Displaying publications 61 - 63 of 63 in total

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  1. Fulltext Prevalence and viral load of oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) in pterygia in multi-ethnic patients in the Malay Peninsula
    Chong PP, Tung CH, Rahman NA, Yajima M, Chin FW, Yeng CL, et al.
    Acta Ophthalmol, 2014 Nov;92(7):e569-79.
    PMID: 25043991 DOI: 10.1111/aos.12427
    The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in primary and recurrent pterygia samples collected from different ethnic groups in the equatorial Malay Peninsula.
  2. Fulltext Lung-infiltrating T helper 17 cells as the major source of interleukin-17A production during pulmonary Cryptococcus neoformans infection
    Movahed E, Cheok YY, Tan GMY, Lee CYQ, Cheong HC, Velayuthan RD, et al.
    BMC Immunol, 2018 Nov 08;19(1):32.
    PMID: 30409128 DOI: 10.1186/s12865-018-0269-5
    BACKGROUND: IL-17A has emerged as a key player in the pathologies of inflammation, autoimmune disease, and immunity to microbes since its discovery two decades ago. In this study, we aim to elucidate the activity of IL-17A in the protection against Cryptococcus neoformans, an opportunistic fungus that causes fatal meningoencephalitis among AIDS patients. For this purpose, we examined if C. neoformans infection triggers IL-17A secretion in vivo using wildtype C57BL/6 mice. In addition, an enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) reporter and a knockout (KO) mouse models were used to track the source of IL-17A secretion and explore the protective function of IL-17A, respectively.

    RESULTS: Our findings showed that in vivo model of C. neoformans infection demonstrated induction of abundant IL-17A secretion. By examining the lung bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), mediastinal lymph node (mLN) and spleen of the IL-17A-EGFP reporter mice, we showed that intranasal inoculation with C. neoformans promoted leukocytes lung infiltration. A large proportion (~ 50%) of the infiltrated CD4+ helper T cell population secreted EGFP, indicating vigorous TH17 activity in the C. neoformans-infected lung. The infection study in IL-17A-KO mice, on the other hand, revealed that absence of IL-17A marginally boosted fungal burden in the lung and accelerated the mouse death.

    CONCLUSION: Therefore, our data suggest that IL-17A is released predominantly from TH17 cells in vivo, which plays a supporting role in the protective immunity against C. neoformans infection.

  3. Fulltext Predominance and emergence of clones of hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Malaysia
    Ghaznavi-Rad E, Nor Shamsudin M, Sekawi Z, Khoon LY, Aziz MN, Hamat RA, et al.
    J Clin Microbiol, 2010 Mar;48(3):867-72.
    PMID: 20089756 DOI: 10.1128/JCM.01112-09
    We define the epidemiology of predominant and sporadic methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains in a central teaching and referral hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This is done on the basis of spa sequencing, multilocus sequence typing (MLST), staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing, and virulence gene profiling. During the period of study, the MRSA prevalence was 44.1%, and 389 MRSA strains were included. The prevalence of MRSA was found to be significantly higher in the patients of Indian ethnicity (P < 0.001). The majority (92.5%) of the isolates belonged to ST-239, spa type t037, and possessed the type III or IIIA SCCmec. The arginine catabolic mobile element (ACME) arcA gene was detected in three (1.05%) ST-239 isolates. We report the first identification of ACME arcA gene-positive ST-239. Apart from this predominant clone, six (1.5%) isolates of ST-22, with two related spa types (t032 and t4184) and a singleton (t3213), carrying type IVh SCCmec, were detected for the first time in Asia. A limited number of community-acquired (CA) MRSA strains were also detected. These included ST-188/t189 (2.1%), ST-1/t127 (2.3%), and ST-7/t091 (1%). Panton-Valentin leukocidin (PVL) was detected in all ST-1 and ST-188 strains and in 0.7% of the ST-239 isolates. The majority of the isolates carried agr I, except that ST-1 strains were agr III positive. Virulence genes seg and sei were seen only among ST-22 isolates. In conclusion, current results revealed the predominance of ST-239-SCCmec III/IIIA and the penetration of ST-22 with different virulence gene profiles. The emergence in Malaysia of novel clones of known epidemic and pathogenic potential should be taken seriously.
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