The technique of isoenzyme electrophoresis was applied to Japanese wild populations of Taenia taeniaeformis (isolated from Norway rats) and three laboratory reared isolates (KRN isolated from a Malaysian Norway rat, BMM from a Belgian house mouse and ACR from a Japanese gray red-backed vole). The average heterozygosities of Japanese wild populations were fairly small and total genetic variability was 0.0499. The genetic make-up of T. taeniaeformis in Norway rats was rather uniform in the whole of Japan. In KRN isolate, each of all 10 loci examined possessed the allele which was predominant in Japanese wild populations. Similarly, each of 9 loci in BMM isolate possessed the same alleles, but one of 2 alleles at HK locus was different from that in the others. T. taeniaeformis parasitizing house mice and rats were considered to be genetically closely related to each other. In ACR isolate, 7 out of 10 loci possessed different alleles from those in the other populations. It was considered that ACR isolate was genetically distant and its phylogenetic origin in Japan should be different from worms parasitizing Norway rats.
Citation: Abu Bakar, Suleiman
Keynote Address. Bengkel “Program Perubatan Keluarga: Posting Pusat Kesihatan”. Pusat Kesihatan Padang Serai, Kulim, Kedah, Malaysia, 27 Mac 1995
MeSH terms: Education, Medical, Graduate; Family Practice; Malaysia; Primary Health Care; Rural Health; Rural Health Services
BACKGROUND: The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is consistently detected in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. To determine whether EBV infection is an early, initiating event in the development of this malignant tumor, we screened nasopharyngeal-biopsy samples, most of which were archival, for preinvasive lesions, including dysplasia and carcinoma in situ. Preinvasive lesions were found in 11 samples, which were tested for the presence of EBV.
METHODS: EBV infection was detected with in situ hybridization for EBV-encoded RNAs (EBERs) and by immunohistochemical staining for latent membrane protein 1 (LMP-1). The larger samples were also tested for the EBV genome with the use of Southern blotting. The expression of specific EBV RNAs was determined by the amplification of complementary DNA with the polymerase chain reaction.
RESULTS: Evidence of EBV infection was detected in all 11 tissue samples with dysplasia or carcinoma in situ. EBERs were identified in all eight samples tested, and LMP-1 was detected in all six of the tested samples. Six of the seven samples tested for the EBV termini contained clonal EBV DNA: Transcription of the latent EBV gene products, EBV nuclear antigen 1, LMP-1, LMP-2A, and the BamHI-A fragment, was detected in most of the samples. Viral proteins characteristic of lytic lesions were not detected.
CONCLUSIONS: Preinvasive lesions of the nasopharynx are infected with EBV. The EBV DNA is clonal, indicating that the lesions represent a focal cellular growth that arose from a single EBV-infected cell and that EBV infection is an early, possibly initiating event in the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Preinvasive lesions contain EBV RNAs that are characteristic of latent infection but not the viral proteins that are characteristic of lytic infection. The detection of the EBV-transforming gene, LMP-1, in all the neoplastic cells suggests that its expression is essential for preinvasive epithelial proliferations associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
A 32 year old HIV positive intravenous drug user (IVDU) with a promiscuous lifestyle in the past presented with altered behaviour and was diagnosed to have pulmonary tuberculosis, tuberculous meningitis and tuberculous osteomyelitis. After initial response to anti-tuberculous therapy, his symptoms recurred with the appearance of cerebral mass lesions. A presumptive diagnosis of toxoplasma encephalitis was made based on clinical, serological and radiological evidence. He showed clinical improGement with anti-toxoplasmic therapy.
MeSH terms: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; Case Reports; Diagnosis; Encephalitis; HIV; Life Style; Malaysia; Meningitis; Osteomyelitis; Radiology; Toxoplasma; Tuberculosis; HIV Infections; Drug Users
Medical therapy is effective in patients with mild to moderate symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Selective alpha-1 blockers (e.g. terazosin) and 5 alpha reductase inhibitors (e.g. finasteride) are the main drugs used. Alpha blockers reduce the dynamic component of obstruction while the later reduces the size of the prostate.
The aim of this study was first to analyse the prescribing habits of primary care doctors with a view to providing feedback which may help them to rationalise their prescribing. This analysis was helped by comparing the prescribing practices in two different settings and thus highlighting anomalous differences. The second aim of this study was to obtain data on the diagnoses being made in primary care settings in Malaysia as this information, though available from other countries, is limited here. Lists of the most commonly prescribed drugs and most common diagnoses made are provided, together with tables showing the most commonly prescribed drugs for the ten most common diagnoses. Differences in prescribing habits between the two settings are discussed and possible reasons are suggested.
MeSH terms: Ambulatory Care Facilities; Cross-Sectional Studies; Hospitals; Humans; Malaysia; Outpatients; Primary Health Care