Vitamin D deficiency among hospitalized infants with acute lower respiratory tract infection

Background: Vitamin D plays important role in immunity and its deficiency might be associated with increased risk of lower respiratory tract infection. This study aimed to determine whether vitamin D deficiency is commoner in infants with acute lower respiratory tract infection as compared to normal infants and to correlate the severity of vitamin D deficiency with severity of ALRTI.Methods: A hospital based prospective case-control study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital. A total of 208 infants (109 cases and 99 controls) older than 7 days to 12 months of age, were enrolled. Cases were selected according to the definition of ALRTI given by WHO (2). Controls were chosen from children attending paediatric outpatients department for immunization or minor short duration aliments. Primary outcome measured as serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 (25OHD3) levels and severity of ALRTI was independent variable.Results: Among 109 cases suffering from ALRTI, vitamin D deficiency was present in 65.11%, 92.3%, 88.9% children of ‘pneumonia, severe pneumonia and very severe pneumonia group respectively. It was found that vitamin D deficiency was commoner in cases as compared to controls (80.70 % vs 25.50% ) with OR of 12.40 (95 % CI was 6.13 - 25.38). There was inverse relationship between the severity of ALRTI and Vitamin D levels (p value <0.001 and Pearson correlation coefficient -0.32).Conclusions: Vitamin D levels were significantly lower in ALRI cases as compared to controls and had negative correlation between vitamin D levels and severity of pneumonia.

A study of the PfNT3 in Plasmodium falciparum

Previous genetic studies demonstrated that survival and proliferation of Plasmodium falciparum parasites is dependent on salvage of essential purines from the host. Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of the most lethal form of human malaria lacks the enzymes required for de novo synthesis of purines. Analysis of the hypothetical nucleoside/nucleobase transporter protein, the gene product of PfNT3 (PF14_0662) gene in P. falciparum parasites was carried out by localisation, in view of a novel chemotherapeutic target. Immunoblotting, immunofluorescent and immunoelectron microscopic localization of PfNT3 was demonstrated using polyclonal antiserum in in vitro cultured Plasmodium falciparum parasites, propagated in human red blood cells. PfNT3 protein, the translated product of PfNT3 gene was detected in intraerythrocytic ring, trophozoite, and schizont stages. PfNT3 was localized primarily to the PPM (Parasite Plasma Membrane). The endogenous PfNT3 putative nucleoside transporter with the predominant location to the parasite plasma membrane may serve not only as routes for targeting of purine analogs/cytotoxic agents into the intracellular parasite but may also serve as drug targets. Being genome encoded the vital transporter protein can be prevented from expression by silencing of the gene, validating it to be a novel drug target.