Presence of anti-mitochondrial antibodies and elevated serum immunoglobulin G levels: is this primary biliary cirrhosis-autoimmune hepatitis overlap syndrome?

Primary biliary cirrhosis in combination with autoimmune hepatitis has been termed "overlap syndrome", but its diagnosis is challenging. We report a case of a 43-year-old lady who presented with a six-month history of jaundice and pruritus. She subsequently developed gum bleeds.

Syphilis in pregnancy.

Syphilis in pregnancy remains an important medical condition due to its consequences. We present two cases of young pregnant women who were diagnosed syphilis during their antenatal visit. The first case was a 29-year-old Malay lady diagnosed with syphilis during the first trimester of pregnancy, while the second case was a 21-year-old Chinese lady diagnosed with syphilis during the third trimester of pregnancy.

The effects of calcitriol with calcium carbonate supplementation on inflammatory biomarkers in chronic kidney disease patients' with low vitamin D.

Introduction: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients' are at risk of low vitamin D and chronic inflammation. We studied the effect of 12 weeks calcitriol and calcium carbonate supplementation on inflammatory mediators serum; interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10) and highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP).

Material And Methods: A prospective randomized study in CKD stages 2-4 with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) levels < 30 ng/ml.

Case series of syphilis and HIV co-infections.

Syphilis and HIV co-infection are indeed dangerous combinations. The present communication describes three different cases of syphilis and HIV co-infection in young men. The first case is a 25-year-old medical graduate with a primary and secondary syphilis lesions at time of presentation.

Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody is a good indicator for the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.

Objectives: Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibody has recently been used in the classification of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This antibody is more specific than rheumatoid factor (RF) for the diagnosis of RA. The study objectives were to determine the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of anti-CCP in RA diagnosis.

Laboratory aspects of asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy.

A total of 1,661 pregnant women aged between 13 and 45 years were screened for bacteriuria by urine culture. Of the 1,661 culture results, 615 (37%) yielded no growth; 728 (43.8%) yielded no significant growth (presence of <10(5) organisms/ml urine of one or more types of bacteria); 286 (17.