Epigenome‐wide DNA methylation changes with development of arsenic‐induced skin lesions in Bangladesh: A case–control follow‐up study

Studies have found an association between aberrant DNA methylation and arsenic‐induced skin lesions. However, little is known about DNA methylation changes over time in people who develop arsenic‐induced skin lesions. We sought to investigate epigenome‐wide changes of DNA methylation in people who developed arsenic‐induced skin lesions in a 10‐year period. In 2009–2011, we conducted a follow‐up study of 900 skin lesion cases and 900 controls and identified 10 people who developed skin lesions since a baseline survey in 2001–2003. The 10 cases (“New Cases”) were matched with 10 controls who did not have skin lesions at baseline or follow‐up (“Persistent Controls”). Drinking water and blood samples were collected, and skin lesion was diagnosed by the same physician at both time points. We measured DNA methylation in blood using Infinium HumanMethylation450K BeadChip, followed by quantitative validation using pyrosequencing. Two‐sample t‐tests were used to compare changes in percent methylation between New Cases and Persistent Controls. Six CpG (cytosine‐phosphate‐guanine) sites with greatest changes of DNA methylation over time among New Cases were further validated with a correlation of 93% using pyrosequencing. One of the validated CpG site (cg03333116; change of %methylation was 13.2 in New Cases versus ?0.09 in Persistent Controls; P < 0.001) belonged to the RHBDF1 gene, which was previously reported to be hypermethylated in arsenic‐exposed cases. We examined DNA methylation changes with the development of arsenic‐induced skin lesions over time but nothing was statistically significant given the small sample size of this exploratory study and the high dimensionality of data. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 55:449–456, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Recent advances in pre-clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease

Metabolic Brain Disease - Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common dementia with currently no known cures or disease modifying treatments (DMTs), despite much time and effort from the...     

Exposure to domestic violence and the risk of developing depression within 6 months postpartum in Bangladesh

Purpose

Domestic violence (DV) by husbands or in-laws is a recognized problem in many countries and is associated with a wide range of adverse mental health outcomes. However, detailed knowledge on the relationship between DV experience and postpartum depression (PPD) is essential to design appropriate interventions. Therefore, this study assesses the relationship between maternal experience of DV perpetrated by husbands or in-laws and PPD in Bangladesh.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted from October to December 2019 among 497 mothers within the first 6 months postpartum who attended a health center in Rajshahi City Corporation, Bangladesh. Multivariable logistic regressions were performed to identify the associations after controlling for potential confounders.

Results

The prevalence of PPD in this sample was 34% within the first 6 months after birth; 58.6% of mothers reported having experienced any form of DV in their lifetime. Maternal experience of any form of DV (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] = 1.87; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.19–2.93) was associated with PPD, as were experiences of any physical DV (AOR = 2.25; 95% CI = 1.40–3.59), emotional DV (AOR = 2.07; 95% CI = 1.34–3.19), and controlling behavior (AOR = 1.69; 95% CI = 1.08–2.66). Additionally, the likelihood of PPD significantly increased among women who experienced more forms of DV.

Conclusion

DV perpetrated by husband and/or in-laws is highly prevalent and significantly associated with PPD in Bangladesh. Strategies in developing interventions for improving maternal mental health should consider DV perpetrated by either husband or in-laws.

     

An Evaluation of the Performance of Direct Agglutination Test on Filter Paper Blood Sample for the Diagnosis of Visceral Leishmaniasis

The attack phase of the visceral leishmaniasis (VL) elimination program in Bangladesh aims to decrease the burden of VL incidence from close to 20 cases to less than one case per 10,000 at sub-district level. The consolidation phase will aim to confirm no increase in VL in endemic areas through active surveillance. During this phase, a reliable diagnostic tool for mass screening is required. Here, we report the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of a filter paper-based agglutination test (FP-DAT) for diagnosis of VL in patients admitted to an upazila health complex in Mymensingh, a VL-endemic region of Bangladesh. The sensitivity of both the conventional direct agglutination test (DAT) and FP-DAT were 100% and 96%, respectively. The specificity of both assays was 100%. However, when the performances of the two assays were compared using McNamar''s test, neither the sensitivity nor the specificity of the FP-DAT differed significantly from conventional DAT.     

Lipoprotein status among urban populations in Bangladesh

ObjectiveSerum lipoprotein is the most important predictor for microvascular diseases, and may be influenced by rapid urbanization. Currently available data are limited, particularly regarding age-specific lipoprotein status in urban Bangladeshi populations.MethodsBlood lipoprotein levels of 51,353 male and female individuals primarily residing in urban Bangladesh were analyzed. De-identified data (collected between January 2005 and December 2011) were extracted from the Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory Data Archive of International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b). For analyses, six age categories were created: (i) <20 years, n = 481; (ii) 20–29 years, n = 1602; (iii) 30–39 years, n = 7272; (iv) 40–49 years, n = 13,582; (v) 50–59 years, n = 15,890; and (vi) 60 years and more, n = 12,526.ResultsMean serum levels of TC, LDL, TG, LDL:HDL and TC:HDL were significantly higher among adults 30–39 years old compared to other age groups, regardless of sex. The proportion of high TC and LDL from 2005 to 2011 among individuals aged 30–39 years old varied widely (p < 0.01 for trend and all pairwise tests).Conclusion30–39 years old individuals had higher concentration of lipoprotein, which increases microvascular disease risk. Further population-based studies are needed to validate our observations in rural areas of Bangladesh.     

Effect of birth weight on adulthood renal function: A bias‐adjusted meta‐analytic approach

While the association between low birth weight (LBW; <2500 g) and development of adult chronic renal disease (CKD) is inconsistently reported, less information is available regarding association of high birth weight (HBW; ≥4000 g) with CKD. We undertook a systematic review and meta‐analysis on studies published before 30 September 2015 and report associations between birth weight and renal function. Blood (glomerular filtration rate (GFR)) and urine (microalbuminuria/albumin excreation rate (AER)/urinary albumin creatinine ratio (ACR)) parameters were used to define CKD. Three different effect size estimates were used (odds ratio, regression coefficient and mean difference). The odds of developing CKD in the life course among those born LBW was 1.77 (95% CI: 1.42, 2.20) times and 1.68 (1.27, 2.33) times, assessed by blood and urine parameters respectively. Higher risk was also observed among Asian and Australian populations (blood: OR 2.68; urine: OR 2.28), individuals aged ≤30 years (blood: OR 2.30; urine: OR 1.26), and ≥50 years (blood: OR 3.66; urine: OR 3.10), people with diabetes (blood: OR 2.51), and aborigines (urine: OR 2.32). There was no significant association between HBW and CKD. For every 1 kg increase in BW, the estimated GFR increased by 2.09 mL/min per 1.73 m² (1.33–2.85), and it was negatively associated with LogACR (ß ?0.07, 95% CI: ?0.14, 0.00). LBW inborn had lower mean GFR ?4.62 (?7.10, ?2.14) compared with normal BW. Findings of this study suggest that LBW increased the risk of developing CKD, and HBW did not show any significant impact.     

Mucosal and systemic immune responses in patients with diarrhea due to CS6-expressing enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli

Colonization factor CS6 expressed by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a nonfimbrial polymeric protein. A substantial proportion of ETEC strains isolated from patients in endemic settings and in people who travel to regions where ETEC is endemic are ETEC strains expressing CS6, either alone or in combination with fimbrial colonization factor CS5 or CS4. However, relatively little is known about the natural immune responses elicited against CS6 expressed by ETEC strains causing disease. We studied patients who were hospitalized with diarrhea (n = 46) caused by CS6-expressing ETEC (ETEC expressing CS6 or CS5 plus CS6) and had a disease spectrum ranging from severe dehydration (27%) to moderate or mild dehydration (73%). Using recombinant CS6 antigen, we found that more than 90% of the patients had mucosal immune responses to CS6 expressed as immunoglobulin (IgA) antibody-secreting cells (ASC) or antibody in lymphocyte supernatant (ALS) and that about 57% responded with CS6-specific IgA antibodies in feces. More than 80% of the patients showed IgA seroconversion to CS6. Significant increases in the levels of anti-CS6 antibodies of the IgG isotype were also observed in assays for ASC (75%), ALS (100%), and serum (70%). These studies demonstrated that patients hospitalized with the noninvasive enteric pathogen CS6-expressing ETEC responded with both mucosal and systemic antibodies against CS6. Studies are needed to determine if the anti-CS6 responses protect against reinfection and if protective levels of CS6 immunity are induced by vaccination.