41 research outputs found

    The association between blood glucose and oxidized lipoprotein(a) in healthy young women

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Oxidized lipoproteins play important roles in the atherosclerotic processes. Oxidized lipoprotein(a) (oxLp(a)) may be more potent in atherosclerotic pathophysiology than native Lp(a), a cardiovascular disease-relevant lipoprotein. Increased blood glucose concentrations can induce oxidative modification of lipoproteins. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between circulating oxLp(a) and cardiometabolic variables including blood glucose in healthy volunteers within the normal range of blood glucose.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Several cardiometabolic variables and serum oxLp(a) (using an ELISA system) were measured among 70 healthy females (mean age, 22 years).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Lp(a) and glucose were significantly and positively correlated with oxLp(a) in simple correlation test. Furthermore, a multiple linear regression analysis showed oxLp(a) to have a weakly, but significantly positive and independent correlation with only blood glucose (<it>β </it>= 0.269, <it>P </it>< 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results suggest that increased glucose may enhance the oxidization of Lp(a) even at normal glucose levels.</p

    Risk Factors of Streptococcus suis Infection in Vietnam. A Case-Control Study

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    Background: Streptococcus suis infection, an emerging zoonosis, is an increasing public health problem across South East Asia and the most common cause of acute bacterial meningitis in adults in Vietnam. Little is known of the risk factors underlying the disease. Methods and Findings: A case-control study with appropriate hospital and matched community controls for each patient was conducted between May 2006 and June 2009. Potential risk factors were assessed using a standardized questionnaire and investigation of throat and rectal S. suis carriage in cases, controls and their pigs, using real-time PCR and culture of swab samples. We recruited 101 cases of S. suis meningitis, 303 hospital controls and 300 community controls. By multivariate analysis, risk factors identified for S. suis infection as compared to either control group included eating "high risk" dishes, including such dishes as undercooked pig blood and pig intestine (OR1 = 2.22; 95% CI = [1.15-4.28] and OR2 = 4.44; 95% CI = [2.15-9.15]), occupations related to pigs (OR1 = 3.84; 95% CI = [1.32-11.11] and OR2 = 5.52; 95% CI = [1.49-20.39]), and exposures to pigs or pork in the presence of skin injuries (OR1 = 7.48; 95% CI = [1.97-28.44] and OR2 = 15.96; 95% CI = [2.97-85.72]). S. suis specific DNA was detected in rectal and throat swabs of 6 patients and was cultured from 2 rectal samples, but was not detected in such samples of 1522 healthy individuals or patients without S. suis infection. Conclusions: This case control study, the largest prospective epidemiological assessment of this disease, has identified the most important risk factors associated with S. suis bacterial meningitis to be eating 'high risk' dishes popular in parts of Asia, occupational exposure to pigs and pig products, and preparation of pork in the presence of skin lesions. These risk factors can be addressed in public health campaigns aimed at preventing S. suis infectio

    A Multicentre Molecular Analysis of Hepatitis B and Blood-Borne Virus Coinfections in Viet Nam

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    Hepatitis B (HBV) infection is endemic in Viet Nam, with up to 8.4 million individuals estimated to be chronically infected. We describe results of a large, multicentre seroepidemiological and molecular study of the prevalence of HBV infection and blood-borne viral coinfections in Viet Nam. Individuals with varying risk factors for infection (n = 8654) were recruited from five centres; Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Khanh Hoa and Can Tho. A mean prevalence rate of 10.7% was observed and levels of HBsAg were significantly higher in injecting drug users (IDUs) (17.4%, n = 174/1000) and dialysis patients (14.3%, n = 82/575) than in lower-risk groups (9.4%; p<0.001). Coinfection with HIV was seen in 28% of HBV-infected IDUs (n = 49/174) and 15.2% of commercial sex workers (CSWs; n = 15/99). HCV infection was present in 89.8% of the HBV-HIV coinfected IDUs (n = 44/49) and 40% of HBV-HIV coinfected CSWs (n = 16/40). Anti-HDV was detected in 10.7% (n = 34/318) of HBsAg positive individuals. Phylogenetic analysis of HBV S gene (n = 187) showed a predominance of genotype B4 (82.6%); genotypes C1 (14.6%), B2 (2.7%) and C5 (0.5%) were also identified. The precore mutation G1896A was identified in 35% of all specimens, and was more frequently observed in genotype B (41%) than genotype C (3%; p<0.0001). In the immunodominant ‘a’ region of the surface gene, point mutations were identified in 31% (n = 58/187) of sequences, and 2.2% (n = 4/187) and 5.3% (n = 10/187) specimens contained the major vaccine escape mutations G145A/R and P120L/Q/S/T, respectively. 368 HBsAg positive individuals were genotyped for the IL28B SNP rs12979860 and no significant association between the IL28B SNP and clearance of HBsAg, HBV viral load or HBeAg was observed. This study confirms the high prevalence of HBV infection in Viet Nam and also highlights the significant levels of blood-borne virus coinfections, which have important implications for hepatitis-related morbidity and development of effective management strategies

    Micronutrient Deficits Are Still Public Health Issues among Women and Young Children in Vietnam

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    Background: The 2000 Vietnamese National Nutrition Survey showed that the population’s dietary intake had improved since 1987. However, inequalities were found in food consumption between socioeconomic groups. As no national data exist on the prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies, a survey was conducted in 2010 to assess the micronutrient status of randomly selected 1526 women of reproductive age and 586 children aged 6–75 mo. Principal Findings: In women, according to international thresholds, prevalence of zinc deficiency (ZnD, 67.262.6%) and vitamin B12 deficiency (11.761.7%) represented public health problems, whereas prevalence of anemia (11.661.0%) and iron deficiency (ID, 13.761.1%) were considered low, and folate (,3%) and vitamin A (VAD,,2%) deficiencies were considered negligible. However, many women had marginal folate (25.1%) and vitamin A status (13.6%). Moreover, overweight (BMI$23 kg/m 2 for Asian population) or underweight occurred in 20 % of women respectively highlighting the double burden of malnutrition. In children, a similar pattern was observed for ZnD (51.963.5%), anemia (9.161.4%) and ID (12.961.5%) whereas prevalence of marginal vitamin A status was also high (47.362.2%). There was a significant effect of age on anemia and ID prevalence, with the youngest age group (6–17 mo) having the highest risk for anemia, ID, ZnD and marginal vitamin A status as compared to other groups. Moreover, the poorest groups of population had a higher risk for zinc, anemia and ID

    What the radiologist needs to know about the diabetic patient

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    Diabetes mellitus (DM) is recognised as a major health problem. Ninety-nine percent of diabetics suffer from type 2 DM and 10% from type 1 and other types of DM. The number of diabetic patients worldwide is expected to reach 380 millions over the next 15 years. The duration of diabetes is an important factor in the pathogenesis of complications, but other factors frequently coexisting with type 2 DM, such as hypertension, obesity and dyslipidaemia, also contribute to the development of diabetic angiopathy. Microvascular complications include retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy. Macroangiopathy mainly affects coronary arteries, carotid arteries and arteries of the lower extremities. Eighty percent of deaths in the diabetic population result from cardiovascular incidents. DM is considered an equivalent of coronary heart disease (CHD). Stroke and peripheral artery disease (PAD) are other main manifestations of diabetic macroangiopathy. Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DC) represents another chronic complication that occurs independently of CHD and hypertension. The greater susceptibility of diabetic patients to infections completes the spectrum of the main consequences of DM. The serious complications of DM make it essential for physicians to be aware of the screening guidelines, allowing for earlier patient diagnosis and treatment

    Head Direction Command Classification using an Adaptive Optimal Bayesian Neural Network

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    Mobility has become very important for our quality of life. Head movement is a natural form of pointing and can be used to directly replace the joystick for severely disabled people. In this paper, we describe the development of an optimal Bayesian neural network for the classification of head direction commands in a hands-free wheelchair control system as it allows strong generalisation during the training phase and does not require a validation data set. Experimental results show that with limited training data, an adaptive optimal Bayesian neural network can be developed to classify head direction commands by disabled users with a high sensitivity and specificity of 93.75% and 97.92% respectively

    Development and evaluation of a real-time polymerase chain reaction assay for the rapid detection of Talaromyces marneffei MP1 gene in human plasma

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    Penicilliosis caused by Talaromyces marneffei is a common AIDS-defining illness in South and Southeast Asia. Diagnosis is based on culture which can take up to 14 days for identification, leading to treatment delay and increased mortality. We developed a TaqMan real-time PCR assay targeting the MP1 gene encoding an abundant cell wall protein specific to T. marneffei. The assay's performance was evaluated in MP1-containing plasmids, clinical isolates, and plasma from HIV-infected patients with and without penicilliosis. The assay consistently detected 10 copies of MP1-containing plasmids per reaction and 100 T. marneffei yeast cells per millilitre plasma. There were no amplification with seven other Penicillium species and six other HIV-associated fungal pathogens tested. The assay was evaluated in 70 patients with AIDS: 50 patients with culture-confirmed penicilliosis and 20 patients with opportunistic infections other than penicilliosis. The diagnostic sensitivity was 70.4% (19/27, 95% CI: 51.5-84.1%) and 52.2% (12/23, 95% CI: 33.0-70.8%) in plasma samples collected prior to and within 48 h of antifungal therapy respectively. The diagnostic specificity was 100% (20/20, 95% CI: 83.9-100%). This assay provides a useful tool for the rapid diagnosis of T. marneffei infection and has the potential to improve the management of patients with penicilliosis

    Development and evaluation of a real-time polymerase chain reaction assay for the rapid detection of Talaromyces marneffei MP1 gene in human plasma

    No full text
    Penicilliosis caused by Talaromyces marneffei is a common AIDS-defining illness in South and Southeast Asia. Diagnosis is based on culture which can take up to 14 days for identification, leading to treatment delay and increased mortality. We developed a TaqMan real-time PCR assay targeting the MP1 gene encoding an abundant cell wall protein specific to T. marneffei. The assay's performance was evaluated in MP1-containing plasmids, clinical isolates, and plasma from HIV-infected patients with and without penicilliosis. The assay consistently detected 10 copies of MP1-containing plasmids per reaction and 100 T. marneffei yeast cells per millilitre plasma. There were no amplification with seven other Penicillium species and six other HIV-associated fungal pathogens tested. The assay was evaluated in 70 patients with AIDS: 50 patients with culture-confirmed penicilliosis and 20 patients with opportunistic infections other than penicilliosis. The diagnostic sensitivity was 70.4% (19/27, 95% CI: 51.5-84.1%) and 52.2% (12/23, 95% CI: 33.0-70.8%) in plasma samples collected prior to and within 48 h of antifungal therapy respectively. The diagnostic specificity was 100% (20/20, 95% CI: 83.9-100%). This assay provides a useful tool for the rapid diagnosis of T. marneffei infection and has the potential to improve the management of patients with penicilliosis
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