Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 162 in total

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  1. Lim LC, Tan HH, Lee LH, Tien SL, Abdul Ghafar A
    Ann Acad Med Singap, 1999 Mar;28(2):252-5.
    PMID: 10497677
    Resistance to activated protein C (APC-R) is the commonest inherited cause of thrombosis among Caucasians. Few studies have been carried out on its prevalence in Asians. We conducted a prospective study on 60 patients with thromboembolism to determine its prevalence in our local population. The Factor V Leiden (VaQ506) mutation associated with this condition was detected by amplification of the Factor V gene by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and digestion of the fragment with Mnl I. Three patients were found to be heterozygous for this mutation. None of the 3 patients had other concomitant hypercoagulable states. In addition, we studied the prevalence of this condition in Malays which was found to be 0.5%. Our study suggests that the incidence of APC-R is much lower here compared to the West.
  2. Lee LH
    Ann Acad Med Singap, 2002 Mar;31(2):248-52.
    PMID: 11957569
    Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is thought to be a rare occurrence in Asian patients. The clinical features of VTE are elusive and the disease often unsuspected. Objective testing such as the duplex ultrasound scans and pulmonary imaging are necessary as clinical diagnosis alone is inaccurate. Fatality can occur in untreated patients not suspected of the disease as shown by our post-mortem studies. Indeed VTE is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in Singapore. There is a rising trend in the incidence of VTE in Asia. Initial studies found an incidence of about 3 per 10,000 hospital admissions in Hong Kong and Malaysia in 1988 and 1990, respectively; rising to 8 and 15.8 per 10,000 hospital admissions in Singapore 1992 and 2000, respectively. The major risk factors for developing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in our patients are immobilisation, surgery and malignancy. While Factor V Leiden mutation and mutation at position 20,210 in the prothrombin gene are found to be extremely rare in Chinese, the rest of the thrombophilia has not been formally studied. Studies in Singapore reported rates of 3% to 7% of DVT after general surgery, 9.7% after hip surgery and 14% after total knee replacement surgery. It is difficult to compare with studies from other centres because of differences in patient selection and diagnostic criteria. Studies in Singapore showed that the use of prophylactic low molecular weight heparin completely abolished the occurrence of DVT for patients undergoing total knee replacement and colorectal surgery without an increase in bleeding complications. In conclusion, VTE is not an uncommon problem here. Major acquired risk factors do not differ from the Caucasian populations. VTE is a preventable disease and a better understanding of its epidemiology, patient-risk factors and biological factors will allow better management of this condition.
  3. Piovella F, Wang CJ, Lu H, Lee K, Lee LH, Lee WC, et al.
    J Thromb Haemost, 2005 Dec;3(12):2664-70.
    PMID: 16359505
    BACKGROUND: The incidence of postsurgical venous thromboembolism is thought to be low in Asian ethnic populations.

    OBJECTIVE: We studied the incidence of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) in Asian patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery of the lower limbs.

    PATIENTS/METHODS: We performed a prospective epidemiological study in 19 centers across Asia (China, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand) in patients undergoing elective total hip replacement (THR), total knee replacement (TKR) or hip fracture surgery (HFS) without pharmacological thromboprophylaxis. The primary endpoint was the rate of DVT of the lower limbs documented objectively with bilateral ascending venography performed 6-10 days after surgery using a standardized technique and evaluated by a central adjudication committee unaware of local interpretation.

    RESULTS: Overall, of 837 Asian patients screened for this survey, 407 (48.6%, aged 20-99 years) undergoing THR (n = 175), TKR (n = 136) or HFS (n = 96) were recruited in 19 centers. DVT was diagnosed in 121 of 295 evaluable patients [41.0%, (95% confidence interval (CI): 35.4-46.7)]. Proximal DVT was found in 30 patients [10.2% (7.0-14.2)]. Total DVT and proximal DVT rates were highest in TKR patients (58.1% and 17.1%, respectively), followed by HFS patients (42.0% and 7.2%, respectively), then THR patients (25.6% and 5.8%, respectively). DVT was more frequent in female patients aged at least 65 years. Pulmonary embolism was clinically suspected in 10 of 407 patients (2.5%) and objectively confirmed in two (0.5%).

    CONCLUSIONS: The rate of venographic thrombosis in the absence of thromboprophylaxis after major joint surgery in Asian patients is similar to that previously reported in patients in Western countries.

  4. Letchumanan P, Ng HJ, Lee LH, Thumboo J
    Rheumatology (Oxford), 2009 Apr;48(4):399-403.
    PMID: 19202160 DOI: 10.1093/rheumatology/ken510
    To compare the clinical presentation, response to therapy and outcome of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) in an inception cohort of patients with and without SLE.
  5. Khoo CH, Cheah YK, Lee LH, Sim JH, Salleh NA, Sidik SM, et al.
    Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek, 2009 Nov;96(4):441-57.
    PMID: 19565351 DOI: 10.1007/s10482-009-9358-z
    The increased occurrence of Salmonella occurrence in local indigenous vegetables and poultry meat can be a potential health hazards. This study is aimed to detect the prevalence of twenty different virulence factors among Salmonella enterica strains isolated from poultry and local indigenous vegetables in Malaysia via an optimized, rapid and specific multiplex PCR assay. The assay encompasses a total of 19 Salmonella pathogenicity islands genes and a quorum sensing gene (sdiA) in three multiplex reaction sets. A total of 114 Salmonella enterica isolates belonging to 38 different serovars were tested. Each isolate in under this study was found to possess up to 70% of the virulence genes tested and exhibited variable pathogenicity gene patterns. Reproducibility of the multiplex PCR assay was found to be 100% and the detection limit of the optimized multiplex PCR was tested with lowest detectable concentration of DNA 0.8 pg microl(-1). This study demonstrated various Salmonella pathogenicity island virulence gene patterns even within the same serovar. This sets of multiplex PCR system provide a fast and reliable typing approach based on Salmonella pathogenicity islands, thus enabling an effective monitoring of emerging pathogenic Salmonella strains as an additional tool in Salmonella surveillance studies.
  6. Sim JH, Khoo CH, Lee LH, Cheah YK
    J Microbiol Biotechnol, 2010 Apr;20(4):651-8.
    PMID: 20467234
    Garcinia is commonly found in Malaysia, but limited information is available regarding endophytic fungi associated with this plant. In this study, 24 endophytic fungi were successfully recovered from different parts of two Garcinia species. Characterization of endophytic fungi was performed based on the conserved internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region sequence analysis and the antimicrobial properties. Results revealed that fruits of the plant appeared to be the highest inhabitation site (38 %) as compared with others. Glomerella sp., Guignardia sp., and Phomopsis sp. appeared to be the predominant endophytic fungi group in Garcinia mangostana and Garcinia parvifolia. Phylogenetic relationships of the isolated endophytic fungi were estimated from the sequences of the ITS region. On the other hand, antibacterial screening showed 11 of the isolates possessed positive response towards pathogenic and nonpathogenic bacteria. However, there was no direct association between certain antibacterial properties with the specific genus observed.
  7. Lee LH, Cheah YK, Mohd Sidik S, Ab Mutalib NS, Tang YL, Lin HP, et al.
    World J Microbiol Biotechnol, 2012 May;28(5):2125-37.
    PMID: 22806035 DOI: 10.1007/s11274-012-1018-1
    The present study aimed to isolate actinobacteria from soil samples and characterized them using molecular tools and screened their secondary metabolites for antimicrobial activities. Thirty-nine strains from four different location of Barrientos Island, Antarctica using 12 types of isolation media was isolated. The isolates were preceded to screening of secondary metabolites for antimicrobial and antifungal activities. Using high-throughput screening methods, 38% (15/39) of isolates produced bioactive metabolites. Approximately 18% (7/39), 18% (7/39), 10% (4/39) and 2.5% (1/39) of isolates inhibited growth of Candida albicans ATCC 10231(T), Staphylococcus aurues ATCC 51650(T), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aurues (MRSA) ATCC BAA-44(T) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 10145(T), respectively. Molecular characterization techniques like 16S rRNA analysis, Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR), Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and composite analyses were used to characterize the actinobacteria strains. Analysis of 16S rRNA sequences is still one of the most powerful methods to determine higher taxonomic relationships of Actinobacteria. Both RAPD and ERIC-PCR fingerprinting have shown good discriminatory capability but RAPD proved to be better in discriminatory power than ERIC-PCR. Our results demonstrated that composite analysis of both fingerprinting generally increased the discrimination ability and generated best clustering for actinobacteria strains in this study.
  8. Liew NC, Chang YH, Choi G, Chu PH, Gao X, Gibbs H, et al.
    Int Angiol, 2012 Dec;31(6):501-16.
    PMID: 23222928
    Venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis is under-utilized in Asia because of the misconception that its incidence is lower in Asians as compared to the Caucasians. The available data on VTE in Asia is limited due to the lack of well-designed multicenter randomized controlled trials as well as non-standardized research designs, making data comparison difficult. Emerging data indicates that the VTE incidence is not low in Asia, and is comparable to that reported in the Western literature in some instances. There is also a trend towards increasing incidence of VTE, as demonstrated by a number of hospital-based studies in Asia. This could be attributed to lifestyle changes, ageing population, increasing awareness of VTE and wider availability of Duplex ultrasound. The risk of VTE in hospitalized patients remain the same in Asians and Caucasians, even though there may be factors that are inherent to patients in Asia that influence the slight variation in incidence. The utilization rate of VTE prophylaxis remains suboptimal in Asia. The Asian Venous Thrombosis Forum (AVTF) comprises participants from various countries such as China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and experts from Australia and Europe. The forum evaluated the available data on VTE from the Asian region and formulated guidelines tailored to meet the needs of the region. We recommend that serious considerations are given to VTE prophylaxis especially in the at-risk group and a formal hospital policy be established to facilitate the implementation. On admission to the hospital, we recommend assessing the patients for both VTE and bleeding risk. We recommend mechanical prophylaxis for patients at increased risk of bleeding and utilizing it as an adjunctive measure in combination with pharmacological prophylaxis in patients with high risk of VTE. For patients undergoing general or gynecological surgery and with moderate risk for VTE, we recommend prophylaxis with one of the following: low dose unfractionated heparin (LDUH), low molecular weight heparin (LMWH), fondaparinux or intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC). For the same group of patients at high risk of VTE, we recommend pharmacological or combination of pharmacological and mechanical prophylaxis. For patients undergoing major orthopedic surgeries like total hip replacement, total knee replacement and proximal hip fracture surgery, we recommend using one of the following: LMWH, fondaparinux, rivaroxaban, apixaban, edoxaban, dabigatran, warfarin or aspirin with IPC. For patients admitted to the hospital with acute medical illness and has moderate risk of VTE, we recommend prophylaxis with LDUH, LMWH or Fondaparinux. For the same group at high risk of VTE, we recommend combination of pharmacological and mechanical prophylaxis.
  9. Lee LH, Cheah YK, Nurul Syakima AM, Shiran MS, Tang YL, Lin HP, et al.
    Genet. Mol. Res., 2012;11(2):1627-41.
    PMID: 22782582 DOI: 10.4238/2012.June.15.12
    Fifty-seven proteobacterium species were successfully isolated from soils of Barrientos Island of the Antarctic using 11 different isolation media. Analysis of 16S rDNA sequencing of these isolates showed that they belonged to eight different genera, namely Bradyrhizobium, Sphingomonas, Methylobacterium, Caulobacter, Paracoccus, Ralstonia, Rhizobium, and Staphylococcus. All isolates were studied for capability of producing antimicrobial and antifungal secondary metabolites using high-throughput screening models. Approximately 23 (13/57) and 2% (1/57) of isolates inhibited growth of Candida albicans ATCC 10231(T) and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 51650(T), respectively. These results indicated that proteobacterium species isolates from Antarctic could serve as potential source of useful bioactive metabolites. Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR fingerprinting produced nine clusters and 13 single isolates, with a high D value of 0.9248. RAPD fingerprinting produced six clusters and 13 single isolates, with a relatively low D value of 0.7776. ERIC-PCR analysis proved to have better discrimination capability than RAPD analysis and generated better clustering for all proteobacterium species isolates. We conclude that ERIC-PCR is a robust, reliable and rapid molecular typing method for discriminating different genera of proteobacteria.
  10. Lee LH, Cheah YK, Sidik SM, Xie QY, Tang YL, Lin HP, et al.
    Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, 2013 Jan;63(Pt 1):241-248.
    PMID: 22389286 DOI: 10.1099/ijs.0.038232-0
    Three novel actinobacteria, strains 39(T), 40 and 41, were isolated from soil collected from Barrientos Island in the Antarctic. The taxonomic status of these strains was determined using a polyphasic approach. Comparison of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain 39(T) represented a novel lineage within the family Dermacoccaceae and was most closely related to members of the genera Demetria (96.9 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity), Branchiibius (95.7 %), Dermacoccus (94.4-95.3 %), Calidifontibacter (94.6 %), Luteipulveratus (94.3 %), Yimella (94.2 %) and Kytococcus (93.1 %). Cells were irregular cocci and short rods. The peptidoglycan type was A4α with an L-Lys-L-Ser-D-Asp interpeptide bridge. The cell-wall sugars were galactose and glucose. The major menaquinone was MK-8(H(4)). The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, phosphoglycolipid, two glycolipids and one unknown phospholipid. The acyl type of the cell-wall polysaccharide was N-acetyl. The major cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C(17 : 0) (41.97 %), anteiso-C(17 : 1)ω9c (32.16 %) and iso-C(16 : 0) (7.68 %). The DNA G+C content of strain 39(T) was 68.4 mol%. On the basis of phylogenetic and phenotypic differences from other genera of the family Dermacoccaceae, a novel genus and species, Barrientosiimonas humi gen. nov., sp. nov., is proposed; the type strain of the type species is 39(T) (=CGMCC 4.6864(T) = DSM 24617(T)).
  11. Lee LH, Azman AS, Zainal N, Eng SK, Fang CM, Hong K, et al.
    Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, 2014 Apr;64(Pt 4):1194-201.
    PMID: 24408529 DOI: 10.1099/ijs.0.059014-0
    A novel bacterium, strain MUSC 273(T), was isolated from mangrove sediments of the Tanjung Lumpur river in the state of Pahang in peninsular Malaysia. The bacterium was yellow-pigmented, Gram-negative, rod-shaped and non-spore-forming. The taxonomy of strain MUSC 273(T) was studied by a polyphasic approach and the organism showed a range of phenotypic and chemotaxonomic properties consistent with those of the genus Novosphingobium. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain MUSC 273(T) showed the highest sequence similarity to those of Novosphingobium indicum H25(T) (96.8 %), N. naphthalenivorans TUT562(T) (96.4 %) and N. soli CC-TPE-1(T) (95.9 %) and lower sequence similarity to members of all other species of the genus Novosphingobium. Furthermore, in phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence, strain MUSC 273(T) formed a distinct cluster with members of the genus Novosphingobium. DNA-DNA relatedness of strain MUSC 273(T) to the type strains of the most closely related species, N. indicum MCCC 1A01080(T) and N. naphthalenivorans DSM 18518(T), was 29.2 % (reciprocal 31.0 %) and 17 % (reciprocal 18 %), respectively. The major respiratory quinone was ubiquinone Q-10, the major polyamine was spermidine and the DNA G+C content was 63.3±0.1 mol%. The polar lipids consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylmethylethanolamine, phosphatidyldimethylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine and sphingoglycolipid. The major fatty acids were C18 : 1ω7c, C17 : 1ω6c, C16 : 0, C15 : 0 2-OH and C16 : 1ω7c. Comparison of BOX-PCR fingerprints indicated that strain MUSC 273(T) represented a unique DNA profile. The combined genotypic and phenotypic data showed that strain MUSC 273(T) represents a novel species of the genus Novosphingobium, for which the name Novosphingobium malaysiense sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MUSC 273(T) ( = DSM 27798(T) = MCCC 1A00645(T) = NBRC 109947(T)).
  12. Lee LH, Zainal N, Azman AS, Mutalib NA, Hong K, Chan KG
    Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, 2014 May;64(Pt 5):1461-1467.
    PMID: 24449791 DOI: 10.1099/ijs.0.058701-0
    A novel actinobacterial strain, designated MUSC 201T, was isolated from a mangrove soil collected from Kuantan, the capital city of Pahang State in Malaysia. The taxonomic status of this strain was determined using a polyphasic approach. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that strain MUSC 201T represented a novel lineage within the class Actinobacteria. Strain MUSC 201T formed a distinct clade in the family Nocardioidaceae and was most closely related to the members of the genera Nocardioides (16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, 91.9-95.1%), Aeromicrobium (92.7-94.6%), Marmoricola (92.5-93.1%) and Kribbella (91.5-92.4%). The cells of this strain were irregular coccoid to short rod shaped. The peptidoglycan contained ll-diaminopimelic acid as diagnostic diamino acid and the peptidoglycan type was A3γ. The peptidoglycan cell wall contained ll-diaminopimelic acid, glycine, glutamic acid and alanine in a molar ratio of 1.5:0.9:1.0:1.5. The cell-wall sugars were galactose and rhamnose. The predominant menaquinone was MK-9(H4). The polar lipids consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphoglycolipid, glycolipid and four unknown phospholipids. The major cellular fatty acids were C18:1ω9c (30.8%), C16:0 (24.1%), and 10-methyl C18:0 (13.9%). The DNA G+C content was 72.0±0.1 mol%. On the basis of phylogenetic and phenotypic differences from members of the genera of the family Nocardioidaceae, a novel genus and species, Mumia flava gen. nov., sp. nov. are proposed. The type strain of Mumia flava is MUSC 201T (=DSM 27763T=MCCC 1A00646T=NBRC 109973T).
  13. Akram NA, Isa D, Rajkumar R, Lee LH
    Ultrasonics, 2014 Aug;54(6):1534-44.
    PMID: 24792683 DOI: 10.1016/j.ultras.2014.03.017
    This work proposes a long range ultrasonic transducers technique in conjunction with an active incremental Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification approach that is used for real-time pipeline defects prediction and condition monitoring. Oil and gas pipeline defects are detected using various techniques. One of the most prevalent techniques is the use of "smart pigs" to travel along the pipeline and detect defects using various types of sensors such as magnetic sensors and eddy-current sensors. A critical short coming of "smart pigs" is the inability to monitor continuously and predict the onset of defects. The emergence of permanently installed long range ultrasonics transducers systems enable continuous monitoring to be achieved. The needs for and the challenges of the proposed technique are presented. The experimental results show that the proposed technique achieves comparable classification accuracy as when batch training is used, while the computational time is decreased, using 56 feature data points acquired from a lab-scale pipeline defect generating experimental rig.
  14. Lee LH, Zainal N, Azman AS, Eng SK, Ab Mutalib NS, Yin WF, et al.
    Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, 2014 Sep;64(Pt 9):3297-306.
    PMID: 24994773 DOI: 10.1099/ijs.0.065045-0
    Two novel actinobacteria, strains MUSC 135(T) and MUSC 137, were isolated from mangrove soil at Tanjung Lumpur, Malaysia. The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity and DNA-DNA relatedness between strains MUSC 135(T) and MUSC 137 were 100 % and 83±3.2 %, confirming that these two strains should be classified in the same species. Strain MUSC 135(T) exhibited a broad-spectrum bacteriocin against the pathogens meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain ATCC BAA-44, Salmonella typhi ATCC 19430(T) and Aeromonas hydrophila ATCC 7966(T). A polyphasic approach was used to study the taxonomy of MUSC 135(T), and it showed a range of phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic properties consistent with those of the genus Streptomyces. The diamino acid of the cell-wall peptidoglycan was ll-diaminopimelic acid. The predominant menaquinones were MK-9(H6), MK-9(H4) and MK-9(H8). Polar lipids detected were a lipid, an aminolipid, a phospholipid, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylethanolamine and two glycolipids. The predominant cellular fatty acids (>10.0 %) were anteiso-C15 : 0 (20.8 %), iso-C16 : 0 (18.0 %), iso-C15 : 0 (12.2 %) and anteiso-C17 : 0 (11.6 %). The whole-cell sugars were ribose, glucose and mannose. These results suggested that MUSC 135(T) should be placed within the genus Streptomyces. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence exhibited that the most closely related strains were Streptomyces cinereospinus NBRC 15397(T) (99.18 % similarity), Streptomyces mexicanus NBRC 100915(T) (99.17 %) and Streptomyces coeruleofuscus NBRC 12757(T) (98.97 %). DNA-DNA relatedness between MUSC 135(T) and closely related type strains ranged from 26.3±2.1 to 49.6±2.5 %. BOX-PCR fingerprint comparisons showed that MUSC 135(T) exhibited a unique DNA profile. The DNA G+C content determined was 70.7±0.3 mol%. Based on our polyphasic study of MUSC 135(T), the strain merits assignment to a novel species, for which the name Streptomyces pluripotens sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MUSC 135(T) ( = MCCC 1K00252(T) = DSM 42140(T)).
  15. Lee LH, Azman AS, Zainal N, Eng SK, Mutalib NA, Yin WF, et al.
    Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, 2014 Oct;64(Pt 10):3513-3519.
    PMID: 25056298 DOI: 10.1099/ijs.0.062414-0
    Strain MUSC 115(T) was isolated from mangrove soil of the Tanjung Lumpur river in the state of Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia. Cells of this strain stained Gram-positive and were non-spore-forming, short rods that formed yellowish-white colonies on different agar media. The taxonomy of strain MUSC 115(T) was studied by a polyphasic approach, and the organism showed a range of phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic properties consistent with those of the genus Microbacterium. The cell-wall peptidoglycan was of type B2β, containing the amino acids ornithine, alanine, glycine, glutamic acid and homoserine. The muramic acid was of the N-glycolyl form. The predominant menaquinones detected were MK-12, MK-13 and MK-11. The polar lipids consisted of phosphatidylglycerol, phosphoglycolipid, diphosphatidylglycerol, two unidentified lipids, three unidentified phospholipids and four unidentified glycolipids. The major fatty acids of the cell membrane were anteiso-C15:0 and anteiso-C17:0. The whole-cell sugars detected were ribose, glucose, mannose and galactose. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence, strain MUSC 115(T) showed the highest sequence similarity to Microbacterium immunditiarum SK 18(T) (98.1%), M. ulmi XIL02(T) (97.8%) and M. arborescens DSM 20754(T) (97.5%) and lower sequence similarity to strains of other species of the genus Microbacterium. DNA-DNA hybridization experiments revealed a low level of DNA-DNA relatedness (less than 24%) between strain MUSC 115(T) and the type strains of closely related species. Furthermore, BOX-PCR fingerprint comparison also indicated that strain MUSC 115(T) represented a unique DNA profile. The DNA G+C content determined was 70.9 ± 0.7 mol%, which is lower than that of M. immunditiarum SK 18(T). Based on the combination of genotypic and phenotypic data, it is proposed that strain MUSC 115(T) represents a novel species of the genus Microbacterium, for which the name Microbacterium mangrovi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MUSC 115(T) ( = MCCC 1K00251(T) = DSM 28240(T) = NBRC 110089(T)).
  16. Letchumanan V, Chan KG, Lee LH
    Front Microbiol, 2014;5:705.
    PMID: 25566219 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00705
    Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a Gram-negative halophilic bacterium that is found in estuarine, marine and coastal environments. V. parahaemolyticus is the leading causal agent of human acute gastroenteritis following the consumption of raw, undercooked, or mishandled marine products. In rare cases, V. parahaemolyticus causes wound infection, ear infection or septicaemia in individuals with pre-existing medical conditions. V. parahaemolyticus has two hemolysins virulence factors that are thermostable direct hemolysin (tdh)-a pore-forming protein that contributes to the invasiveness of the bacterium in humans, and TDH-related hemolysin (trh), which plays a similar role as tdh in the disease pathogenesis. In addition, the bacterium is also encodes for adhesions and type III secretion systems (T3SS1 and T3SS2) to ensure its survival in the environment. This review aims at discussing the V. parahaemolyticus growth and characteristics, pathogenesis, prevalence and advances in molecular identification techniques.
  17. Lee LH, Zainal N, Azman AS, Eng SK, Goh BH, Yin WF, et al.
    ScientificWorldJournal, 2014;2014:698178.
    PMID: 25162061 DOI: 10.1155/2014/698178
    The aim of this study was to isolate and identify Actinobacteria from Malaysia mangrove forest and screen them for production of antimicrobial secondary metabolites. Eighty-seven isolates were isolated from soil samples collected at 4 different sites. This is the first report to describe the isolation of Streptomyces, Mycobacterium, Leifsonia, Microbacterium, Sinomonas, Nocardia, Terrabacter, Streptacidiphilus, Micromonospora, Gordonia, and Nocardioides from mangrove in east coast of Malaysia. Of 87 isolates, at least 5 isolates are considered as putative novel taxa. Nine Streptomyces sp. isolates were producing potent antimicrobial secondary metabolites, indicating that Streptomyces isolates are providing high quality metabolites for drug discovery purposes. The discovery of a novel species, Streptomyces pluripotens sp. nov. MUSC 135(T) that produced potent secondary metabolites inhibiting the growth of MRSA, had provided promising metabolites for drug discovery research. The biosynthetic potential of 87 isolates was investigated by the detection of polyketide synthetase (PKS) and nonribosomal polyketide synthetase (NRPS) genes, the hallmarks of secondary metabolites production. Results showed that many isolates were positive for PKS-I (19.5%), PKS-II (42.5%), and NRPS (5.7%) genes, indicating that mangrove Actinobacteria have significant biosynthetic potential. Our results highlighted that mangrove environment represented a rich reservoir for isolation of Actinobacteria, which are potential sources for discovery of antimicrobial secondary metabolites.
  18. Law JW, Ab Mutalib NS, Chan KG, Lee LH
    Front Microbiol, 2014;5:770.
    PMID: 25628612 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00770
    The incidence of foodborne diseases has increased over the years and resulted in major public health problem globally. Foodborne pathogens can be found in various foods and it is important to detect foodborne pathogens to provide safe food supply and to prevent foodborne diseases. The conventional methods used to detect foodborne pathogen are time consuming and laborious. Hence, a variety of methods have been developed for rapid detection of foodborne pathogens as it is required in many food analyses. Rapid detection methods can be categorized into nucleic acid-based, biosensor-based and immunological-based methods. This review emphasizes on the principles and application of recent rapid methods for the detection of foodborne bacterial pathogens. Detection methods included are simple polymerase chain reaction (PCR), multiplex PCR, real-time PCR, nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA), loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and oligonucleotide DNA microarray which classified as nucleic acid-based methods; optical, electrochemical and mass-based biosensors which classified as biosensor-based methods; enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and lateral flow immunoassay which classified as immunological-based methods. In general, rapid detection methods are generally time-efficient, sensitive, specific and labor-saving. The developments of rapid detection methods are vital in prevention and treatment of foodborne diseases.
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