Background: Interferon gamma is a major macrophage-activating cytokine during infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative pathogen of tuberculosis, and its role has been well established in animal models and ...

The CYP3A4 enzyme is the most abundant human cytochrome P450 (CYP) and is regarded as the most important enzyme involved in drug metabolism. Inter-individual and inter-population variability in gene expression and enzyme ...

Chromosome 22q11 aberrations substantially increase the risk for developing schizophrenia. Although micro-deletions in this region have been extensively investigated in different populations across the world, little is ...

The complete sequences of RNA1, RNA2 and satellite RNA have been determined for a South African isolate of Grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV-SACH44). The two RNAs of GFLV-SACH44 are 7,341 nucleotides (nt) and 3,816 nt in length, ...

Bacterial deterioration of sugarcane during harvesting and processing is correlated with significant loss of sucrose yield and the accumulation of bacterial polysaccharides. Dextran, a homoglucan produced by Leuconostoc ...

The global importance of apple as a fruit crop necessitates investigations into molecular aspects of the processes that influence fruit quality and yield, including plant development, fruit ripening and disease resistance. ...

Abstract Background Gene Set Analysis (GSA) has proven to be a useful approach to microarray analysis. However, most of the method development for GSA has focused on the statistical tests ...

Abstract Background Adverse drug reactions and lack of therapeutic efficacy associated with currently prescribed pharmacotherapeutics may be attributed, in part, to inter-individual variability ...

The dusky kob (Argyrosomus japonicus) is a large, estuarine-dependent sciaenid fish that has been severely depleted in South African waters and that, in recent years, has received considerable attention from the local fish ...

Background: The use of next-generation sequencing has become an established method for virus detection. Efficient study design for accurate detection relies on the optimal amount of data representing a significant portion ...

Abstract Background Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the aetiological agent for cervical cancer and genital warts. Concurrent HPV and HIV infection in the South African population is high. HIV ...

Objectives: The aim was to determine whether postoperative pain is satisfactorily controlled in patients undergoing orthopaedic surgery at a level two state hospital in Cape Town. Design: Two observational audits were ...

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa, like many other developing countries, stands to benefit from novel diagnostics and drugs developed by pharmacogenomics guidance due to high prevalence of disease burden in the region. This ...

Objectives: To predict neonatal mortality and length of stay (LOS) from readily available perinatal data for neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admissions in Southern African private hospitals. Methods: Retrospective ...

Abstract Background Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 (GLRaV-3) is the main contributing agent of leafroll disease worldwide. Four of the six GLRaV-3 variant groups known have been found ...

Abstract. Background. Worldwide, the genus Haliotis is represented by 56 extant species and several of these are commercially cultured. Among the six abalone species found in South Africa, Haliotis midae is the only ...

Haliotis midae is one of the most valuable commercial abalone species in the world, but is highly vulnerable, due to exploitation, habitat destruction and predation. In order to preserve wild and cultured stocks, genetic ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Transient expression of proteins in plants has become a favoured method over the production of stably transformed plants because, in addition to enabling high protein yields, it is both fast and easy ...