A report of a patient with Lazarus phenomenon (the return of spontaneous circulation after cardiopulmonary resuscitation) following cardiac arrest (myocardium ischemia) is presented. A 65 year patient was found unconscious at home. He taken to the emergency department On arrival he was unconscious, his pupils fixed and dilated bilaterally. Resuscitation proceeded for 55 minutes. He was then pronounced dead. Forty minutes later spontaneous breathing was noted and his blood pressure was 110/48 and heart rate 90bpm. He survived a further 13 days in the coronary care unit. The implications for management of cardiac arrest in the emergency and medical department are discussed.

Interleukin-27 (IL-27) has a pleiotropic role either as a pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory cytokine in inflammatory related diseases. The role and involvement of IL-27 during malaria was investigated and the effects of modulating its release on the production of major inflammatory cytokines and the histopathological consequences in major affected organs during the infection were evaluated. Results showed that IL-27 concentration was significantly elevated throughout the infection but no positive correlation with the parasitaemia development observed. Augmentation of IL-27 significantly elevated the release of anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10 whereas antagonising and neutralising IL-27 produced the opposite. A significant elevation of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IFN-γ and IL-6) was also observed, both during augmentation and inhibition of IL-27. Thus, it is suggested that IL-27 exerts an anti-inflammatory activity in the Th1 type response by signalling the production of IL-10 during malaria. Histopathological examination showed sequestration of PRBC in the microvasculature of major organs in malarial mice. Other significant histopathological changes include hyperplasia and hypertrophy of the Kupffer cells in the liver, hyaline membrane formation in lung tissue, enlargement of the white and red pulp followed by the disappearance of germinal centre of the spleen, and tubular vacuolation of the kidney tissues. In conclusion, it is suggested that IL-27 may possibly acts as an anti-inflammatory cytokine during the infection. Modulation of its release produced a positive impact on inflammatory cytokine production during the infection, suggesting its potential in malaria immunotherapy, in which the host may benefit from its inhibition.

This study was carried out in order to identify acanthocephalan species complexes, based on morphological variability, infecting Barbonymus schwanenfeldii from Lake Kenyir, Terengganu, Malaysia. Acanthocephala were fixed in ethanol, stained with aceto-carmine and studied morphologically by using a light microscope. Variation in morphological traits such as proboscis, proboscis receptacle, egg, testes shape and location, number of hooks and cement gland has been traditionally used to diagnose the acanthocephalans species but the delimitations between closely related species are still confusing and are always questionable among taxonomists. Molecular analysis was used for support the identification. Morphological variability prospecting reveals the presence of three different new species complexes from the subgenus Acanthosentis by referring published taxonomic keys. These new species may be distinguished from the other 46 described species of Acanthosentis by having six unique structures: the presence of an anterior parareceptacle structure (PRS); vaginal sleeve structure; a paired lateral, cone-shaped, muscular jacket surrounding the vagina; alternating pattern and size of proboscis hooks, variation in proboscis size and shape; the presence of the circular collar ring around the neck between the proboscis and trunk and lastly the presence of a muscular-like structure attached to the collar ring on the proboscis. These acanthocephalans found in the intestine of B. schwanenfeldii in Kenyir Lake Malaysia represent new species, named Acanthogyrus (Acanthosentis) kenyirensis n.sp., A. (A.) terengganuensis n.sp. and A. (A.) tembatensis n. sp.