Neurocysticercosis in Persons with Epilepsy in Medellín,Colombia

Summary: Purpose: A prospective series of 643 persons with epilepsy attending a reference neurologic center in Medellin, Colombia, was examined by computed tomography (CT scan) or serology or both with the enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot assay (EITB) to assess the prevalence of Taenia solium cysticercosis. Methods: All presenting patients were consecutively enrolled in the study. Five hundred forty-six persons underwent cerebral CT scans; 376 of them also had serum EITB performed. Results: Prevalence of neurocys@ercosis by CT scan was 13.92%. Overall prevalence of T. solium antibodies with EITB was 9.82%, but for those with late-onset epilepsy (onset after age 30 years), prevalence increased to 17.5% and 19% for those who originated from outside urban Medellin. Seroprevalence in individuals with mixed lesions (cysts and calcifications) was 88.2% and 64.10% in those with live cysts. Conversely, only 2.72% of persons with CT findings not related to neurocysticercosis had positive EITB tests. Conclusions: Our study shows that an important proportion of individuals with epilepsy have radiologic or serologic evidence of T. solium infection, suggesting that neurocysticercosis is an important etiology for epilepsy in Colombia.     

Otoconial alterations after embryonic development in hypergravity

The relation between prolonged hypergravity and structural adaptation of otoconia was studied in hamsters (n = 56). Three groups of hamsters (n = 27), were conceived and born in a centrifuge: group 1 (n = 10) 1 month under 2.5 G, group (2n = 9) 5 months under 2.5 G and 4 months under 1 G, group 3 (n = 8) 1 month under 2.5 G and 8 moths under 1 G. Control hamsters (n = 29) were conceived and born under 1 G (1 month old, n = 7; 9 months old, n = 22). Histological study of the otoconial layers (energy dispersive x-ray element analysis and scanning electron microscopy) showed similar calcium content, size, and shape in utricular and saccular otoconia in all groups. Different were the utricular otoconial size classes, large, medium-sized, a and small. The area with small otoconia increased in group 1 (p = 0.002). In group 2, the large otoconial area decreased (p < 0.001) and the medium-sized one increased (p < 0.001). In group 3, the large otoconial area decreased (p = 0.003) and the medium-sized one increased (p = 0.007). For age-related effects we found group 1 with an increased area of large otoconia (p = 0.001) and a decreased medium-sized one compared to groups 2 (p < 0.001) and 3 (p = 0.02). Hypergravity during formation of otoconia does not affect calcium content, size, or shape, but changes relative size of the areas with large, medium-sized, or small otoconia and the development of these areas. This resulted in a structural adaptation to hypergravity.     

Randomised trial comparing the upright and supine positions for the second stage of labour

Objective To assess the maternal and neonatal effects of upright compared with recumbent positions during delivery, in terms of defined outcome variables.
Design A randomised controlled trial.
Setting St Monica's Nursing Home, a midwife based maternity unit in Cape Town, South Africa.
Participants Five hundred and seventeen women of low obstetrical risk assigned to deliver at the nursing home.
Results The trial showed that women who adopted the upright posture for delivery experienced less pain, perineal trauma and fewer episiotomies than those who delivered in the supine position.
Conclusion The data suggest that in women of low obstetrical risk, choice of posture during delivery may be encouraged.     

Epidemiologic features of hepatitis B virus infection in northern Labrador.

We studied the epidemiologic features of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in northern Labrador to determine the prevalence of the infection and to obtain a database to develop a vaccination strategy. The study population included seven communities in which five ethnic groups were represented: Inuit, Innu, mixed Inuit and European ancestry ("settler"), nonnative/nonsettler transient population ("white") and people of Innu-white or Innu-Inuit origin ("mixed"). Blood samples from 2156 people (62% of the area residents) were tested for antibody to HBV core antigen (anti-HBc), HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), HBV e antigen (HBeAg), anti-HBc IgM and antibody to the surface antigen (anti-HBs). The overall crude prevalence rate of HBV seromarkers was 14.7% and the HBsAg carrier rate at least 3.2%; the rates were highest for Inuit (26.4% and 6.9% respectively), followed by settler (10.0% and 1.9% respectively) and Innu (7.6% and 0.4% respectively); the white and mixed groups had the lowest overall rates (2.5% and 3.3% respectively). Although the overall prevalence rates were about the same for the two sexes, the HBsAg carrier rate was higher in males (male:female ratio 1.6:1.0). No HBV carriers were positive for HBeAg or anti-HBc IgM antibody. The rate of exposure to HBV was 4% for those below the age of 20 years and reached a peak for those aged 45 to 54 years (85% for Inuit, 40% for settlers and 37% for Innu). There was also a wide variation in the age-standardized prevalence rates (0% to 27.9%) among the ethnic groups in the seven communities surveyed.     

Major histocompatibility complex class I peptide presentation after Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium infection assessed via stable isotope tagging of the B27-presented peptide repertoire

Reactive arthritis (ReA) induced by infection with several gram-negative bacteria is strongly associated with expression of the major histocompatibility complex class I molecule HLA-B27. It is thought that due to the intracellular lifestyle of ReA-inducing bacteria, bacterial fragments can be presented by HLA-B27. Cytotoxic T cells recognizing such bacterial peptides or other induced host peptides could cross-react with self peptides presented in the joints, giving rise to disease. Studies to analyze the B27 peptide repertoire in relation to infection were severely hampered, as complex peptide profiles obtained from separate infected and noninfected cell preparations had to be compared. For this study, we applied a new approach to examine the effect of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium infection on the B27 peptide repertoire presented by the HLA-B*2704 subtype associated with disease. Firstly, we showed that both host cell and S. enterica serovar Typhimurium proteins can be tagged metabolically with stable-isotope-labeled arginine. We then designed experiments so that either the tagged endogenous or tagged bacterial B*2704-presented peptide repertoires from infected cells could be analyzed by mass spectrometry from single peptide preparations that included uninfected controls. Using this new approach, we found no evidence for significant changes in endogenous B*2704 peptide presentation after infection or for any S. enterica serovar Typhimurium-derived B27-bound peptide. In conclusion, the hypothesis that S. enterica serovar Typhimurium induces changes in B27 peptide presentation could not be supported.     

Overexpression of S100A4 is closely related to the aggressiveness of gastric cancer

Elevated levels of the calcium-binding protein S100A4 cause metastasis of benign rat mammary tumor cells. To investigate whether S100A4 plays an important role in the invasion and metastasis of gastric cancers, we examined the gene mutations in the coding regions and expression patterns of the S100A4 in gastric adenocarcinoma in Korea. Moderate to strong expression of S100A4 was found in 53 (68.8%) of the 77 gastric adenocarcinomas, whilst normal gastric epithelium either failed to stain or showed weak staining. Interestingly, S100A4 expression was more frequently observed in gastric cancer patients with advanced gastric cancer (p=0.039), positive lymph node metastasis (p=0.001), and peritoneal dissemination (p=0.022). No gene mutations were found in the analyzed genomic area in 77 gastric adenocarcinomas and 15 gastric cancer cell lines. We found one single nucleotide polymorphism without an amino acid change, A99G, in two cases. These data suggest that the overexpression of S100A4 may be closely related to the aggressiveness of gastric cancer in Korea.     

An AscI boundary library for the studies of genetic and epigenetic alterations in CpG islands

Knudson's two-hit hypothesis postulates that genetic alterations in both alleles are required for the inactivation of tumor-suppressor genes. Genetic alterations include small or large deletions and mutations. Over the past years, it has become clear that epigenetic alterations such as DNA methylation are additional mechanisms for gene silencing. Restriction Landmark Genomic Scanning (RLGS) is a two-dimensional gel electrophoresis that assesses the methylation status of thousands of CpG islands. RLGS has been applied successfully to scan cancer genomes for aberrant DNA methylation patterns. So far, the majority of this work was done using NotI as the restriction landmark site. Here, we describe the development of RLGS using AscI as the restriction landmark site for genome-wide scans of cancer genomes. The availability of AscI as a restriction landmark for RLGS allows for scanning almost twice as many CpG islands in the human genome compared with using NotI only. We describe the development of an AscI-EcoRV boundary library that supports the cloning of novel methylated genes. Feasibility of this system is shown in three tumor types, medulloblastomas, lung cancers, and head and neck cancers. We report the cloning of 178 AscI RLGS fragments via two methods by use of this library.     

High prevalence of human papillomavirus infections in urine samples from human immunodeficiency virus-infected men

Infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the resulting immunosuppression are associated with an increased risk for human papillomavirus (HPV) persistence and related malignancies. In the present study we investigated the prevalence of HPV in urine samples from 104 HIV-infected men with low CD4+ cell counts (<100 per mm(3)) and 115 urine samples from HIV-negative men. A high prevalence of HPV DNA (39.4%) was found in the HIV patients. Most of the HPV types were high risk (81.4%), with HPV 52 as the most prevalent type (12.5%), followed by HPV 18 (6.7%), HPV 35 (5.8%), and HPV 70 (4.8%). Multiple HPV genotypes were observed in 17 (41%) of the 41 HPV- and HIV-positive men. In contrast, only 11 (9.6%) HPV DNA-positive cases were observed among the 115 HIV-uninfected men, and 3 (27.3%) contained multiple genotypes. Quantitative analyses indicated that the HPV viral load, as measured in urine samples, is significantly higher in HIV-positive men compared to HIV-negative men. In the present study we show that urine samples are useful for detecting HPV DNA, there is a high prevalence of HPV in HIV-positive men, and the HPV viral load is substantially higher in HIV-positive than in HIV-negative men. More studies are needed to evaluate the risk and natural development of HPV-related malignancies in HIV-positive men.