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Introduction: Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has become an increasingly popular technique for assessment and initial diagnosis of breast lumps as it is the least invasive technique for obtaining a cytological diagnosis and is of high accuracy if done by experienced personnel. Thyroid hormone receptors affect both the normal breast cell differentiation and breast cancer cell proliferation, with effects of thyroid hormones similar to those caused by estrogens. Relationship between thyroid disease, such as nodular hyperplasia, hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancer, with breast cancer was demonstrated in several studies. In the present study, we have evaluated the correlation of cytomorphological diagnosis of breast lesions with thyroid profile. Material and Methods: Total of 80 cases were included in the study and all necessary statistical analysis was done including the percentages, means, standard deviations, ranges and p values. Results: Triiodothyronine (T3) and Tetraiiodothryronine (T4) levels were statically significantly lower among participants with malignant breast lesions as compared to benign breast lesions.(p < 0.01).However mean values of both were normal in both these groups. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels among study participants with malignant breast lesions were statistically higher than those of benign breast lesions. However mean in both these groups was within normal range. Conclusion: No significant correlation between thyroid profile and breast lesions was established. But the effect of thyroid hormone on breast cancer clearly requires further research
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Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic relatedness of the most prevalent Candida bloodstream infection (BSI) species in in a Malaysian population via Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RAPD-PCR) fingerprinting. Methodology and results: The genomic DNA of 43 Candida BSI blood culture samples obtained from Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) was isolated, after which species identification was carried out using PCR with ITS-1 and ITS-4 pan-fungal primers in conjunction with CHROMagar™ Candida. The predominant Candida species in the BSI samples is Candida albicans (14 out of 43 isolates). RAPD-PCR on these 14 C. albicans clinical isolates was performed using PST as the arbitrary primer. Data analysis using MEGA found an overall non-relatedness of these 14 clinical isolates [average similarity coefficient (SAB) value 0.733±0.172]. Following in-depth analysis, five of the 14 isolates were observed to be identical (SAB values of 1.00 each), four isolates had SAB values of 0.80-0.99, indicating that they are highly similar, but are non-identical, while five isolates are unrelated (SAB lower than 0.80). This suggests that microevolution might have occurred and that these clinical isolates may possibly belong to different strains. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: A fair degree of genetic heterogeneity was found among the 14 C. albicans isolates from UMMC. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the genetic profiles of C. albicans bloodstream infection isolates from Malaysia, warranting further studies in the possible evolutionary trends within this Candida species in Malaysia. Keywords: Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA PCR (RAPD-PCR), Candida albicans, Candida bloodstream infections, Genetic relatedness, DNA fingerprinting