ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Leprosy is an infection by Mycobacterium leprae, which influenced by cellular immunity. Leprosy tends to occur in low socio-economic and nutrition groups. Researchers try to prove the role of nutrition in the pathogenesis of leprosy. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) as a marker of nutritional status shown to play a role in cellular immunity. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the correlation between IGF-1 with bacterial index (BI) on leprosy patients in Bali. METHODS: Cross-sectional study in Sanglah Public General Hospital, Denpasar of patients with paucibacillary (PB) and multibacillary (MB) leprosy were assessed for BI using slit-skin smear. All patients were tested for plasma IGF-1 using chemiluminescent immunometric assay Immulite. All data were analyzed using IBM SPSS ver. 24.0. The study has been approved by local Institutional Review Board with ethical clearance number 2017.02.1.0356. RESULTS: Our study involved 44 MB and 2 PB leprosy. The common age group affected was between 31~40 years old (23.9%), male (60.9%), and normal body mass index (BMI) (65.2%). Mean plasma IGF-1 level in PB leprosy was higher (91.07±0.74 ng/ml) than MB (82.74±6.44 ng/ml). The mean IGF-1 level decreases as BI increases in both groups (CI 95%=81.16~85.04; p<0.001). Pearson correlation test shows strong negative correlation (Pearson r=-0.976; p<0.001) with determinant coefficient (R2) showing 95.2% (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: In Balinese leprosy patients, severity of disease status measured by BI were found to be strongly correlated with the plasma IGF-1 level which may help preventing transmission in household contacts by improving nutritional status.
ABSTRACT
Background: Condyloma acuminata is a type of human papilloma virus (HPV) infection in the anogenital area and often associated with immunosuppressive conditions, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Low plasma zinc levels could cause alteration of cellular immunity, leading to reduction of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ), cytokines required for inhibition of HPV replication. Moreover, low plasma zinc levels could cause disruption of apoptotic regulation, results in the unimpeded proliferation of epithelial cells infected with HPV. This study aimed to compare the mean plasma zinc levels in condyloma acuminata patients with HIV and without HIV infection. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional method, involving 27 condyloma acuminata patients without HIV infection and 18 patients with HIV infection, who agreed to enroll and signed the informed consent. This study was conducted in the dermatology and venereology outpatient clinic in Sanglah Hospital and Kerti Praja Foundation, Denpasar. Bivariate analysis of the characteristics, age, sex orientation, location of lesion, clinical form of lesion, type of cases, duration of condyloma acuminata, age of the first sexual contact, comorbidity, treatment history, and mean plasma zinc level of condyloma acuminata patients with HIV and without HIV infection. The CD4+ cell count and history of ARV treatment were also obtained form patients with HIV infection. Results: A total of 45 subjects were diagnosed with condyloma acuminata, consisted of 27 subjects with condyloma acuminata without HIV infection and 18 subjects with HIV infection, showing average age of 32.04 ± 10.414. Mean plasma zinc levels in condyloma acuminata patients with HIV infection was significantly lower than subjects without HIV infection, and the difference in mean plasma zinc levels was 7.31 µg/dL (95% CI 2.25 - 12.37, p <0.05). Conclusions: The mean plasma zinc levels in condyloma acuminata patients with HIV was significantly lower than those of without HIV infection.
