Seroprevalence of hepatitis A in thai army medical cadets and nursing students: a reflection of regional risk differences

A cross-sectional study of 432 army college students comprising 278 medical cadets and 154 nursing students, ages ranging from 15 to 26 years, was conducted in 2001 to determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis A virus (HAV) antibody. Serum specimens were tested for HAV antibody by a commercial enzyme immunoassay method. Anti-HAV was detected in 14.0%, 17.5%, and 15.3% of medical cadets, nursing students, and the total cohort, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in seroprevalence between medical cadets and nursing students. Increasing prevalence of HAV correlated with increasing age. Significantly higher seroprevalence was detected in students from provinces outside of Bangkok compared to those who were from Bangkok (18.7% vs. 9.8%). The highest HAV seroprevalence was observed in subjects from the northeastern region of Thailand, suggesting that this region may be associated with greater risk for infection and should be the focus of preventive health strategies.     

Diagnostic and treatment difficulties of pyelonephritis in pregnancy in resource-limited settings

Limited microbiology services impede adequate diagnosis and treatment of common infections such as pyelonephritis in resource-limited settings. Febrile pregnant women attending antenatal clinics at Shoklo Malaria Research Unit were offered urine dipstick, sediment microscopy, urine culture, and a 5-mL blood culture. The incidence of pyelonephritis was 11/1,000 deliveries (N = 53 in 4,819 pregnancies) between January 7, 2004 and May 17, 2006. Pyelonephritis accounted for 20.2% (41/203) of fever cases in pregnancy. Escherichia coli was the most commonly isolated pathogen: 87.5% (28/32) of organisms cultured. Susceptibility of E. coli to ampicillin (14%), cotrimoxazole (21%), and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (48%) was very low. E. coli was susceptible to ceftriaxone and ciprofloxacin. The rate of extended spectrum β-lactamase (4.2%; 95% confidence interval = 0.7-19.5) was low. The rate and causes of pyelonephritis in pregnant refugee and migrant women were comparable with those described in developed countries. Diagnostic innovation in microbiology that permits affordable access is a high priority for resource-poor settings.     

FTO variants are associated with obesity in the Chinese and Malay populations in Singapore

OBJECTIVE— Association between genetic variants at the FTO locus and obesity has been consistently observed in populations of European ancestry and inconsistently in non-Europeans. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of FTO variants on obesity and type 2 diabetes in Southeast Asian populations.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS— We examined associations between nine previously reported FTO single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and related traits in 4,298 participants (2,919 Chinese, 785 Malays, and 594 Asian Indians) from the 1998 Singapore National Health Survey (NHS98) and 2,996 Malays from the Singapore Malay Eye Study (SiMES).RESULTS— All nine SNPs exhibited strong linkage disequilibrium (r² = 0.6–0.99), and minor alleles were associated with obesity in the same direction as previous studies with effect sizes ranging from 0.42 to 0.68 kg/m² (P < 0.0001) in NHS98 Chinese, 0.65 to 0.91 kg/m² (P < 0.02) in NHS98 Malays, and 0.52 to 0.64 kg/m² (P < 0.0001) in SiMES Malays after adjustment for age, sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, and exercise. The variants were also associated with type 2 diabetes, though not after adjustment for BMI (with the exception of the SiMES Malays: odds ratio 1.17–1.22; P ≤ 0.026).CONCLUSIONS— FTO variants common among European populations are associated with obesity in ethnic Chinese and Malays in Singapore. Our data do not support the hypothesis that differences in allele frequency or genetic architecture underlie the lack of association observed in some populations of Asian ancestry. Examination of gene-environment interactions involving variants at this locus may provide further insights into the role of FTO in the pathogenesis of human obesity and diabetes.A recent genome-wide association study for type 2 diabetes using a U.K.-based population revealed a novel locus associated with BMI: the fat mass–and obesity-related gene (FTO) on chromosome 16 (1). The representative single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs9939609, was confirmed to be associated with elevated BMI after replication in more than 38,000 study participants of European ancestry. Further replication of this association has been observed in several populations of distinctly European ancestry (2–6). However, this association is inconsistent in populations of non-European ancestry. A study in Japanese showed an association between variants at this locus and obesity (7) that was not observed in African Americans (6) or Han Chinese (8). The aims of this study were 1) to determine the associations between previously identified obesity-associated SNPs at the FTO locus with obesity and type 2 diabetes in Chinese, Malays, and Asian-Indians and 2) to examine whether any associations were modulated by exercise.     

Effects of N-methyl pyrrolidone on the uptake of hypericin in human bladder carcinoma and co-staining with DAPI investigated by confocal microscopy

Photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) using hypericin (HY), a natural photosensitizer, detects bladder cancer significantly better than white light endoscopy. However, the lipophilicity of HY complicates its administration for clinical applications. Currently, pharmaceutical preparations for HY without plasma protein are being developed. Formulations containing a biocompatible solvent, N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) have been shown to enhance the photodynamic therapeutic effects of HY. It was recently reported that, NMP formulations of HY were able to produce significantly higher contrast for fluorescence detection of tumors than albumin-containing HY formulations. This present work hypothesizes that NMP acts both as a solvent and penetration enhancer to improve the delivery of HY into cells by increasing the permeability of cell membranes. This paper reports the use of 3-D confocal microscopy to monitor real-time uptake of HY in human carcinoma. 3-D confocal microscopy was used to investigate the possibility of nuclear localization of HY in MGH cells. The fluorescence of HY was confirmed to be emitted from HY containing cells using spectrometry. The localization of a DNA fluorescent probe 4', 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride (DAPI) was used to confirm the possibility of colocalization of DAPI and HY. The colocalization analysis in the present study suggests that it was very unlikely that HY colocalized in the nucleus that was stained by DAPI. Fluorescein leakage tests showed that 1% NMP changes the permeability of cell membranes, and enhanced the delivery of HY into cells resulting in lower cell survival ratios. Thus, NMP was able to enhance the photodynamic therapeutic effects of HY on cancer cells.     

The National Stem Cell Therapy Patient Registry of Malaysia—Measuring Clinical Outcomes of Stem Cell Therapy

Very few registries worldwide focus on clinical outcomes of stem cell therapy (SCT) as the large number of applications and rapid development of the field complicates registry design considerably. The National Stem Cell Therapy Patient Registry of Malaysia aims to accommodate this by using a main protocol which covers the overall design and administration of the registry, and condition-specific sub-protocols which deal with outcome measures. The registry will start with a few sub-protocols covering existing modes of SCT in Malaysia, with new sub-protocols released periodically as the need arises.     

Incidence of eyelid cancers in Singapore from 1968 to 1995

AIM: To describe the epidemiological characteristics of patients with eyelid malignancies seen in all hospitals in Singapore from 1968 to 1995. METHOD: The Singapore Cancer Registry has been collecting epidemiological data of all cancers seen in Singapore since 1968. The data of all cases of Singapore residents with eyelid cancers diagnosed from 1968 to 1995 (ICD-9, sites 172.1 and 173.1) were retrieved for analysis. RESULTS: There were 162 male patients (49.8%) and 163 females (50.2%). The median age at diagnosis was 63 years in males and 66 years in females. The average annual age standardised incidence rate among male Singapore residents was 6.5 per million and 5.5 per million among female Singapore residents. Between 1993 and 1995, the average annual rate for females was 6.8 per million, compared with 3.1 per million between 1968 and 1972. The most common cancer was basal cell carcinoma (84.0%), followed by sebaceous adenocarcinoma (10.2%) and squamous cell carcinoma (3.4%). CONCLUSION: The annual age standardised incidence for male residents has remained relatively stable. The incidence for female residents has shown a steady increase over the past 28 years. The incidence for males is generally higher than that for females. These expanded epidemiological characteristics may serve to provide a foundation to monitor future disease patterns and to promote further research into the aetiology of these cancers.