METHODS: We isolated Onchocerca specimens from bearded pigs and examined their morphology. For comparative material, we collected fresh specimens of O. d. dewittei Bain, Ramachandran, Petter & Mak, 1977 from banded pigs (S. scrofa vittatus Boie) in Peninsular Malaysia. Partial sequences of three different genes (two mitochondrial genes, cox1 and 12S rRNA, and one nuclear ITS region) of these filarioids were analysed. By multi-locus sequence analyses based on six genes (16S rDNA, ftsZ, dnaA, coxA, fbpA and gatB) of Wolbachia, we determined the supergroups in the specimens from bearded pigs and those of O. d. dewittei.
RESULTS: Onchocerca borneensis Uni, Mat Udin & Takaoka n. sp. is described on the basis of morphological characteristics and its genetic divergence from congeners. Molecular characteristics of the new species revealed its close evolutionary relationship with O. d. dewittei. Calculated p-distance for the cox1 gene sequences between O. borneensis n. sp. and O. d. dewittei was 5.9%, while that between O. d. dewittei and O. d. japonica was 7.6%. No intraspecific genetic variation was found for the new species. Wolbachia strains identified in the new species and O. d. dewittei belonged to supergroup C and are closely related.
CONCLUSIONS: Our molecular analyses of filarioids from Asian suids indicate that the new species is sister to O. d. dewittei. On the basis of its morphological and molecular characteristics, we propose to elevate O. d. japonica to species level as O. japonica Uni, Bain & Takaoka, 2001. Coevolutionary relationships exist between the Wolbachia strains and their filarial hosts in Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia.
PURPOSE: To investigate the utility of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in determining the microstructural integrity of sciatic and peroneal nerves and its correlation with the MRI grading of muscle atrophy severity and clinical function in CMT as determined by the CMT neuropathy score (CMTNS).
STUDY TYPE: Prospective case-control.
SUBJECTS: Nine CMT patients and nine age-matched controls.
FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: 3 T T1 -weighted in-/out-of phase spoiled gradient recalled echo (SPGR) and DTI sequences.
ASSESSMENT: Fractional anisotropy (FA), axial diffusivity (AD), radial diffusivity (RD), and mean diffusivity (MD) values for sciatic and peroneal nerves were obtained from DTI. Muscle atrophy was graded according to the Goutallier classification using in-/out-of phase SPGRs. DTI parameters and muscle atrophy grades were compared between CMT and controls, and the relationship between DTI parameters, muscle atrophy grades, and CMTNS were assessed.
STATISTICAL TESTS: The Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test was used to compare DTI parameters between CMT and controls. The relationship between DTI parameters, muscle atrophy grades, and CMTNS were analyzed using the Spearman correlation. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses of DTI parameters that can differentiate CMT from healthy controls were done.
RESULTS: There was a significant reduction in FA and increase in RD of both nerves (P
METHODS: The genotypes were assessed on 144 histologically confirmed NAFLD patients and 198 controls using a Sequenom MassARRAY platform.
RESULTS: The GCKR rs1260326 and rs780094 allele T were associated with susceptibility to NAFLD (OR 1.49, 95 % CI 1.09-2.05, p = 0.012; and OR 1.51, 95 % CI 1.09-2.09, p = 0.013, respectively), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) (OR 1.55, 95 % CI 1.10-2.17, p = 0.013; and OR 1.56, 95 % CI 1.10-2.20, p = 0.012, respectively) and NASH with significant fibrosis (OR 1.50, 95 % CI 1.01-2.21, p = 0.044; and OR 1.52, 95 % CI 1.03-2.26, p = 0.038, respectively). Following stratification by ethnicity, significant association was seen in Indian patients between the two SNPs and susceptibility to NAFLD (OR 2.64, 95 % CI 1.28-5.43, p = 0.009; and OR 4.35, 95 % CI 1.93-9.81, p < 0.0001, respectively). The joint effect of GCKR with adiponutrin rs738409 indicated greatly increased the risk of NAFLD (OR 4.14, 95 % CI 1.41-12.18, p = 0.010). Histological data showed significant association of GCKR rs1260326 with high steatosis grade (OR 1.76, 95 % CI 1.08-2.85, p = 0.04).
CONCLUSION: This study suggests that risk allele T of the GCKR rs780094 and rs1260326 is associated with predisposition to NAFLD and NASH with significant fibrosis. The GCKR and PNPLA3 genes interact to result in increased susceptibility to NAFLD.
METHODS: Altogether 67 esophageal squamous cell carcinomas histologically diagnosed between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2014 at the Department of Pathology, University of Malaya Medical Center, Malaysia were considered for HPV analysis using two commercially available methods, polymerase chain reaction with flow-through hybridization (21 HPV GenoArray Diagnostic Kit) and multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (Anyplex II HPV28 Detection). The DNA amplifiability of the formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor was checked by amplification of a 268 bp segment of the human β-globin gene (GH20/PC04) prior to HPV detection.
RESULTS: HPV detection was finally carried out in 51 patients. HPV16 was detected in the moderately differentiated, stage IV lower esophageal tumor of a 32-year-old Malaysian-born Chinese woman by both methods. Except for a predilection for Indians, the clinical characteristics of esophageal squamous cell carcinomas in this Malaysian cohort were generally similar to those of other populations.
CONCLUSION: It appears that HPV is rare and an unlikely oncovirus in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas of Malaysians.
METHODS: Histologically confirmed invasive cervical carcinoma and benign cervices were assayed for telomerase activity using a commercial telomerase polymerase chain reaction (PCR) enzyme linked immunosorbent assay kit. The same cases were subjected to PCR detection of HPV using type specific (HPV types 6b, 11, 16, and 18) followed by L1 open reading frame (ORF) consensus primers.
RESULTS: HPV was detected in 18 (13 HPV-16, one HPV-6b, four only L1 ORF) of 20 invasive cervical carcinoma and one (only L1 ORF) of 19 benign cervices. Raised telomerase activity (A(450 nm) > 0.215) was detected in 11 cervical carcinomas, with A(450 nm) ranging between 0.238 and 21.790 (mean, 3.952) in positive squamous carcinomas, whereas A(450 nm) was only 0.222 in the one positive adenosquamous carcinoma. Five of 11 cervical carcinomas in stage I, three of six in stage II, both in stage III, and the only case in stage IV showed telomerase activation. Increased telomerase activity was noted in five of the 12 lymph node negative, five of the seven lymph node status unknown cases, and the one case with presumed lymph node metastasis. Ten of 18 HPV positive and one of two HPV negative cervical carcinomas showed telomerase upregulation.
CONCLUSIONS: Telomerase is activated in invasive cervical carcinoma. Although larger studies are needed, there seems to be no clear association between telomerase upregulation and HPV status, although there is a suggestion of increased telomerase activity in squamous carcinomas and late stage disease.
METHODS: A prospective study spanning 27 months was conducted at the University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur. Serum CEA (Abbott IMx) and serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen (Abbott IMx) from patients clinically suspected of having primary carcinoma of the lung, were assayed using the microparticle enzyme immunoassay method.
RESULTS: Thirty seven cases of histologically confirmed primary lung carcinoma were studied. Of these, 17 were squamous cell carcinomas, 10 adenocarcinomas, nine small cell carcinomas, and one large cell carcinoma. The patients' ages ranged from 34-82 years. The male:female ratio was 3.6:1. Squamous cell carcinoma antigen was raised above the cutoff value of 1.5 ng/ml in 94.1% of squamous cell carcinomas, 20.0% of adenocarcinomas, and 11.1% of small cell carcinomas. By comparison, CEA was raised above the cutoff value of 3.0 ng/ml in 70.6% of squamous cell carcinomas, 77.8% of small cell carcinomas, and 100% of adenocarcinomas. CEA and squamous cell carcinoma antigen were not raised in the patient with large cell carcinoma and in 14 healthy volunteers. None of 15 patients with a variety of benign lung diseases showed a rise of CEA, while two patients--a 25 year old Indian woman with pneumonia and a 64 year old Malay man with bronchial asthma--had raised squamous cell carcinoma antigen values above the cutoff. Serum CEA and squamous cell carcinoma antigen values did not seem to correlate with stage or degree of differentiation of the tumours.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that CEA is a good general marker for carcinoma, particularly adenocarcinoma. In contrast, squamous cell carcinoma antigen is more specific for squamous carcinoma.
Methods: We identified 60 Malaysian patients with OPSCC over a 12-year period (2004-2015) from four different hospitals in two major cities, Kuala Lumpur and Penang. The detection of HPV was carried out using p16 immunohistochemistry and high risk HPV DNA in situ hybridisation.
Results: Overall, 15 (25%) tumours were p16 positive by immunohistochemistry, 10 of which were also positive for high risk HPV DNA by in situ hybridisation. By comparison, a matched cohort of UK patients had a p16 positive rate of 49%. However, between 2009 and 2015, where cases were available from all four hospitals, 13 of 37 (35%) cases were p16 positive. In our Malaysian cohort, 53% of patients were of Chinese ethnicity and 80% of the p16 positive cases were found in these patients; no Indian patients had p16 positive disease, despite representing 35% of the total cohort.
Conclusion: The proportion of OPSCCs associated with HPV in Malaysia appears to be lower than in European and American cohorts and could possibly be more prevalent amongst Malaysians of Chinese ethnicity. Further, our data suggests that the burden of HPV-related OPSCC could be increasing in Malaysia. Larger cross-sectional studies of Malaysian patients are required to determine the public health implications of these preliminary findings.