation that affects human gut microbiota thus affecting human health. Methods Multiple medical literature databases, namely PubMed, Google, Google Scholar, and Web of Science were used to find relevant materials for urbanization and its major factors affecting human gut microbiota/microbiome. Both layman and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms were used in the search. Due to the scarcity of the data, no limitation was set on the publication date. Relevant material in the English language which includes case reports, chapters of books, journal articles, online news reports and medical records was included in this review. Results Based on the data discussed in the review, it is quite clear that urbanisation and its associated factors have long-standing effects on the human gut microbiota that result in alterations of gut microbial diversity and composition. This is a matter of serious concern as chronic inflammatory diseases are on the rise in urbanised societies. Conclusion A better understanding of the factors associated with urbanisation will help us to identify and implement new biological and social approaches to prevent and treat diseases and improve health globally by deepening our understanding of these relationships and increasing studies across urbanisation gradients.

The British Journal of Biomedical Science (BJBS) has come a long way since it was first published as the Laboratory Journal now over 100 years ago, back in 1913. Its latest impact factor exceeds that of some of the most well-known pathology journals; emphasising the quality of the science now being published. It is and always has been the official journal of the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS). Consequently, its articles reflect the scientific interests and specialties of IBMS members. Traditionally, the membership has been predominantly biomedical scientists employed in the health services of the UK and other countries, frequently in discipline specific areas such as Cell Sciences, Blood Sciences, Infectious Sciences, Genetics and Molecular Pathology. However, the IBMS membership profile is changing to include increasing numbers of members from the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, and universities, both in the UK and from overseas. The skill sets of biomedical scientists working in the health services are also rapidly changing, with an increasing number of advanced practice and consultancy roles necessary to meet the growing demands of a modernised pathology service, and with many advanced practitioners and consultant biomedical scientists now having doctoral qualifications. The term biomedical science is used globally to describe the range of life sciences underpinning medicine. As such, biomedical research covers the whole “bench-to-bedside” journey, ranging from initial mechanistic and functional studies on cell lines, or even tiny organisms such as Drosophila spp. and Caenorhabditis elegans, through to translation of the findings to human clinical trials and predicting response to targeted therapies. Biomedical scientists in hospital laboratories are familiar with testing for established biomarkers as part of their day-to-day work. However, these established diagnostics started their embryonic life many years earlier as hypothesis driven research, subsequently tested on cell lines or animal models prior to their testing in clinical trials and eventually impacting on patient management. Set against these backdrops, the aim for the BJBS is to retain its deeply embedded foundations in the full range of disciplines that comprise biomedical science and therefore represent the interests of the many hospital-based members of the IBMS. However, in order to attract articles from the broader biomedical science communities, the journal will continue to grow by including a greater number of papers involving fundamental biomedical research that investigates the function and mechanisms of the disease process, the findings of which in years to come may be translated into new diagnostic tests that influence patient management. In short, we wish to encourage research submissions that reflect the whole of the bench-to-bedside journey. A new feature of the journal which the Frontiers open access model supports is the introduction of Special Issues. These are a series of articles grouped on a central theme with a Guest Editor, soliciting and editing the compilation. Currently, we have a Special Issue on Dermatopathology and Associated Laboratory Investigations in the Study of Skin Disease edited by Dr Guy Orchard. We also have a Special Issue focusing on Women in Science which ties in with the IBMS’ celebration of 100 years of female members. We hope it will serve the community by shedding light on female researchers and provide them with a platform to showcase their work and their role in open science. With this in mind, for this Special Issue, we invite submissions from female biomedical scientists on a range of research topics related to the investigation and treatment of disease, to include but not limited to; cancer, the microbiome, cardiovascular disease and infectious disease. To complement the scientific content within the published articles we also invite authors to provide some personal reflections on life in academia that will be included within the published paper. If you wish to submit an article to either of these Special Issues or indeed to act as a Guest Editor for a new theme for which you have a passion, please do contact us at the journal, we would love to hear from you (bjbs@frontierspartnerships.org). The BJBS has recently changed publishers from Taylor and Francis to Frontiers, which is fully open access and online. This allows the reader free access to articles published without having to subscribe to the journal, or to pay to view it. The advantage to authors is that their work can be read immediately by anybody in the world with internet access, from the moment that it is published. The value of this to the global research community was exemplified during the pandemic when most journals, even those normally requiring payment to view, made all COVID-19 related articles free to read with the aim of disseminating the results of important COVID-19 research as quickly as possible. However, as the saying goes; “there is no such thing as a free meal” and in pre- and post-COVID times, it would ordinarily fall on the authors to pay an article processing charge (APC) to publish in open access journals, and this charge can be substantial. Thankfully for IBMS members wishing to publish in the BJBS the APC is waived and members can publish their research for free. Working closely with the Editor-in-Chief and the publishing team at the journal are four Deputy Editors who are responsible for handling the submitted articles and sourcing experts in the field to review the articles; Dr Andrew Blann, Dr Guy Orchard, Dr Mark Hajjawi and Dr Yuh Fen Pung. In addition, the editorial board members are appointed based on their expertise in different areas of biomedical science and their experience in reviewing papers. As the journal continues to grow, we will expand the editorial board to provide an increased range of expertise. In March 2022, the IBMS held its biennial conference at the International Convention Centre, in Birmingham, UK with over 3,000 delegates in attendance. In addition to the main programme, biomedical scientists presented over 80 posters or short communications on a range of research topics. In order to capture and record the valuable contributions being made by IBMS members, the journal will work with Frontiers to publish all accepted abstracts in an e-book to be accessed via the journal’s website. This will commence with the next IBMS Congress in 2023. In summary the BJBS, working in symbiosis with the IBMS, aims to deliver a quality publication that reflects the growth and impact of biomedical scientists and biomedical research on World health. In order to achieve this aim we greatly look forward to working with you and in receiving articles from across the globe. The author confirms being the sole contributor of this work and has approved it for publication. The author declares that this editorial was written in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. Citation: Rhodes A (2022) Biomedical Science and New Frontiers. Br J Biomed Sci 79:10638. doi: 10.3389/bjbs.2022.10638 Received: 12 May 2022; Accepted: 18 May 2022; Published: 20 June 2022. Copyright © 2022 Rhodes. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. *Correspondence: Anthony Rhodes, carhodes60@gmail.com

The British Journal of Biomedical Science in its attempts to continue to make steps forward as a leading international journal, has seen a significant rise in its impact factor (IF) rating over the...

The COVID-19 disease is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is highly infective within the human population. The virus is widely disseminated to almost every continent with over twenty-seven million infections and over ninety-thousand reported deaths attributed to COVID-19 disease. SARS-CoV-2 is a single stranded RNA virus, comprising three main viral proteins; membrane, spike and envelope. The clinical features of COVID‐19 disease can be classified according to different degrees of severity, with some patients progressing to acute respiratory distress syndrome, which can be fatal. In addition, many infections are asymptomatic or only cause mild symptoms. As there is no specific treatment for COVID-19 there is considerable endeavour to raise a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, in addition to engineering neutralizing antibody interventions. In the absence of an effective vaccine, movement controls of varying stringencies have been imposed. Whilst enforced lockdown measures have been effective, they may be less effective against the current strain of SARS-CoV-2, the G614 clade. Conversely, other mutations of the virus, such as the Δ382 variant could reduce the clinical relevance of infection. The front runners in the race to develop an effective vaccine focus on the SARS-Co-V-2 Spike protein. However, vaccines that produce a T-cell response to a wider range of SARS-Co-V-2 viral proteins, may be more effective. Population based studies that determine the level of innate immunity to SARS-CoV-2, from prior exposure to the virus or to other coronaviruses, will have important implications for government imposed movement control and the strategic delivery of vaccination programmes.

Each year the British Journal of Biomedical Science publishes a ‘What have we learned’ editorial designed to introduce readers within the major disciplines of laboratory medicine to developments outside their immediate area. In addition it is designed to inform a wider readership of the advances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. To this end, in 2020 the journal published 39 articles covering the disciplines within Biomedical Science in the 4 issues comprising volume 77. These included a review of COVID-19 in this issue, 27 original articles, 6 Biomedical Science ‘In Brief’ and 4 case histories. 27 of the articles involved molecular techniques, with one of these comparing results with a mass spectrometry based method. The preponderance of molecular genetic studies gives us a good idea of the likely future direction of the disciplines

Introduction: Polymorphic expression of a CAG repeat sequence in the androgen receptor (AR) gene may influence the activity of the AR and the occurrence of prostate cancer and the TMPRSS2-ERG fusion event. Furthermore, this polymorphism may be responsible for the ethnic variation observed in prostate cancer occurrence and expression of the ERG oncogene. We investigate the expression of AR and ERG in the biopsies of Malaysian men with prostate cancer and in the same patients relate this to the length of the CAG repeat sequence in their AR gene. Materials and Methods: From a PSA screening initiative, 161 men were shown to have elevated PSA levels in their blood and underwent prostatic tissue biopsy. DNA was extracted from the blood, and exon 1 of the AR gene amplified by PCR and sequenced. The number of CAG repeat sequences were counted and compared to the immunohistochemical expression of ERG and AR in the matched tumour biopsies. Results: Of men with elevated PSA, 89 were diagnosed with prostate cancer, and 72 with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). There was no significant difference in the length of the CAG repeat in men with prostate cancer and BPH. The CAG repeat length was not associated with; age, PSA or tumour grade, though a longer CAG repeat was associated with tumour stage. ERG and AR were expressed in 36% and 86% of the cancers, respectively. There was no significant association between CAG repeat length and ERG or AR expression. However, there was a significant inverse relationship between ERG and AR expression. In addition, a significantly great proportion of Indian men had ERG positive tumours, compared to men of Malay or Chinese descent. Conclusions: CAG repeat length is not associated with prostate cancer or expression of ERG or AR. However, ERG appears to be more common in the prostate cancers of Malaysian Indian men than in the prostate cancers of other Malaysian ethnicities and its expression in this study was inversely related to AR expression.