Equine piroplasmosis in Kelantan, Malaysia: Clinicohemato-biochemical alterations in subclinically and clinically infected equids.

Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is global disease of equids affect the international movement of horses and their industry. This work was conducted on a random collection of blood samples from a total of 306 equids (horses and ponies) comprising both clinically healthy (n=276) and clinically suspected animals (n=30) for EP from 53 stables in eight districts at Kelantan, Malaysia. Competitive-inhibition enzyme linked immunosorbent test (cELISA) was applied to detect the antibodies for Theileria equi and Babesia caballi and their titers in the serum. Hemato-biochemical parameters were analyzed from blood and serum samples from clinical and subclinical cases in comparison to healthy animals (n=25) a control group. The overall prevalence of EP infections (T. equi, B. caballi and both infections) in subclinical and clinical infected equids was 70.26 and 9.80 per cent, respectively. The subclinical infection in equids was statistically higher than that of clinical infection (P<0.05). Higher titration of T. equi antibodies in clinical infected cases ranged from 1/160 to 1/1280 in (n=27), whereas in B. caballi the titres ranged from 1/160 to 1/640 (n=26). Manifestation in clinical cases was the acute onset of the disease, with significant Hemato-biochemical changes. Whereas, equids with subclinical infection appeared healthy with absence of clinical signs and non-significant Hemato-biochemical alterations were seen as compared to clinical cases and healthy control groups.

A study of JAK2 (V617F) gene mutation in patients with chronic myeloproliferative disorders.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Chronic myeloproliferative diseases (MPDs) are heterogenous group of haematological malignant disorders. It is now a well recognized fact that the JAK2 (V617F) mutation occurs in majority of the patients with polycythaemia vera (PV) and half of those with myelofibrosis and essential thrombocythaemia. The presence of JAK2 (V617F) mutation is considered an important criterion for the exclusion of secondary-reactive from clonal disorders. In the present uni-institutional study, we analyzed the JAK2 (V617F) mutation status in the ethnic Malay and Chinese patients who were diagnosed as MPDs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was performed on known cases of chronic MPDs either at diagnosis or during the follow-up. A total of 45 cases were studied with informed consent. The allele specific PCR, ARMS-PCR and RQ-PCR methods were used. RESULTS: The frequency of the JAK2 (V617F) mutation varied between the MPD subtypes, with the mutation being most frequent in PV (95.8%) and 39% showed homozygous mutant allele. The mutation was detected in 52.9% cases of ET, of which 36.4% were homozygous for the mutant allele and 1 case of MF was homozygous for the mutant allele. CONCLUSION: Screening for the mutation in all cases suspected of chronic MPD could be beneficial in differentiating patients with reactive erthrocytosis or thrombocytosis from the true clonal MPDs especially polycythaemia vera.

Influence of food intake and eating habits on hypertension control among outpatients at a government health clinic in the Klang Valley, Malaysia.

INTRODUCTION: In Malaysia, hypertension prevalence has increased from 13% in 1996 to 43% in 2006 based on the Third National Health and Morbidity Survey. METHODOLOGY: Recognising the importance of hypertension control to prevent cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, a cross-sectional study was carried out to assess factors influencing blood pressure among 74 hypertensive adults (22 men, 52 women, mean age 61.1 +/- 8.8 years old) attending an outpatient clinic of a government health clinic in Klang Valley. Subjects were interviewed to obtain information on social and health, physical activity level and food intake using Diet History Questionnaire (DHQ) and Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). Anthropometric measurements including weight, height, waist circumference and percentage of body fat were also conducted. RESULTS: The majority of the subjects (71.6%) had poor hypertension control as determined using blood pressure. Women aged 30-59 years old had a higher mean diastolic blood pressure (87.3 +/- 11.6 mmHg) than women aged 60 years old (78.5 +/- 9.5 mmHg) (p < 0.05). Most of the men (36.4%) achieved three out of six Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) for Hypertension Recommendations as outlined by the Malaysian Dietitians' Association. About one-third (30.8%) of the women achieved two out of six of the guidelines. High sodium intake (adjusted OR 3.501, 95% CI 1.116-10.985, p < 0.05), daily consumption of coffee (adjusted OR 0.302, 95% CI 0.093-0.983, p < 0.05) and less intake of milk (adjusted OR 3.328, 95% CI 1.055-10.493, p < 0.05) were associated with uncontrolled hypertension. CONCLUSION: Three quarters of the subjects had unsatisfactory hypertensive control and was related to food intake and eating habits including high salt diet, coffee consumption and inadequate milk intake were unsatisfactory. There is a need to implement a nutrition intervention programme based on MNT to achieve good hypertensive control among subjects.