Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 23 in total

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  1. Chong PK, Loo AV
    Med J Malaysia, 2008 Dec;63(5):406-7.
    PMID: 19803301 MyJurnal
    We report a 33-year-old Chinese gentleman who presented with visual epilepsy and symptoms of raised intracranial pressure in which clinical examination revealed normal visual fields and acuity despite Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) brain showing large contrast enhancing mass at the right occipital lobe. Craniotomy and excision of tumour was done and the histology confirmed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). He completed radiotherapy and recovered well except developing left inferior homonymous quadrantropia post operatively which improved with time.
  2. Madhavan P, Jamal F, Chong PP, Ng KP
    Trop Biomed, 2011 Aug;28(2):269-74.
    PMID: 22041745
    The objective of our study was to study the effectiveness of CHROMagar Candida™ as the primary identification method for various clinical Candida isolates, other than the three suggested species by the manufacturer. We studied 34 clinical isolates which were isolated from patients in a local teaching hospital and 7 ATCC strains. These strains were first cultured in Sabouraud dextrose broth (SDB) for 36 hours at 35ºC, then on CHROMagar plates at 30ºC, 35ºC and 37ºC. The sensitivity of this agar to identify Candida albicans, Candida dubliniensis, Candida tropicalis, Candida glabrata, Candida rugosa, Candida krusei and Candida parapsilosis ranged between 25 and 100% at 30ºC, 14% and 100% at 35ºC, 56% and 100% at 37ºC. The specificity of this agar was 100% at 30ºC, between 97% and 100% at 35ºC, 92% and 100% at 37ºC. The efficiency of this agar ranged between 88 and 100% at 30ºC, 83% and 100% at 35ºC, 88% and 100% at 37ºC. Each species also gave rise to a variety of colony colours ranging from pink to green to blue of different colony characteristics. Therefore, the chromogenic agar was found to be useful in our study for identifying clinical Candida isolates.
  3. Madhavan P, Jamal F, Chong PP, Ng KP
    Trop Biomed, 2010 Aug;27(2):200-7.
    PMID: 20962716 MyJurnal
    The in vitro susceptibility of clinical Candida isolates towards fluconazole and voriconazole was determined using the E-test method. A total of 41 clinical isolates recovered from patients since 2004 until 2009 from two local hospitals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were used. These comprised Candida tropicalis, Candida albicans, Candida krusei, Candida parapsilosis, Candida rugosa, Candida dubliniensis and Candida glabrata. Strains from American Type Culture Collection were used as quality control. Lawn cultures of the isolates on RPMI-1640 agar medium supplemented with 2% glucose were incubated with the E-test strips at 35ºC for 48 h. Our results show that 71% were susceptible to fluconazole and 90% were susceptible to voriconazole. All strains of C. krusei were resistant to fluconazole and 50% were susceptible in a dose-dependent manner to voriconazole. There were 66% and 33% of C. glabrata that were resistant to fluconazole and voriconazole. Our study revealed that majority of the clinical Candida isolates was susceptible to fluconazole and voriconazole with a small percentage being resistant to both the drugs.
  4. Albujja MH, Vasudevan R, Alghamdi S, Pei CP, Bin Mohd Ghani KA, Ranneh Y, et al.
    Prostate Int, 2020 Dec;8(4):135-145.
    PMID: 33425790 DOI: 10.1016/j.prnil.2019.11.003
    Prostate cancer (PCa) is a challenging polygenic disease because the genes that cause PCa remain largely elusive and are affected by several causal factors. Consequently, research continuously strives to identify a genetic marker which could be used as an indicator to predict the most vulnerable (i.e., predisposed) segments of the population to the disease or for the gene which may be directly responsible for PCa. To enhance the genetic etiology of PCa, this research sought to discover the key studies conducted in this field using data from the main journal publication search engines, as it was hoped that this could shed light on the main research findings from these studies, which in turn could assist in determining these genes or markers. From the research highlighted, the studies primarily used two kinds of markers: short tandem repeats or single-nucleotide polymorphisms. These markers were found to be quite prevalent in all the chromosomes within the research carried out. It also became apparent that the studies differed in both quantity and quality, as well as being conducted in a variety of societies. Links were also determined between the degree and strength of the relationship between these markers and the occurrence of the disease. From the studies identified, most recommended a larger and more diverse survey for the parameters which had not been studied before, as well as an increase in the size of the community (i.e., the population) being studied. This is an indication that work in this field is far from complete, and thus, current research remains committed toward finding genetic markers that can be used clinically for the diagnosis and screening of patients with PCa.
  5. Lim CS, Rosli R, Seow HF, Chong PP
    Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis, 2012 Jan;31(1):21-31.
    PMID: 21544694 DOI: 10.1007/s10096-011-1273-3
    The ubiquitous Candida spp. is an opportunistic fungal pathogen which, despite treatment with antifungal drugs, can cause fatal bloodstream infections (BSIs) in immunocompromised and immunodeficient persons. Thus far, several major C. albicans virulence factors have been relatively well studied, including morphology switching and secreted degradative enzymes. However, the exact mechanism of Candida pathogenesis and the host response to invasion are still not well elucidated. The relatively recent discovery of the quorum-sensing molecule farnesol and the existence of quorum sensing as a basic regulatory phenomenon of the C. albicans population behavior has revolutionized Candida research. Through population density regulation, the quorum-sensing mechanism also controls the cellular morphology of a C. albicans population in response to environmental factors, thereby, effectively placing morphology switching downstream of quorum sensing. Thus, the quorum-sensing phenomenon has been hailed as the 'missing piece' of the pathogenicity puzzle. Here, we review what is known about Candida spp. as the etiological agents of invasive candidiasis and address our current understanding of the quorum-sensing phenomenon in relation to virulence in the host.
  6. Chong PK, Loo AV, Alagaratnam JV
    Med J Malaysia, 2007 Oct;62(4):343-4.
    PMID: 18551944 MyJurnal
    We report a three year follow up of a 35-year-old Indian gentleman who presented with sudden, painless blurring of left (L) eye vision with initial visual acuity (VA) of 6/60. Fundoscopy revealed (L) vitreous haemorrhage and subsequently confirmed a (L) inferotemporal capillary haemangioma. The adjacent area of capillary haemangioma was treated with barricade argon laser photocoagulation to prevent progression of exudative retinal detachment inferiorly. Subsequent follow up showed mild regression of capillary haemangioma with maintenance of (L) eye vision at 6/9.
  7. Choo KK, Chong PP, Ho AS, Yong PV
    Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis, 2015 Dec;34(12):2421-7.
    PMID: 26463450 DOI: 10.1007/s10096-015-2497-4
    The purpose of this investigation was to characterise the interactions of Cryptococcus neoformans with mammalian host alveolar epithelial cells and alveolar macrophages, with emphasis on the roles of the cryptococcal capsule and the host cell cytoskeletons. The adherence and internalisation of C. neoformans into mammalian lung cells and the roles of host cell cytoskeletons in host-pathogen interactions were studied using in vitro models coupled with a differential fluorescence assay, fluorescence staining, immunofluorescence and drug inhibition of actin and microtubule polymerisation. Under conditions devoid of opsonin and macrophage activation, C. neoformans has a high affinity towards MH-S alveolar macrophages, yet associated poorly to A549 alveolar epithelial cells. Acapsular C. neoformans adhered to and internalised into the mammalian cells more effectively compared to encapsulated cryptococci. Acapsular C. neoformans induced prominent actin reorganisation at the host-pathogen interface in MH-S alveolar macrophages, but minimally affected actin reorganisation in A549 alveolar epithelial cells. Acapsular C. neoformans also induced localisation of microtubules to internalised cryptococci in MH-S cells. Drug inhibition of actin and microtubule polymerisation both reduced the association of acapsular C. neoformans to alveolar macrophages. The current study visualises and confirms the interactions of C. neoformans with mammalian alveolar cells during the establishment of infection in the lungs. The acapsular form of C. neoformans effectively adhered to and internalised into alveolar macrophages by inducing localised actin reorganisation, relying on the host's actin and microtubule activities.
  8. Sulaiman S, Chong PP, Mokhtarudin R, Lye MS, Wan Hassan WH
    Trop Biomed, 2014 Mar;31(1):36-45.
    PMID: 24862043 MyJurnal
    Identification of pregnant women infected with Chlamydia trachomatis is essential to allow early antibiotic treatment in order to prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes. In this study, two nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) namely nested PCR (BioSewoom, Korea) and Amplicor CT/NG (Roche Diagnostic, USA) were evaluated in terms of sensitivity and specificity for the detection of C. trachomatis DNA in pregnant women with preterm complications. A cross-sectional study was carried out in two public hospitals in Southern Selangor, Malaysia. Endocervical swabs obtained were subjected to DNA amplification using nested PCR (BioSewoom, Korea) and Amplicor CT/NG (Roche Diagnostic, USA). A total of 83 endocervical swabs obtained from pregnant women of less than 37 weeks gestation and presented with preterm complications were subjected to chlamydial DNA detection using both assays. The study shows that Amplicor CT/NG assay is more effective in the detection of C. trachomatis DNA from endocervical swabs compared to Biosewoom nested PCR kit. Agreement between the two assays were poor (kappa=0.094) with nested PCR showing a low sensitivity of 10.81% and a 97.83% specificity when compared to Amplicor CT/NG. The results obtained indicated that BioSewoom nested PCR was less sensitive than Amplicor CT/ NG for detecting C. trachomatis in endocervical specimens and that another more reliable test is required for confirmatory result.
  9. Alshrari AS, Hudu SA, Asdaq SMB, Ali AM, Kin CV, Omar AR, et al.
    J Infect Public Health, 2021 Nov;14(11):1603-1611.
    PMID: 34624714 DOI: 10.1016/j.jiph.2021.09.001
    BACKGROUND: Rhinoviruses (RV) are associated with the development and exacerbations of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. They've also been linked to more severe diseases like pneumonia, acute bronchiolitis, croup, and otitis media. Because of the hypervariable sequences in the same serotypes, no effective vaccine against rhinoviruses has been developed to date. With the availability of new full-length genome sequences for all RV-A and RV-B serotyped strains, this study used bioinformatics to find a suitable RV strain with the highest similarity matrices to the other strains.

    METHODS: The full genomic sequences of all known different RV-A and -B prototypes were downloaded from the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and divided into minor low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and major intercellular adhesion molecule groups (ICAM). The sequences were edited using Biological Sequence Alignment Editor, v 7.2.0 (BioEdit software) to study each capsid protein (VP1, VP2, VP3, and VP4) and analyzed using the EMBL-EBI ClustalW server and the more current Clustal Omega tool for the calculation of the identities and similarities.

    RESULTS: We analyzed and predicted immunogenic motifs from capsid proteins that are conserved across distinct RV serotypes using a bioinformatics technique. The amino acid sequences of VP3 were found to be the most varied, while VP4 was the most conserved protein among all RV-A and RV-B strains. Among all strains studied, RV-74 demonstrated the highest degree of homology to other strains and could be a potential genetic source for recombinant protein production. Nine highly conserved regions with a minimum length of 9-mers were identified, which could serve as potential immune targets against rhinoviruses.

    CONCLUSION: Therefore, bioinformatics analysis conducted in the current study has paved the way for the selection of immunogenic targets. Bioinformatically, the ideal strain's capsid protein is suggested to contain the most common RVs immunogenic sites.

  10. Lee PY, Gam LH, Yong VC, Rosli R, Ng KP, Chong PP
    J Appl Microbiol, 2014 Sep;117(3):854-65.
    PMID: 24909754 DOI: 10.1111/jam.12562
    This study was conducted to identify antigenic proteins of Candida tropicalis that are targeted by the host immune system.
  11. Lee PY, Gam LH, Yong VC, Rosli R, Ng KP, Chong PP
    J Appl Microbiol, 2014 Apr;116(4):999-1009.
    PMID: 24299471 DOI: 10.1111/jam.12408
    Systemic candidiasis is the leading fungal bloodstream infection, and its incidence has been on the rise. Recently, Candida parapsilosis has emerged as an increasingly prevalent fungal pathogen, but little is known about its antigenic profile. Hence, the current work was performed to discover immunogenic proteins of C. parapsilosis using serological proteome analysis.
  12. Saw SH, Lee S, Roy F, Chong PL, Vengadeswaran V, Sidik AS, et al.
    Rev Sci Instrum, 2010 May;81(5):053505.
    PMID: 20515137 DOI: 10.1063/1.3429207
    The static (unloaded) electrical parameters of a capacitor bank are of utmost importance for the purpose of modeling the system as a whole when the capacitor bank is discharged into its dynamic electromagnetic load. Using a physical short circuit across the electromagnetic load is usually technically difficult and is unnecessary. The discharge can be operated at the highest pressure permissible in order to minimize current sheet motion, thus simulating zero dynamic load, to enable bank parameters, static inductance L(0), and resistance r(0) to be obtained using lightly damped sinusoid equations given the bank capacitance C(0). However, for a plasma focus, even at the highest permissible pressure it is found that there is significant residual motion, so that the assumption of a zero dynamic load introduces unacceptable errors into the determination of the circuit parameters. To overcome this problem, the Lee model code is used to fit the computed current trace to the measured current waveform. Hence the dynamics is incorporated into the solution and the capacitor bank parameters are computed using the Lee model code, and more accurate static bank parameters are obtained.
  13. Low CF, Chong PP, Yong PV, Lim CS, Ahmad Z, Othman F
    J Appl Microbiol, 2008 Dec;105(6):2169-77.
    PMID: 19120662 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2008.03912.x
    The aims of the present study were to determine whether Allium sativum (garlic) extract has any effect on the morphology transformation of Candida albicans, and to investigate whether it could alter the gene expression level of SIR2, a morphogenetic control gene and SAP4, a gene encoding secreted aspartyl proteinase.
  14. Yong PV, Chong PP, Lau LY, Yeoh RS, Jamal F
    Mycopathologia, 2008 Feb;165(2):81-7.
    PMID: 18266075 DOI: 10.1007/s11046-007-9086-8
    The incidence of candidemia and invasive candidiasis have increased markedly due to the increasing number of immunocompromised patients. There are five major medically important species of Candida with their frequency of isolation in the diminishing order namely Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis, Candida tropicalis, Candida glabrata and Candida krusei. In addition, there are numerous other species of Candida which differ in their genetic makeup, virulence properties, drug susceptibilities and sugar assimilation capabilities. In this report, an unusual Candida species was isolated from the blood of two leukaemic patients. Conventional culture and biochemical tests identified the Candida species as C. parapsilosis. Using fungal-specific oligonucleotide primers ITS1 and ITS4, we managed to amplify the ribosomal RNA gene and its internal transcribed spacer region from the genomic DNA of these isolates. The PCR products were then purified and subjected to automated DNA sequencing using BLAST and CLUSTAL sequence analysis identified these isolates to be Candida orthopsilosis. Candida orthopsilosis is a new species recently identified in 2005, being morphologically indistinguishable from C. parapsilosis and was previously classified as a subspecies of C. parapsilosis. This report highlights the importance of complementing traditional culture and biochemical-based identification methods with DNA-based molecular assays such as PCR as the latter is more superior in terms of its discriminatory power and speed.
  15. Lee C, Yiau KXS, Lee LJ, Chong PP, Chang KM, Abdullah M
    Malays J Pathol, 2019 Dec;41(3):313-326.
    PMID: 31901916
    INTRODUCTION: Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) is commonly used in the investigation of acute myeloid leukaemias (AML). Stable reference genes (RG) are essential for accurate and reliable reporting but no standard method for selection has been endorsed.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated simple statistics and published model-based approaches. Multiplex-qPCR was conducted to determine the expression of 24 candidate RG in AMLs (N=9). Singleplex-qPCR was carried out on selected RG (SRP14, B2M and ATP5B) and genes of interest in AML (N=15) and healthy controls, HC (N=12).

    RESULTS: RG expression levels in AML samples were highly variable and coefficient of variance (CV) ranged from 0.37% to 10.17%. Analysis using GeNorm and Normfinder listed different orders of most stable genes but the top seven (ACTB, UBE2D2, B2M, NF45, RPL37A, GK, QARS) were the same. In singleplex-qPCR, SRP14 maintained the lowest CV in AML samples. B2M, one of most stable reference genes in AML, was expressed near significantly different in AML and HC. GeNorm selected ATP5B+SRP14 while Normfinder chose SRP14+B2M as the best two RG in combination. The median expressions of combined RG genes in AML compared to HC were less significantly different than individually implying smaller expression variation after combination. Genes of interest normalised with RG in combination or individually, displayed significantly different expression patterns.

    CONCLUSIONS: The selection of best reference gene in qPCR must consider all sample sets. Model-based approaches are important in large candidate gene analysis. This study showed combination of RG SRP14+B2M was the most suitable normalisation factor for qPCR analysis of AML and healthy individuals.

  16. 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.

  17. Chin VK, Foong KJ, Maha A, Rusliza B, Norhafizah M, Ng KP, et al.
    Trop Biomed, 2013 Dec;30(4):654-62.
    PMID: 24522136 MyJurnal
    This study was aimed at determining the phospholipase and haemolysin activity of Candida isolates in Malaysia. A total of 37 Candida clinical isolates representing seven species, Candida albicans (12), Candida tropicalis (8), Candida glabrata (4), Candida parapsilosis (1), Candida krusei (4), Candida orthopsilosis (1) and Candida rugosa (7) were tested. In vitro phospholipase activity was determined by using egg yolk plate assay whereas in vitro haemolysin activity was tested by using blood plate assay on sheep blood Sabouraud's dextrose agar (SDA) enriched with glucose. Phospholipase activity was detected in 75% (9 out of 12) of the C. albicans isolates. Among the 25 non- C. albicans Candida isolates, phospholipase activity was detected in only 24% of these isolates. The phospholipase activity of C. albicans was significantly higher than that of the non- C. albicans Candida isolates (P=0.002). Haemolysin activity was detected in 100% of the C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis, and C. orthopsilosis isolates while 75% of the C. krusei isolates and 12.3% of the C. rugosa isolates showed haemolysin activity. The haemolytic activity of C. albicans was significantly higher than that of the non- C. albicans Candida isolates (P=0.0001).The findings in this study indicate that C. albicans isolates in Malaysia may possess greater virulence potential than the non-albicans species.
  18. Wen HJ, Huang TH, Li TL, Chong PN, Ang BS
    Osteoporos Int, 2017 02;28(2):539-547.
    PMID: 27613719 DOI: 10.1007/s00198-016-3759-4
    Measurement of bone turnover markers is an alternative way to determine the effects of exercise on bone health. A 10-week group-based step aerobics exercise significantly improved functional fitness in postmenopausal women with low bone mass, and showed a positive trend in reducing resorption activity via bone turnover markers.

    INTRODUCTION: The major goal of this study was to determine the effects of short-term group-based step aerobics (GBSA) exercise on the bone metabolism, bone mineral density (BMD), and functional fitness of postmenopausal women (PMW) with low bone mass.

    METHODS: Forty-eight PMW (aged 58.2 ± 3.5 years) with low bone mass (lumbar spine BMD T-score of -2.00 ± 0.67) were recruited and randomly assigned to an exercise group (EG) or to a control group (CG). Participants from the EG attended a progressive 10-week GBSA exercise at an intensity of 75-85 % of heart rate reserve, 90 min per session, and three sessions per week. Serum bone metabolic markers (C-terminal telopeptide of type 1 collagen [CTX] and osteocalcin), BMD, and functional fitness components were measured before and after the training program. Mixed-models repeated measures method was used to compare differences between the groups (α = 0.05).

    RESULTS: After the 10-week intervention period, there was no significant exercise program by time interaction for CTX; however, the percent change for CTX was significantly different between the groups (EG = -13.1 ± 24.4 % vs. CG = 11.0 ± 51.5 %, P P 

  19. Ohba K, Ichiyama K, Yajima M, Gemma N, Nikaido M, Wu Q, et al.
    PLoS One, 2014;9(5):e97787.
    PMID: 24858917 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097787
    High prevalence of infection with high-risk human papilloma virus (HPV) ranging from 25 to 100% (average 31%) was observed in breast cancer (BC) patients in Singapore using novel DNA chip technology. Early stage of BC demonstrated higher HPV positivity, and BC positive for estrogen receptor (ER) showed significantly higher HPV infection rate. This unique association of HPV with BC in vivo prompted us to investigate a possible involvement of HPV in early stages of breast carcinogenesis. Using normal breast epithelial cells stably transfected with HPV-18, we showed apparent upregulation of mRNA for the cytidine deaminase, APOBEC3B (A3B) which is reported to be a source of mutations in BC. HPV-induced A3B overexpression caused significant γH2AX focus formation, and DNA breaks which were cancelled by shRNA to HPV18 E6, E7 and A3B. These results strongly suggest an active involvement of HPV in the early stage of BC carcinogenesis via A3B induction.
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