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Kinetic adsorption of application of carbon nanotubes for Pb(II) removal from aqueous solution

Kabbashi NA, Atieh MA, Al-Mamun A, Mirghami ME, Alam MD, Yahya N

J Environ Sci (China), 2009;21(4):539-44.
PMID: 19634432

The capability of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to adsorb lead (Pb) in aqueous solution was investigated. Batch mode adsorption experiment was conducted to determine the effects of pH, agitation speed, CNTs dosage and contact time. The removal of Pb(II) reached maximum value 85% or 83% at pH 5 or 40 mg/L of CNTs, respectively. Higher correlation coefficients from Langmuir isotherm model indicates the strong adsorptions of Pb(II) on the surface of CNTs (adsorption capacity Xm = 102.04 mg/g). The results indicates that the highest percentage removal of Pb (96.03%) can be achieved at pH 5, 40 mg/L of CNTs, contact time 80 min, and agitation speed 50 r/min.
Transformation of nitrogen dioxide into ozone and prediction of ozone concentrations using multiple linear regression techniques

Ghazali NA, Ramli NA, Yahaya AS, Yusof NF, Sansuddin N, Al Madhoun WA

Environ Monit Assess, 2010 Jun;165(1-4):475-89.
PMID: 19440846 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-009-0960-3

Analysis and forecasting of air quality parameters are important topics of atmospheric and environmental research today due to the health impact caused by air pollution. This study examines transformation of nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) into ozone (O(3)) at urban environment using time series plot. Data on the concentration of environmental pollutants and meteorological variables were employed to predict the concentration of O(3) in the atmosphere. Possibility of employing multiple linear regression models as a tool for prediction of O(3) concentration was tested. Results indicated that the presence of NO(2) and sunshine influence the concentration of O(3) in Malaysia. The influence of the previous hour ozone on the next hour concentrations was also demonstrated.
Fulltext Can primary care clinic run MMT service well?

Norsiah A, Dharmananda S, Mohammad Nazri MD, Marzafuan MM, Lee BWH, Khalijah MY

Malays Fam Physician, 2010;5(1):19-23.
PMID: 25606181 MyJurnal

Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT) for opiate dependence was first started in Malaysia in 2005. The service was initially provided by psychiatric clinics in hospitals and primary care clinics. Handling patients with opiate dependency especially in a primary care clinic is very challenging due to various constraints hence the success is doubtful. 143 patients from Tampin Health Clinic were recruited from November 2006 until March 2009. Retention rate in the program was high. Significant improvement was seen in the World Health Organization Quality Of Life score (WHOQOL-BREF) in all 4 domains done at baseline, 1st year and 2nd year in the program. After joining the program, there were no new blood borne virus infection for HIV and Hepatitis B and only 1 had Hepatitis C. Minimal number of patients were involved in new drug related offences while in the MMT program. Existing primary care clinics can be empowered to scale up this service in Malaysia.
Fulltext High-flow priapism in a 12-year-old boy: Treatment with superselective embolization

Mossadeq AR, Sasikumar R, Nazli MZ, Shafie AM, Ashraf MD

Indian J Urol, 2009 Oct-Dec;25(4):539-40.
PMID: 19955685 DOI: 10.4103/0970-1591.57918

Priapism is caused by an imbalance between penile blood inflow and outflow. There are two types of priapism: low-flow priapism due to venous occlusion and high-flow priapism due to uncontrolled arterial flow to the veins. High-flow priapism most frequently occurs as a result of penile trauma in which the intercavernosal artery disruption causes an arteriocavernosal fistula. It is rarely encountered in the pediatric and prepubertal population. Clinically, it manifests as a painless, prolonged erection after perineal trauma. Treatment ranges from expectant management to open surgical exploration with vessel ligation. We report the successful treatment of high-flow priapism in a 12-year-old prepubertal boy with superselective embolization.
Spectral amplitude coding OCDMA using and subtraction technique

Hasoon FN, Aljunid SA, Samad MD, Abdullah MK, Shaari S

Appl Opt, 2008 Mar 20;47(9):1263-8.
PMID: 18709073

An optical decoding technique is proposed for a spectral-amplitude-coding-optical code division multiple access, namely, the AND subtraction technique. The theory is being elaborated and experimental results have been done by comparing a double-weight code against the existing code, Hadamard. We have proved that the and subtraction technique gives better bit error rate performance than the conventional complementary subtraction technique against the received power level.
Screening for gap junction protein beta-2 gene mutations in Malays with autosomal recessive, non-syndromic hearing loss, using denaturing high performance liquid chromatography

Aishah ZS, Khairi MD, Normastura AR, Zafarina Z, Zilfalil BA

J Laryngol Otol, 2008 Dec;122(12):1284-8.
PMID: 18353197 DOI: 10.1017/S0022215108002041

To determine the frequency and type of gap junction protein beta-2 gene mutations in Malay patients with autosomal recessive, non-syndromic hearing loss.
Fulltext Congenital deafness: high prevalence of a V37I mutation in the GJB2 gene among deaf school children in Alor Setar

Ruszymah BHI, Wahida IF, Zakinah Y, Zahari Z, Norazlinda MD, Saim L, et al.

Med J Malaysia, 2005 Aug;60(3):269-74.
PMID: 16379178

Twenty percent of all childhood deafness is due to mutations in the GJB2 gene (Connexin 26). The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence and spectrum of GJB2 mutations in childhood deafness in Malaysia. We analyzed the GJB2 gene in 51 deaf students from Sekolah Pendidikan Khas Alor Setar, Kedah. Bidirectional sequencing indicates that 25% of our childhood deafness has mutation in their GJB2 gene. Sixty two percent of these children demonstrate V37I missense mutation. Interestingly, V37I mutation in the GJB2 gene have been reported as polymorphism in Western countries, however in our country it behaved as a potentially disease-causing missense mutation, causing childhood deafness as it was not found in the normal control.
Fulltext Infantile Progressive Hepatoencephalomyopathy with Combined OXPHOS Deficiency due to Mutations in the Mitochondrial Translation Elongation Factor Gene GFM1

Balasubramaniam S, Choy YS, Talib A, Norsiah MD, van den Heuvel LP, Rodenburg RJ

JIMD Rep, 2012;5:113-22.
PMID: 23430926 DOI: 10.1007/8904_2011_107

Mitochondrial disorders are a heterogeneous group of often multisystemic and early fatal diseases caused by defects in the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) system. Given the complexity and intricacy of the OXPHOS system, it is not surprising that the underlying molecular defect remains unidentified in many patients with a mitochondrial disorder. Here, we report the clinical features and diagnostic workup leading to the elucidation of the genetic basis for a combined complex I and IV OXPHOS deficiency secondary to a mitochondrial translational defect in an infant who presented with rapidly progressive liver failure, encephalomyopathy, and severe refractory lactic acidemia. Sequencing of the GFM1 gene revealed two inherited novel, heterozygous mutations: a.539delG (p.Gly180AlafsX11) in exon 4 which resulted in a frameshift mutation, and a second c.688G > A (p.Gly230Ser) mutation in exon 5. This missense mutation is likely to be pathogenic since it affects an amino acid residue that is highly conserved across species and is absent from the dbSNP and 1,000 genomes databases. Review of literature and comparison were made with previously reported cases of this recently identified mitochondrial disorder encoded by a nuclear gene. Although limited in number, nuclear gene defects causing mitochondrial translation abnormalities represent a new, rapidly expanding field of mitochondrial medicine and should potentially be considered in the diagnostic investigation of infants with progressive hepatoencephalomyopathy and combined OXPHOS disorders.
Fulltext Fever with intradialytic pelvic pain: a case of iliopsoas abscess complicated with Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus Aureus bacteraemia in an end stage renal failure patient

Alif Adlan MT, Wan Mohd Rasis WA, Mohd Ramadhan MD

Med J Malaysia, 2016 04;71(2):72-3.
PMID: 27326946 MyJurnal

Staphylococcus Aureus is a Gram-positive cocci bacteria which had been found to be the causative organism in over 88% of patients with primary iliopsoas abscess. We report the case of a 53-year-old diabetic woman with end-stage renal failure diagnosed with left iliopsoas abscess with a catheter-related infection. Computed tomogram (CT) of abdomen and pelvis revealed hypodense lesions of left psoas, iliacus and quadratus lumborum suggestive of psoas abscesses. In addition, osteomyelitis changes at left sacroiliac and hip joint were seen. At surgery, she was found to have abscess at the posterior psoas muscle where she underwent open surgery drainage and percutaneous drain was inserted. A high index of suspicion of iliopsoas abscess should be maintained among haemodialysis patients presenting with intradialytic pelvic and hip pain and treated with optimal antibiotics therapy with appropriate surgical intervention.
Redescription of Serpinema octorugatum (Baylis, 1933) nematoda: Camallanidae from the Malayan box turtle Cuora amboinensis Daudin Chelonia: Bataguridae

Sharma RS, Rigby MC, Sumita S, Sani RA, Vidyadaran MK, Jasni S, et al.

Syst Parasitol, 2002 Sep;53(1):19-28.
PMID: 12378130

We redescribe the camallanid nematode Serpinema octorugatum (Baylis, 1933) from the box turtle Cuora amboinensis (Daudin) collected in Malaysia. In this redescription, we amend the original description by noting that there are only four cephalic papillae and that there are five pairs of post-anal papillae, and propose that the name of this species be corrected from S. octorugatus to S. octorugatum. Additionally, we removed the tissues overlying the buccal capsule and have used SEM studies to show that the peribuccal shields extend laterally from the buccal capsule, forming a surface possibly used in muscle attachment. Furthermore, we show that the supposedly non-cuticularised cylinder connecting the buccal capsule to the oesophagus in the Camallanidae is part of the buccal capsule and is, therefore, likely to be cuticularised. We also examine morphological measurements of taxonomic interest for correlations with total body length and find that many characters traditionally used for inter- and intra-specific comparisons are correlated with total body length in adult female worms. This suggests that comparisons between samples of adult female worms that do not account for the potential effect of total body length may be misleading. However, we show that some features of taxonomic interest are not correlated with total body length.
Selecting a probability distribution for extreme rainfall series in Malaysia

Zalina MD, Desa MN, Nguyen VT, Kassim AH

Water Sci Technol, 2002;45(2):63-8.
PMID: 11890166

This paper discusses the comparative assessment of eight candidate distributions in providing accurate and reliable maximum rainfall estimates for Malaysia. The models considered were the Gamma, Generalised Normal, Generalised Pareto, Generalised Extreme Value, Gumbel, Log Pearson Type III, Pearson Type III and Wakeby. Annual maximum rainfall series for one-hour resolution from a network of seventeen automatic gauging stations located throughout Peninsular Malaysia were selected for this study. The length of rainfall records varies from twenty-three to twenty-eight years. Model parameters were estimated using the L-moment method. The quantitative assessment of the descriptive ability of each model was based on the Probability Plot Correlation Coefficient test combined with root mean squared error, relative root mean squared error and maximum absolute deviation. Bootstrap resampling was employed to investigate the extrapolative ability of each distribution. On the basis of these comparisons, it can be concluded that the GEV distribution is the most appropriate distribution for describing the annual maximum rainfall series in Malaysia.
Fulltext Partial resection of pelvis and salvage of the lower limb in the treatment of malignant pelvic tumours

Faisham WI, Zulmi W, Aidura M, Yazid MD, Sallehuddin AY, Azman MZN, et al.

Med J Malaysia, 2001 Jun;56(2):248-51.
PMID: 11771089

Malignant pelvic tumours often present late, hence a high index of suspicion should be maintain in order to arrive at the diagnosis. This is particularly true for those who have unusual symptoms. A proper planning and staging strategies is required to save the limb, and the limb salvage surgery is at present the surgery of choice to achieve local control and restoring optimum functions of the lower limbs as being illustrated by our three cases.
Exploring breast carcinogenesis through integrative genomics and epigenomics analyses

Minning C, Mokhtar NM, Abdullah N, Muhammad R, Emran NA, Ali SA, et al.

Int J Oncol, 2014 Nov;45(5):1959-68.
PMID: 25175708 DOI: 10.3892/ijo.2014.2625

There have been many DNA methylation studies on breast cancer which showed various methylation patterns involving tumour suppressor genes and oncogenes but only a few of those studies link the methylation data with gene expression. More data are required especially from the Asian region and to analyse how the epigenome data correlate with the transcriptome. DNA methylation profiling was carried out on 76 fresh frozen primary breast tumour tissues and 25 adjacent non-cancerous breast tissues using the Illumina Infinium(®) HumanMethylation27 BeadChip. Validation of methylation results was performed on 7 genes using either MS-MLPA or MS-qPCR. Gene expression profiling was done on 15 breast tumours and 5 adjacent non-cancerous breast tissues using the Affymetrix GeneChip(®) Human Gene 1.0 ST array. The overlapping genes between DNA methylation and gene expression datasets were further mapped to the KEGG database to identify the molecular pathways that linked these genes together. Supervised hierarchical cluster analysis revealed 1,389 hypermethylated CpG sites and 22 hypomethylated CpG sites in cancer compared to the normal samples. Gene expression microarray analysis using a fold-change of at least 1.5 and a false discovery rate (FDR) at p>0.05 identified 404 upregulated and 463 downregulated genes in cancer samples. Integration of both datasets identified 51 genes with hypermethylation with low expression (negative association) and 13 genes with hypermethylation with high expression (positive association). Most of the overlapping genes belong to the focal adhesion and extracellular matrix-receptor interaction that play important roles in breast carcinogenesis. The present study displayed the value of using multiple datasets in the same set of tissues and how the integrative analysis can create a list of well-focused genes as well as to show the correlation between epigenetic changes and gene expression. These gene signatures can help us understand the epigenetic regulation of gene expression and could be potential targets for therapeutic intervention in the future.
Fulltext Corn Starch (Zea mays) Biopolymer Plastic Reaction in Combination with Sorbitol and Glycerol

Hazrol MD, Sapuan SM, Zainudin ES, Zuhri MYM, Abdul Wahab NI

Polymers (Basel), 2021 Jan 12;13(2).
PMID: 33445740 DOI: 10.3390/polym13020242

The research included corn starch (CS) films using sorbitol (S), glycerol (G), and their combination (SG) as plasticizers at 30, 45, and 60 wt %, with a traditional solution casting technique. The introduction of plasticizer to CS film-forming solutions led to solving the fragility and brittleness of CS films. The increased concentration of plasticizers contributed to an improvement in film thickness, weight, and humidity. Conversely, plasticized films reduced their density and water absorption, with increasing plasticizer concentrations. The increase in the amount of the plasticizer from 30 to 60% showed a lower impact on the moisture content and water absorption of S-plasticized films. The S30-plasticized films also showed outstanding mechanical properties with 13.62 MPa and 495.97 MPa, for tensile stress and tensile modulus, respectively. Glycerol and-sorbitol/glycerol plasticizer (G and SG) films showed higher moisture content and water absorption relative to S-plasticized films. This study has shown that the amount and type of plasticizers significantly affect the appearances, physical, morphological, and mechanical properties of the corn starch biopolymer plastic.
Emergency general surgery in a public hospital in Malaysia

Kandasami P, Yita T, Chi XS, Chern WK, Muhammad Naim R, Afifah Afiah MD, et al.

Med J Malaysia, 2020 09;75(5):467-471.
PMID: 32918411

INTRODUCTION: Patients undergoing emergency general surgery (EGS) are at risk for death and complications. Information on the burden of EGS is critical for developing strategies to improve the outcomes.
METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, medical records of all general surgical operations in a public hospital were reviewed for the period 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2017. Data on patient demographics, operative workload, case mix, time of surgery and outcomes were analysed.
RESULTS: Of the 2960 general surgical operations that were performed in 2017, 1720 (58.1%) of the procedures were performed as emergencies. The mean age for the patients undergoing emergency general surgical procedures was 37.9 years (Standard Deviation, ±21.0), with male preponderance (57.5%). Appendicitis was the most frequent diagnosis for the emergency procedures (43%) followed by infections of the skin and soft tissues (31.6%). Disorders of the colon and rectum ranked as the third most common condition, accounting for 6.7% of the emergency procedures. Majority of emergency surgery (59.3%) took place after office hours and on weekends. Post-operative deaths and admissions to critical care facilities increased during EGS when compared to elective surgery, p<0.01.
CONCLUSIONS: EGS constitutes a major part of the workload of general surgeons and it is associated significant risk for death and post-operative complications. The burden of EGS must be recognised and patient care systems must evolve to make surgery safe and efficient.
Process modeling and analysis of palm oil mill effluent treatment in an up-flow anaerobic sludge fixed film bioreactor using response surface methodology (RSM)

Zinatizadeh AA, Mohamed AR, Abdullah AZ, Mashitah MD, Hasnain Isa M, Najafpour GD

Water Res, 2006 Oct;40(17):3193-208.
PMID: 16949124

In this study, the interactive effects of feed flow rate (QF) and up-flow velocity (V up) on the performance of an up-flow anaerobic sludge fixed film (UASFF) reactor treating palm oil mill effluent (POME) were investigated. Long-term performance of the UASFF reactor was first examined with raw POME at a hydraulic loading rate (HRT) of 3 d and an influent COD concentration of 44300 mg/l. Extreme reactor instability was observed after 25 d. Raw POME was then chemically pretreated and used as feed. Anaerobic digestion of pretreated POME was modeled and analyzed with two operating variables, i.e. feed flow rate and up-flow velocity. Experiments were conducted based on a central composite face-centered design (CCFD) and analyzed using response surface methodology (RSM). The region of exploration for digestion of the pretreated POME was taken as the area enclosed by the feed flow rate (1.01, 7.63 l/d) and up-flow velocity (0.2, 3 m/h) boundaries. Twelve dependent parameters were either directly measured or calculated as response. These parameters were total COD (TCOD) removal, soluble COD (SCOD) removal, effluent pH, effluent total volatile fatty acid (TVFA), effluent bicarbonate alkalinity (BA), effluent total suspended solids (TSS), CH4 percentage in biogas, methane yield (Y M), specific methanogenic activity (SMA), food-to-sludge ratio (F/M), sludge height in the UASB portion and solid retention time (SRT). The optimum conditions for POME treatment were found to be 2.45 l/d and 0.75 m/h for QF and V up, respectively (corresponding to HRT of 1.5 d and recycle ratio of 23.4:1). The present study provides valuable information about interrelations of quality and process parameters at different values of the operating variables.
Fulltext Energy and nutrient intakes: Findings from the Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS)

Mirnalini K, Zalilah MS, Safiah MY, Tahir A, Siti Haslinda MD, Siti Rohana D, et al.

Malays J Nutr, 2008 Mar;14(1):1-24.
PMID: 22691761 MyJurnal

Nutrition surveys based on a representative sample of the Malaysian adult population have hitherto not been reported. In 2003, the Ministry of Health, Malaysia, conducted the Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS), the first and largest nutrition survey in the country which aimed to provide detailed quantitative information on nutritional status, food and nutrient intakes, and physical activity pattern on a nationwide representative sample of adult subjects between the ages of 18 and 59 years. The survey covered four zones in Peninsular Malaysia (Central, Southern, Northern and East Coast), Sabah and Sarawak. This paper presents the mean and selected percentiles of energy and nutrient intake of 6886 subjects by selected demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Energy contributions by macronutrients and dietary adequacy in relation to the Recommended Nutrient Intake for Malaysians are also described. Information on dietary intake was collected by trained nutritionists using a one day 24-hour diet recall. Dietary data were analysed using Nutritionist Pro, a diet analysis software and statistical analysis was carried out using the SPSS ver. 13.0. In most of the demographic and socioeconomic groups, males had higher mean energy (1776 kcal) and nutrient intake and percent achievement of RNI than females (1447 kcal). The proportions of calories derived from macronutrients were within the recommendations for a healthy diet. Intake of micronutrients such as iron, calcium and vitamin A was about 50% of RNI particularly in women. Sodium intake of Malaysians, not reported in earlier studies, is also made available. Under-reporting using the EI/BMR ratio was found in half of the population studied. The present study provides the first national estimates of energy and nutrient intake of the Malaysian adult population. Regular nutrition surveys are needed at the national level to provide valuable information on trends in food and nutrient intake, particularly among age and ethnically diverse subgroups of the population.
Study name: Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS-2003)
Severity of anxiety disorder and other factors associated with disease severity among COVID-19 patients in a hospital, Bali, Indonesia

Suryana K K, Widiana RIG, Suharsono H, Pujasakti MP, Putra WWS, Yaniswari NMD

Med J Malaysia, 2021 07;76(4):461-465.
PMID: 34305105

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 pandemic has a substantial impact on human life including the tourism sector (TS). Bali as a tourism destinations and the TS as major incomes of its population is greatly impacted, causing many to be jobless among those involved in TS. This situation may give psychological impact causing anxiety disorder (AD).
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between severe anxiety disorder and other factors with COVID-19 disease severity.
METHODS: This was cross-sectional study during March - November 2020. The diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 was done by using RT-PCR from throat swabs, based on WHO's interim guidelines. AD was measured using self-reporting Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). All participants underwent, history taking, physical examinations, blood routine examination and chest radiography. Association between severe AD and other factors with COVID-19 disease severity were analyzed. Chi-square test (bivariate) and Logistic regression (multivariate) with the precision value of 95% was done and p-value less than 5% was considered significant.
RESULTS: Positive rate of Covid-19 patients was 43% (292 / 678). Among those 292 with Covid-19, 74 (25.3%) participants had severe disease. Multivariate analysis showed severe anxiety (OR 696.11; 95%CI: 78.54 to 6169.98; p<0.001), hypertension (OR 37.02; 95%CI: 4.49 to 305.39; p=0.001) and neutrophyl lymphocyte ratio (NLR) less than 2.89 (OR 0.15; 95%CI: 0.04 to 0.62; p=0.009).
CONCLUSION: Severe anxiety, hypertension and NLR less than 2.89 are potential independent risk factors for severe infection of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).
Antifungal susceptibilities, biofilms, phospholipase and proteinase activities in the Candida rugosa complex and Candida pararugosa isolated from tertiary teaching hospitals

Peremalo T, Madhavan P, Hamzah S, Than L, Wong EH, Nasir MDM, et al.

J Med Microbiol, 2019 Mar;68(3):346-354.
PMID: 30724730 DOI: 10.1099/jmm.0.000940

PURPOSE: Non-albicansCandida species have emerged as fungal pathogens that cause invasive infections, with many of these species displaying resistance to commonly used antifungal agents. This study was confined to studying the characteristics of clinical isolates of the C. rugosa complex and C. pararugosa species.
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.
Biofilm is associated with chronic streptococcal meningoencephalitis in fish

Isiaku AI, Sabri MY, Ina-Salwany MY, Hassan MD, Tanko PN, Bello MB

Microb Pathog, 2017 Jan;102:59-68.
PMID: 27890651 DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2016.10.029

Biofilms are aggregates of attached microbial organisms whose existence on tissues is often recognised as a mechanism for the establishment of most chronic diseases. Herein we investigated the ability of piscine Streptococcus agalactiae, an important aquatic pathogen, for adaptation to this sessile lifestyle in vitro and in the brain of a tilapia fish model. Piscine S. agalactiae exhibited a weak attachment to polystyrene plates and expressed a low biofilm phenotype under the study conditions. Furthermore, fluorescent in situ hybridization and confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed discrete aggregates of attached S. agalactiae within brain tissues and around meningeal surfaces. They were embedded in an exopolysaccharide containing matrix, intractable to inflammatory response and showed some level of resistance to penicillin despite proven susceptibility on sensitivity test. Intracellular bacterial aggregates were also observed, moreover, antibody mediated response was not demonstrated during infection. Nucleated erythrocytes appear to facilitate brain invasion possibly via the Trojan horse mechanism leading to a granulomatous inflammation. We have demonstrated that biofilm is associated with persistence of S. agalactiae and the development of chronic meningoencephalitis in fish.

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