Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 198 in total

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  1. Pern YC, Lee SY, Ng WL, Mohamed R
    3 Biotech, 2020 Mar;10(3):103.
    PMID: 32099744 DOI: 10.1007/s13205-020-2072-2
    Tree species in the Aquilarieae tribe of the Thymelaeaceae family produce agarwood, a natural product highly valued for its fragrance, but the species are under threat due to indiscriminate harvesting. For conservation of these species, molecular techniques such as DNA profiling have been used. In this study, we assessed cross-amplification of microsatellite markers, initially developed for three Aquilaria species (A.crassna, A.malaccensis, and A.sinensis), on ten other agarwood-producing species, including members of Aquilaria (A.beccariana, A.hirta, A.microcarpa, A.rostrata, A.rugosa, A.subintegra, and A.yunnanensis) and Gyrinops (G.caudata, G.versteegii, and G.walla), both from the Aquilarieae tribe. Primers for 18 out of the 30 microsatellite markers successfully amplified bands of expected sizes in 1 sample each of at least 10 species. These were further used to genotype 74 individuals representing all the 13 studied species, yielding 13 cross-amplifiable markers, of which only 1 being polymorphic across all species. At each locus, the number of alleles ranged from 7 to 23, indicating a rather high variability. Four markers had relatively high species discrimination power. Our results demonstrated that genetic fingerprinting can be an effective tool in helping to manage agarwood genetic resources by potentially supporting the chain-of-custody of agarwood and its products in the market.
  2. Hishamuddin MS, Lee SY, Syazwan SA, Ramlee SI, Lamasudin DU, Mohamed R
    3 Biotech, 2023 Mar;13(3):78.
    PMID: 36761338 DOI: 10.1007/s13205-023-03479-1
    Members of Aquilaria Lam. (Thymelaeaceae) are evergreen trees that are widely distributed in the Indomalesia region. Aquilaria is highly prized for its unique scented resin, agarwood, which is often the subject of unlawful trade activities. Survival of the tree is heavily threatened by destructive harvesting and agarwood poaching, leading to its protection under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Unfortunately, an efficient species identification method, which is crucial to aid in the conservation efforts of Aquilaria is lacking. Here, we described our search for a suitable specific DNA barcode for Aquilaria species using eight complete plastome sequences. We identified five highly variable regions (HVR) (matK-rps16, ndhF-rpl32, psbJ-petA, trnD, and trnT-trnL) in the plastomes. These regions were further analyzed using the neighbor-joining (NJ) method to assess their ability at discriminating the eight species. Coupled with in silico primer design, two potential barcoding regions, psbJ-petA and trnT-trnL, were identified. Their strengths in species delimitation were evaluated individually and in combination, via DNA barcoding analysis. Our findings showed that the combined dataset, psbJ-petA + trnT-trnL, effectively resolved members of the genus Aquilaria by clustering all species into their respective clades. In addition, we demonstrated that the newly proposed DNA barcode was capable at identifying the species of origin of six commercial agarwood samples that were included as unknown samples. Such achievement offers a new technical advancement, useful in the combat against illicit agarwood trades and in assisting the conservation of these valuable species in natural populations.

    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-023-03479-1.

  3. Shaibullah S, Mohd-Sharif N, Ho KL, Firdaus-Raih M, Nathan S, Mohamed R, et al.
    Acta Crystallogr F Struct Biol Commun, 2014 Dec 01;70(Pt 12):1697-700.
    PMID: 25484229 DOI: 10.1107/S2053230X14025278
    Melioidosis is an infectious disease caused by the pathogenic bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. Whole-genome sequencing revealed that the B. pseudomallei genome includes 5855 coding DNA sequences (CDSs), of which ∼25% encode hypothetical proteins. A pathogen-associated hypothetical protein, BPSL1038, was overexpressed in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized using vapour-diffusion methods. A BPSL1038 protein crystal that grew using sodium formate as precipitant diffracted to 1.55 Å resolution. It belonged to space group C2221, with unit-cell parameters a = 85.36, b = 115.63, c = 46.73 Å. The calculated Matthews coefficient (VM) suggests that there are two molecules per asymmetric unit, with a solvent content of 48.8%.
  4. Wickramatilake CM, Mohideen MR, Pathirana C
    Ann Endocrinol (Paris), 2015 Jul;76(3):260-3.
    PMID: 26142486 DOI: 10.1016/j.ando.2015.04.008
    OBJECTIVE: There is limited data on the assessment of relationship between sex hormones, metabolic syndrome (MS) and inflammation. Therefore, our objective was to examine the relationship between metabolic syndrome, testosterone and inflammation.
    PATIENTS AND METHODS: It was a cross-sectional study which included 309 subjects in the age range of 30-70years. Blood was analyzed for plasma glucose, serum lipids, total testosterone (TT) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP).
    RESULTS: There were 153 patients with metabolic syndrome and 156 without MS according to modified NCEP guidelines. Age, BMI, obesity, dyslipidaemia, smoking (OR=2.35, CI=1.35-4.09), LDL-Ch, low TT (OR=0.76, CI=0.38-1.52) and elevated hs-CRP (OR=1.56, CI=0.87-2.80) were significant independent predictors of MS (all P<0.05).
    CONCLUSIONS: The low testosterone and high hs-CRP levels are independent predictors of metabolic syndrome.
    KEYWORDS: Hommes; Inflammation; Men; Metabolic syndrome; Syndrome métabolique; Testosterone; Testostérone
  5. Awan AAY, Berenguer MC, Bruchfeld A, Fabrizi F, Goldberg DS, Jia J, et al.
    Ann Intern Med, 2023 Dec;176(12):1648-1655.
    PMID: 38079642 DOI: 10.7326/M23-2391
    DESCRIPTION: The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) 2022 clinical practice guideline on prevention, diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of hepatitis C in chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an update of the 2018 guideline from KDIGO.

    METHODS: The KDIGO Work Group (WG) updated the guideline, which included reviewing and grading new evidence that was identified and summarized. As in the previous guideline, the WG used the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) approach to appraise evidence and rate the strength of recommendations and used expert judgment to develop recommendations. New evidence led to updating of recommendations in the chapters on treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in patients with CKD (Chapter 2), management of HCV infection before and after kidney transplant (Chapter 4), and diagnosis and management of kidney disease associated with HCV infection (Chapter 5). Recommendations in chapters on detection and evaluation of hepatitis C in CKD (Chapter 1) and prevention of HCV transmission in hemodialysis units (Chapter 3) were not updated because of an absence of significant new evidence.

    RECOMMENDATIONS: The 2022 updated guideline includes 43 graded recommendations and 20 ungraded recommendations, 7 of which are new or modified on the basis of the most recent evidence and consensus among the WG members. The updated guidelines recommend expanding treatment of hepatitis C with sofosbuvir-based regimens to patients with CKD glomerular filtration rate categories G4 and G5, including those receiving dialysis; expanding the donor pool for kidney transplant recipients by accepting HCV-positive kidneys regardless of the recipient's HCV status; and initiating direct-acting antiviral treatment of HCV-infected patients with clinical evidence of glomerulonephritis without requiring kidney biopsy. The update also addresses the use of immunosuppressive regimens in such patients.

  6. Barathan M, Gopal K, Mohamed R, Ellegård R, Saeidi A, Vadivelu J, et al.
    Apoptosis, 2015 Apr;20(4):466-80.
    PMID: 25577277 DOI: 10.1007/s10495-014-1084-y
    Persistent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection appears to trigger the onset of immune exhaustion to potentially assist viral persistence in the host, eventually leading to hepatocellular carcinoma. The role of HCV on the spontaneous expression of markers suggestive of immune exhaustion and spontaneous apoptosis in immune cells of chronic HCV (CHC) disease largely remain elusive. We investigated the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of CHC patients to determine the spontaneous recruitment of cellular reactive oxygen species (cROS), immunoregulatory and exhaustion markers relative to healthy controls. Using a commercial QuantiGenePlex(®) 2.0 assay, we determined the spontaneous expression profile of 80 different pro- and anti-apoptotic genes in persistent HCV disease. Onset of spontaneous apoptosis significantly correlated with the up-regulation of cROS, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), cyclooxygenase-2/prostaglandin H synthase (COX-2/PGHS), Foxp3, Dtx1, Blimp1, Lag3 and Cd160. Besides, spontaneous differential surface protein expression suggestive of T cell inhibition viz., TRAIL, TIM-3, PD-1 and BTLA on CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and CTLA-4 on CD4+ T cells was also evident. Increased up-regulation of Tnf, Tp73, Casp14, Tnfrsf11b, Bik and Birc8 was observed, whereas FasLG, Fas, Ripk2, Casp3, Dapk1, Tnfrsf21, and Cflar were moderately up-regulated in HCV-infected subjects. Our observation suggests the spontaneous onset of apoptosis signaling and T cell exhaustion in chronic HCV disease.
  7. Firdaus Raih M, Ahmad HA, Sharum MY, Azizi N, Mohamed R
    Appl. Bioinformatics, 2005;4(2):147-50.
    PMID: 16128617
    Bacterial proteases are an important group of enzymes that have very diverse biochemical and cellular functions. Proteases from prokaryotic sources also have a wide range of uses, either in medicine as pathogenic factors or in industry and therapeutics. ProLysED (Prokaryotic Lysis Enzymes Database), our meta-server integrated database of bacterial proteases, is a useful, albeit very niche, resource. The features include protease classification browsing and searching, organism-specific protease browsing, molecular information and visualisation of protease structures from the Protein Data Bank (PDB) as well as predicted protease structures.
  8. McDonald SA, Azzeri A, Shabaruddin FH, Dahlui M, Tan SS, Kamarulzaman A, et al.
    Appl Health Econ Health Policy, 2018 12;16(6):847-857.
    PMID: 30145775 DOI: 10.1007/s40258-018-0425-3
    INTRODUCTION: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has set ambitious goals to reduce the global disease burden associated with, and eventually eliminate, viral hepatitis.

    OBJECTIVE: To assist with achieving these goals and to inform the development of a national strategic plan for Malaysia, we estimated the long-term burden incurred by the care and management of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We compared cumulative healthcare costs and disease burden under different treatment cascade scenarios.

    METHODS: We attached direct costs for the management/care of chronically HCV-infected patients to a previously developed clinical disease progression model. Under assumptions regarding disease stage-specific proportions of model-predicted HCV patients within care, annual numbers of patients initiated on antiviral treatment and distribution of treatments over stage, we projected the healthcare costs and disease burden [in disability-adjusted life-years (DALY)] in 2018-2040 under four treatment scenarios: (A) no treatment/baseline; (B) pre-2018 standard of care (pegylated interferon/ribavirin); (C) gradual scale-up in direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment uptake that does not meet the WHO 2030 treatment uptake target; (D) scale-up in DAA treatment uptake that meets the WHO 2030 target.

    RESULTS: Scenario D, while achieving the WHO 2030 target and averting 253,500 DALYs compared with the pre-2018 standard of care B, incurred the highest direct patient costs over the period 2018-2030: US$890 million (95% uncertainty interval 653-1271). When including screening programme costs, the total cost was estimated at US$952 million, which was 12% higher than the estimated total cost of scenario C.

    CONCLUSIONS: The scale-up to meet the WHO 2030 target may be achievable with appropriately high governmental commitment to the expansion of HCV screening to bring sufficient undiagnosed chronically infected patients into the treatment pathway.

  9. Yunus MA, Ramli MM, Osman NH, Mohamed R
    Arch Immunol Ther Exp (Warsz), 2021 Jul 29;69(1):20.
    PMID: 34327598 DOI: 10.1007/s00005-021-00625-6
    Sole nanomaterials or nanomaterials bound to specific biomolecules have been proposed to regulate the immune system. These materials have now emerged as new tools for eliciting immune-based therapies to treat various cancers. Graphene, graphene oxide (GO) and reduced GO (rGO) are the latest nanomaterials among other carbon nanotubes that have attracted wide interest among medical industry players due to their extraordinary properties, inert-state, non-toxic and stable dispersion in a various solvent. Currently, GO and rGO are utilized in various biomedical application including cancer immunotherapy. This review will highlight studies that have been carried out in elucidating the stimulation of GO and rGO on selected innate and adaptive immune cells and their effect on cancer progression to shed some insights for researchers in the development of various GO- and rGO-based immune therapies against various cancers.
  10. Ng CJ, Low WY, Wong LP, Sudin MR, Mohamed R
    Asia Pac J Public Health, 2013 Jan;25(1):32-40.
    PMID: 21807630 DOI: 10.1177/1010539511413258
    Patients with hepatitis B face uncertainty at diagnosis. Information and support they receive at the early stage of the disease determine their adherence to follow up and treatment. This study aimed to explore the experiences and needs of patients with hepatitis B at diagnosis. A qualitative methodology was used. Nine focus groups (n = 44) were conducted to explore patients' feelings and reaction to the diagnosis, encounters with health care professionals, and their needs. The transcribed data were analyzed using a thematic approach. Most patients were not prepared for the diagnosis and many felt anxious and distressed. This was attributed to poor patients' knowledge, doctor's emphasis on disease complications, and associated stigma. Information about the disease was lacking and patients wanted to know more about the mode of transmission, natural progression of the disease, complications, and treatment options. There was a feeling of "passivity" among patients because there was often no active treatment available at diagnosis. This resulted in patients defaulting surveillance visits and missing the opportunity to start antiviral treatment. Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide sufficient information and education about hepatitis B to newly diagnosed patients, break "bad news" to patients with sensitivity, address their emotional needs, and emphasize on the rationale and importance of surveillance and treatment. This may entail public awareness campaign, implementation of pretest and posttest counseling, and educating doctors on how to communicate the diagnosis and management to patients accurately and sensitively.
  11. Haron NH, Mohamad Hanif EA, Abdul Manaf MR, Yaakub JA, Harun R, Mohamed R, et al.
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2019 Feb 26;20(2):509-517.
    PMID: 30803214
    Introduction: Microsatellite instability (MSI) is a hallmark of defective DNA mismatch repair (MMR) of genes
    especially MLH1 and MSH2. It is frequently involved in the carcinogenesis of various tumours including gastric
    cancer (GC). However, MSI in GCs have not been reported in Malaysia before. Objective: This study was conducted
    to determine the microsatellite instability (MSI) status in gastric cancer by microsatellite analysis, sequencing, its
    association with MLH1 and MSH2 protein expression and H.pylori infection by immunohistochemistry. Method:
    A total of 60 gastric cancer cases were retrieved. DNA was extracted from paired normal and tumour tissues while
    MLH1 and MSH2 protein expression as well as H. pylori status were determined by IHC staining. For microsatellite
    analysis, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed for paired tissue samples using a panel of five microsatellite
    markers. MSI-positive results were subjected for DNA sequencing to assess mutations in the MLH1 and MSH2 genes.
    Results: Microsatellite analysis identified ten MSI positive cases (16.7%), out of which only six cases (10.3%) showed
    absence of MLH1 (n=3) or MSH2 (n=3) protein expression by IHC. The most frequent microsatellite marker in MSI
    positive cases was BAT26 (90%). Nine of ten MSI positive cases were intestinal type with one diffuse and all were
    located distally. H. pylori infection was detected in 13 of 60 cases (21.7%) including in three MSI positive cases. All
    these results however were not statistically significant. Our sequencing data displayed novel mutations. However these
    data were not statistically correlated with expression levels of MLH1 and MSH2 proteins by IHC. This may be due to
    small sample size to detect small or moderately sized effects. Conclusion: The frequency of MSI in this study was
    comparable with published results. Determination of affected MMR genes by more than two antibodies may increase
    the sensitivity of IHC to that of MSI analysis.
  12. Khoo JS, Chai SF, Mohamed R, Nathan S, Firdaus-Raih M
    BMC Genomics, 2012;13 Suppl 7:S13.
    PMID: 23282220 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-13-S7-S13
    The sRNAs of bacterial pathogens are known to be involved in various cellular roles including environmental adaptation as well as regulation of virulence and pathogenicity. It is expected that sRNAs may also have similar functions for Burkholderia pseudomallei, a soil bacterium that can adapt to diverse environmental conditions, which causes the disease melioidosis and is also able to infect a wide variety of hosts.
  13. Hara Y, Chin CY, Mohamed R, Puthucheary SD, Nathan S
    BMC Infect Dis, 2013;13:165.
    PMID: 23556548 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2334-13-165
    Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis, is endemic to Southeast Asia and northern Australia. Clinical manifestations of disease are diverse, ranging from chronic infection to acute septicaemia. The current gold standard of diagnosis involves bacterial culture and identification which is time consuming and often too late for early medical intervention. Hence, rapid diagnosis of melioidosis is crucial for the successful management of melioidosis.
  14. McDonald SA, Mohamed R, Dahlui M, Naning H, Kamarulzaman A
    BMC Infect Dis, 2014;14:564.
    PMID: 25377240 DOI: 10.1186/s12879-014-0564-6
    Collecting adequate information on key epidemiological indicators is a prerequisite to informing a public health response to reduce the impact of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Malaysia. Our goal was to overcome the acute data shortage typical of low/middle income countries using statistical modelling to estimate the national HCV prevalence and the distribution over transmission pathways as of the end of 2009.
  15. Ahmad L, Hung TL, Mat Akhir NA, Mohamed R, Nathan S, Firdaus-Raih M
    BMC Microbiol, 2015;15:270.
    PMID: 26597807 DOI: 10.1186/s12866-015-0604-4
    There are still numerous protein subfamilies within families and superfamilies that do not yet have conclusive empirical experimental evidence providing a specific function. These proteins persist in databases with the annotation of a specific 'putative' function made by association with discernible features in the protein sequence.
  16. Wong XZ, Gan CC, Mohamed R, Yahya R, Ganapathy S, Tan SS, et al.
    BMC Nephrol, 2020 11 13;21(1):480.
    PMID: 33187498 DOI: 10.1186/s12882-020-02154-4
    BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects more than 71 million people worldwide and chronic HCV infection increases the risk of liver cirrhosis and failure. Haemodialysis (HD) is one of the renal replacement therapies with risk of HCV transmission. Anti-HCV antibodies are the serological screening test for HCV infection that does not detect active phase of infection. Majority HCV infected HD patients in Malaysia do not have further HCV RNA performed due to high cost and thus HCV treatment is less frequently offered. HCV Core Antigen (HCV Ag) can potentially be used to diagnose active HCV infection in HD population in comparison to HCV RNA, at lower cost.

    METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the correlation between HCV Ag and HCV RNA and to identify the prevalence of active HCV infection among HCV seropositive HD patients from dialysis centres across West Malaysia from July 2019 to May 2020. Pre-dialysis blood was taken and tested for both HCV Ag and HCV RNA tests. HCV Ag was tested with Abbott ARCHITECT HCV Ag test.

    RESULTS: We recruited 112 seropositive HD patients from 17 centres with mean age of 54.04 ± 11.62 years, HD vintage of 14.1 ± 9.7 years, and male constitute 59.8% (67) of the study population. HCV Ag correlates well with HCV RNA (Spearman test coefficient 0.833, p  3000 IU/mL, HCV Ag had a higher sensitivity of 95.1% and greater correlation (Spearman test coefficient 0.897, p 

  17. Khairul-Fahmy N, Ismail J, Koay BT, Md-Zakariah MZ, Mansor S, Zulkifli N, et al.
    BMC Nephrol, 2023 Feb 24;24(1):42.
    PMID: 36829106 DOI: 10.1186/s12882-023-03085-6
    Antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) still persists as the major hurdle towards successful renal allograft survival. This paper aims to report on the HLA antibody landscape of renal transplant candidates in Malaysia. A total of 2,219 adult samples from 2016 to 2019 were analysed for anti-HLA antibodies using solid-phase assay. Our findings highlight the prevalence and risk factors for antibodies against HLA antigens in renal transplant settings, which could be beneficial for selecting compatible recipients from deceased organ donors. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to demonstrate that ethnic Malay and Chinese showed significantly higher prevalence of anti-HLA antibodies. Based on our multivariate analysis: (i) female gender was associated with higher risk for panel reactive antibodies (PRAs) against Class I, Class II, and Class I and II (p 
  18. Mohamed R, Ng CJ, Tong WT, Abidin SZ, Wong LP, Low WY
    BMC Public Health, 2012;12:601.
    PMID: 22856889 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-601
    BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B (HBV) is the leading cause of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide. This study assessed the knowledge, attitudes and practices of people with chronic HBV and the associated factors.
    METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at an outpatient adult hepatology clinic at a tertiary hospital in Kuala Lumpur. A self-administered questionnaire was administered on a one-to-one basis to assess knowledge, attitudes, and lifestyle practices of people with chronic HBV.
    RESULTS: The response rate was 89% (n = 483/543). Participants had a mean age of 46.3 (±14.7) years and the mean duration of HBV from time of diagnosis was 12.2 (±8.8) years. The mean knowledge score was 12.57/20 (standard deviation: ±4.4, range: 0-19). Participants aged 30-39 years, with higher educational attainment, employed in professional jobs, longer duration of diagnosis and those without cirrhosis had significantly higher knowledge scores. Age, education level and duration of diagnosis were significant predictors of the knowledge score on standard multiple regression analysis. More than half of the participants were worried of spreading HBV infection to family and friends and worried since the diagnosis. A third of the participants (33.5%) were embarrassed to reveal their diagnosis to the public but most of them (93.6%) would inform their family. Those who reported feeling worried since their diagnosis were more likely to be middle-aged, of Malay ethnicity, have shorter duration of diagnosis of less than 10 years and have received therapy. About half of the participants (50.6%) did not share dining utensils and the majority (93.2%) believed that HBV can be transmitted by sharing of eating and drinking utensils. Older patients were significantly less likely to share utensils. Those who felt worried since diagnosis had significant higher knowledge of HBV.
    CONCLUSION: The findings highlight the stigma and misconceptions that still exist among the HBV patients. More patient and public education about HBV and its prevention are essential to increase awareness and to demystify the disease.
    Study site: Hepatology clinic, University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  19. Ashaari NS, Ramarad S, Khairuddin D, Akhir NA, Hara Y, Mahadi NM, et al.
    BMC Res Notes, 2015;8:669.
    PMID: 26563904 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-015-1637-3
    Protein microarrays have enormous potential as in vitro diagnostic tools stemming from the ability to miniaturize whilst generating maximum evaluation of diagnostically relevant information from minute amounts of sample. In this report, we present a method known as repeatable arrays of proteins using immobilized DNA microplates (RAPID-M) for high-throughput in situ protein microarray fabrication. The RAPID-M technology comprises of cell-free expression using immobilized DNA templates and in situ protein purification onto standard microarray slides.
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