Observational study of the status of coronary risk biomarkers among Negritos with metabolic syndrome in the east coast of Malaysia.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS), ascertain the status of coronary risk biomarkers and establish the independent predictors of these biomarkers among the Negritos.

Settings: Health screening programme conducted in three inland settlements in the east coast of Malaysia and Peninsular Malaysia.

Subjects: 150 Negritos who were still living in three inland settlements in the east coast of Malaysia and 1227 Malays in Peninsular Malaysia.

Increased risks of cardiovascular diseases and insulin resistance among the Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia.

Background: Despite the strategic development plan by the authorities for the Orang Asli, there are six subtribes of which their population numbers are small (less than 700). These minorities were not included in most of the health related studies published thus far. A comprehensive physiological and biomedical updates on these small subtribes in comparison to the larger subtribes and the urban Malay population is timely and important to help provide appropriate measures to prevent further reduction in the numbers of the Orang Asli.

Differential positive selection of malaria resistance genes in three indigenous populations of Peninsular Malaysia.

The indigenous populations from Peninsular Malaysia, locally known as Orang Asli, continue to adopt an agro-subsistence nomadic lifestyle, residing primarily within natural jungle habitats. Leading a hunter-gatherer lifestyle in a tropical jungle environment, the Orang Asli are routinely exposed to malaria. Here we surveyed the genetic architecture of individuals from four Orang Asli tribes with high-density genotyping across more than 2.

The manual MGIT system for the detection of M. tuberculosis in respiratory specimens: an experience in the University Malaya Medical Centre.

A prospective study was conducted on 510 respiratory specimens for the presence of M. tuberculosis detected by direct acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear examination, culture in the Manual Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube (BBL MGIT, Becton-Dickinson) and culture on Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ) medium. From positive BBL MGIT tubes, Ziehl-Neelsen and Gram stains were performed and subcultures were put up on LJ medium.