• Impact of potassium test sample rejections on routine laboratory service, South Africa 

  McAlpine, Sarah; Chale-Matsau, Bettina (AOSIS, 2023-12-12)

  BACKGROUND : Accurate potassium measurements are necessary for effective clinical management of hyperkalaemia. Pre-analytical factors may affect laboratory measurements, leading to erroneous results and inappropriate ...
• 25-Hydroxycholecalciferol inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis in SiHa cervical cells via autocrine vitamin D metabolism 

  Punchoo, Rivak; Dreyer, Greta; Pillay, Tahir S. (MDPI, 2023-03)

  Preclinical studies show that the anticancer actions of vitamin D metabolites are mediated by apoptosis, inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of cell cycle arrest. Cervical cancer cells express an autocrine vitamin ...
• Laboratory considerations for reporting cycle threshold value in COVID-19 

  Punchoo, Rivak; Bhoora, Sachin; Bangalee, Avania (International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, 2022-08)

  The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 RNA virus. Nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) is the mainstay to confirm infection. A large number of reverse transcriptase polymerase ...
• The added value of molecular-based diagnostics in the African forensic medical setting 

  Van Deventer, B.S.; Makhoba, Aubrey Musa; Du Toit-Prinsloo, L.; Van Niekerk, Chantal (Clinics Cardive Publishing, 2022-09)

  Sudden unexpected infant death (SUDI) is reported to be an extraordinarily high burden in sub-Saharan Africa, with the incidence rate in South Africa among the highest in the world. It is common for the cause of many ...
• Neonatal presentation of a child with Liddle syndrome, South Africa 

  Steyn, Nicolene; Chale-Matsau, Bettina; Abera, Aron B.; Van Biljon, Gertruida; Pillay, Tahir S. (AOSIS, 2023-04-14)

  INTRODUCTION : Liddle syndrome is an autosomal dominantly inherited disorder usually arising from single mutations of the genes that encode for the alpha, beta and gamma epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) subunits. This leads ...
• Ketamine : friend or foe? 

  Steyn, Nicolene (BMJ Publishing Group, 2023-09)

  Ketamine, a dissociative anaesthetic drug, acts on the central nervous system (CNS) primarily through antagonism of the n-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. Methods of administration include intravenous, intramuscular, ...
• Practical tips to using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue archives for molecular diagnostics in a South African setting 

  Van Deventer, Barbara Stroh; Du Toit-Prinsloo, L.; Van Niekerk, Chantal (AOSIS, 2022-06-23)

  BACKGROUND : Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue archives in hospitals, biobanks, and others offer a vast collection of extensive, readily available specimens for molecular testing. Unfortunately, the use of ...
• Postmortem genetic testing in young individuals : what clinical medical practitioners need to know 

  Van Deventer, Barbara Stroh; Du Toit-Prinsloo, Lorraine; Van Niekerk, Chantal (Health and Medical Publishing Group, 2022-12)

  The death of a young person is most often a tragic occurrence, more so when this death was unexpected. Forensic pathologists are mandated to investigate such deaths, and there has been a strong move internationally towards ...
• Cardiovascular deaths : what do the genes say? 

  Van Deventer, Barbara Stroh; Du Toit-Prinsloo, Lorraine; Van Niekerk, Chantal (Health and Medical Publishing Group, 2022-12)

  Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are ever-increasing, and as such are considered to be one of the most concerning public health burdens worldwide. They remain the leading cause of death across the world (~17.7 million deaths ...
• Decline in antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 post-vaccination poses a risk to health care workers 

  Worsley, Catherine M.; Van der Mescht, Mieke Adri; Hoffmann, Daniel; Meyer, Pieter Willem Adriaan; Ueckermann, Veronica; Rossouw, Theresa M. (Elsevier, 2022-09)

  No abstract available.
• Evaluation of serological assays for the diagnosis of HIV infection in adults 

  Bangalee, Avania; Bhoora, Sachin; Punchoo, Rivak (AOSIS, 2021-10)

  Serological tests based on the enzyme immunoassay (EIA) are the primary tool for the diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in adults and have rapidly evolved to quicker, affordable and more accurate test formats ...
• Flow cytometric analysis of apoptotic biomarkers in actinomycin D-treated SiHa cervical cancer cells 

  Punchoo, Rivak; Zhou, Esther; Bhoora, Sachin (MyJove Corporation, 2021-08-26)

  Apoptosis biomarkers were investigated in actinomycin D-treated SiHa cervical cancer cells using a benchtop flow cytometer. Early biomarkers (Annexin V and mitochondrial membrane potential) and late biomarkers (caspases ...
• Variation in the measurement of anti-Mullerian hormone – what are the laboratory issues? 

  Punchoo, Rivak; Bhoora, Sachin (Frontiers Research Foundation, 2021-09-03)

  Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) is a 140 kDa homodimeric glycoprotein consisting of two identical subunits linked by disulphide bonds and is synthesised by the testes and ovaries. Its clinical applications are prediction ...
• Structure-based screening of DNA GyraseB inhibitors for therapeutic applications in tuberculosis : a pharmacoinformatics study 

  Tambe, Pranjali Mahadeo; Bhowmick, Shovonlal; Chaudhary, Sushil Kumar; Khan, Mohammad Rizwan; Wabaidur, Saikh M.; Muddassir, Mohd.; Patil, Preeti Chunarkar; Islam, Md Ataul (Springer, 2020-12)

  Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and considered as serious public health concern worldwide which kills approximately five thousand people every day. Therefore, TB drug ...
• Application of single-domain antibodies ("nanobodies") to laboratory diagnosis 

  Pillay, Tahir S.; Muyldermans, Serge (Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine, 2021)

  Antibodies have proven to be central in the development of diagnostic methods over decades, moving from polyclonal antibodies to the milestone development of monoclonal antibodies. Although monoclonal antibodies play a ...
• Cholecalciferol inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis in the CaSki cell line 

  Bhoora, Sachin; Pather, Yuvelia; Marais, Sumari; Punchoo, Rivak (MDPI, 2020-02)

  Vitamin D has displayed anti-cancer actions in numerous in vitro studies. Here, we investigated the anti-cancer actions of cholecalciferol, a vitamin D precursor, on a metastatic cervical cancer cell line, namely, CaSki. ...
• Humoral hypercalcaemia in an infant : a diagnostic dilemma 

  Chale-Matsau, Bettina (BMJ Publishing Group Group, 2021-06)

  Hypercalcaemia is seldom encountered in paediatric patients, and calcium levels are not routinely included in investigations. Associated symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, dehydration and abdominal pain are non-specific, ...
• Policing cancer : vitamin D arrests the cell cycle 

  Bhoora, Sachin; Punchoo, Rivak (MDPI, 2020-12)

  Vitamin D is a steroid hormone crucial for bone mineral metabolism. In addition, vitamin D has pleiotropic actions in the body, including anti-cancer actions. These anti-cancer properties observed within in vitro studies ...
• Multi-step molecular docking and dynamics simulation-based screening of large antiviral specific chemical libraries for identification of Nipah virus glycoprotein inhibitors 

  Kalbhor, Malti Sanjay; Bhowmick, Shovonlal; Alanazi, Amer M.; Patil, Pritee Chunarkar; Islam, Md Ataul (Elsevier, 2021-03)

  Nipah virus (NiV) infections are highly contagious and can cause severe febrile encephalitis. An outbreak of NiV infection has reported high mortality rates in Southeast Asian countries including Bangladesh, East Timor, ...
• Gene of the month : the 2019-nCoV/ SARS-CoV- 2 novel coronavirus spike protein 

  Pillay, Tahir S. (BMJ Publishing Group, 2020-07)

  The year 2020 has seen a major and sustained outbreak of a novel betacoronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-coronavirus (CoV)-2) infection that causes fever, severe respiratory illness and pneumonia, a ...

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