Intrahepatic expression of interferon alpha & interferon alpha receptor m-RNA can be used as predictors to interferon response in HCV and HCC patients

Chronic hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is the leading cause of liver cirrhosis worldwide and in Egypt. Patients with cirrhosis secondary to chronic HCV infection are at increased risk for developing Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in which Interferon therapy is the only effective anti-viral therapy. The current study aimed to investigate the expression IFN-αand IFN-αReceptor genes in liver biopsies from patients with HCV and HCC. Correlation of their expression with the clinical, histopathological progress of the disease and the effectiveness of IFN therapy in HCV patients after a period of 6 months follow-up was done. Expression of IFN-α and IFNα-Rc m-RNA was investigated by RT-PCR using liver biopsy specimens from 30 HCV patients including 7 patients complicated with HCC. Liver biopsies were also subjected to formalin fixation for complete histopathological examination. Ninety seven percent of patients expressed Interferon Alpha m-RNA while 30% only expressed Interferon Alpha Receptor m-RNA. Responders and non-responders to Interferon therapy were divided according to their HCV RNA after six-months follow up period of interferon therapy. Responders showed significantly lower mean age, better histopathological states and higher incidence of expression of IFN Alpha Receptor mRNA. Regardless of the response to interferon, histological activity index scores and the degree of fibrosis showed a significant inverse correlation to the presence of IFNα-R m-RNA. IFNα-R mRNA expression decreases with the histological progress of the disease, suggesting that lower expression of the IFNα-Rc may be partially responsible for the unfavorable response to interferon in these patients. African Journal of Health Sciences Vol. 14 (1-2) 2007: pp. 86-9

Production of salinity tolerant Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus through traditional and modern breeding methods: II. Application of genetically modified breeding by introducing foreign DNA into fish gonads

This study was conducted to produce a salinity tolerant Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus through genetically modified breeding by introducing a fragmented purified DNA isolated from sea bream, Sparus aurata or Artemia, Artemia salina into the gonads. The results showed a significantimprovement (P . 0.05) in most of the growth performance and feed utilization parameters of genetically modified O. niloticus treated with sea bream-DNA and reared at different salinity levels up to 16 ppt compared to both genetically modified O. niloticus treated with Artemia-DNA and the control fish reared at the same salinity levels. Genetically modified O. niloticus treated with Artemia-DNA reared at 32 ppt, had displayed better traits results (P. 0.05) compared to the other fish within the same salinity level. Furthermore, genetically modified O. niloticus treated with sea bream-DNA showed a silver color covering all the body and no dark vertical bands. The results of the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting showed highly genetic polymorphic percentage (35.95%) among fish receiving foreign DNA and their control using different random primers. The results of the present work suggested that, hyper-saline genetically modified O. niloticus with higher growth rate can be producedusing a feasible and fast methodology.Key words: Salinity tolerance, Oreochromis niloticus, productive performance, genetically modified, DNA transfer

Can religion kill? The association between membership of the Apostolic faith and child mortality in Zimbabwe

Existing literature has been equivocal about the effect of religion on utilization of health service and health outcomes. While followers of particularized theology hypothesis believe that doctrinal teachings, beliefs and values of religious groups directly influence health access and outcomes, the advocates of the selectivity hypothesis claim that the observed disparities between religious groups mainly reflect differential access to social and human capital which in turn determines health access and outcome rather than religion per se. Using household data from the Zimbabwe Multiple Indicator Monitoring Survey 2009, we find that household heads’ affiliation with apostolic faith put children under five years old at greater risk of death compared to other religious groups. This effect remains strong even after controlling for a wide range of socio-economic and demographics characteristics of the households in multivariate logit regressions

Antibiotic-induced Severe Neutropenia with Multidrug-Dependent Antineutrophil Antibodies Developed in A Child with Streptococcus pneumoniae Infection

Drug-induced neutropenia (DIN), particularly that in which antibiotic-dependent antineutrophil antibodies have been detected, is a rare disorder. We report the case of a child with pneumococcal pneumonia, who experienced severe neutropenia during various antibiotic treatments. We detected 4 kinds (cefotaxim, augmentin, vancomycin, and tobramycin) of antibiotic-dependent antineutrophil antibodies by using the mixed passive hemagglutination assay (MPHA) technique with this child

Severe vitamin D deficiency in 6 Canadian First Nation formula-fed infants

Background. Rickets was first described in the 17th century and vitamin D deficiency was recognized as the underlying cause in the early 1900s. Despite this long history, vitamin D deficiency remains a significant health concern. Currently, vitamin D supplementation is recommended in Canada for breast fed infants. There are no recommendations for supplementation in formula-fed infants. Objective. The objective of this report is to bring attention to the risk of severe vitamin D deficiency in high risk, formula fed infants. Design. A retrospective chart review was used to create this clinical case series. Results. Severe vitamin D deficiency was diagnosed in six formula-fed infants over a two-and-a-half year period. All six infants presented with seizures and they resided in First Nation communities located at latitude 54 in the province of Manitoba. While these infants had several risk factors for vitamin D deficiency, they were all receiving cow's milk based formula supplemented with 400 IU/L of vitamin D. Conclusion. This report suggests that current practice with regards to vitamin D supplementation may be inadequate, especially for high-risk infants. Health care professionals providing service to infants in a similar situation should be aware of this preventable condition. Hopefully this would contribute to its prevention, diagnosis and management

The Role of Regulatory T Cells in Cancer

There has been an explosion of literature focusing on the role of regulatory T (Treg) cells in cancer immunity. It is becoming increasingly clear that Treg cells play an active and significant role in the progression of cancer, and have an important role in suppressing tumor-specific immunity. Thus, there is a clear rationale for developing clinical strategies to diminish their regulatory influences, with the ultimate goal of augmenting antitimor immunity. Therefore, manipulation of Treg cells represent new strategies for cancer treatment. In this Review, I will summarize and review the explosive recent studies demonstrating that Treg cells are increased in patients with malignancies and restoration of antitumor immunity in mice and humans by depletion or reduction of Treg cells. In addition, I will discuss both the prognostic value of Treg cells in tumor progression in tumor-bearing hosts and the rationale for strategies for therapeutic vaccination and immunotherapeutic targeting of Treg cells with drugs and microRNA

Ruminant Brucellosis in the Kafr El Sheikh Governorate of the Nile Delta, Egypt: Prevalence of a Neglected Zoonosis

Brucellosis is a zoonosis of mammals caused by bacteria of the genus Brucella. It is responsible for a vast global burden imposed on human health through disability and on animal productivity. In humans brucellosis causes a range of flu-like symptoms and chronic debilitating illness. In livestock brucellosis causes economic losses as a result of abortion, infertility and decreased milk production. The main routes for human infection are consumption of contaminated dairy products and contact with infected ruminants. The control of brucellosis in humans depends on its control in ruminants, for which accurate estimates of the frequency of infection are very useful, especially in areas with no previous frequency estimates. We studied the seroprevalence of brucellosis and its geographic distribution among domestic ruminants in one governorate of the Nile Delta region, Egypt. In the study area, the seroprevalence of ruminant brucellosis is very high and has probably increased considerably since the early 1990s. The disease is widespread but more concentrated around major animal markets. These findings question the efficacy of the control strategy in place and highlight the high infection risk for the animal and human populations of the area and the urgent need for an improved control strategy

Constraints on the χ_(c1) versus χ_(c2) polarizations in proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV

The polarizations of promptly produced χ_(c1) and χ_(c2) mesons are studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, in proton-proton collisions at √s=8  TeV. The χ_c states are reconstructed via their radiative decays χ_c → J/ψγ, with the photons being measured through conversions to e⁺e⁻, which allows the two states to be well resolved. The polarizations are measured in the helicity frame, through the analysis of the χ_(c2) to χ_(c1) yield ratio as a function of the polar or azimuthal angle of the positive muon emitted in the J/ψ → μ⁺μ⁻ decay, in three bins of J/ψ transverse momentum. While no differences are seen between the two states in terms of azimuthal decay angle distributions, they are observed to have significantly different polar anisotropies. The measurement favors a scenario where at least one of the two states is strongly polarized along the helicity quantization axis, in agreement with nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics predictions. This is the first measurement of significantly polarized quarkonia produced at high transverse momentum