Ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes as emerging photosensitisers for antibacterial photodynamic therapy.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has recently emerged as a potential valuable alternative to treat microbial infections. In PDT, singlet oxygen is generated in the presence of photosensitisers and oxygen under light irradiation of a specific wavelength, causing cytotoxic damage to bacteria. This review highlights different generations of photosensitisers and the common characteristics of ideal photosensitisers.

Impact of Gene Disruption: Decreasing Staphylococcal Biofilm and Alteration of Transcriptomic and Proteomic Profiles.

expresses diverse proteins at different stages of growth. The immunodominant staphylococcal antigen A (IsaA) is one of the proteins that is constitutively produced by during colonisation and infection. SACOL2584 (or ) is the gene that encodes this protein.

Report of rare genotypes of Acanthamoeba from soil source of the Payeh Maga Highland forest, North-eastern Sarawak, Malaysia.

Pathogenic Acanthamoeba species are the causative agents of Acanthamoeba keratitis and granulomatous amoebic encephalitis. Members of this amoeba genus are ubiquitous in the environments. In Malaysia, most environmental studies performed to date have targeted the detection and characterisation of Acanthamoeba sp.

Characterisation of Bacterial Isolates from Infected Post-Operative Patients in a Malaysian Tertiary Heart Care Centre.

Several bacterial species cause post-operative infections, which has been a critical health concern among hospital patients. Our study in this direction is a much-needed exploratory study that was carried out at the National Heart Institute (IJN) of Malaysia to examine the virulence properties of causative bacteria obtained from postoperative patients. The bacterial isolates and data were provided by the IJN.

Potential of Superhydrophobic Surface for Blood-Contacting Medical Devices.

Medical devices are indispensable in the healthcare setting, ranging from diagnostic tools to therapeutic instruments, and even supporting equipment. However, these medical devices may be associated with life-threatening complications when exposed to blood. To date, medical device-related infections have been a major drawback causing high mortality.

Human Genetic Variation Influences Enteric Fever Progression.

In the 21st century, enteric fever is still causing a significant number of mortalities, especially in high-risk regions of the world. Genetic studies involving the genome and transcriptome have revealed a broad set of candidate genetic polymorphisms associated with susceptibility to and the severity of enteric fever. This review attempted to explain and discuss the past and the most recent findings on human genetic variants affecting the progression of typhoidal species infection, particularly toll-like receptor (TLR) 4, TLR5, interleukin (IL-) 4, natural resistance-associated macrophage protein 1 (NRAMP1), VAC14, PARK2/PACRG, cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), major-histocompatibility-complex (MHC) class II and class III.

Protective activity of geraniol against acetic acid and - induced gastric ulcers in rats.

Geraniol, an active constituent of rose and palmarosa essential oils, possesses several pharmacological properties, including antioxidant, antibacterial and antiulcer activity. Geraniol was therefore investigated for its antiulcer and anti- activity in rats. Ulcers were induced by injecting acetic acid into the sub-serosal layer of the stomach followed by orogastric inoculation of for 7 days.

Antiretroviral agents in pre-exposure prophylaxis: emerging and advanced trends in HIV prevention.

Objectives: Antiretroviral agents (ARVs) have been the most promising line of therapy in the management of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections. Some of these ARVs are used in the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to suppress the transmission of HIV. Prophylaxis is primarily used in uninfected people, before exposure, to effectively prevent HIV infection.

Effect of disaccharide-polyol systems on the thermal stability of freeze-dried Mycobacterium bovis.

Live attenuated Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis), marketed as Bacille Calmette-Guérin is the only FDA-approved vaccine against tuberculosis. The prerequisite of cold chain storage between 2 and 8 °C hinders the global vaccination effort.

Comparative Exoproteomics and Host Inflammatory Response in Staphylococcus aureus Skin and Soft Tissue Infections, Bacteremia, and Subclinical Colonization.

The exoproteome of Staphylococcus aureus contains enzymes and virulence factors that are important for host adaptation. We investigated the exoprotein profiles and cytokine/chemokine responses obtained in three different S. aureus-host interaction scenarios by using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DGE) and two-dimensional immunoblotting (2D-IB) combined with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) and cytometric bead array techniques.

Comparative Exoproteome Profile of MRSA-ST9 Isolated from Pigs and Pig Handler.

MRSA-ST9-t4358 from pigs and pig handlers were analysed for exoproteins profiles. Similar protein patterns with variation in protein spot intensity were observed. No significant variation among the protein profiles indicates that transmission of MRSA-ST9 from pig to human or vice versa, do not strongly alter the gene expression patterns.

Modified silver staining in 2DE improves protein detection even at extremely low sample concentration.

The typical concentration of protein loaded varies from 0.13 to 1.40 μg/μL for a classical silver staining method in 2DE gel.

Methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus from clinical and community sources are genetically diverse.

Despite the association of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) with several life-threatening diseases, relatively little is known about their clinical epidemiology in Malaysia. We characterized MSSA isolates (n=252) obtained from clinical and community (carriage) sources based on spa sequencing and multilocus sequence typing (MLST).

Predominance and emergence of clones of hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Malaysia.

We define the epidemiology of predominant and sporadic methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains in a central teaching and referral hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This is done on the basis of spa sequencing, multilocus sequence typing (MLST), staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing, and virulence gene profiling. During the period of study, the MRSA prevalence was 44.

Prevalence of ST9 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among pigs and pig handlers in Malaysia.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) of sequence type 398 (ST398) has frequently been detected in pigs and pig handlers. However, in Malaysia, sampling 360 pigs and 90 pig handlers from 30 farms identified novel ST9-spa type t4358-staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec type V MRSA strains that were found to transiently colonize more than 1% of pigs and 5.5% of pig handlers.