Urinary iodine status and thyroid dysfunction: a Bangladesh perspective.

Iodine deficiency is endemic in Bangladesh. Compulsory iodization of table salt was introduced since 1993 to prevent and improve thyroid disorders in the country. Urinary iodine status, thyroid function and antithyroid antibodies were studied in 397 newly diagnosed thyroid patients and 94 age-sex matched controls. Among thyroid patients, 96 were hyperthyroid, 185 euthyroid and 116 hypothyroid. Mean and median urinary iodine were higher (p=0.075) in thyroid patients (26.13+/-0.91 and 23.03) than controls (22.65+/-1.47 and 18.59); in hyperthyroid and euthyroid than hypothyroid (p=0.020); in multinodular (28.08+/-2.80 and 26.94) and diffuse (27.35+/-1.19 and 26.71) goitre than uninodular (23.91+/-2.37 and 19.14) and nongoitrous (NG, 21.5+/-2.05 and 18.27) (p=0.098) patients but no sex difference (p=0.466). Antimicrosomal (26.7%) and antithyroglobulin (34%) antibodies were more frequently positive among thyroid patients than controls (6.4% and 12.8% respectively) (p=0.00002 and p=0.00005 respectively). Antibody positivity was higher in diffuse (82/228) and multinodular (20/47) goitre than nongoitrous (20/56) and uninodular (13/66) goitre (p=0.046) as well as in hypothyroid (55.2%) and hyperthyroid (36.5%) than euthyroid (19.5%) patients (P<0.001). Urinary iodine correlated neither with antimicrosomal (thyroid patients: p=0.597 and control: p=0.112) nor with antithyroglobulin (thyroid patients: p=0.388 and control: p=0.195) antibody. Thyroid autoimmunity and dysfunction seems common; and interaction of salt iodization with iodine status and thyroid disorders may be important in Bangladesh.

PCR can help early diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.

One hundred and fifty-one patients, clinically suspected for pulmonary tuberculosis (age: 31 +/- 13 years, male/female: 112/39), were investigated to evaluate the diagnostic potential of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based detection of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in sputum. The diagnostic efficacy of PCR was compared with culture of Mycobacterium tuberculosis on egg-based Lowenstein-Jensen modified medium. PCR detected 71.5% (108/151), whereas culture detected 66.2% (100/151) of the clinically suspected patients. There was a significant association between the results of PCR and culture (chi2 = 59.524, p < 0.001). However, 23.2% (35/151) samples were found negative in both culture and PCR. Considering culture as the gold standard, the sensitivity of the PCR was 92%. and its specificity 70%. This lower apparent specificity may be due to the higher sensitivity of PCR.

Chronic carriers of hepatitis B virus in Bangladesh: a comparative analysis of HBV-DNA, HBeAg/anti-HBe, and liver function tests.

Serological markers of hepatitis B virus (HBV), liver function tests and quantitative estimation of HBV-DNA are important in the assessment of the state of infection and prognosis following treatment for hepatitis B. This study aimed to determine whether low-cost assays, eg hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and liver function tests, could be used for the assessment of infectivity as an alternative to HBV-DNA estimation. We tested 125 hepatitis B carriers for HBeAg, antibody to HBeAg (anti-HBe), and serum HBV-DNA; we also carried out a range of standard liver function tests. Seventy-three subjects were positive and 52 were negative for HBeAg. Of the HBeAg positive cases, 3 were also positive for anti-HBe; of the HBeAg negative cases, 5 were also negative for anti-HBe. Of these 8 cases, 7 had no detectable HBV-DNA. Most of the HBeAg positive but anti-HBe negative subjects were positive for HBV-DNA (74.3%; 52/ 70) whereas most of the HBeAg negative and anti-HBe positive subjects (93.6%; 44/47) were also negative for HBV-DNA. Of 56 HBV-DNA positive individuals, alanine transaminase (ALT) was found to be raised in 69.6% (p=0.066) and aspartate transaminase (AST) was raised in 66.1% (p=0.011), while 67.9% had normal alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (p=0.054). HBeAg (p=0.018) and raised ALT (p=0.008) were found to be independent predictors for HBV-DNA positivity among HBV carriers. This study suggests that HBeAg positive and anti-HBe negative hepatitis B carriers with raised ALT and AST are likely to be positive for HBV-DNA; the combination of routine serology and biochemical tests may be considered as an alternative to HBV-DNA in evaluating the state of chronic HBV infection. However, HBV-DNA should be specifically assessed if discordance is observed between seromarkers and transaminases.