Joint Effects of Febrile Acute Infection and an Interferon-γ Polymorphism on Breast Cancer Risk

BACKGROUND: There is an inverse relationship between febrile infection and the risk of malignancies. Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) plays an important role in fever induction and its expression increases with incubation at fever-range temperatures. Therefore, the genetic polymorphism of IFN-γ may modify the association of febrile infection with breast cancer risk. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Information on potential breast cancer risk factors, history of fever during the last 10 years, and blood specimens were collected from 839 incident breast cancer cases and 863 age-matched controls between October 2008 and June 2010 in Guangzhou, China. IFN-γ (rs2069705) was genotyped using a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry platform. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using multivariate logistic regression. We found that women who had experienced ≥1 fever per year had a decreased risk of breast cancer [ORs and 95% CI: 0.77 (0.61-0.99)] compared to those with less than one fever a year. This association only occurred in women with CT/TT genotypes [0.54 (0.37-0.77)] but not in those with the CC genotype [1.09 (0.77-1.55)]. The association of IFN-γ rs2069705 with the risk of breast cancer was not significant among all participants, while the CT/TT genotypes were significantly related to an elevated risk of breast cancer [1.32 (1.03-1.70)] among the women with <1 fever per year and to a reduced risk of breast cancer [0.63 (0.40-0.99)] among women with ≥1 fever per year compared to the CC genotype. A marked interaction between fever frequencies and the IFN-γ genotypes was observed (P for multiplicative and additive interactions were 0.005 and 0.058, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate a possible link between febrile acute infection and a decreased risk of breast cancer, and this association was modified by IFN-γ rs2069705

Inducible viral receptor, A possible concept to induce viral protection in primitive immune animals

A pseudolysogen (PL) is derived from the lysogenic Vibrio harveyi (VH) which is infected with the VHS1 (Vibrio harveyi Siphoviridae-like 1) bacteriophage. The lysogenic Vibrio harveyi undergoes an unequivalent division of the extra-chromosomal VHS1 phage genome and its VH host chromosome and produces a true lysogen (TL) and pseudolysogen (PL). The PL is tolerant to super-infection of VHS1, as is of the true lysogen (TL), but the PL does not contain the VHS1 phage genome while the TL does. However, the PL can become susceptible to VHS1 phage infection if the physiological state of the PL is changed. It is postulated that this is due to a phage receptor molecule which can be inducible to an on-and-off regulation influence by an alternating condition of the bacterial host cell. This characteristic of the PL leads to speculate that this phenomenon can also occur in high organisms with low immunity such as shrimp. This article proposes a hypothesis that the viral receptor molecule on the target cell can play a crucial role in which the invertebrate aquaculture animals can become tolerant to viral infection. A possible mechanism may be that the target cell disrupts the viral receptor molecule to prevent super infection. This concept can explain a mechanism for the prevention of viral infection in invertebrate animals which do not have acquired immunity in response to pathogens. It can guide us to develop a mechanism of immunity to viral infection in low-evolved-immune animals. Also, it can be an additional mechanism that exists in high immune organism, as in human for the prevention of viral infectio

A systematic review of the impact of sedation practice in the ICU on resource use, costs and patient safety

Patients in intensive care units (ICUs) often receive sedation for prolonged periods. In order to better understand the impact of sub-optimal sedation practice on outcomes, we performed a systematic review, including observational studies and controlled trials which were conducted in sedated patients in the ICU and which compared the impact of changes in or different protocols for sedation management on economic and patient safety outcomes

A systematic review of the impact of sedation practice in the ICU on resource use, costs and patient safety.

Patients in intensive care units (ICUs) often receive sedation for prolonged periods. In order to better understand the impact of sub-optimal sedation practice on outcomes, we performed a systematic review, including observational studies and controlled trials which were conducted in sedated patients in the ICU and which compared the impact of changes in or different protocols for sedation management on economic and patient safety outcomes

The incidence of sub-optimal sedation in the ICU: a systematic review.

Patients in intensive care units (ICUs) are generally sedated for prolonged periods. Over-sedation and under-sedation both have negative effects on patient safety and resource use. We conducted a systematic review of the literature in order to establish the incidence of sub-optimal sedation (both over- and under-sedation) in ICUs

Precipitation Effects on Microbial Pollution in a River : Lag Structures and Seasonal Effect Modification

Background: The river Gota Alv is a source of freshwater for 0.7 million swedes. The river is subject to contamination from sewer systems discharge and runoff from agricultural lands. Climate models projects an increase in precipitation and heavy rainfall in this region. This study aimed to determine how daily rainfall causes variation in indicators of pathogen loads, to increase knowledge of variations in river water quality and discuss implications for risk management. Methods: Data covering 7 years of daily monitoring of river water turbidity and concentrations of E. coli, Clostridium and coliforms were obtained, and their short-term variations in relation with precipitation were analyzed with time series regression and non-linear distributed lag models. We studied how precipitation effects varied with season and compared different weather stations for predictive ability. Results: Generally, the lowest raw water quality occurs 2 days after rainfall, with poor raw water quality continuing for several more days. A rainfall event of &gt;15 mm/24-h (local 95 percentile) was associated with a three-fold higher concentration of E. coli and 30% higher turbidity levels (lag 2). Rainfall was associated with exponential increases in concentrations of indicator bacteria while the effect on turbidity attenuated with very heavy rainfall. Clear associations were also observed between consecutive days of wet weather and decreased water quality. The precipitation effect on increased levels of indicator bacteria was significant in all seasons. Conclusions: Rainfall elevates microbial risks year-round in this river and freshwater source and acts as the main driver of varying water quality. Heavy rainfall appears to be a better predictor of fecal pollution than water turbidity. An increase of wet weather and extreme events with climate change will lower river water quality even more, indicating greater challenges for drinking water producers, and suggesting better control of sources of pollution

Analytical studies assessing the association between extreme precipitation or temperature and drinking water-related waterborne infections: A review

Determining the role of weather in waterborne infections is a priority public health research issue as climate change is predicted to increase the frequency of extreme precipitation and temperature events. To document the current knowledge on this topic, we performed a literature review of analytical research studies that have combined epidemiological and meteorological data in order to analyze associations between extreme precipitation or temperature and waterborne disease. A search of the databases Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS and Web of Science was conducted, using search terms related to waterborne infections and precipitation or temperature. Results were limited to studies published in English between January 2001 and December 2013. Twenty-four articles were included in this review, predominantly from Asia and North-America. Four articles used waterborne outbreaks as study units, while the remaining articles used number of cases of waterborne infections. Results presented in the different articles were heterogeneous. Although most of the studies identified a positive association between increased precipitation or temperature and infection, there were several in which this association was not evidenced. A number of articles also identified an association between decreased precipitation and infections. This highlights the complex relationship between precipitation or temperature driven transmission and waterborne disease. We encourage researchers to conduct studies examining potential effect modifiers, such as the specific type of microorganism, geographical region, season, type of water supply, water source or water treatment, in order to assess how they modulate the relationship between heavy rain events or temperature and waterborne disease. Addressing these gaps is of primary importance in order to identify the areas where action is needed to minimize negative impact of climate change on health in the future. © 2015 Guzman Herrador et al.; licensee BioMed Central