Determinants of cognitive health in Indonesian HIV patients beginning antiretroviral therapy

Cognitive impairment has been described in people living with HIV and stable on antiretroviral therapy (ART), but has not been monitored in young adults beginning ART with a high burden of cytomegalovirus. We recruited 80 subjects beginning ART with < 200 CD4 T cells/μL in Jakarta, Indonesia. Cognitive function (Z-scores) began low but improved on ART, stabilizing after 6 months with improvements in all domains except memory function. The burden of cytomegalovirus persisting on ART (assessed via antibody levels) correlated inversely with Z-scores (notably memory function) at baseline. In linear mixed models, improvements in Z-scores were influenced by age, education, and CD4 T cell counts.     

Factors affecting affect cardiovascular health in Indonesian HIV patients beginning ART

Background

We present a small longitudinal study of how demographic factors and persistent burdens of HIV and cytomegalovirus (CMV) influence cardiovascular health in young adults beginning ART in an inner-city clinic in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Methods

ART-naïve HIV patients [n = 67; aged 31 (19 to 48) years] were enrolled in the JakCCANDO Project. Echocardiography and carotid Doppler ultrasonography were performed before ART (V0) and after 3, 6, and 12 months (V3–12). Antibodies reactive with CMV lysate or IE-1 protein were assessed at each timepoint and CMV DNA was identified at V0.

Results

Markers of adverse cardiovascular prognosis [left ventricular mass index, ejection fraction and carotid intimal media thickness (cIMT)] were similar to healthy controls, but increased at V12. Internal diameters of the carotid arteries and systolic blood pressure correlated with HIV disease severity at V0, but cardiac parameters and cIMT did not. E/A ratios (left ventricular diastolic function) were lower in patients with CMV DNA at V0, but this effect waned by V6. Levels of antibody reactive with CMV IE-1 correlated inversely with CD4 T cell counts at V0, and levels at V6–V12 correlated directly with the right cIMT.

Conclusions

Overall the severity of HIV disease and the response to ART have only subtle effects on cardiovascular health in this young Asian population. CMV replication before ART may have a transient effect on cardiac health, whilst antibody reactive with CMV IE-1 may mark a high persistent CMV burden with cumulative effects on the carotid artery.

     

Immunophenotypic patterns of childhood acute leukemias in Indonesia

Background: Immunophenotyping, as suggested by WHO, may improve diagnosis of childhood leukemia since it offers a better classification of the hematopoietic lineage of malignant cells as compared to morphology. Therefore, we aimed to determine the proportion of the immunophenotypic subtypes of acute leukemia in Indonesian children. Methods. Samples were obtained from patients (0-14 years of age) in 4 hospitals in Indonesia. We analyzed 541 suspected leukemia samples presented over a 4-year period (March 2006 - July 2010) by flow cytometry. Immunophenotyping allowed classification into acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and ALL (B-lineage and T-lineage ALL). Results. Of 541 samples, 136 were tested using a single color method and 405 with a three-color method. Concordance with morphology was very good (κ=0.82) using the three-color method with a panel of 15 monoclonal antibodies (n=387). A relatively high percentage of acute leukemia was classified as AML (23%). Of the ALL samples 83% were B-lineage ALL and 17% T- lineage ALL. Nine out of 239 morphological ALL were labeled AML, and 12/79 morphological AML were in fact ALL. Conclusion. Immunophenotyping in a multi-center study proved feasible and appears particularly important for prognostic assessment of childhood leukemia in low income countries such as Indonesia.     

Polymorphisms in CAMKK2 associate with susceptibility to sensory neuropathy in HIV patients treated without stavudine

Journal of NeuroVirology - HIV-associated sensory neuropathy (HIV-SN) is a debilitating neurological complication of HIV infection potentiated by the antiretroviral drug stavudine. While stavudine...     

Tracheospasmolytic activity of viteosin-A and vitexicarpin isolated from vitex trifolia

The n-hexane extract that has shown activity in the tracheospasmolytic bioassay was fractionated by solvent extraction and from the major active fraction two compounds were isolated and identified as viteosin-A and vitexicarpin. These compounds blocked spontaneous contraction of isolated male guinea pig trachea induced by histamine; however only vitexicarpin was active in a model using sensitized guinea pig trachea stimulated by ovalbumin up to minimum dose of 1.3 x 10(-5) M. The result suggests that vitexicarpin is able to block effects of histamine released from sensitized mast cells possibly by stabilizing the mast cells membrane function.     

Decreasing free fatty acid of crude palm oil with polyvinylidene fluoride hollow fiber membranes using a combination of chitosan and glutaraldehyde

Crude palm oil (CPO) has emerged as a significant commodity in the economic and social development of producer nations. However, the presence of free fatty acids (FFAs) results in decreased CPO quality. Due to many advantages, the PVDF hollow fiber membrane has a higher potential to remove FFA from CPO than other polymeric membranes, despite the fact that FFA rejection performance remains poor. To solve this issue, membrane surface modification has emerged as one of the potential options for increasing electrostatic contact between the membrane surface and the FFA, resulting in high efficiency FFA separation from CPO. In this investigation, the membrane surface was coated with chitosan (CS) as a coating agent and glutaraldehyde (GA) as a crosslinking agent. The findings of the characterization demonstrated that the presence of a CS/GA combination with a low CS weight on the membrane surface resulted in enhanced hydrophilicity, porosity, water flow, and surface roughness. Furthermore, as compared to the uncoated PVDF hollow fiber membrane, the performance of the CPO with PVDF/CS 0.5 hollow fiber membrane achieved a maximum result of FFA rejection of up to 14.99%. The use of a mixture of CS and GA on the PVDF membrane surface to improve FFA reduction has been shown to be a promising technique for scaling up membrane technology.

Crude palm oil (CPO) has emerged as a significant commodity in the economic and social development of producer nations.     

Performance of a membrane fabricated from high-density polyethylene waste for dye separation in water

Industrial growth can have a good impact on a country''s economic growth, but it can also cause environmental problems, including water pollution. About 80% of industrial wastewater is discharged into the environment without treatment, of which 17–20% is dominated by dyes, such as methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) from the textile industry. Only about 5% of a textile dye is used in the dyeing process and the rest is discarded. This problem, of course, requires special handling considering the harmful effects to health. On the other hand, the abundance of plastic waste is increasing by 14% or 85 000 tons per year. This problem must be solved due to its film-forming properties. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is one type of plastic used as a membrane material. Therefore, in this study, HDPE plastic waste was utilized as a membrane for dye removal. In this study, HDPE plastic waste was fabricated via a thermal-induced phase-separation method using mineral oil as a solvent at various concentrations of 8%, 10%, 13%, and 15% (w/w). All the membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and contact angle measurements. The results showed that the HDPE membrane at a concentration of 15% displayed the best performance compared to the others in terms of MB rejection. The negative charge (−36.9) of the HDPE membrane was more effective for cationic dye removal compared to the anionic dye. The flux and rejection of HDPE 15% for 100 ppm MB and MO removal were 2.71 and 4.93 L m⁻² h⁻¹, and 99.72% and 89.8%, respectively. The pure water flux of the membrane was 15.01 L m⁻² h⁻¹ and the tensile strength was 0.3435 MPa.

Industrial growth can have a good impact on a country''s economic growth, but it can also cause environmental problems, including water pollution.