Single amino acid substitution in important hemoglobinopathies does not disturb molecular function and biological process

Hemoglobin is an important protein found in the red cells of many animals. In humans, the hemoglobin is mainly distributed in the red blood cell. Single amino acid substitution is the main pathogenesis of most hemoglobin disorders. Here, the author used a new gene ontology technology to predict the molecular function and biological process of four important hemoglobin disorders with single substitution. The four studied important abnormal hemoglobins (Hb) with single substitution included Hb S, Hb E, Hb C, and Hb J-Baltimore. Using the GoFigure server, the molecular function and biological process in normal and abnormal hemoglobins was predicted. Compared with normal hemoglobin, all studied abnormal hemoglobins had the same function and biological process. This indicated that the overall function of oxygen transportation is not disturbed in the studied hemoglobin disorders. Clinical findings of oxygen depletion in abnormal hemoglobin should therefore be due to the other processes rather than genomics, proteomics, and expression levels.     

Cost-effectiveness analysis for triple markers serum screening for Down's syndrome in Thai setting

BACKGROUND:

Down''s syndrome is an important congenital chromosomal disorder that can be seen around the world. The antenatal screening for this disorder is an important processing in present obstetrics.

OBJECTIVE:

Due to the concept of first do no harm, the use of noninvasive test is recommended. The triple marker screening test has been introduced for a few years and acceptable for its efficacy.

RESULT:

However, an important concern is on its cost-effectiveness. Here, the author analyze and present the cost-effectiveness of the triple markers serum screening for Down''s syndrome in Thai setting.

CONCLUSION:

According to this work, the cost per effectiveness of triple markers serum screening is slightly lower than standard amniocentesis test.     

Hemoglobin E disorder: Newborn screening program

Hemoglobin E (Hb E) disorder is an important kind of hemoglobinopathy. It can be seen around the world with the highest prevalence in Southeast Asia. The screening for this disorder becomes the public health policies in many countries. The screening can be performed in several population groups. The newborn screening program for Hb E disorder is an important issue in pediatric genetics. In this brief review, the author discusses on important laboratory tests for screening for Hb E disorder in newborn.     

Flux change in basophil membrane is not the main pathogenesis for hypersensitivity

The oxidation process is one of the most important natural processes. Oxidative change in hypersensitivity is believed to be an important process in the pathogenesis. However, the clear explanation on the transmembrane flux change ofbasophil and its correlation to hypersensitivity pathogenesis has never been reported. Here, the author determines the transmembrane oxidation flux in basophil. The simulation test to determine the oxidation flux change based on nanomedicine technique is used. Of interest, no change of flux can be detected. Therefore, this work can support the finding that the oxidation flux change is not an important part in the pathogenesis of basophil-related hypersensitivity.     

A note on urine trans, trans muconic acid level among a sample of Thai police: implication for an occupational health issue

Benzene exposure is of particular concern because recent research indicating that benzene exposure can result in chronic toxicity, therefore, monitoring for benzene exposure among at-risk workers is recommended. In exposure- and risk-evaluation, the monitoring of benzene by peripheral biomarker has several advantages over technical assessment of exposure. For this purpose, the urine trans, trans muconic acid (ttMA)e level is accepted as a useful monitoring tool for early diagnosis of dangerous exposure. Apart from the industrial workers, there are other occupations with high risk for benzene exposure. In this study, we study another at-risk occupation, the police. Thirty-nine urine samples were obtained from 39 Thai police working close to traffic in an urban area. All 39 samples were analyzed for ttMA level and compared to 10 other controls. The average urine ttMA level for the control and exposed group were < 0.05 mg/gCr and was 0.79 +/- 1.43 mg/gCr, respectively. Significant higher urine ttMA acid level among the police were observed (p <.05). Working in the air pollution in the urban area can be health hazard for the police. Exposure to the benzene from automobile exhaust can be an important occupational problem for these police.     

Rapid extranuclear signaling by the estrogen receptor (ER): MNAR couples ER and Src to the MAP kinase signaling pathway

In addition to their well-studied ability to transactivate the expression of many genes, estrogen receptors (ERs) also effect cytoplasmic changes occurring too quickly to be accounted for by gene expression. Indeed, these immediate, "nongenomic" effects have been intensely studied, but the identification of important protein partners in quick ER-mediated signaling has lagged behind. Now, Wong et al. have identified MNAR (modulator of nongenomic activity of estrogen receptor) as an adaptor protein that allows the ER to bridge the signaling pathways of tyrosine kinases (i.e., Src) and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade. The MNAR-ER complex also appears to positively influence ER-mediated gene expression.