Associations between three types of maternal bacterial infection and risk of leukemia in the offspring

A case-control study was nested within two maternity cohorts with a total of 7 million years of follow-up for assessment of the role of bacterial infections in childhood leukemia. Offspring of 550,000 mothers in Finland and Iceland were combined to form a joint cohort that was followed for cancer up to age 15 years during 1975-1997 through national cancer registries. For each index mother-case pair, three or four matched control mother-control pairs were identified from population registers. First-trimester serum samples were retrieved from mothers of 341 acute lymphoblastic leukemia cases and 61 other leukemia cases and from 1,212 control mothers. Sera were tested for antibodies to the genus Chlamydia, Helicobacter pylori, and Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals, adjusted for sibship size, were calculated as estimates of relative risk. M. pneumoniae immunoglobulin M appeared to be associated with increased risk (odds ratio (OR) = 1.6), but the association lost statistical significance when the specificity of the immunoglobulin M was considered (OR = 1.5, 95% confidence interval: 0.9, 2.4). In Iceland, H. pylori immunoglobulin G was associated with increased risk of childhood leukemia in offspring (OR = 2.8, 95% confidence interval: 1.1, 6.9). Since H. pylori immunoglobulin G indicates chronic carriage of the microorganism, early colonization of the offspring probably differs between Iceland and Finland, two affluent countries.     

Nucleotide sequence and phylogenetic analysis of a segment of a highly virulent strain of infectious bursal disease virus

The complete nucleotide sequences encoding precursor polyprotein (VP2-VP3-VP4) and VP5 of a highly virulent (hv) infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), UPM97/61 was determined. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequences with the published ones revealed 8 common amino acid substitutions, which were found only in the hv IBDV including the UPM97/61 strain. Three of the amino acid substitutions (222 Ala, 256 Ile and 294 Ile) were used as a marker for determining hv IBDV strains. The other five substitutions (685 Asn, 715 Ser, 751 Asp, 990 Val and 1005 Ala) were also conserved in hv IBDV strains isolated in various countries. UPM97/61 strain demonstrated also 8 unique amino acid substitutions of which 3 were in VP2, 4 in VP3 and 1 in VP4. There was 1 unique amino acid substitution in VP5 at position 19 (Asp-->Gly) not found in other strains. However, all the strains have a conserved 49 Arg. The amino acid sequence of UPM97/61 strain differed by 1.09% from the Japanese (OKYM) and Hong Kong (HK46) strains, and by 1.48% from the Israeli (IBDVKS) and European (UK661) strains. Hence, UPM97/61 is more closely related to the hv strains from Asia. However, phylogenetic analysis indicated that the origin of UPM97/61 might be the same as that of other hv strains isolated from other parts of the world.     

Bone metabolism in response to oat bran consumption and jogging exercise in young males

Background

Adopting a physically active lifestyle along with consumption of nutritional supplementation is a strategy for improving health-related quality of life. We aimed to investigate the combined effects of oat bran consumption and jogging exercise compared to oat bran consumption alone and jogging exercise alone on bone metabolism in young males.

Methods

Forty-seven sedentary male university students with mean age 20.9 ± 1.7 years were recruited. They were randomly assigned into sedentary control (C), oat bran supplementation alone (OB), exercise alone (EX) and combined oat bran and exercise (OBEX) groups. The participants in OB and OBEX group consumed 18 g of oat bran powder with 3.6 g of β-glucan daily for 8 weeks. The participants in Ex and OBEx group performed jogging exercise with moderate intensity, i.e. 55–70% of their age-predicted HR_max, 30 min per day, 3 days per week for 8 weeks. Participants’ anthropometric parameters and bone metabolism markers were measured at pre- and post-intervention. Repeated measures ANOVA was performed for statistical analysis.

Results

In OB group, no significant changes in bone metabolism markers were observed. In EX group, there was a significant increase (p < 0.05) in carboxyterminal telopeptide of type 1 collagen (CTX-1). However, there were no significant changes in bone metabolism markers in OBEX group.

Conclusion

Eight weeks of jogging exercise alone elicited significant effects on bone turnover marker in young sedentary males. Nevertheless, future studies with longer exercise duration and higher dosage of oat bran are warranted to investigate the combined effects of jogging exercise and oat bran consumption on bone metabolism markers in this population.

     

Evaluation of the antioxidant activity of Betula pendula leaves extract and its effects on model foods

Context: Betula pendula Roth (Betulaceae) exhibits many pharmacological activities in humans including anticancer, antibacterial, and antiviral effects. However, the antioxidant activity of BP towards lipid degradation has not been fully determined.

Objective: The BP ethanol and methanol extracts were evaluated to determine antioxidant activity by an in vitro method and lyophilized extract of BP was added to beef patties to study oxidative stability.

Materials and methods: Antioxidant activities of extracts of BP were determined by measuring scavenging radical activity against methoxy radical generated by Fenton reaction 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (TEAC) radical cation, the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. The lipid deterioration in beef patties containing 0.1% and 0.3% (w/w) of lyophilized extract of BP stored in 80:20 (v/v) O₂:CO₂ modified atmosphere (MAP) at 4?°C for 10 days was determined using thiobarbituric acid reacting substances (TBARS), % metmyoglobin and colour value.

Results: The BP methanol extract revealed the presence of catechin, myricetin, quercetin, naringenin, and p-coumaric acid. The BP ethanol (50% w/w) extract showed scavenging activity in TEAC, ORAC and FRAP assays with values of 1.45, 2.81, 1.52?mmol Trolox equivalents (TE)/g DW, respectively. Reductions in lipid oxidation were found in samples treated with lyophilized BP extract (0.1% and 0.3% w/w) as manifested by the changes of colour and metmyoglobin concentration. A preliminary study film with BP showed retard degradation of lipid in muscle food.

Conclusion: The present results indicated that the BP extracts can be used as natural food antioxidants.     

C-Reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate in differential diagnosis between infections and neoplastic fever in patients with solid tumours and lymphomas

The goals of our work were to study prospectively the possibility of differentiating between infections and neoplastic fever in adult cancer patients on admission, by means of C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) or of follow-up CRP values. Patients and methods were as follows: the final infection group consisted of 56 patients and the noninfection group of 10 patients with neoplastic fever; CRP was measured on days 0, 3 and 5 and ESR at entry. The main results showed that the median CRP did not differ between the groups (91 mg/l vs 102 mg/l) on entry, while the ESR level was higher in the neoplastic fever group (50 mm/H vs 89 mm/H, P = 0.023). On admission, both markers had low area under receiver operating characteristic curves for the demonstration of infection (CRP 0.42; ESR 0.27). The CRP level dropped significantly in the infection group within 5 days (P = 0.009). We conclude that neither of the markers was useful in differentiating between infections and neoplastic fever on admission, but that the follow-up CRP values were advantageous in this respect.     

Sequence and phylogenetic analysis of Newcastle disease virus genotypes isolated in Malaysia between 2004 and 2005

Sequence analysis of the fusion (F) gene of eight Malaysian NDV isolates showed that all the isolates were categorized as velogenic viruses, with the F cleavage site motif ¹¹²R-R-Q-K-R¹¹⁶ or ¹¹²R-R-R-K-R¹¹⁶ at the C-terminus of the F₂ protein and phenylalanine (F) at residue 117 at the N-terminus of the F₁ protein. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that all of the isolates were grouped in two distinct clusters under sub-genotype VIId. The isolates were about 4.8–11.7% genetically distant from sub-genotypes VIIa, VIIb, VIIc and VIIe. When the nucleotide sequences of the eight Malaysian isolates were compared phylogenetically to those of the old published local isolates, it was found that genotype VIII, VII, II and I viruses exist in Malaysia and caused sporadic infections. It is suggested that genotype VII viruses were responsible for most of the outbreaks in recent years.     

MRU在上尿路梗阻诊断中的应用

目的:评价磁共振尿路水成像(MRU)在上尿路梗阻诊断中的应用。方法:回顾性分析68例上尿路梗阻患者的MRU临床资料。结果:经MRU检查,68例患者中65例可以明确梗阻原因,3例误诊。结论:MRU能准确地显示尿路梗阻病变的部位和大小,具有无创、无痛苦、不需造影剂等特点,较B超、静脉肾盂造影、逆行肾盂造影等检查具有优势,但在定性诊断方面不能清楚显示。     

One-hour post-load glucose improves the prediction of cardiovascular events in the OPERA study

BackgroundTo estimate the ability of fasting, 1-h, and 2-h post-load glucose to predict cardiovascular outcomes.MethodsWe examined a population-based study consisting of 977 middle-aged subjects who underwent an oral glucose tolerance test with glucose values measured at 0, 60, and 120 min. Participants were followed up to 24 years, and cardiovascular outcomes were collected from national registers. Predictive abilities of fasting, 1-h, and 2-h glucose were evaluated alone and in the prediction models with traditional cardiovascular risk factors using Cox proportional hazard models, the likelihood-ratio test, Harrell''s concordance index and integrated discrimination improvement.ResultsCardiovascular endpoint occurred in 222 (22.7%) participants during a median follow-up of 19.8 years. In the prognostic models, 1-h glucose (HR 1.67, 95%CI 1.10–2.53), but not fasting or 2-h glucose, predicted cardiovascular events statistically significantly. In addition, when adding glucose parameters into the model including traditional cardiovascular risk factors, only 1-h glucose improved the predictive ability (LR-test p=.046). Finally, 1-h glucose found slightly over 50% more cardiovascular endpoints that were not recognized by fasting or 2-h glucose levels.ConclusionsOur findings support the earlier ones suggesting that 1-h glucose would be a better long-term predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality than fasting or 2-h glucose.

KEY MESSAGES

1. In addition to conventional CV risk factors,1-h but not fasting or 2-h post-load glucoses seems to be an independent predictor of cardiovascular events and seems to improve the predictive ability of the traditional cardiovascular risk model.
2. Elevated 1-hpost-load glucose finds a large number (slightly over 50%)of cardiovascular endpoints that were not recognized by fasting or 2-h post-load glucose levels.
3. One-hour glucose seems to be a better long-term predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality than fasting or 2-h post-load glucose.

     

心脏外科围术期心肺复苏及科内转运的抢救体会

目的:总结心脏外科围术期心肺复苏及科内转运的抢救经验.方法:回顾性分析2009年7月-2010年6月我院收治的38例心肺复苏患者,心搏骤停0～7 min后立即心肺复苏;20例普通病房复苏后转运至ICU,其中14例转运途中继续心外按压,15例转运前已行气管插管;ICU进一步生命支持,包括胺碘酮控制心律11例,持续肾脏替代治疗5例,主动脉球囊内辅助4例,急诊冠脉搭桥术3例,急诊心内畸形矫治术1例,急诊瓣膜置换术4例,心脏移植1例,开胸探查术5例.结果:本组手术前14人次,手术后28人次;ICU病房内心肺复苏18例(19人次),普通病房到ICU科内转运20例(23人次);早期复苏30例(34人次)成功率81%,复跳时间1～110(平均15.13±23.23)min,后期并发症包括脑损害4例(10.5%)、肾损害5例(13.2%)、肺炎及呼吸衰竭22例(57.9%)、心力衰竭19例(50%).结论:心脏外科患者术前、术后皆易发生心搏骤停,该类心肺复苏具相当难度.抢救必须分秒必争,及时有效的生命支持和针对病因的进一步治疗是影响预后的关键,科内转运强调无缝隙连接.     

Potential of Apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) for Detecting Liver Cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Objective: Liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are chronic liver diseases that can cause serious health problems. Meanwhile, the methods used to detect liver cirrhosis and HCC are limited. Apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) is a protein that makes up high-density lipoprotein (HDL), which plays a role in liver cirrhosis and HCC, and can be used as a biomarker. This study aims to determine the ability of ApoA1 to detect and differentiate liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 47 patients with liver cirrhosis and HCC at Margono Soekarjo Regional General Hospital, Purwokerto, Indonesia. This study also involved 33 healthy participants from blood donors at the Blood Transfusion Unit, Indonesian Red Cross, Banyumas. Serum ApoA1 levels were analyzed by ELISA method. Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) were used to evaluate the diagnostic power of ApoA1 and differentiate between cirrhotic, HCC, and healthy patients. Multivariate binary logistic regression test to determine the most influential variables on the incidence of cirrhosis, HCC, and health. Results: ApoA1 was able to differentiate cirrhosis from HCC, cirrhosis from healthy and HCC from healthy, with sensitivity 56.7%, 86.7%, 70.6%, specificity 70.6%, 93.9%, 84.9%, respectively, and AUC 68.5%, 92.6%, 75.0%. AFP (p = 0.002, OR 1.004) and bilirubin (p = 0.021, OR 1.259) were variables that contributed to cirrhosis - HCC. Age (p = 0.011, OR 0.766) and AST (p = 0.003, OR 0.834) are variables that play a role in health - cirrhosis. ALT (p = 0.024, OR 0.965) and PT (p = 0.004, OR 0.253) are variables that play a role in healthy - HCC. Conclusion: ApoA1 was best for detecting healthy from cirrhosis, followed by healthy from HCC and cirrhosis from HCC. ApoA1 is not the primary variable determining the incidence of cirrhosis - HCC, healthy - HCC, and healthy – HCC.