Vitamin A, carotenoid and vitamin E plasma concentrations in children from Laos in relation to sex and growth failure

BACKGROUND: Deficiencies of vitamin A and its precursors, the carotenoids are common problems in developing countries. Plasma levels of these components are used as biomarkers of their availability. The study was conducted to evaluate whether blood plasma obtained from capillaries can be compared with plasma obtained from venous blood with regard to its levels of retinol, carotenoids and α-tocopherol and secondly to apply this technique to evaluate the levels of these components in children in a region with possible deficiencies. METHODS: The survey was conducted in a region of Laos in 81 children (age 35 to 59 months). Dietary intake was assessed by a questionnaire. Retinol, carotenoids and α-tocopherol were determined by HPLC. Blood plasma was obtained either from capillary blood collected into microcapillaries and for reasons of methodological comparison in 14 adults from venous blood. RESULTS: The comparison between capillary and venous blood revealed that all components except zeaxanthin were 9 – 23 % higher in plasma obtained from capillary blood. Results in Laotian children showed that all investigated components except retinol were significantly lower (P < 0.01) compared to European children of slightly older age. Contrary to children in Europe, most components were significantly lower in boys compared to girls. In children from Laos, lutein was the dominant carotenoid, while in children in Europe, β-carotene was dominant. Within the Laotian children only a few differences were observed between stunted and non-stunted children and between children from lowland areas and high land areas. CONCLUSIONS: Results show that in consideration of slightly lower levels than in venous blood, capillary blood can be used to evaluate retinol, carotenoids and α-tocopherol as biomarkers of intake or status and to evaluate the possible effect of diet on absolute and relative carotenoid composition in children from Europe and Laos. Observed sex related differences might not be related to diet and would need further investigation

‘Disability and HIV in Africa: Breaking the barriers to sexual health care’

Three decades in to the HIV pandemic, the issues affecting people with disabilities remains less known. Increasing attention has been given to this overlooked population when it comes to HIV prevention, treatment and care. This is related to the significant unmet sexual and reproductive health care needs facing people with disabilities worldwide. This article discusses the barriers to sexual health for people with disabilities in Africa, and presents an argument about how mainstream HIV prevention work and research does not adequately attend to the sorts of systemic barriers that exclude people with disabilities, which a more targeted, and critical approach could

Assaying Total Carotenoids in Flours of Corn and Sweetpotato by Laser Photoacoustic Spectroscopy

This study describes the application of the laser photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) for quantification of total carotenoids (TC) in corn flours and sweetpotato flours. Overall, thirty-three different corn flours and nine sweetpotato flours were investigated. All PAS measurements were performed at room temperature using 488-nm argon laser radiation for excitation and mechanical modulation of 9 and 30 Hz. The measurements were repeated within a run and within several days or months. The UV–Vis spectrophotometry was used as the reference method. The concentration range that allows for the reliable analysis of TC spans a region from 1 to 40 mg kg−1 for corn flours and from 9 to 40 mg kg−1 for sweetpotato flours. In the case of sweetpotato flours, the quantification may extend even to 240 mg kg−1 TC. The estimated detection limit values for TC in corn and sweetpotato flours were 0.1 and 0.3 mg kg−1, respectively. The computed repeatability (n = 3–12) and intermediate precision (n = 6–28) RSD values at 9 and 30 Hz are comparable: 0.1–17.1% and 5.3–14.7% for corn flours as compared with 1.4–9.1% and 4.2–23.0% for sweetpotato flours. Our results show that PAS can be successfully used as a new analytical tool to simply and rapidly screen the flours for their nutritional potential based on the total carotenoid concentration

Nephrotoxicity in survivors of Wilms' tumours in the North of England

One aspect of concern for survivors of Wilms' tumour has been the late outcome in terms of renal function. Previous studies have documented low glomerular filtration rate and high blood pressure in some patients. Furthermore, disorders in tubular function (especially urinary concentration defects) have been suggested but not confirmed in small studies. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and nature of subclinical and overt glomerular, proximal and distal renal tubular toxicity in a population based cohort of survivors of Wilms' tumour. Forty patients (24 female) with a median age of 4.3 years (3 months–11.8 years) at diagnosis were studied. Median follow-up was 8.8 (range 0.06–27.5) years. Glomerular filtration rate was measured by 51Cr-EDTA plasma clearance, proximal tubular function by electrolyte fractional excretions, urine excretion of low molecular weight proteins (retinol-binding protein) and renal tubular enzymes (alanine aminopeptidase; N-acetylglucosaminidase) and distal tubular function by the osmolality of the first two urines of the day on 3 consecutive days. Renal size (ultrasound) and blood pressure were also measured. Mean (range) glomerular filtration rate was 100 (61–150) ml min−1 1.73 m−2. Nine were below the reference range for healthy individuals with two kidneys. Most serum electrolyte concentrations (sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, magnesium and phosphate) fell within the normal range for age, as did the fractional excretions. The values that fell outside the normal range were only marginally abnormal. Subclinical measures of tubular toxicity (retinal-binding protein, alanine aminopeptidase, N-acetylglucosaminidase) were abnormal in only four patients. Thirty-seven patients achieved maximal urine osmolalities ⩾800 mOsm kg−1, but three failed to achieve this value even after DDAVP administration. Two patients had evidence of increased urinary albumin excretion. Compensatory renal hypertrophy was seen in all but two patients, but blood pressure was within normal limits in all patients. Current and past treatment for Wilms' tumour does not have any clinically important nephrotoxic effect in the majority of patients. This finding will enable paediatric oncologists to reassure patients and parents that treatment for Wilms' tumour rarely causes long-term renal impairment

LXR Deficiency Confers Increased Protection against Visceral Leishmania Infection in Mice

Leishmania spp. are protozoan single-cell parasites that are transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected sand fly, and can cause a wide spectrum of disease, ranging from self-healing skin lesions to potentially fatal systemic infections. Certain species of Leishmania that cause visceral (systemic) disease are a source of significant mortality worldwide. Here, we use a mouse model of visceral Leishmania infection to investigate the effect of a host gene called LXR. The LXRs have demonstrated important functions in both cholesterol regulation and inflammation. These processes, in turn, are closely related to lipid metabolism and the development of atherosclerosis. LXRs have also previously been shown to be involved in protection against other intracellular pathogens that infect macrophages, including certain bacteria. We demonstrate here that LXR is involved in susceptibility to Leishmania, as animals deficient in the LXR gene are much more resistant to infection with the parasite. We also demonstrate that macrophages lacking LXR kill parasites more readily, and make higher levels of nitric oxide (an antimicrobial mediator) and IL-1β (an inflammatory cytokine) in response to Leishmania infection. These results could have important implications in designing therapeutics against this deadly pathogen, as well as other intracellular microbial pathogens

Modeling the Spatial Distribution and Fruiting Pattern of a Key Tree Species in a Neotropical Forest: Methodology and Potential Applications

Damien Caillaud is with UT Austin and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Margaret C. Crofoot is with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, and Princeton University; Samuel V. Scarpino is with UT Austin; Patrick A. Jansen is with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Wageningen University, and University of Groningen; Carol X. Garzon-Lopez is with University of Groningen; Annemarie J. S. Winkelhagen is with Wageningen University; Stephanie A. Bohlman is with Princeton University; Peter D. Walsh is with VaccinApe.Background -- The movement patterns of wild animals depend crucially on the spatial and temporal availability of resources in their habitat. To date, most attempts to model this relationship were forced to rely on simplified assumptions about the spatiotemporal distribution of food resources. Here we demonstrate how advances in statistics permit the combination of sparse ground sampling with remote sensing imagery to generate biological relevant, spatially and temporally explicit distributions of food resources. We illustrate our procedure by creating a detailed simulation model of fruit production patterns for Dipteryx oleifera, a keystone tree species, on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama. Methodology and Principal Findings -- Aerial photographs providing GPS positions for large, canopy trees, the complete census of a 50-ha and 25-ha area, diameter at breast height data from haphazardly sampled trees and long-term phenology data from six trees were used to fit 1) a point process model of tree spatial distribution and 2) a generalized linear mixed-effect model of temporal variation of fruit production. The fitted parameters from these models are then used to create a stochastic simulation model which incorporates spatio-temporal variations of D. oleifera fruit availability on BCI. Conclusions and Significance -- We present a framework that can provide a statistical characterization of the habitat that can be included in agent-based models of animal movements. When environmental heterogeneity cannot be exhaustively mapped, this approach can be a powerful alternative. The results of our model on the spatio-temporal variation in D. oleifera fruit availability will be used to understand behavioral and movement patterns of several species on BCI.The National Center For Ecological Analysis is supported by NSF Grant DEB-0553768, the University of California Santa Barbara and the State of California. The Forest Dynamics Plots were funded by NSF Grants to Stephen Hubbell DEB-0640386, DEB-0425651, DEB-0346488, DEB-0129874, DEB-00753102, DEB-9909347, DEB-9615226, DEB-9615226, DEB-9405933, DEB-9221033, DEB-9100058, DEB-8906869, DEB-8605042, DEB-8206992, DEB-7922197, and by the Center for Tropical Forest Science, the Smithsonian Tropical Forest Research Institute, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Mellon Foundation and the Celera Foundation. DC is supported by NSF grant DEB-0749097 to L.A. Meyers. SS is supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Biological Sciences, School o

Combining vitamin C and carotenoid biomarkers better predicts fruit and vegetable intake than individual biomarkers in dietary intervention studies.

The aim of this study was to determine whether combining potential biomarkers of fruit and vegetables is better at predicting FV intake within FV intervention studies than single biomarkers

Interaction between Attention and Bottom-Up Saliency Mediates the Representation of Foreground and Background in an Auditory Scene

Bottom-up (stimulus-driven) and top-down (attentional) processes interact when a complex acoustic scene is parsed. Both modulate the neural representation of the target in a manner strongly correlated with behavioral performance

Transcriptomics of In Vitro Immune-Stimulated Hemocytes from the Manila Clam Ruditapes philippinarum Using High-Throughput Sequencing

The Manila clam (Ruditapes philippinarum) is a worldwide cultured bivalve species with important commercial value. Diseases affecting this species can result in large economic losses. Because knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of the immune response in bivalves, especially clams, is scarce and fragmentary, we sequenced RNA from immune-stimulated R. philippinarum hemocytes by 454-pyrosequencing to identify genes involved in their immune defense against infectious diseases