Introduction to Autoimmune Unit

Introduction

The Autoimmune Unit was officially established on 16^th August 2010 and has now become the referral centre for autoimmune diagnostic services in Malaysia. The staff in Autoimmune Unit consists of a pathologist, medical officers, research officers, a science officer and medical laboratory technologists.

This Unit provides specialised laboratory testing to screen, diagnose and monitor treatment and disease progress of autoimmune diseases. It offers laboratory testing of autoimmune diseases for government hospitals, private hospitals and private laboratories in Malaysia.

Additionally, this laboratory serves as the organiser for the Anti-Nuclear Antibodies (ANA) National Quality Assurance Programme for nearly 30 government hospital laboratories in Malaysia. This programme involves distribution of Quality Control (QC) samples, analyzing the findings and reporting of ANA tests. The generated report will be used for continual assessments and educational opportunities in the hospital laboratories.

The staff of the Autoimmune Unit has been actively involved in teaching both medical and health science students from local and overseas universities.

Research

Researchers from the Autoimmune Unit are dedicated to the study of autoimmune diseases such as paraneoplastic neurological syndrome, anti-phospholipid syndrome, multiple sclerosis and coeliac disease. The research activities involved in this laboratory ranges from study of biomarkers to genetics of autoimmune diseases in the Malaysian population and its usefulness as a tool for diagnosis and monitoring of treatment response. 

Publications

1. Jyh Yung Hor, Thien Thien Lim, Han Bing Chow, Kenny Tan, Chun Fai Cheah, Yee Ming Ching, Masita Arip, P E Samuel Easaw, Gaik Bee Eow. 2015. A previously misdiagnosed cohort of aquaporin 4 antibody-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrumdisorder with disease duration of >10 years in multi-ethnic Penang, Malaysia: Clinical features and disease course. Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders. Volume 5, January 2016, Pages 89–90.
2. Sophia K Bakon, Nor Asiah Muhamad, Zuraifah Asrah Mohamad, Mohd Yusoff Adon, Masita Arip, Liisa Airaksinen, Mohamed Faizal Bakhtiar, Iskandar Hailani, Shahnaz Murad, Muhammad A Kamaluddin, Timo J Hannu. 2015. Workplace interventions for preventing work-related rhinitis and rhinosinusitis (Protocol). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Issue 7. Art. No.: CD011816. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD011816.
3. Zuraifah Asrah Mohamad, Nor Asiah Muhamad, Nur Syimah Izzah Abdullah Thani, Sophia K Bakon, Mohd Yusoff Adon, Mohamed Faizal Bakhtiar, Liisa Airaksinen, Masita Arip, Iskandar Hailani, Shahnaz Murad, Timo J Hannu. 2015. Workplace interventions for treating work-related rhinitis and rhinosinusitis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Issue 7. Art. No.: CD011815. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD011815.
4. Shanthi Viswanathan, Masita Arip, Norhazlin Mustafa, Jasbir S. Dhaliwal, Norzainie Rose, Sobri Muda, Santhi Datuk Puvanarajah, Mohammad Hanip Rafia, and Mark Cheong Wing Loong. 2014. The Frequency of Anti-Aquaporin-4 Ig G Antibody in Neuromyelitis Optica and Its Spectrum Disorders at a Single Tertiary Referral Center in Malaysia. Multiple Sclerosis International. Volume 2014, Article ID 568254, 10 pages. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/568254.
5. Ezalia E, Irmi Elfina R, Elizabeth G, Wan Hayati My, Norhanim A, Wahidah A, Chin Ym, Rahimah A, Nor Asiah M, Masita A, Rohaidah H, Zubaidah Z. 2014. Thalassaemia Screening among Healthy Blood Donors in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah, Klang. Med & Health; 9(1): 44-52.

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