An outbreak of acute haemorrhagic conjunctivitis in Melaka, Malaysia

This paper reports a second outbreak of acute haemorrhagic conjunctivitis due to coxsackievirus A24 in peninsular Malaysia. Between June 2002 and early October 2003, 10,327 patients, comprising 3,261 children and 7,066 adults, were treated for acute conjunctivitis in 11 government health clinics in the Melaka Tengah district of the state of Melaka. The figure grossly underestimates the size of the outbreak; as no patients treated in private clinics in the same district were included. Institution and household surveillance showed that the commonest presenting clinical feature of the illness was eye-discharge (91.2%), followed by foreign body sensation (81.8%), pain (78.3%) and subconjunctival haemorrhage (74.4%). The mean duration of illness was 6.5 and five days for patients with and without subconjunctival haemorrhage respectively.     

Levels of benzene concentrations emitted from motor vehicles in various sites in Nibong Tebal, Malaysia

Benzene is classified as carcinogenic compound which is emitted mainly from cars. In this study, benzene was measured at various sites in Nibong Tebal (urban, suburban, town, and rural) of different traffic volume, and traffic counts were performed simultaneously. Monitoring was carried out during the morning and afternoon traffic peaks. The aim of this study is to monitor benzene concentration at several development sites with different traffic flow. The monitoring was done by using indoor air quality meter. The results obtained from monitoring show that the mean concentrations of benzene ranged from 54.7 ppb in the suburban area to 115.1 ppb in the town area. Multiple linear regression analysis correlated the benzene concentrations with traffic volume, temperature, humidity, and time of monitoring as predictors. The results show that R ² of the model was 0.97 in Taman Cowin site, and it was 0.47 in Taman Nibong Tebal Jaya site. Negative correlation was found between benzene concentration and temperature while there was positive correlation with humidity being found through the study. Pearson’s correlation indicates that gasoline vehicular exhaust could be the major source of benzene. The UK Air Quality Standards stipulated that the annual mean of ambient benzene should not exceed 5 ppb or 16.25 μg/m³. The results show that the current concentrations of benzene exceeded the permissible limits set by the UK standards.     

Inhibition by chlorpromazine of lymphokine-specific mRNA expression in human thymocytes

This study was designed to determine the effect of the phenothiazine chlorpromazine (CPZ) on the activation of human thymocytes. We provide evidence that CPZ inhibits the accumulation of mRNA specific for the lymphokines, interleukin 2, interferon-gamma, tumor necrosis factor alpha and the proto-oncogene c-myc; by contrast, the accumulation of mRNA specific for the alpha chain of the interleukin 2 receptor and the subsequent early expression of Tac antigen on the cell surface is not inhibited by CPZ. The inhibition of the expression of lymphokine-specific mRNA results in a decrease in interferon-gamma synthesis and in inhibition of thymocyte proliferation as determined by the incorporation of [3H]thymidine. In addition, we show that activation of protein kinase C (PKC) in human thymocytes by 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol 13-acetate (TPA) causes the phosphorylation of a protein of a molecular mass of approximately 75 kDa. The function of this protein is as yet not defined, but it is possible that it plays a role in the transduction of the signals to the nucleus which in turn elicit the expression of the genes coding for c-myc and for the lymphokines required for thymocyte activation. We also demonstrate that CPZ, like the immunosuppressant drug cyclosporin A does not inhibit the phosphorylation of the 75-kDa protein which is induced by the activation of PKC by TPA and does not affect phosphoinositide breakdown, indicating that it exerts its effect at a site distal to the activation of PKC. These observations demonstrate that CPZ has an immunoregulatory function in addition to its psychotropic activity.     

Intra-articular versus intravenous administration of dexmedetomidine in arthroscopic knee surgeries under local anesthesia: A prospective randomized study

Background

An intra-articular injection is considered the leading method for postoperative analgesia after knee surgery. Dexmedetomidine has peripheral and central analgesic effect. The study was conducted to compare between the analgesic effect of intra-articular and intravenous dexmedetomidine in arthroscopic knee surgery.

The relationship of APOE genetic polymorphism with susceptibility to multiple sclerosis and its clinical phenotypes in Kuwaiti Arab subjects

BACKGROUND: The possible pathogenetic relationship between APOE genetic polymorphism and susceptibility to a variety of neurodegenerative disorders, including multiple sclerosis, is controversial. Previous studies have been conducted in Caucasian subjects, with little or no data on subjects from the Arabian Gulf. We compared the frequencies of specific APOE genotypes and alleles in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) with frequencies observed in a healthy control Kuwaiti Arab population to relate APOE frequencies with specific identifiable clinical features of the disease. METHODS: Two groups of subjects were studied: (i) 39 (17 M, 22 F) patients with clinical evidence of MS; (ii) 106 apparently healthy Kuwaitis recruited as control subjects. The MS patients had detailed clinical and laboratory evaluations, and APOE genotypes were determined in all the subjects (patients and controls) by validated PCR methods. Differences in frequencies of APOE alleles and associations of specific alleles with clinical features were assessed. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in allele frequencies between patients and controls, although there was a statistically insignificant trend towards lower APOE2 allele frequency in the patients (p=0.09). There was a significant association of the APOE4 allele with female gender in the patients (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: In Kuwaitis, a population with low MS prevalence, no statistically significant associations between APOE genetic polymorphism and susceptibility to MS could be established, but there was a trend towards a lower APOE2 frequency with MS and towards increased frequency of APOE4 in female patients and with severe disease.     

The Prospective Effect of Allopurinol on the Oxidative Stress Index and Endothelial Dysfunction in Covid-19

Inflammation - SARS-CoV-2 by the direct cytopathic effect or indirectly through the propagation of pro-inflammatory cytokines could cause endothelial dysfunction (ED) and oxidative stress (OS). It...     

Mediastinal tuberculosis in an adult patient with cystic fibrosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is rarely observed in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. We report the first case of mediastinal TB, associated with leg pain and skin rash, in an adult patient with CF, and discuss factors suggestive of TB in the course of CF.