Role of C825T Polymorphism of GNβ3 Gene in Preeclampsia

Objective: The main objective of the study was to understand the role of C825T polymorphism that generates a splice variant in the β3 subunit of heterotrimeric G-protein in preeclampsia. Results: We analyzed genomic DNA of 151 women with preeclampsia (72 Caucasians and 79 African-Americans) and 198 women with normal delivery (102 Caucasians and 96 African-Americans) for C825T polymorphism of GNβ3 gene. The T-allele frequency in Caucasian women with preeclampsia was 0.42 as compared to 0.25 in normal pregnant women (p = 0.0004) and in African-American women with preeclampsia was 0.82 as compared to 0.68 in normal pregnant women (p = 0.0028). Conclusions: Results of these experiments show that the allele frequency of C825T polymorphism is significantly different in women with preeclampsia compared with women with normal delivery in Caucasian as well as African-American population.     

Use of verbal autopsy to determine mortality patterns in an urban slum in Kolkata, India

Objective

To define mortality patterns in an urban slum in Kolkata, India, in the context of a cholera and typhoid fever project.

Methods

In a well-defined population that was under surveillance for 18 months, we followed a dynamic cohort of 63 788 residents whose households were visited monthly by community health workers to identify deaths. Trained physicians performed verbal autopsies and experienced senior physicians assigned the primary cause of death according to the International classification of diseases, 10th edition. We tabulated causes of death in accordance with Global Burden of Disease 2000 categories and assessed overall and cause-specific mortality rates per age group and gender.

Findings

During 87 921 person–years of follow-up, we recorded 544 deaths. This gave an overall mortality rate of 6.2 per 1000 person–years. We assigned a cause to 89% (482/544) of the deaths. The leading causes of death, in descending order, were cardiovascular diseases (especially among adults aged over 40 years), cancer, respiratory ailments and digestive disorders. Most deaths in children under 5 years of age were caused by tuberculosis, respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases.

Conclusion

Although the most common causes of death in children were infectious, non-communicable diseases were predominant among adults. There is a need for continuing interventions against infectious diseases in addition to new and innovative strategies to combat non-infectious conditions.     

Silver-binding nucleolar organizer region proteins as a possible prognostic indicator in oral submucous fibrosis.

Silver-binding nucleolar organizer region proteins (AgNORs) were counted in sections from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Moderately advanced and advanced cases OSMF, and well-differentiated and poorly differentiated cases of SCC, were studied with respect to the relation between AgNOR counts and histologic grading. Normal oral mucosa collected from age- and sex-matched subjects constituted the control group. The pooled mean (+/- SD) AgNOR counts were as follows: normal mucosa, 2.50 +/- 0.52 (n = 5); moderately advanced OSMF, 5.24 +/- 1.23 (n = 10); advanced OSMF, 7.26 +/- 1.12 (n = 10); well-differentiated SCC, 8.29 +/- 1.47 (n = 5); and poorly differentiated SCC, 9.49 +/- 0.74 (n = 5). The pooled mean AgNOR counts in advanced OSMF were higher than in moderately advanced cases (t = 3.84; p < 0.005) and those in poorly differentiated SCC were higher than those of well-differentiated SCC, although the comparison was not significant in the latter (t = 1.63, p > 0.10). AgNOR counts could hold promise for predicting the biologic behavior of OSMF because this study demonstrated a correlation with clinical and histologic grading.     

Preserving the Integrity of Oesophageal Stents with Laser Therapy and Argon Plasma Coagulation: An In Vitro Study

. Thermal lasers and argon plasma coagulation are widely used in the treatment of stent overgrowth in patients with advanced oesophageal malignancy. The aim of treatment is to achieve patency while avoiding damage to the prosthesis. This experimental study was designed to determine the power and duration of application that can be safely tolerated by four different types of oesophageal prostheses. Five stents were studied: wall stent; open metal mesh stent (uncovered Ultraflex); covered metal mesh stent (covered Ultraflex); Gianturco (Z-stent); Esophagocoil. Nd-YAG Laser, GaAlAs diode laser and argon plasma coagulation were applied in non-contact mode at gradually increasing power levels and duration and the effects were observed. The use of argon plasma coagulation on Esophagocoil stent seems safe in power settings of 100 W up to 10 s. The diode laser is intermediate in that Gianturco and Esophagocoil stents can withstand pulses of up to 50 W for about 2 s. The Nd-YAG laser is detrimental to most stents at power levels of 20 W. Only the Esophagocoil withstands Nd-YAG pulses of 60 W but only up to 1 s. Wallstent, open and membrane-covered mesh stents perform poorly in that they can only tolerate up to 1.5 s of power at 25 W with the Diode and 1.0 s of power at 20 W with Nd-YAG laser. The use of different thermal modalities on the five stents has indicated safe power limits and duration. Membrane-covered stents are always damaged by thermal laser application unless the membrane is truly transparent. Paper received 23 February 2000; accepted after revision 24 March 2000.     

Circulating immune complexes as an immunological marker in premalignant and malignant lesions of the oral cavity

Circulating immune complexes and their immunoglobulin contents were estimated in the sera of 50 patients with oral leukoplakia, 50 patients with oral submucous fibrosis and 50 oral cancer patients. The values were compared with that of 50 normal controls. The circulating immune complexes and their immunoglobulin contents were found to be elevated significantly both in oral submucous fibrosis and oral cancer. This study seems to be of help in monitoring the malignant transformation of oral submucous fibrosis to oral cancer.