Composition and Acute Inflammatory Response from Tetraponera rufonigra Venom on RAW 264.7 Macrophage Cells

Tetraponera rufonigra (Arboreal Bicoloured Ant) venom induces pain, inflammation, and anaphylaxis in people and has an increased incident in Southeast Asia regions. The bioactive components and mechanism of action of the ant venom are still limited. The aim of this research was to identify the protein composition and inflammatory process of the ant venom by using RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. The major venom proteins are composed of 5’ nucleotidase, prolyl endopeptidase-like, aminopeptidase N, trypsin-3, venom protein, and phospholipase A₂ (PLA₂). The venom showed PLA₂ activity and represented 0.46 μg of PLA₂ bee venom equivalent/μg crude venom protein. The venom induced cytotoxic in a dose- and time-dependent manner with IC₂₀ approximately at 4.01 µg/mL. The increased levels of COX-2 and PGE₂ were observed after 1 h of treatment correlating with an upregulation of COX-2 expression. Moreover, the level of mPGES-1 expression was obviously increased after 12 h of venom induction. Hence, our results suggested that the induction of COX-2/mPGEs-1 pathway could be a direct pathway for the ant venom-induced inflammation.     

Effectiveness of trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine among community-dwelling older adults in Thailand: A two-year prospective cohort study

Background

We conducted a two-year prospective cohort study to measure the effectiveness of trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV3) to prevent laboratory-confirmed influenza among community-dwelling Thai adults aged ≥65?years during 2015–16 and 2016–17 influenza seasons.

Chromosome 17: gene mapping studies of cleft lip with or without cleft palate in Chinese families.

OBJECTIVE: Involvement of loci on chromosome 17, including retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARA) in nonsyndromic oral clefts has been reported in Caucasian populations, although never investigated in Asian populations. The purpose of the present study was to investigate several loci on chromosome 17, including RARA, in Chinese families. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-six multiplex families (310 individuals), ascertained through nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate surgical probands from hospitals in Shanghai, China, participated in the present study. There were 23 families whose probands had cleft lip and cleft palate (CLP) and 13 with cleft lip alone (CL). RESULTS: Seventeen markers, spanning chromosome 17 and about 10 cM apart were assessed. Logarithm of odds ratio (LOD) scores (two point and multipoint), model-free linkage analyses, and allelic association tests (transmission/disequilibrium, Fisher's exact tests, and chi-square) were performed on the total family sample, families with CLP probands (CLP subgroup), and families with CL probands (CL subgroup). LOD scores from the two-point analyses were inconclusive. Multipoint analyses rejected linkage except for a few regions in the CL subgroup. However, positive results were found using the model-free linkage and association methods (p < .05). The markers with positive results varied across the CL and CLP subgroups. However, the RARA region and loci nearby yielded consistently positive results. CONCLUSION: Genetic variation within the RARA locus or nearby appears to be involved in the pathogenesis of nonsyndromic oral clefts in this population. Furthermore, based on the differing pattern of results in the CL versus CLP subgroups, it appears that the formation of CL and CLP is because of either differing alleles at the same genetic locus or different but related (and/or linked) genes that modify the severity and expression of oral clefting.     

Thai patients who fulfilled NCCN criteria for breast/ovarian cancer genetic assessment demonstrated high prevalence of germline mutations in cancer susceptibility genes: implication to Asian population testing

Breast Cancer Research and Treatment - Metastatic pattern (MP) is a prognostic factor in women with breast cancer. However, the prognostic significance of MP in male breast cancer patients remains...     

Periarticular multimodal drug injection is better than single anesthetic drug in controlling pain after total knee arthroplasty

Background

Postoperative pain is one of the issues that concern most patients after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Periarticular multimodal drug injection and single anesthetic agent injection have been shown to effectively reduce postoperative pain. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy between multimodal drug injection and single anesthetic drug injection in controlling pain after TKA using a double-blinded randomized controlled trial.

Methods

Sixty-four osteoarthritic patients who underwent primary TKA were randomized into two groups. The multimodal drug injection group (group M) received levobupivacaine 150 mg, ketorolac 30 mg and morphine 5 mg, while the single anesthetic drug injection group (group S) received only levobupivacaine 150 mg. The primary outcomes were pain level (VAS), quantity of opioid consumption (mg) and time to request the first dose of analgesic drug (min).

Results

Multimodal drug injection provided lower pain level in the first 4 h after surgery (VAS rest: 30 vs 46, p = 0.02; VAS motion: 45 vs 66, p = 0.03). They consumed less morphine mostly in the first 8 h after surgery (5 vs 12 mg, p < 0.0001) and had approximately 2 h longer time to request the first dose of analgesic drug (254 vs 148 min, p = 0.02).

Conclusions

Multimodal drug injection decreases pain level, reduces morphine consumption in the early postoperative period and prolongs the analgesic effect compared to single anesthetic drug. One may consider using single anesthetic agent only in patients who have high risk of opioid or NSAIDs side effect.

     

Trends and inequities in where women delivered their babies in 25 low-income countries: evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys

In low-income countries, the coverage of institutional births is low. Using data from the two most recent Demographic and Health Surveys (1995–2001 and 2001–2006) for 25 low-income countries, this study examined trends in where women delivered their babies – public or private facilities or non-institutional settings. More than half of deliveries were in institutional settings in ten countries, mostly public facilities. In the other 15 countries, the majority of births were in women's homes, which was often their only option. Between the two survey periods, all five Asian countries studied (except Bangladesh) had an increase of 10–20 percentage points in institutional coverage, whereas none of the 19 sub-Saharan African countries saw an increase of more than 10 percentage points. More urban women and more in the richest (least poor) quintile gave birth in public or private facilities than rural and poorest quintile women. The rich–poor gap of institutional births was wider than the urban–rural gap. Inadequate public investment in health system infrastructure in rural areas and lack of skilled health professionals are major obstacles in reducing maternal mortality. Governments in low-income countries must invest more, especially in rural maternity services. Strengthening private, for-profit providers is not a policy choice for poor, rural communities.     

Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate in China: assessment of candidate regions.

OBJECTIVE: Although Asians have the highest birth prevalence of oral-facial clefts, the majority of gene mapping studies of cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) have been in European or American Caucasians. Therefore, the objective of this study of Chinese families was to evaluate linkage and association between CL/P and 10 genetic markers in five chromosomal regions that have shown positive results in Caucasians. SETTING: Families were ascertained through nonsyndromic CL/P surgical probands from hospitals throughout Shanghai, China. PARTICIPANTS: Study participants included 671 individuals from 60 families with two or more members affected with oral-facial clefts. Of the 671 total individuals, 145 were affected. RESULTS: Ten markers from chromosomes 2, 4, 6, 17, and 19 were assessed (TGFA, MSX1, D4S194, D4S175, F13A1, GATA185H, D17S250, D17S579, D19S49, APOC2). LOD scores were calculated between each of the 10 markers and CL/P as well as model-free statistics of linkage (SimIBD) and association (TDT). None of the markers showed significantly positive LOD scores with CL/P. A significantly positive result (p =.01) was seen using SimIBD for APOC2 on chromosome 19, and a positive TDT result (p =.004) was obtained for D19S49, near APOC2. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first gene mapping study of CL/P in China. These results indicate that most of the genetic regions with positive results in Caucasian families may not be involved in CL/P found in China, although there is some positive evidence for the candidate region on chromosome 19.     

Alteration of the Expression of CD4 Isoforms in Oral Epithelia and Saliva from Patients with Oral Lichen Planus

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory mucosal disease that cell-mediated immunological mechanisms are involved in pathogenesis. The objective of this study was to investigate the expression of CD44 isoforms including CD44s, CD44v5, and CD44v6 in biopsy specimens and saliva from OLP patients. Thirty-one OLP patients and 30 healthy subjects were enrolled in this study. Immunohistochemical methods were used to detect the expression of CD44 isoforms in oral epithelia, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to measure levels of salivary CD44 isoforms. Our results demonstrated that expression of CD44v6 in oral epithelia from OLP patients was significantly decreased in comparison to controls (p = 0.021). Levels of salivary CD44s and CD44v5 from OLP patients were significantly higher than those from controls (p = 0.007 and p = 0.002, respectively). In summary, our findings provided additional evidence that the pathological stress, such as chronic inflammation, altered the expression of CD44 isoforms in oral epithelia and saliva of OLP patients. An erratum to this article can be found at