1.Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II association in chronic hepatitis B patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in a Malay population: A pilot study
Krishnan, P.B ; Abdullah, M. ; Hudu, S.A ; Sekawi, Z. ; Tan, S.S. ; Amin-Nordin, S.
Tropical Biomedicine 2019;36(3):703-708
Asian countries account for almost three quarter of hepatocellular carcinoma
(HCC) reported globally and chronic hepatitis B infection is one of the main contributors.
Clinical observations show that Malay patients with chronic hepatitis B and HCC tend to have
a worse outcome, when compared to other two major races in Malaysia. The objectives of
this study was to determine the frequency of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II alleles
in chronic hepatitis B patients with HCC among Malays compared to the general population
to identify potential associations of HLA alleles with this disease. HLA class II typing was
performed in chronic hepatitis B patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (n=12) by -polymerase
chain reaction, sequence specific primer (PCR-SSP) method. There were higher allelic
frequencies of certain HLA-DQB1 and HLA-DRB1 alleles; HLA-DQB1*03 (07) (41.7%), and
HLA-DRB1*12 (41.7% vs 28.6%) and compared to controls (41.7% vs 29.7%). However, there
was no significant statistical correlation found when compared with the normal healthy
general population. This study provides an insight into the HLA Class II association with
chronic hepatitis B and hepatocellular carcinoma in Malays. However, findings from this
study should be validated with a larger number of samples using a high resolution HLA typing.
2.Distribution of pathogenic Leptospira in environmental water and soils of selected recreational forests in Perak, Malaysia
Yap, M.L. ; Chew, L.J. ; Pritpal Singh, S.S. ; Sekawi, Z. ; Chee, H.Y. ; Ong, H.K.O. ; Neela, V.K.
Tropical Biomedicine 2021;38(No.2):122-128
Leptospirosis is an emerging zoonotic disease endemic in tropical regions. Aiming at assessing the potential infection risks via recreational exposure, the molecular prevalence of pathogenic Leptospira in 14 amenity forests in five selected districts of the state of Perak was determined. Water and soil samples along streams and waterfalls were subjected to culture of leptospires and the pathogenic Leptospira spp. was detected by lipL32-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Twenty out of 154 samples (13%) that tested positive for leptospires were mostly soils and still water recorded with tolerable temperatures (22.226.5°C) and pHs (5.73-6.70). The localised prevalence was highly varied among eight positive forests (6.7-41.7%), particularly higher in Kampar and Kinta districts which are the more populated urban areas. The importance of public health surveillance should not be underrated given the high prevalence of Leptospira spp. in forests in close proximity to indigenous settlements, even where the places are clean. Overall, this study discovered a wide distribution of pathogenic Leptospira spp. in recreational areas.