DESIGN: A molecular epidemiology study was conducted among HIV-1 seropositive patients attending the University Malaya Medical Center (UMMC) from July 2003 to June 2004.
METHODS: Protease (PR) and reverse transcriptase (RT) gene sequences were derived from drug resistance genotyping assay of 100 newly diagnosed or antiretroviral-naive patients. These were phylogenetically analysed to determine the subtypes and recombination breakpoint analyses were performed on intersubtype recombinants to estimate the recombination breakpoint(s).
RESULTS: CRF01_AE predominated in Kuala Lumpur with 65% in both PR and RT genes. B subtype was detected at 14% and 12% in PR and RT genes, respectively. C subtype was present at 1% in both genes. Overall, the concordance of PR and RT genes in discriminating subtypes/circulating recombinant forms (CRF) was high at 96%. In this study, novel CRF01_AE/B intersubtype recombinants were detected at high prevalence (22%), including those isolates with subtype discordance. Thai variants of CRF01_AE and B subtype were involved in the genesis of these unique recombinant forms (URF). Interestingly, 19 CRF01_AE/B intersubtype recombinant isolates shared similar recombination breakpoints in both PR and RT genes. Several distinct URF were also identified.
CONCLUSION: PR and RT genes can be utilized for subtype/CRF assessment with high degree of agreement, allowing concurrent surveillance of circulating HIV-1 subtypes with antiretroviral drug resistance genotyping tests. The emergence of highly identical CRF01_AE/B intersubtype recombinants suggests the possibility of the appearance of a new circulating recombinant form in Kuala Lumpur.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 140 patients who had compatible ABO blood type with negative T-cell lymphocytotoxicity crossmatch were included in the study and 25% of them were spousal transplant donors. No remarkable differences in acute rejection rate, graft survival, patient survival and serum creatinine level were observed between the spousal and living-related donor groups.
RESULTS: The spousal donor group had a higher degree of HLA mismatch than the living-related donor group. HLA-A mismatch was associated with increased rejection risk at 6 months (odds ratio [OR], 2.75; P = 0.04), 1 year (OR, 2.54; P = 0.03) and 3 years (OR, 3.69; P = 0.001). It was also observed in the deleterious effects of HLA-B and HLA-DQ loci when the number of antigen mismatches increased. The risk was 7 times higher in patients with ≥1 mismatch at HLA-A, HLA-B and HLA-DR loci than those who did not have a mismatch at these loci at 6 months (P = 0.01), 1 year (P = 0.03) and 3 years (P = 0.003).
CONCLUSION: A good match for HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-DR and HLA-DQ can prevent acute rejection risk in renal transplant patients. Consequently, spousal donor transplants could be a safe intervention in renal patients.
RESULTS: Two fungal isolates (UM 1400 and UM 1020) from human specimens were identified as Daldinia eschscholtzii by morphological features and ITS-based phylogenetic analysis. Both genomes were similar in size with 10,822 predicted genes in UM 1400 (35.8 Mb) and 11,120 predicted genes in UM 1020 (35.5 Mb). A total of 751 gene families were shared among both UM isolates, including gene families associated with fungus-host interactions. In the CAZyme comparative analysis, both genomes were found to contain arrays of CAZyme related to plant cell wall degradation. Genes encoding secreted peptidases were found in the genomes, which encode for the peptidases involved in the degradation of structural proteins in plant cell wall. In addition, arrays of secondary metabolite backbone genes were identified in both genomes, indicating of their potential to produce bioactive secondary metabolites. Both genomes also contained an abundance of gene encoding signaling components, with three proposed MAPK cascades involved in cell wall integrity, osmoregulation, and mating/filamentation. Besides genomic evidence for degrading capability, both isolates also harbored an array of genes encoding stress response proteins that are potentially significant for adaptation to living in the hostile environments.
CONCLUSIONS: Our genomic studies provide further information for the biological understanding of the D. eschscholtzii and suggest that these wood-decaying fungi are also equipped for adaptation to adverse environments in the human host.
METHODS: This is a retrospective, single-centre study comprising 105 living kidney donor candidates from the year 2007 to 2020. By comparing against 51-Chromium ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid (51Cr-EDTA), we analysed creatinine clearance for correlation, bias, precision and accuracy.
RESULTS: The study group had a mean age of 45.68 ± 10.97 years with a mean serum creatinine of 64.43 ± 17.68 µmol/L and a urine volume of 2.06 ± 0.83 L. Mean measured GFR from 51Cr-EDTA was 124.37 ± 26.83 ml/min/1.73m2 whereas mean creatinine clearance was 132.35 ± 38.18 ml/min/1.73m2. Creatinine clearance overestimated 51Cr-EDTA significantly with a correlation coefficient of 0.48 (p