The role of Epstein-Barr virus in Hodgkin's disease from different geographical areas

Recent studies have suggested that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) may play a role in the aetiology of Hodgkin's disease. To determine the role of EBV in childhood Hodgkin's disease in different geographical areas, immunohistochemical staining and in situ hybridisation were used to analyse latent membrane protein 1 (LMP 1) and small nuclear non-transcribed RNAs (EBER-1) respectively. Testing for EBV within the Reed-Sternberg and Hodgkin's cells was carried out in childhood Hodgkin's disease from 10 different countries. The proportion of LMP 1 positive cases varied significantly, being 50% of cases from the United Kingdom (38/75), South Africa (9/18), Egypt (7/14), and Jordan (8/16), 60% from the United Arab Emirates (6/10), 70% from Australia (11/16), 81% from Costa Rica (34/42), 88% from Iran (7/8), 90% from Greece (20/22), and 100% of the 56 cases from Kenya. A sensitive polymerase chain reaction based EBV strain typing technique was established using archival tissues. EBV strain type 1 was shown to be predominant in childhood Hodgkin's disease from the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, and Greece. Type 2 was predominant in Egypt. EBV strain types 1 and 2 were both detected in some cases of childhood Hodgkin's disease in the United Kingdom, Costa Rica, and Kenya. The high incidence of EBV and the presence especially in developing countries of dual infection with both strain types 1 and 2 may reflect socioeconomic conditions leading to malnutrition induced immunological impairment. The possibility of HIV infection also needs to be explored.     

Total energy expenditure and body composition in early infancy

In adults greater energy expenditure, primarily on physical activity, is associated with greater leanness. Such an association has proved more difficult to demonstrate in infants, partly due to the difficulty of measuring fatness and free living energy expenditure in this age group. Stable isotope techniques now make such investigations more viable. OBJECTIVE: The relationship between body composition and energy expenditure was investigated in 12 week infants. METHODS: Total energy expenditure and fat mass were estimated using the doubly labelled water technique. SUBJECTS: 92 normal healthy infants. RESULTS: Fat mass was correlated with both triceps and subscapular skinfold thicknesses (p < 0.001). After controlling for body size, age was a significant predictor of fat mass (p = 0.003), whereas total energy expenditure was not (p = 0.463). CONCLUSIONS: The cross sectional link between activity level and fatness in young infants, reported previously, does not persist when energy expenditure is considered.     

Association among interleukin-6 gene polymorphism, diabetes and periodontitis in a Chinese population

Objectives:  Diabetics significantly increase risk for periodontitis. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) gene polymorphism may play certain roles in the progression of periodontitis with diabetes. The purpose of this study was to assess the association among IL-6 gene polymorphisms, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and chronic periodontitis (CP) in a Chinese population.
Material and methods:  DNA was obtained from 159 patients with CP, 88 patients with T2DM, 110 patients with CP&T2DM and 135 control subjects. The -174/-572/-597 polymorphisms of IL-6 gene were investigated by restriction fragment length polymorphism of polymerase chain reaction products. The results were further confirmed by sequencing. Significance was set at P  < 0.008 after Bonferroni correction.
Results:  Among four groups, CP&T2DM group showed the lowest IL-6-572 CC genotype and C-allele frequencies (54.5% and 74.1%). In this regard, there were significant differences between CP&T2DM group and the control group [ P  = 0.006, odds ratio (OR)  =  0.475, 95% CI: 0.279–0.808 and P  = 0.002, OR = 0.502, 95% CI: 0.319–0.788 respectively]. Logistic regression with adjustment for age, gender, body mass index, smoking and stress showed no significant difference in terms of IL-6-572 genotypes ( P  = 0.058, OR= 0.523, 95% CI: 0.268–1.022).
Conclusions:  The IL-6-572 genotype and allele distributions are unique to subjects with CP&T2DM in a Chinese population.     

Intracranial hemorrhagic lesions: evaluation with spin-echo and gradient-refocused MR imaging at 0.5 and 1.5 T

Twenty patients with intracranial hemorrhage were examined with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging at 0.5 and 1.5 T within 2 hours on the two imagers for lesions less than 30 days old and within 24 hours for lesions older than 30 days. MR studies included T1- and T2-weighted spin-echo (SE) and T2*-weighted gradient-refocused (GR) pulse sequences at each field strength. The number of lesions identified and the characteristics (ie, signal intensity of the margin, body, and core) of each hemorrhagic lesion were assessed and compared by means of the three pulse sequences at each field strength. Lesion depiction and characterization were superior (P less than .01) at 1.5 T with T2-weighted SE sequences. Improved depiction and characterization of lesions 300 or more days old (P less than .01) accounted for this result. With the GR sequence, depiction and characterization were similar at both field strengths. The GR sequence did not provide significant additional information about hemorrhage at 1.5 T in this series, but it improved depiction and characterization of hemorrhage at 0.5 T.     

Effect of melasma on quality of life in a sample of women living in southern Brazil

Background Melasma can cause a significant effect on individual emotional well‐being. Melasma Quality of Life Scale (MELASQoL) is a specific questionnaire elaborated to assess the burden of melasma on patient's quality of life. Objective To evaluate the clinical aspects, severity and the influence of melasma on daily living of a sample of Brazilian women. Methods Cross‐sectional study that enrolled 85 women with melasma older than 15 years of age. Trained investigators asked 55 questions to collect epidemiological and clinical data. The disease severity was clinically assessed using Melasma Area and Severity Index (MASI). Patients answered the Portuguese version of 10‐item MELASQoL scale without coaching. Results The mean ± SD age was 41.1 ± 6.8 years, and the mean ± SD of MELASQoL score was 37.5 ± 15.2 (median, 35). Patients with previous psychiatric diagnosis had significantly higher MELASQoL scores (mean, 42.8; SD, 13.6) than patients without this antecedent (mean, 35.4; SD, 15.4; P < 0.05). Patients with less than 8 years of school attendance also had significantly higher MELASQoL score (mean, 44; SD, 16.9) than more graduated ones (mean, 34.4; SD, 13.5; P < 0.05). The mean ± SD MASI was 10.6 ± 6.6 (median, 10.2). There was no correlation between MASI and MELASQoL. Conclusions This study confirms that MELASQoL‐BP is easy to administer, adds important information about the impact of melasma on South American women's life and, finally, contributes to building evidence on the validity, reliability and cultural adaptation of the Portuguese language MELASQoL version.     

短刺虎刺素的结构更正及其合成

短刺虎刺素的结构文献曾报道为1-甲氧基-2-羟基-3-乙氧甲基蒽醌(1)⁽²⁾。作者以邻苯二甲酸酐和2,3-二羟基甲苯或2.6-二羟基甲苯经环合、选择性乙酰化、甲基化、溴化、乙醇钠缩合分别合成了1和1-甲氧基-2-乙氧甲基-3-羟基蒽醌(5)。经对照后证实,短刺虎刺素的结构应更正为5,即虎刺素-ω-乙基醚。     

V̇ max and nutritional status in Urban Colombian girls and women

Maximal oxygen consumption (V? max, liters min^?1) was measured in 60 nutritionally normal and 74 marginally undernourished girls 6–16 years of age and 27 upper socioeconomic (UEC) women and 22 women living in economically deprived conditions (LEC) in Cali, Colombia. All girls were recruited from the LEC neighborhoods. Lower values for V? max (liters min^?1) in undernourished girls were replaced by a nutritionally normal status in adulthood in which V? max was not significantly different from that measured in UEC women. Physical condition varied from average to fair in the younger to older subjects compared to women from industrialized countries. When V? max is expressed as ml min^?1 kg^?1 of lean body mass (LBM), all age and group effects disappear, confirming regression analysis which demonstrated a close relationship (r² = 0.81) between V? max (liters min^?1) and LBM in which there were no significant differences between nutritional or socioeconomic groups. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

A study of the fasciocutaneous vascularisation of the arm surgical applications

Summary The data on the fasciocutaneous vascularisation of the medial aspect of the arm are incomplete in the literature. This study presents the methodology and results of an anatomic study on 19 upper limbs with arterial injection. The vascularisation of the upper part of this region is provided in 68% of cases by the superficial fasciocutaneous branch (SFCB) of the superior ulnar collateral artery (SUC), that of the middle and lower part by 3–4 fasciocutaneous pedicles originating from the SUC which are prolonged distally by the recurrent posterior ulnar artery. The SFCB has important relations with the ulnar nerve; it travels dorsal to the nerve in 64% of cases and then allows the raising of a distally-pedicled ulnar flap with a 3 : 1 ratio. In other anatomic configurations, a flap with retrograde flow supplied by the inferior pedicles of the SUC can always be raised. Its ratio is then 2 : 1. this flap allows coverage of all cases of posterior or anterior losses of substance at the elbow. These results supplement the data required for the raising of a distally-pedicled medial brachial flap. but also of a proximally-pedicled superior medial brachial flap and of a free superior medial brachial flap transposed by microsurgical means.

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Etude de la vascularisation fasciocutanée de la face médiale du bras. Applications chirurgicales

Résumé Les connaissances sur la vascularisation fascio-cutanée de la face médiale du bras sont incomplètes dans la littérature. Cette étude présente la méthodologie et les résultats d'une étude anatomique sur 19 membres thoraciques avec injection artérielle. La vascularisation de la partie supérieure de cette région est assurée dans 68% des cas par la branche superficielle fasciocutanée (BSFC) de l'a. collatérale ulnaire supérieure (CUS), celle des parties moyenne et inférieure par 3 ou 4 pédicules fascio-cutanés issus de la CUS, qui se prolongent distalement par le rameau postérieur de l'a. récurrente ulnaire. La BSFC contracte des rapports importants avec le n. ulnaire, elle passe à la face dorsale du nerf dans 64% des cas et permet alors la levée d'un lambeau ulnaire à pédicule distal de ratio 3 sur 1. Dans les autres configurations anatomiques, un lambeau à flux rétrograde vascularisé par les pédicules inférieurs de la CUS est toujours prélevable. Son ratio est alors de 2 sur 1. Ce lambeau permet dans tous les cas la couverture de pertes de substance postérieures ou antérieures du coude. Ces résultats permettent de compléter les connaissances nécessaires à la levée du lambeau brachial médial à pédicule distal, mais aussi du lambeau brachial médial supérieur à pédicule proximal et du lambeau libre brachial médial supérieur transposé par méthode microchirurgicale.

     

Diet,commensal microbiota-derived extracellular vesicles,and host immunity

The gut microbiota has co-evolved with its host, and commensal bacteria can influence both the host's immune development and function. Recently, a role has emerged for bacterial extracellular vesicles (BEVs) as potent immune modulators. BEVs are nanosized membrane vesicles produced by all bacteria, possessing the membrane characteristics of the originating bacterium and carrying an internal cargo that may include nucleic acid, proteins, lipids, and metabolites. Thus, BEVs possess multiple avenues for regulating immune processes, and have been implicated in allergic, autoimmune, and metabolic diseases. BEVs are biodistributed locally in the gut, and also systemically, and thus have the potential to affect both the local and systemic immune responses. The production of gut microbiota-derived BEVs is regulated by host factors such as diet and antibiotic usage. Specifically, all aspects of nutrition, including macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, and fat), micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), and food additives (the antimicrobial sodium benzoate), can regulate BEV production. This review summarizes current knowledge of the powerful links between nutrition, antibiotics, gut microbiota-derived BEV, and their effects on immunity and disease development. It highlights the potential of targeting or utilizing gut microbiota-derived BEV as a therapeutic intervention.