Impact of <Emphasis Type="Italic">ERCC2</Emphasis> gene polymorphism on HIV-1 disease progression to AIDS among North Indian HIV patients

HIV/AIDS remains to be one of the killing diseases of mankind. Host genetic response is one of the factor which determine susceptibility to HIV and disease progression to AIDS. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of ERCC2 Lyc ⁷⁵¹ Gln (excision repair cross complementing rodent repair deficiency, complementation group 2) polymorphism on HIV-1 susceptibility and disease progression to AIDS, as this gene has been reported to intervene in degrading retroviral cDNA before it integrates with the host DNA. This case control study included 300 HIV seropositive cases and an equal number of HIV seronegative controls. DNA was isolated from the blood samples of study subjects and genotyping of ERCC2 was conducted by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method. The Gln/Gln genotype showed a significant variation between cases and controls (P = 0.047, OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.00–2.93), indicating a possible role of susceptibility in reference to controls and disease progression when compared within cases.     

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Hypertension: A Crossectional Community Based Study in Northwest Ethiopia

Background

Hypertension, being the root cause of many of the body sytem and organs failure, remains to be a major public health challenge globally. Though the problem is huge in both developed and developing countries, data are scarce in developing countries like Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was aimed to determine the magnitude and associated factors of hypertension in North West Ethiopia.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted on adults aged 35 years and above in the rural and urban communities of Dabat district and Gondar town in 2012. The data were collected using the WHO STEPwise strategy. Hypertension was defined as having a Systolic blood pressure of ≥140 mmHg and/ or a Diastolic BP of ≥ 90mmHg or a reported use of anti-hypertensive medications for raised blood pressure. Prevalence was computed with a 95% confidence interval. Selected risk factors were assessed using a biviarete logistic regression.

Results

A total of 2200 participants were included in the study. The median age (±SD) was 47 (±12.4) years. The overall prevalence of hypertension was found to be 27.9% [95% CI 26.0, 29.8], with the proportion in the urban and rural residents being 30.7% and 25.3% respectively. The prevalence of hypertension was 29.3% for women and 26.3% for men. Out of the 598 hypertensive patients 241 (40.3%) had blood pressure measurements, and 99 (16.6%) had known hypertension and were on treatment. The proportion of systolic and diastolic hypertension in this subgroup of adults was 133(6.2%). The multivariable logistic regression analysis showed older age (AOR = 1.06; 1.05, 1.07), raised fasting glucose (AOR = 1.01; 1.001, 1.01), alcohol consumption (AOR = 1.71; 1.24, 2.36), and raised BMI (AOR =1.07; 1.04, 1.10) were significantly associated with hypertension.

Conclusion

The prevalence of hypertension was considerably higher in rural areas than previously reported. The health system needs to develop strategies to increase the reach of relevant screening and diagnostic services to both rural and urban populations.     

Mass Coral Bleaching in 2010 in the Southern Caribbean

Ocean temperatures are increasing globally and the Caribbean is no exception. An extreme ocean warming event in 2010 placed Tobago''s coral reefs under severe stress resulting in widespread coral bleaching and threatening the livelihoods that rely on them. The bleaching response of four reef building taxa was monitored over a six month period across three major reefs systems in Tobago. By identifying taxa resilient to bleaching we propose to assist local coral reef managers in the decision making process to cope with mass bleaching events. The bleaching signal (length of exposure to high ocean temperatures) varied widely between the Atlantic and Caribbean reefs, but regardless of this variation most taxa bleached. Colpophyllia natans, Montastraea faveolata and Siderastrea siderea were considered the most bleaching vulnerable taxa. Interestingly, reefs with the highest coral cover showed the greatest decline reef building taxa, and conversely, reefs with the lowest coral cover showed the most bleaching but lowest change in coral cover with little algal overgrowth post-bleaching.     

Men Traveling Away from Home Are More Likely to Bring Malaria into High Altitude Villages,Northwest Ethiopia

Background

Information about malaria risk factors at high altitudes is scanty. Understanding the risk factors that determine the risk of malaria transmission at high altitude villages is important to facilitate implementing sustainable malaria control and prevention programs.

Methods

An unmatched case control study was conducted among patients seeking treatment at health centers in high altitude areas. Either microscopy or rapid diagnostic tests were used to confirm the presence of plasmodium species. A generalized linear model was used to identify the predictors of malaria transmission in high altitude villages.

Results

Males (AOR = 3.11, 95%CI: 2.28, 4.23), and those who traveled away from the home in the previous month (AOR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.56, 2.58) were strongly associated with presence of malaria in high altitude villages. Other significant factors, including agriculture in occupation (AOR = 1.41, 95% CI: 1.05, 1.93), plants used for fencing (AOR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.18, 2.52) and forests near the house (AOR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.15, 2.47), were found predictors for malaria in high altitude villages.

Conclusion

Travel outside of their home was an important risk of malaria infections acquisition. Targeting males who frequently travel to malarious areas can reduce malaria transmission risks in high altitude areas.     

Functional dissection of phosphorylation of Disheveled in Drosophila

Disheveled/Dsh proteins (Dvl in mammals) are core components of both Wnt/Wg-signaling pathways: canonical β-catenin signaling and Frizzled (Fz)-planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling. Although Dsh is a key cytoplasmic component of both Wnt/Fz-pathways, regulation of its signaling specificity is not well understood. Dsh is phosphorylated, but the functional significance of its phosphorylation remains unclear. We have systematically investigated the phosphorylation of Dsh by combining mass-spectrometry analyses, biochemical studies, and in vivo genetic methods in Drosophila. Our approaches identified multiple phospho-residues of Dsh in vivo. Our data define three novel and unexpected conclusions: (1) strikingly and in contrast to common assumptions, all conserved serines/threonines are non-essential for Dsh function in either pathway; (2) phosphorylation of conserved Tyrosine473 in the DEP domain is critical for PCP-signaling — Dsh^Y473F behaves like a PCP-specific allele; and (3) defects associated with the PCP specific dsh¹ allele, Dsh^K417M, located within a putative Protein Kinase C consensus site, are likely due to a post-translational modification requirement of Lys417, rather than phosphorylation nearby. In summary, our combined data indicate that while many Ser/Thr and Tyr residues are indeed phosphorylated in vivo, strikingly most of these phosphorylation events are not critical for Dsh function with the exception of DshY473.     

Predictors of non-exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months among rural mothers in east Ethiopia: a community-based analytical cross-sectional study

Background

Exclusive breastfeeding in infants aged under six months is a simple and cost-effective feeding method that ensures better infant and child survival and boosts the achievement of child related Millennium Development Goals in the developing world. Identifying factors associated with good breastfeeding practice helps to increase its coverage and maximize its advantages through improved advocacy. The objective of this study was to identify the predictors of non-exclusive breastfeeding in the rural areas of eastern Ethiopia.

Methods

A community-based analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on mother/caregiver–child pairs in east Ethiopia from July to August 2011. Data on infant feeding practices were collected by trained interviewers who used a pretested and structured questionnaire. Odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval was estimated for the predictors of non-exclusive breastfeeding using the multivariable logistic regression.

Results

The prevalence of non-exclusive breastfeeding in infants aged under six months, was 28.3%. Non-exclusive breastfeeding was more likely to be practiced by mothers who were not married at the moment [AOR (95% CI) = 2.6 (1.1, 6.0)], mothers who had no access to health facility [AOR (95% CI) = 2.9 (1.9, 4.3)], and mothers whose knowledge about infant and young child feeding practices was low [AOR (95% CI) = 3.4 (2.4, 4.7)].

Conclusion

Non–exclusive breastfeeding was more common among mothers with no marital relationships, poor access to health facilities, and inadequate knowledge about infant and young child feeding practices. Family support, education, and behavior change communication on infant feeding, especially on exclusive breastfeeding, at the community level may improve the knowledge, behavior, and practice of mothers on optimal infant and young child feeding practices.

     

Woody plant assemblages in isolated forest patches in a semiarid agricultural matrix

Spatial and temporal isolation and environmental variability are important factors explaining variation in plant species composition. The effect of fragmentation and disturbance on woody plant species composition was studied using data from 32 remnant church forest patches in northern Ethiopia. The church forests are remnants of dry Afromontane forest, embedded in a matrix of intensively used crop and grazing lands. We used canonical correspondence analysis and partial canonical correspondence analysis to analyze the effects of fragmented and isolated forest-patch identity, environmental and spatial variables on woody plant species composition in different growth stages. The dominance of late successional species was higher at the adult growth stage than seedlings and saplings growth stages. In the adult stages, late successional species like Olea europaea subsp. cuspidate had high frequency of occurrence. Forest patch identity was more important in explaining woody plant assemblages than environmental and spatial variables. For all growth stages combined, environmental variables explained more of the explained total fraction of variation in species composition than spatial variables. Topographic variables best explained variations in species composition for saplings, adults and all growth stages combined, whereas the management regime was most important for seedlings species composition. Our results show that in a matrix of cultivated and grazing land, fragmented and isolated forest patches differ in woody plant species assemblages. Some species are widely distributed and occurred in many patches while other occurred only in one or a few forest patches. Thus, our results indicate that remnant forest patches are important for preserving rare plant species and therefore management practices should focus on minimizing disturbance to the church forests and if possible increase church forest patch size.     

GS-nitroxide (JP4-039)-mediated radioprotection of human Fanconi anemia cell lines

Fanconi anemia (FA) is an inherited disorder characterized by defective DNA repair and cellular sensitivity to DNA crosslinking agents. Clinically, FA is associated with high risk for marrow failure, leukemia and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Radiosensitivity in FA patients compromises the use of total-body irradiation for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and radiation therapy for HNSCC. A radioprotector for the surrounding tissue would therefore be very valuable during radiotherapy for HNSCC. Clonogenic radiation survival curves were determined for pre- or postirradiation treatment with the parent nitroxide Tempol or JP4-039 in cells of four FA patient-derived cell lines and two transgene-corrected subclonal lines. FancG(-/-) (PD326) and FancD2(-/-) (PD20F) patient lines were more sensitive to the DNA crosslinking agent mitomycin C (MMC) than their transgene-restored subclonal cell lines (both P < 0.0001). FancD2(-/-) cells were more radiosensitive than the transgene restored subclonal cell line (? = 2.0 ± 0.7 and 4.7 ± 2.2, respectively, P = 0.03). In contrast, FancG(-/-) cells were radioresistant relative to the transgene-restored subclonal cell line (? = 9.4 ± 1.5 and 2.2 ± 05, respectively, P = 0.001). DNA strand breaks measured by the comet assay correlated with radiosensitivity. Cell lines from a Fanc-C and Fanc-A patients showed radiosensitivity similar to that of Fanc-D2(-/-) cells. A fluorophore-tagged JP4-039 (BODIPY-FL) analog targeted the mitochondria of the cell lines. Preirradiation or postirradiation treatment with JP4-039 at a lower concentration than Tempol significantly increased the radioresistance and stabilized the antioxidant stores of all cell lines. Tempol increased the toxicity of MMC in FancD2(-/-) cells. These data provide support for the potential clinical use of JP4-039 for normal tissue radioprotection during chemoradiotherapy in FA patients.