MATERIALS AND METHODS: We selected 157 NPC cases and 136 controls from two hospitals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for this study. The polymorphisms studied were genotyped by PCR-RFLP assay and allele and genotype frequencies, haplotype and linkage disequilibrium were determined using SNPstat software.
RESULTS: For the XPD Lys751Gln polymorphism, the frequency of the Lys allele was higher in cases than in controls (94.5% versus 85.0%). For the XRCC1 Arg280His polymorphism, the frequency of Arg allele was 90.0% and 89.0% in cases and controls, respectively and for XRCC1 Arg399Gln the frequency of the Arg allele was 72.0% and 72.8% in cases and controls respectively. All three polymorphisms were in linkage disequilibrium. The odds ratio from haplotype analysis for these three polymorphisms and their association with NPC was 1.93 (95%CI: 0.90-4.16) for haplotype CGC vs AGC allele combinations. The global haplotype association with NPC gave a p-value of 0.054.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides an estimate of allele and genotype frequencies of XRCC1Arg280His, XRCC1 Arg399Gln and XPD Lys751Gln polymorphisms in the Malaysian population and showed no association with nasopharyngeal cancer.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 195 Thin Prep Pap smear samples from HPV negative and cancer free females were randomly selected as controls while 106 formalin fixed paraffin embedded samples from females with invasive cervical cancer were randomly selected for the cases group. The polymorphisms were identified using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) PCR.
RESULTS: We found no significant associations between CYP1A1 MspI polymorphism and cervical cancer in the general Malaysian female population. However, upon ethnic stratification, the variant C/C genotype was significantly associated with a 4.66-fold increase in cervical cancer risk in Malay females (95% CI= 1.21-17.9; p=0.03). No significant association was observed in the Chinese and Indian females. Additionally, there were no significant associations in the dominant model and allele frequency model analysis in both the general and ethnically stratified female population of Malaysia.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the C/C genotype of CYP1A1 MspI polymorphism is associated with the development of cervical carcinoma in the Malay females of Malaysia.
METHODS: The forehead and tympanic temperatures of 615 subjects were measured simultaneously in three exposed SARS-COV-2 groups at one hospital in Iran, during April 2020. These comparisons were evaluated by Bland-Altman Plot, repeatability, Passing-Bablok regression and Lin's concordance correlation coefficient. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was done to describe the discrimination accuracy of a diagnostic test. The study adhered to STROBE checklist for cross-sectional studies.
RESULTS: A Bland-Altman plot indicated that the limits of agreement between the forehead and tympanic temperature were -0.259 to +0.19°C. Passing-Bablok regression analysis illustrated that the infrared forehead was not linearly related to tympanic temperatures (reference method), with a slope estimate that was significantly different from 1.00. The infrared forehead thermometer showed poor precision and lower accuracy than the tympanic. The forehead temperature readings had 60.0% sensitivity and 44.4% specificity (p > .05) to predict disease.
CONCLUSION: According to the results of study, there is no evidence that the assessment of temperature by infrared forehead thermometer could discriminate between the two groups (positive and negative).
METHODOLOGY: Seven isolates of the C. rugosa complex and one isolate of C. pararugosa were obtained from two tertiary referral hospitals in Malaysia. Their antifungal susceptibilities, biofilm, proteinase, phospholipase, esterase and haemolysin activities were characterized. Biofilms were quantified using crystal violet (CV) and tetrazolium (XTT) reduction assays at 1.5, 6, 18, 24, 48 and 72 h.Results/Key findings. The E-test antifungal tests showed that both species have elevated MICs compared to C. albicans and C. tropicalis. The highest biomass was observed in one of the C. rugosa isolates (0.237), followed by C. pararugosa (0.206) at 18 h of incubation. However, the highest bioactivity was observed in the C. rugosa ATCC 10571 strain at 24 h (0.075), followed by C. pararugosa at 48 h (0.048) and the same C. rugosa strain at 24 h (0.046), with P<0.05. All isolates exhibited high proteinase activity (+++) whereas six isolates showed very strong esterase activity (++++). All the isolates were alpha haemolytic producers. None of the isolates exhibited phospholipase activity.
CONCLUSION: Elevated MICs were shown for the C. rugosa complex and C. pararugosa for commonly used antifungal drugs. Further studies to identify virulence genes involved in the pathogenesis and genes that confer reduced drug susceptibility in these species are proposed.
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify the glucose sensing pathway related genes of C. glabrata and to analyze the regulation pattern of these genes in response to different surrounding glucose concentrations through the quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Phylogenetic analysis was carried out on predicted amino acid sequences of C. glabrata and S. cerevisiae to compare their degree of similarity. In addition, the growth of C. glabrata in response to different amounts of glucose (0%, 0.01%, 0.1%, 1% and 2%) was evaluated via the spot dilution assay on prepared agar medium. Besides, the SNF3 and RGT2, which act as putative glucose sensors, and the RGT1 and MIG1, which act as putative transcriptional regulators and selected downstream hexose transporters (HXTs), were analysed through qRT-PCR analysis for the gene expression level under different glucose concentrations.
RESULTS: Comparative analysis of predicted amino acids in the phylogenetic tree showed high similarity between C. glabrata and S cerevisiae. Besides, C. glabrata demonstrated the capability to grow in glucose levels as low as 0.01% in the spot dilution assay. In qRT-PCR analysis, differential expressions were observed in selected genes when C. glabrata was subjected to different glucose concentrations.
CONCLUSIONS: The constructed phylogenetic tree suggests the close evolutionary relationship between C. glabrata and S. cerevisiae. The capability of C. glabrata to grow in extremely low glucose environments and the differential expression of selected glucose-sensing related genes suggested the possible role of these genes in modulating the growth of C. glabrata in response to different glucose concentrations. This study helps deepen our understanding of the glucose sensing mechanism in C. glabrata and serves to provide fundamental data that may assist in unveiling this mechanism as a potential drug target.
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.