Distribution of bacteria in tropical freshwater fish and ponds

Bacteriological examination of the various organs (liver, kidney, intestine and inner muscle) of four freshwater fish species belonging to the family cyprininae reared in experimental ponds were compared to those reared in conventional pond. A total of 16 bacterial species were recovered from the water samples and the various organs of the fish. The intestines of all the fish species harboured the most number of different bacterial species. No bacteria was found in the muscle of any of the fish. In general, the bacterial species isolated from the intestine were also found in the water samples from the ponds. The common species found in the intestine of the fish belonged to seven Gram negative bacterial species: Aeromonas hydrophila, Citrobacter freundii, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, Klebsiella sp., Pseudomonas sp, Vibrio anguillarum and three Gram positive bacterial species: Bacillus sp., Listeria and Staphylococcus. The presence of the former group of bacteria which are members of the family Enterobacteriaceae and Vibrio-Aeromonas is a cause for concern as these organisms are potential enteropathogens, and any mishandling of the fish can lead to the transmission of the pathogen to humans. The type of bacterial species present in the water of the conventional ponds were similar to those found in the experimental ponds

Is early age at menarche a risk factor for endometriosis? A systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies

Objective: To review published studies evaluating early menarche and the risk of endometriosis. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies. Setting: None. Patient(s): Eighteen case-control studies of age at menarche and risk of endometriosis including 3,805 women with endometriosis and 9,526 controls. Intervention(s): None. Main Outcome Measure(s): Medline and Embase databases were searched from 1980 to 2011 to locate relevant studies. Results of primary studies were expressed as effect sizes of the difference in mean age at menarche of women with and without endometriosis. Effect sizes were used in random effects meta-analysis. Result(s): Eighteen of 45 articles retrieved met the inclusion criteria. The pooled effect size in meta-analysis was 0.10 (95% confidence interval -0.01-0.21), and not significantly different from zero (no effect). Results were influenced by substantial heterogeneity between studies (I 2 = 72.5%), which was eliminated by restricting meta-analysis to studies with more rigorous control of confounders; this increased the pooled effect size to 0.15 (95% confidence interval 0.08-0.22), which was significantly different from zero. This represents a probability of 55% that a woman with endometriosis had earlier menarche than one without endometriosis if both were randomly chosen from a population. Conclusion(s): There is a small increased risk of endometriosis with early menarche. The potential for disease misclassification in primary studies suggests that this risk could be higher. © 2012 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine

Is early age at menarche a risk factor for endometriosis? A systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies.

OBJECTIVE: To review published studies evaluating early menarche and the risk of endometriosis. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies. SETTING: None. PATIENT(S): Eighteen case-control studies of age at menarche and risk of endometriosis including 3,805 women with endometriosis and 9,526 controls. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Medline and Embase databases were searched from 1980 to 2011 to locate relevant studies. Results of primary studies were expressed as effect sizes of the difference in mean age at menarche of women with and without endometriosis. Effect sizes were used in random effects meta-analysis. RESULT(S): Eighteen of 45 articles retrieved met the inclusion criteria. The pooled effect size in meta-analysis was 0.10 (95% confidence interval -0.01-0.21), and not significantly different from zero (no effect). Results were influenced by substantial heterogeneity between studies (I(2) = 72.5%), which was eliminated by restricting meta-analysis to studies with more rigorous control of confounders; this increased the pooled effect size to 0.15 (95% confidence interval 0.08-0.22), which was significantly different from zero. This represents a probability of 55% that a woman with endometriosis had earlier menarche than one without endometriosis if both were randomly chosen from a population. CONCLUSION(S): There is a small increased risk of endometriosis with early menarche. The potential for disease misclassification in primary studies suggests that this risk could be higher