Prevalence of anemia among school going adolescent girls in rural area of Pune, Maharashtra, India

Background: Anemia is like the tip of an iceberg, as majority of anemic subjects are asymptomatic. Low iron diet for longer period perpetuates an inter-generational cycle of anemia, anemic women giving birth to anemic children. This situation is more acute in rural area due to their dietary habits, illiterate parents, socio-economic status, misconception about food, religions belief, menstruation and physical activity.Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in rural field practice area of Rural Heath Training Centre (RHTC) under department of community medicine, Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical college Pune, Maharashtra, India. There are 11 villages under RHTC Lavale: Out of them one village viz. Pirangut village was randomly selected. (by using random sampling method). This study was conducted in 2013. Total 740 senior secondary school girls studying in class 6th to 12th (10-19 age group) were included. Hb level was measured by Sahli′s hemoglobinometer. Chi square was used to test for association between qualitative variables, and p-value less than 0.05 was considered significant.Results: The Hb level of girls reveal that majority 648 (87.6%) of them were anemic. It was found that 305 (47.06%) and 340 (52.48%) were suffering from mild and moderate anemia while 3 (0.46%) had severe anemia. The significant association was found with BMI for age.Conclusions: Active measures to decrease the prevalence of anemia through educating these girls and their mothers, school diet supplementation, providing low cost diet

Guiding principles on the education and practice of theranostics

PURPOSE : The recent development and approval of new diagnostic imaging and therapy approaches in the field of theranostics have revolutionised nuclear medicine practice. To ensure the provision of these new imaging and therapy approaches in a safe and high-quality manner, training of nuclear medicine physicians and qualified specialists is paramount. This is required for trainees who are learning theranostics practice, and for ensuring minimum standards for knowledge and competency in existing practising specialists. METHODS : To address the need for a training curriculum in theranostics that would be utilised at a global level, a Consultancy Meeting was held at the IAEA in May 2023, with participation by experts in radiopharmaceutical therapy and theranostics including representatives of major international organisations relevant to theranostics practice. RESULTS : Through extensive discussions and review of existing curriculum and guidelines, a harmonised training program for theranostics was developed, which aims to ensure safe and high quality theranostics practice in all countries. CONCLUSION : The guiding principles for theranostics training outlined in this paper have immediate relevance for the safe and effective practice of theranostics.Open Access funding enabled and organized by CAUL and its Member Institutions. The consultancy meeting at IAEA was supported by the Division of Human Health, IAEA, Vienna, Austria.https://link.springer.com/journal/259hj2024Nuclear MedicineSDG-03:Good heatlh and well-beingSDG-04:Quality Educatio

Characterization and Quantitation of Human Milk Oligosaccharides using LC-MS based methods- Impacts on Fetal Development and Infant Health

Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) are the third most abundant solid component in human breast milk, consisting of hundreds of unique structures. HMOs are indigestible by the infant but have shown to be very beneficial to the infant’s development, making them an intriguing constituent. However, due to the lack of standards, reliable methods for quantitation, and complexity of performing large scale analysis, there are limits to our general knowledge of their abundances and functions. This dissertation focuses on the development and implication of mass spectrometry-based methods to characterize and quantitate HMOs to address unanswered questions in the field. Chapter 1 provides an overview of HMO structures and the functions they collectively play in infant development. Chapter 2 details the development of a comprehensive library and a high-throughput method that allowed for accurate quantitation of HMOs using high resolution mass spectrometry. Optimized methods were applied to breast milk samples collected from over 2000 mothers from 19 geographically diverse sites to investigate how HMO profiles vary across the globe. The results revealed significant phenotypic variations in the mother’s milk and secretor status globally. Chapter 3 reports discovery of several oligosaccharides, inclusive of 8 HMOs, found in amniotic fluid. This chapter detailed the methodologies from sample preparation to data analysis and was applied to a cohort of over 500 mothers, making it the most comprehensive study of amniotic fluid to date. Analysis revealed compositional changes in HMO profiles across gestation. Chapter 4 studies demonstrated that select HMOs, including linkage-specific sialylated structures, can act as decoys to prevent SARS-Cov2 infection. This study also investigated the mechanism of binding between the spike protein and the ACE2 receptor on the cell surface. The results detailed here exemplify the important role that cell surface glycosylation plays in host-pathogen interactions

Determinants of human milk oligosaccharides profiles of participants in the STRONG kids 2 cohort

IntroductionHuman milk oligosaccharides (HMOS) are indigestible carbohydrates that support infant development by establishing a healthy microbiota, preventing infectious diseases, and promoting immune and cognitive development. Individual HMOS have distinct functions based on their chemical structures. HMO profiles can vary largely among mothers, but the research on factors other than genetic background affecting HMO composition are limited.MethodsIn the present analysis, we examined the relationships between maternal characteristics and the HMO profiles of breastfeeding mothers (n = 392) in the STRONG kids 2 with the following demographic characteristics: average age: 30.8 y, 74.5% White, and 75.5% exclusively breastfeeding. Human milk samples were collected at 6 weeks postpartum and maternal information was obtained from self-reported surveys. Information on dietary intake changes since the participants have been breastfeeding was collected. HMO profiles were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and secretor status was determined by the presence of four secretor markers [2'-fucosyllactose (2'-FL), LNFP I, LDFT, and TFLNH]. Spearmen correlation test was utilized to determine the relationships between individual HMOS and associations with maternal factors. Between-group differences in HMO relative abundances were examined with Kruskal-Wallis test.ResultsAmong all participants, 71.9% were secretors and 28.1% were non-secretors. The relative abundances of all HMOS differed (p < 0.05) by secretor status, with the exception for 6'-SL and 3'-SL. Positive correlations were observed among HMOS with similar structures, such as the 1,2-fucosylated HMOS. The abundances of selected HMOS were associated with maternal body weight, pregnancy complications, and dietary characteristics. Based on pre-pregnancy BMI, in all mothers, relative abundance of 3'-SL was significantly higher in overweight mothers than obese mothers (p = 0.013). In milk produced by non-secretor mothers, LNPF I + III abundances were greater in overweight than normal weight mothers (p = 0.020). Several HMO abundances were found to be associated with Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Variations of HMO abundances were also observed with dietary food intake. In all mothers, egg consumption was positively correlated with LNT + LNnT (R = 0.13; p = 0.012) and cheese intake was positively associated with 2'-FL (R = 0.10; p = 0.046) and S-LNnH II (R = 0.11; p = 0.026) abundances.DiscussionHMO profiles were found to be associated with maternal characteristics and intake. Future research will investigate associations between HMOS and maternal and infant outcomes

Host Cell Glycocalyx Remodeling Reveals SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Glycomic Binding Sites.

Glycans on the host cell membrane and viral proteins play critical roles in pathogenesis. Highly glycosylated epithelial cells represent the primary boundary separating embedded host tissues from pathogens within the respiratory and intestinal tracts. SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent for the COVID-19 pandemic, reaches into the respiratory tract. We found purified human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) inhibited the viral binding on cells. Spike (S) protein receptor binding domain (RBD) binding to host cells were partly blocked by co-incubation with exogenous HMOs, most by 2-6-sialyl-lactose (6'SL), supporting the notion that HMOs can function as decoys in defense against SARS-Cov2. To investigate the effect of host cell glycocalyx on viral adherence, we metabolically modified and confirmed with glycomic methods the cell surface glycome to enrich specific N-glycan types including those containing sialic acids, fucose, mannose, and terminal galactose. Additionally, Immunofluorescence studies demonstrated that the S protein preferentially binds to terminal sialic acids with α-(2,6)-linkages. Furthermore, site-specific glycosylation of S protein RBD and its human receptor ACE2 were characterized using LC-MS/MS. We then performed molecular dynamics calculations on the interaction complex to further explore the interactive complex between ACE2 and the S protein. The results showed that hydrogen bonds mediated the interactions between ACE2 glycans and S protein with desialylated glycans forming significantly fewer hydrogen bonds. These results supported a mechanism where the virus binds initially to glycans on host cells preferring α-(2,6)-sialic acids and finds ACE2 and with the proper orientation infects the cell

Quantitative glycoproteomics of high-density lipoproteins.

In this work, we developed a targeted glycoproteomic method to monitor the site-specific glycoprofiles and quantities of the most abundant HDL-associated proteins using Orbitrap LC-MS for (glyco)peptide target discovery and QqQ LC-MS for quantitative analysis. We conducted a pilot study using the workflow to determine whether HDL protein glycoprofiles are altered in healthy human participants in response to dietary glycan supplementation

Association of human milk oligosaccharides and nutritional status of young infants among Bangladeshi mother-infant dyads.

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) support the development of a healthy gut microbiome and the growth of infants. We aimed to determine the association of different HMOs with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) among Bangladeshi young infants. This study was nested within a single-blind, randomized, pilot clinical trial (NCT0366657). A total of 45 breastmilk samples from mothers of < 6 months old infants who had SAM (n = 26) or were non-malnourished (n = 19) and were analyzed for constituent HMOs. Of the infants with SAM, 14 (53.85%) had secretor mothers, and 11 (57.89%) of the non-malnourished infants had secretor mothers. A one-unit increase in the relative abundance of sialylated HMOs was associated with higher odds of SAM in age and sex adjusted model (aOR = 2.00, 90% CI 1.30, 3.06), in age, sex, and secretor status adjusted model (aOR = 1.96, 90% CI 1.29, 2.98), and also in age and sex adjusted model among non-secretor mothers (aOR = 2.86, 90% CI 1.07, 7.62). In adjusted models, there was no evidence of a statistically significant association between SAM and fucosylated or undecorated HMOs. Our study demonstrates that a higher relative abundance of sialylated HMOs in mothers' breastmilk may have a negative impact on young infants' nutritional status

Association of human milk oligosaccharides and nutritional status of young infants among Bangladeshi mother–infant dyads

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) support the development of a healthy gut microbiome and the growth of infants. We aimed to determine the association of different HMOs with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) among Bangladeshi young infants. This study was nested within a single-blind, randomized, pilot clinical trial (NCT0366657). A total of 45 breastmilk samples from mothers of < 6 months old infants who had SAM (n = 26) or were non-malnourished (n = 19) and were analyzed for constituent HMOs. Of the infants with SAM, 14 (53.85%) had secretor mothers, and 11 (57.89%) of the non-malnourished infants had secretor mothers. A one-unit increase in the relative abundance of sialylated HMOs was associated with higher odds of SAM in age and sex adjusted model (aOR = 2.00, 90% CI 1.30, 3.06), in age, sex, and secretor status adjusted model (aOR = 1.96, 90% CI 1.29, 2.98), and also in age and sex adjusted model among non-secretor mothers (aOR = 2.86, 90% CI 1.07, 7.62). In adjusted models, there was no evidence of a statistically significant association between SAM and fucosylated or undecorated HMOs. Our study demonstrates that a higher relative abundance of sialylated HMOs in mothers’ breastmilk may have a negative impact on young infants’ nutritional status.publishedVersionPeer reviewe