Varicella-zoster virus induces apoptosis in cell culture

peer reviewedaudience: researcherApoptosis is an active mechanism of cell death which can be initiated in response to various stimuli including virus infections. In this work, we demonstrate that lytic infection by varicella-zoster virus (VZV), a human herpesvirus, is characterized by nuclear fragmentation of DNA into oligonucleosomal fragments and by chromatin condensation. In vitro, VZV-induced cell death is actually mediated by apoptosis. The mechanisms developed by cells to protect themselves against apoptosis could be one of the parameters allowing the establishment of virus latency. In the case of VZV, which can remain latent in sensory ganglia, we have not yet identified a cellular or viral protein which could play this protective role, since the observed apoptosis mechanism seems to be independent from Bcl-2, the most frequently described inhibitor of apoptosis

Stressors and resources mediate the association of socioeconomic position with health behaviours

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Large decline in injecting drug use in Amsterdam, 1986-1998: explanatory mechanisms and determinants of injecting transitions

OBJECTIVES—To study community wide trends in injecting prevalence and trends in injecting transitions, and determinants.
DESIGN—Open cohort study with follow up every four months (Amsterdam Cohort Study). Generalised estimating equations were used for statistical analysis.
SETTING—Amsterdam has adopted a harm reduction approach as drug policy.
PARTICIPANTS—996 drug users who were recruited from 1986 to 1998, mainly at methadone programmes, who paid 13 620 cohort visits.
MAIN RESULTS—The prevalence of injecting decreased exponentially (66% to 36% in four to six monthly periods). Selective mortality and migration could maximally explain 33% of this decline. Instead, injecting initiation linearly decreased (4.1% to 0.7% per visit), cessation exponentially increased (10.0% to 17.1%), and relapse linearly decreased (21.3% to 11.8%). Non-injecting cocaine use (mainly pre-cooked, comparable to crack) and heroin use strongly increased. Trends were not attributable to changes in the study sample.
CONCLUSIONS—Harm reduction, including large scale needle exchange programmes, does not lead to an increase in injecting drug use. The injecting decline seems mainly attributable to ecological factors (for example, drug culture and market). Prevention of injecting is possible and peer-based interventions may be effective. The consequences of the recent upsurge in crack use requires further study.


Keywords: substance abuse; surveillance; cohort studie