This case represents a unique primary ovarian tumour consisting of malignant mucinous elements and granulosa-theca-cell elements, the histogenesis of which remains uncertain. It also underscores the need for thorough sampling of mucinous tumours in order to discover a possible coexisting, different neoplastic component.
Intracavernous carotid artery aneurysm following head injury is a rare occurrence. Two such cases presenting with delayed but massive and repeated epistaxis are reported and the literature reviewed. The first case required a trapping procedure while the second case had only cervical carotid ligation to control the bleeding. Both resulted in no neurological sequelae.
A total of 14,342 patients with skin diseases who had attended either the National University of Malaysia skin clinic or a private dermatological office were analysed. Five hundred and thirty-four cases (3.7%) had atopic eczema, the prevalence being highest among the Malays (4.3%). The prevalence of atopic eczema among clinic attenders is lower in all three major Malaysian races when compared with studies from England.
MeSH terms: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Child; Child, Preschool; China/ethnology; Dermatitis, Atopic/ethnology*; Female; Humans; India/ethnology; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Malaysia/ethnology; Male; Middle Aged; Sex Factors; Prevalence; Age of Onset
Anopheles maculatus Theobald sensu lato is a species complex now consisting of eight sibling species; An. maculatus is still represented by two cytologically distinct forms; i.e., the widely distributed sensu strictu or B, and E from southern Thailand and adjacent areas in northern Malaysia. Cuticular lipid profiles in conjunction with principal component analysis was used to separate An. maculatus form E from sensu stricto form B in a preliminary survey of the An. maculatus complex at five locations spanning peninsular Malaysia. The relative rank orders, from the areas of the five gas chromatographic peaks used to determine lipid differences for specimens from peninsular Malaysia, matched well with those from cytogenetically identified colony specimens of An. maculatus forms B and E. The two-dimensional principal component pattern of specimens identified as form E was highly clumped, which indicated that very similar cuticular lipids were present within this putative malaria vector. Both forms coexisted in peninsular Malaysia, but form E may be dominant except in the south.
MeSH terms: Animals; Anopheles/classification; Anopheles/chemistry*; Chromatography, Gas; Female; Lipids/analysis*; Malaysia
This clinical trial investigated the influence of short-term ibuprofen therapy on the early phase of the treatment of adult chronic periodontitis. The subjects were 17 patients in good general health referred for specialist periodontal treatment, having moderate chronic adult periodontitis. A series of assessments were made every 2 weeks over an 8-week period, including evaluations of oral hygiene, gingival inflammation and probing pocket depths. All participants received oral hygiene instruction, and following baseline examinations, had half the dentition, chosen at random, treated by scaling and root planing. The patients were randomly distributed into 2 groups, a test group receiving a 14-day course of 800 mg ibuprofen daily, in 4 divided doses, and a control group who did not receive any drug regime. At the 2-week assessment following the drug regime, significantly greater reduction in gingival bleeding, colour and pocketing was detected in the test compared with the control group. The beneficial effects were less evident thereafter. Although clinical application of the regime used in this study would not be justified by these results, further research into anti-inflammatory agents as an adjunct in the treatment of periodontal diseases could be considered, in the light of the beneficial effect on gingivitis in the early phase of periodontal treatment reported.
1. The biological properties of venoms from juvenile and adult common tiger snakes (Notechis scutatus) were compared. 2. The lethality, procoagulant activity and enzymatic activities of the juvenile venom were not substantially different from those of the adult venom. 3. Electrophoretic studies, however, indicated some minor differences in the protein composition of the juvenile and adult venoms.
Using the rapid gas chromatographic steroid profiling technique, a number of metabolites of pregnenolone have been separated and quantified after incubation of this steroid with adult rat and neonatal porcine testicular homogenates. It was shown that the 5-ene-3 beta-hydroxy- and the 4-en-3-oxosteroid pathways for androgen biosynthesis were operating in both species, although the former pathway appeared to be more important in porcine testis. This tissue was characterised by the formation of several odorous, and pheromonal, 16-androstenes, which were quantitatively more important than the androgens. Three non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) caused dose-related inhibition of androgen and 16-androstene biosynthesis when co-incubated with pregnenolone. The order of potency was flurbiprofen > indomethacin > > > aspirin. The possibility that the NSAIDS may interfere with cytochrome P-450 is discussed, since several steroid-transforming enzymes, known to be dependent on this cytochrome for their activity, were markedly inhibited.
Opium dependence was indigenous to countries in the Golden Triangle area in south-east Asia (SA). Heroin epidemics developed in most SA countries in the 1960s and early 1970s and remained a significant problem particularly in Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia until now. In contrast, the island countries in SA seemed quite free from opiate abuse. Intravenous injection (IV) of drugs appeared after the heroin epidemic and currently prevails in countries with a significant opiate abuse problem. IV of opium was particularly common in the highly urbanized cities in Vietnam. Most SA countries started HIV seroscreening in IV drug users (IVDU) around the middle of the 1980s. Rapid epidemic spread of HIV infection was observed in 1988-89 in Thailand and Myanmar. The Highest prevalence of more than 80% was reported from a study of IVDUs in Yangon, Myanmar, followed by Thailand at about 40%. Although HIV infected IVDUs were identified at the same time in Malaysia and later in Singapore and the Philippines, there was no evidence of such a rapid and severe epidemic.
MeSH terms: Adult; Asia, Southeastern/epidemiology; Female; Humans; Male; Mass Screening; Opioid-Related Disorders/complications; Opioid-Related Disorders/epidemiology*; Opioid-Related Disorders/prevention & control; Population Surveillance*; Recurrence; Risk Factors; Urban Population; Health Behavior; HIV Infections/blood; HIV Infections/etiology; HIV Infections/epidemiology*; HIV Infections/prevention & control; HIV Infections/transmission; Substance Abuse, Intravenous/complications; Substance Abuse, Intravenous/epidemiology*; Substance Abuse, Intravenous/prevention & control; Prevalence; Seroepidemiologic Studies
PIP: The benefits of various-sized families in Malaysia were discussed by several women and supplemented with official statements on family planning (FP). The Director of the National Population and Family Development, Dr. Raj Karim, advised that maternal health is jeopardized when women have more than five children. About 30% of reproductive age women in Malaysia have five or more children. A Federation of FP Associations spokesperson agreed that women should be advised of the dangers of bearing over five children, of the importance of spacing births two to four years apart, and of the ideal age of childbearing (21-39 years). The government lacks an official policy on family size. The government position is, however, compatible with Islamic teachings on spacing in order to protect the health of the mother and child. Islamic law does not permit sterilization or abortion. The "fatwas" of Islamic teaching may have been misconstrued by those not using any form of contraception. Dr. Karim, who has five children, reported that having a large family can be difficult for a woman with a job, a career, and a husband or when both parents work. Most Malays desire large families. The average Malay family size was 4.1 children in 1990; Malaysian Chinese have fertility of 2.3 children and Malaysian Indians have 2.6 children. People say that the benefits outweigh the hardships of a large family.
MeSH terms: Asia; Asia, Southeastern; Culture; Demography; Developing Countries; Ethnic Groups*; Evaluation Studies as Topic*; Family Characteristics*; Malaysia; Population; Population Characteristics; Public Policy; Family Planning Policy*
Thirty patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss who presented to the University Hospital between January 1985 to January 1992 are presented. The combined regime of bed rest, intravenous dextran 40, vasodilator and steroid therapy produced good improvement in 63.4% of patients. Unfavourable prognostic factors were found to be, hearing loss of more than two weeks duration, vertigo and bilateral hearing loss.
Freshwater snails, Stenomelania denisoniensis (Brot) from Tinaroo Dam, North Queensland, Australia were found to be infected with a heterophyid cercaria identified as Procerovum sp. The tail of the cercaria has finfolds which are bilateral anteriorly and dorso-ventral posteriorly, features which separate it from other genera in the Haplorchis-group. This group is differentiated from the cercariae of all the other heterophyid genera by the presence of the penetration glands that extend to the posterior end of the body lateral to the excretory bladder. This paper presents a full description of the cercaria, together with comparisons with other known species of Procerovum.
Cardiopulmonary capacities of twelve adults (aged between 14 to 44 years) with varying degrees of blindness engaged in regular recreational activities were compared with twelve age-matched normal sighted healthy males (control group) who were also involved in regular recreational activities. Maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max) was measured directly during exhaustive exercise test on a cycle ergometer. Forced vital capacity, leg strength and power were determined by spirometry, standing long jump and vertical jump respectively. No significant differences in VO2max, forced vital capacity and leg strength and power were observed between the blind and the control groups. No anthropometric differences were evident between the two groups. The results show therefore that the visually handicapped who are active can have a similar level of physical fitness, lung function and explosive leg strength as those of their active sighted counterparts.
The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), traditionally linked etiologically with infectious mononucleosis (IM), endemic Burkitt lymphoma (BL) and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has in recent years been associated with a host of other conditions. Viral strategies for entry into cells and persistence, as well as various molecular mechanisms involved in latency, replication and transformation have been elucidated. EBV termini analysis has demonstrated the essentially clonal nature of BL, NPC and preneoplastic lesions of the nasopharynx. Strain variation between isolates of EBV suggests that differences in epithelial cell tropism among strains may exist. Treatment of EBV-associated syndromes is largely supportive although antivirals may play a role in the management of oral hairy leukoplakia. At the present time, the development of an effective vaccine remains a viable proposition.
The direct assay of serum progesterone after denaturation of the binding proteins was investigated. 50ul of patients' serum was diluted with 750ul phosphate buffer (0.05M, pH 7.4) and heated to 65 degrees C for 20 minutes. After cooling, 300ul of the treated serum was reacted with a rabbit antiserum to progesterone-11 alpha-hemicuccinyl-bovine serum albumin conjugate (Bioclin, U.K) and 1,2,6,7, tritium labelled progesterone. Separation of bound and free fractions was achieved with dextran coated charcoal. The method correlated well (r = 0.98) with an established method involving ether extraction of progesterone prior to assay. The mean sensitivity was 2.01 nmol/L (range 1.90-2.23nmol/L). The proposed method considerably shortens assay time and removes a tedious and imprecise stage in the conventional method involving extraction of serum.
An invasive aspergillosis model in rabbits was attempted using 3 concentrations of A. fumigatus conidia. Conidia concentrations of 1 x 10(6), 1 x 10(7) and 1 x 10(8) were inoculated intravenously into rabbits. The severity of infection was directly proportional to the inoculum size of the conidia. Aspergillus fumigatus was isolated from livers, kidneys, spleens, hearts and lungs of infected rabbits at a rate of 82%, 75%, 57%, 54% and 32% respectively. Cultures of urine specimens taken by bladder tap were positive for A. fumigatus in 30% of the rabbits tested. Blood cultures using the Bactec Fungal System (Becton Dickinson Corp., USA) failed to isolate A. fumigatus in 20 rabbits with biopsy-proven invasive apergillosis. Active infection with high fungal tissue burden occurred between 2-4 days after infection in rabbits inoculated with 1 x 10(7) conidia.
The applications of antibodies, be it monoclonal or polyclonal, in the diagnostic and research fields are well established. The disadvantage is the high cost of commercially available antibodies. In a diagnostic establishment like ours which also functions as a training ground for laboratory related personnel, it is beneficial to be able to produce in-house reagents. Therefore, we have undertaken this project to produce a rabbit polyclonal antibody against B lymphocytes. We found that the rabbit was a good choice because the titre of antibody produced was high and positive reactions were still detected at a dilution of 1:38400. The antibody showed significant positive reaction only with the lymphocyte subpopulation. A positive reaction was observed between the immunized rabbit serum and B lymphocytes but not T lymphocytes. This shows that the antibody was B lymphocyte specific. There was a positive correlation between the percentage of B lymphocytes labelled using the commercial anti-CD19 monoclonal antibody and the in-house polyclonal antibody (n = 13, r = 0.7, p = 0.02). However, the percentage of cells labelled by the in-house polyclonal anti-B was lower than that by the commercial monoclonal anti-CD19. The fluorescence intensity of the polyclonal antibody was lower than that of the monoclonal. In general, the performance of the in-house polyclonal antibody can be considered as satisfactory. The rabbit serum was stored at -20 degrees C and no significant loss of activity was detected for over a period of 19 months.
Seventy-eight symptomatic females without palpable breast lumps were subjected to bilateral four quadrant fine needle aspiration cytology. Cytological evidence of an epithelial proliferative lesion was seen in 44 of these cases. Based on the cytological evidence of proliferation, the site for open biopsy was determined. Histopathological study of the breast biopsies in these patients showed proliferative disease without atypia (PDWA) in 40 cases, atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) in two, atypical lobular hyperplasia (ALH) in one and ADH with ALH in one case. Cytology was thus useful in establishing the presence of proliferative activity, commenting on the extent of proliferation, and thereby roughly mapping out the area of the breast most suitable for biopsy. On cytological grounds, it was not possible to distinguish the atypical hyperplastic lesions from the proliferative diseases without atypia.