Emerging Hepatitis E viruses from swine in Europe

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is endemic in much of the developing world. Infections in humans can resulte of acute hepatitis and especially in pregnant women the infection may cause serious complications. The most important route of transmission is faecal-orally, and HEV disease outbreaks are often associated with contaminated drinking water or poor hygienic conditions

Across-Line SNP Association Study for Direct and Associative Effects on Feather Damage in Laying Hens

An association study between SNP markers and feather condition score on the back, rump and belly of laying hens was performed. Feather condition score is a measure of feather damage, which has been shown to be closely related to feather pecking behaviour in hens housed in groups. A population of 662 hens was genotyped for 1536 SNPs of which 1022 could be used for the association study. The analysis was conducted across 9 different lines of White Leghorn and Rhode Island Red origin. Across lines linkage disequilibrium is conserved at shorter distances than within lines; therefore, SNPs significantly associated with feather condition score across lines are expected to be closer to the functional mutations. The SNPs that had a significant across-line effect but did not show significant SNP-by-line interaction were identified, to test that the association was consistent across lines. Both the direct effect of the individual’s genotype on its plumage condition, and the associative effect of the genotype of the cage mates on the individual’s plumage condition were analysed. The direct genetic effect can be considered as the susceptibility to be pecked at, whereas the associative genetic effect can be interpreted as the propensity to perform feather pecking. Finally, 11 significant associations between SNPs and behavioural traits were detected in the direct model, and 81 in the associative model. A role of the gene for the serotonin receptor 2C (HTR2C) on chromosome 4 was found. This supports existing evidence of a prominent involvement of the serotonergic system in the modulation of this behavioural disorder in laying hens. The genes for IL9, IL4, CCL4 and NFKB were found to be associated to plumage condition, revealing relationships between the immune system and behaviour

HEV inactivation assessment using viable virus

Hepatitis E is an acute icteric hepatitis caused by hepatitis E virus (HEV). HEV is transmitted by water supplies in developing countries. Recently, HEV contamination in consumption water was also observed in a developed country (France). HEV is detected in pigs and several other animal species (e.g. wild boars and deer) and it is strongly suspected to be zoonotic, HEV has also been detected in the pork production chain: in a study conducted in a grocery in the USA 11% of livers tested were HEV positive and similar data have been observed in Europe also

A retrospective study of high mobility group protein I(Y) as progression marker for prostate cancer determined by in situ hybridization.

In a previous study using RNA in situ hybridisation (RISH), we found a significant correlation between high mobility group protein I/Y, [HMG-I(Y)] mRNA expression and tumour stage and grade in prostate cancer patients, suggesting that HMG-I(Y) might be a potential prognostic marker in prostate cancer. However, our clinical follow-up was limited because cryopreserved material was used. Assessing the potential prognostic value of this molecule is of importance because the clinical course of prostate cancer patients remains unpredictable. Here we describe our results on paraffin-embedded archival material from a group of 102 patients undergoing radical prostatectomy. These were evaluated for the presence of HMG-I(Y) using RISH, and a follow-up of 12-92 months (average 53 months) was available. In 2 of 14 prostate cancers in which the predominant histological pattern was of Gleason grade 1-2, a high HMG-I(Y) expression was observed, whereas in 19 of 23 Gleason grade 3, and 34 of 35 Gleason grade 4-5 tumours, high HMG-I(Y) mRNA levels were detected (chi-square = 38.78, P < 0.0001). Moreover, of tumours that expressed high HMG-I(Y) levels, 25% were organ confined (T1-2), in contrast to 74.5% of the invading tumours (T3, chi-square = 15.8, P < 0.001). Furthermore, 87% of recurrent tumours showed high HMG-I(Y) expression. However, a multivariate regression analysis including Gleason grade, clinical tumour stage, HMG-I(Y) expression and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels showed Gleason grade as the most accurate predictor of progression. High HMG-I(Y) levels measured by RISH were indicative of a worse prognosis, albeit that additional value over the more subjective grading methods was not evident

Achieving Pregnancy Safely in HIV-Affected Individuals and Couples: An Important Strategy to Eliminate HIV Transmission From Mother-To-Child and Between Sexual Partners

HIV-infected individuals are living longer, more productive lives. HIV-affected individuals and couples experience personal and social desires to reproduce for all the same reasons as uninfected individuals and couples,1 and thus require safe reproductive options. HIV prevention interventions often do not consider the childbearing desires of HIV-affected individuals or couples, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Failure to assist women with desired fertility can contribute to continued HIV transmission and must be addressed within national elimination of mother-to-child transmission (eMTCT) strategies. A human rights perspective suggests that HIV-affected couples* should have the same ability to choose if and when to have children as HIV-unaffected couples, including access to pre-pregnancy counseling, contraceptives, and, when needed, abortion services. This holistic view includes assistance in mitigating HIV transmission risk when children are desired. In high-income countries, HIV-affected individuals and couples have access to an array of options: (1) treatment of the HIV-infected partner as prevention of transmission to the uninfected partner in conjunction with timed condomless intercourse2**; (2) preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for the uninfected partner3; (3) assisted reproductive services, including timed vaginal insemination and sperm washing with intrauterine insemination or in-vitro fertilization4,5 4,5; (4) sperm donation; and (5) adoption.1,6 1,6 In contrast, access to methods of becoming pregnant in LMICs are limited by cost, availability, and sometimes a lack of appreciation by policymakers of the desires and rights of HIV-affected individuals/couples to have children safely. Simple fertility methods may not be discussed as a component of routine HIV care and treatment counseling due to a lack of awareness or knowledge about their safety, affordability, or efficacy.7 To enhance the armamentarium of HIV prevention and reproductive services to achieve zero perinatal and sexual transmission, “safer conception”, and fertility services should be integrated into existing PMTCT strategies. The existing four-pronged prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) strategy, developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), includes (1) prevention of HIV in women of reproductive age; (2) prevention of unintended pregnancy in women with HIV; (3) prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child; and (4) the provision of ongoing care and support to mothers, their children, and their families.8 All four prongs are rooted in prevention of sexual and perinatal HIV transmission, HIV testing, use of ART for mothers and infants, exclusive breastfeeding, and access to contraceptive services. The continuum of care services are included within the third WHO prong, including antenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum/postnatal health care services (Fig. 1). However, provision of education and clinical services for achieving pregnancy safely is not uniquely addressed in the current WHO eMTCT strategy,8 and we believe that they should be included within the continuum of care services of the third prong of the strategy that addresses: “prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child.

Microarray data mining using Bioconductor packages

BACKGROUND: This paper describes the results of a Gene Ontology (GO) term enrichment analysis of chicken microarray data using the Bioconductor packages. By checking the enriched GO terms in three contrasts, MM8-PM8, MM8-MA8, and MM8-MM24, of the provided microarray data during this workshop, this analysis aimed to investigate the host reactions in chickens occurring shortly after a secondary challenge with either a homologous or heterologous species of Eimeria. The results of GO enrichment analysis using GO terms annotated to chicken genes and GO terms annotated to chicken-human orthologous genes were also compared. Furthermore, a locally adaptive statistical procedure (LAP) was performed to test differentially expressed chromosomal regions, rather than individual genes, in the chicken genome after Eimeria challenge. RESULTS: GO enrichment analysis identified significant (raw p-value &lt; 0.05) GO terms for all three contrasts included in the analysis. Some of the GO terms linked to, generally, primary immune responses or secondary immune responses indicating the GO enrichment analysis is a useful approach to analyze microarray data. The comparisons of GO enrichment results using chicken gene information and chicken-human orthologous gene information showed more refined GO terms related to immune responses when using chicken-human orthologous gene information, this suggests that using chicken-human orthologous gene information has higher power to detect significant GO terms with more refined functionality. Furthermore, three chromosome regions were identified to be significantly up-regulated in contrast MM8-PM8 (q-value &lt; 0.01). CONCLUSION: Overall, this paper describes a practical approach to analyze microarray data in farm animals where the genome information is still incomplete. For farm animals, such as chicken, with currently limited gene annotation, borrowing gene annotation information from orthologous genes in well-annotated species, such as human, will help improve the pathway analysis results substantially. Furthermore, LAP analysis approach is a relatively new and very useful way to be applied in microarray analysis