Spectrum of heart diseases in a new cardiac service in Nigeria: An echocardiographic study of 1441 subjects in Abeokuta

Background

The recent determination of the complete nucleotide sequence of several Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) genomes allows the use of comparative genomics as a tool for dissecting the nature and consequence of genetic variability within this species. The multiple alignment of the genomes of clinical strains (CDC1551, F11, Haarlem and C), along with the genomes of laboratory strains (H37Rv and H37Ra), provides new insights on the mechanisms of adaptation of this bacterium to the human host.

Findings

The genetic variation found in six M. tuberculosis strains does not involve significant genomic rearrangements. Most of the variation results from deletion and transposition events preferentially associated with insertion sequences and genes of the PE/PPE family but not with genes implicated in virulence. Using a Perl-based software islandsanalyser, which creates a representation of the genetic variation in the genome, we identified differences in the patterns of distribution and frequency of the polymorphisms across the genome. The identification of genes displaying strain-specific polymorphisms and the extrapolation of the number of strain-specific polymorphisms to an unlimited number of genomes indicates that the different strains contain a limited number of unique polymorphisms.

Conclusion

The comparison of multiple genomes demonstrates that the M. tuberculosis genome is currently undergoing an active process of gene decay, analogous to the adaptation process of obligate bacterial symbionts. This observation opens new perspectives into the evolution and the understanding of the pathogenesis of this bacterium.     

A New Entodiniomorphid Ciliate,Troglocorys cava n. g., n. sp., from the Wild Eastern Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) from Uganda

ABSTRACT. Troglocorys cava n. g., n. sp. is described from the feces of wild eastern chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii, in Uganda. This new species has a spherical body with a frontal lobe, a long vestibulum, a cytoproct located at the posterior dorsal side of the body, an ovoid macronucleus, a contractile vacuole near the cytoproct, and a large concavity on the left surface of the body. Buccal ciliature is non‐retractable and consists of three ciliary zones: an adoral zone surrounding the vestibular opening, a dorso‐adoral zone extending transversely at the basis of the frontal lobe, and a vestibular zone longitudinally extending in a gently spiral curve to line the surface of the vestibulum. Two non‐retractable somatic ciliary zones comprise arches over the body surface: a short dorsal ciliary arch extending transversely at the basis of the frontal lobe and a wide C‐shaped left ciliary arch in the left concavity. Because of the presence of three ciliary zones in the non‐retractable buccal ciliature, the present genus might be a member of the family Blepharocorythidae, but the large left concavity and the C‐shaped left ciliary arch are unique, such structures have never been described from other blepharocorythids.     

Anti-MJ/NXP-2 autoantibody specificity in a cohort of adult Italian patients with polymyositis/dermatomyositis

Introduction

Increased frequencies of hyperuricemia and gout have been associated with primary hyperparathyroidism, and recent clinical trials of parathyroid hormone (PTH) have reported hyperuricemic adverse events. We evaluated the potential population impact of PTH on serum uric acid (SUA) levels by using a nationally representative sample of United States adults.

Methods

By using data from 8,316 participants aged 18 years and older in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003 to 2006, we examined the relation between serum PTH and SUA levels with weighted linear regression. Additionally, we examined the relation with hyperuricemia by using weighted logistic regression.

Results

SUA levels increased with increasing serum PTH concentration. After adjusting for age, sex, dietary factors, glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and other potentially related biomarkers (calcium, phosphorus, alkaline-phosphatase, 25-hydroxyvitamin D), the SUA level differences from the bottom (referent) to top quintiles of serum PTH levels were 0, 8, 13, 14, and 19 ??M (95% CI, 12 to 26; P for trend, < 0.001). These estimates were larger among renally impaired individuals (multivariate SUA difference between the extreme quintiles of PTH, 26 versus 15 ??M among those with GFR ?? 60 versus < 60 ml/min per 1.73 m², respectively) (P for interaction = 0.004). The odds of hyperuricemia by various definitions increased with increasing PTH levels as well (multivariate P values for trend, < 0.05).

Conclusions

These nationally representative data indicate that serum PTH levels are independently associated with serum uric acid levels and the frequency of hyperuricemia at the population level.     

Strain persistence of invasive Candida albicans in chronic hyperplastic candidosis that underwent malignant change

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess persistence and tissue invasion of Candida albicans strains isolated from a 65 year‐old patient with chronic hyperplastic candidosis (CHC), that subsequently developed into squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Materials and Methods: C. albicans (n=7) were recovered from the oral cavity of the patient over seven years. Confirmation of CHC and SCC in this patient was achieved by histopathological examination of incisional biopsy tissue. DNA fingerprinting was performed on the seven isolates from the CHC patient together with a further eight isolates from patients with normal oral mucosa (n=2), chronic atrophic candidosis (n=1), SCC (n=1) and CHC (n=4). Genotyping involved the use of inter‐repeat PCR using the eukaryotic repeat primer 1251. Characterisation of the tissue invasive abilities of the isolates was achieved by infecting a commercially available reconstituted human oral epithelium (RHE; SkinEthic, Nice, France). After 24 h. C. albicans tissue invasion was assessed by histopathological examination. Results: DNA fingerprinting demonstrated strain persistence of C. albicans in the CHC patient over a seven year period despite provision of systemic antifungal therapy. The strain of C. albicans isolated from this patient was categorised as a high invader within the RHE compared to other isolates. Conclusions: Candidal strain persistence was evident in a patient with CHC over seven years. This persistence may be due to incomplete eradication from the oral cavity following antifungal therapy or subsequent recolonisation from other body sites or separate exogenous sources. The demonstration of enhanced in vitro tissue invasion by this particular strain may, in part, explain the progression to carcinoma.     

Phylogenetic variation and polymorphism at the Toll-like receptor 4 locus (TLR4)

Background  

Differences in responses to bacterial surface lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) are apparent between and within mammalian species. It has been shown in mice that resistance to LPS is caused by defects in the Toll-like receptor 4 gene (Tlr4), the product of which is thought to bind LPS and mediate LPS signal transduction in immune system cells.     

Evolution of miniaturization and the phylogenetic position of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Paedocypris</Emphasis>, comprising the world's smallest vertebrate

Background  

Paedocypris, a highly developmentally truncated fish from peat swamp forests in Southeast Asia, comprises the world's smallest vertebrate. Although clearly a cyprinid fish, a hypothesis about its phylogenetic position among the subfamilies of this largest teleost family, with over 2400 species, does not exist. Here we present a phylogenetic analyses of 227 cypriniform taxa, including 213 cyprinids, based upon complete mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b nucleotide sequences in order to determine the phylogenetic position of Paedocypris and to study the evolution of miniaturization among cyprinids.     

The level of BMP4 signaling is critical for the regulation of distinct T-box gene expression domains and growth along the dorso-ventral axis of the optic cup

Background  

Polarised gene expression is thought to lead to the graded distribution of signaling molecules providing a patterning mechanism across the embryonic eye. Bone morphogenetic protein 4 (Bmp4) is expressed in the dorsal optic vesicle as it transforms into the optic cup. Bmp4 deletions in human and mouse result in failure of eye development, but little attempt has been made to investigate mammalian targets of BMP4 signaling. In chick, retroviral gene overexpression studies indicate that Bmp4 activates the dorsally expressed Tbx5 gene, which represses ventrally expressed cVax. It is not known whether the Tbx5 related genes, Tbx2 and Tbx3, are BMP4 targets in the mammalian retina and whether BMP4 acts at a distance from its site of expression. Although it is established that Drosophila Dpp (homologue of vertebrate Bmp4) acts as a morphogen, there is little evidence that BMP4 gradients are interpreted to create domains of BMP4 target gene expression in the mouse.