Relationship between Toll-like receptor 4 and type-2 diabetes mellitus complicated by tuberculosis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) gene (TLR4) and the relationship between SNPs and type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) complicated by tuberculosis (TB) (T2DMTB) susceptibility. METHODS: The relationship between SNPs and T2DMTB was assessed using SNPstats (http://bioinfo.iconcologia.net/SNPstats). Generalised multifactor dimensionality reduction (GMDR) was used to select the best interaction combination of the four SNPs. Stratified analysis was performed using logistic regression. RESULTS: Logistic analysis showed that both rs11536889 and rs7873784 in TLR4 were associated with risk of T2DMTB in additive and dominant models. Carriers with homozygous and heterozygous mutants of rs11536889 and rs7873784 were associated with higher T2DMTB risk than those with wild-type homozygotes (OR 1.68, 95%CI 1.22-2.17 and OR 1.61, 1.18-2.09, respectively). GMDR analysis indicated a significant two-locus model (P = 0.0107) involving rs7873784 and rs11536889; the cross-validation consistency of this model was 9/10, and testing accuracy was 60.11%. Participants with rs7873784-GC/CC and rs11536889-GC/CC genotypes had the highest risk of T2DMTB compared with participants with rs7873784-GG and rs11536889-GG genotypes (OR 3.32, 95%CI 2.12-4.63). CONCLUSIONS: We found that> rs11536889 and rs7873784 in the TLR4 gene, and their interactions, were associated with increased T2DMTB risk.

Survival and associated mortality risk factors among post-treatment pulmonary tubercolosis patients in the northwest of China.

OBJECTIVE: The tuberculosis (TB) program was carried out in the Changji zone in northwest of China. Directly Observed Treatment, Short-Course (DOTS) is a modern control strategy against tuberculosis recommended by World Health Organization. The purpose of this work is to describe the survival of post-treatment TB (PTB) patients and to identify the risk factors associated with mortality and treatment outcomes, so that effective measures and interventions could be used to decrease the mortality rate. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Registry of 4501 TB patients at Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) treated from 2007 to 2014 were collected. Mortality was used as an outcome measure and calculated per 100 person years of observation (PYO) from the date of completion of the treatment to the date of interview if the patients were alive or to the date of death. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression methods were used to determine the survival and hazard ratios. An indirect method of standardization was used to calculate the standard mortality ratio (SMR). RESULTS: The average PYO was 5.0 and the total was 21851. Mortality per 100 PYO was 1.9/100 PYO [223/11871] for smear-positive, 3.4/100 PYO [305/9048] for smear-negative and 2.4/100 PYO [22/932] for EPTB cases. Univariate and Cox regression analysis showed that age (p < 0.01), education (p < 0.01), occupation (p < 0.01) and economic status (p < 0.01) were associated with increased mortality. DISCUSSION: Since the mortality rate was higher in Post-treatment TB patients than the general population these patients need special health care. An integrated survival and associated mortality risk factors and information system is necessary for TB surveillance, personal health status and treatment management. Further studies are required to identify the causes of death in these patients.

Antioxidant micronutrients improve intrinsic and UV-induced apoptosis of human lymphocytes particularly in elderly people.

OBJECTIVE: Aging and oxidative stress may lead to enhanced cellular damage and programmed cell death. To study the association of intrinsic apoptosis with age and the effect of antioxidant supplementation on intrinsic and UV-induced apoptosis in children, young and elderly people. METHODS: The study was a 2 months, double-blind, randomized trial. Three age groups were studied: children, young adults and elderly people. A total of 274 healthy subjects were allocated to a group supplemented with moderate amounts of retinol, ß-carotene, α-tocopherol, ascorbic acid and selenium or placebo. Plasma oxidative stress parameters were detected and apoptosis of lymphocytes was evaluated with TUNEL staining. RESULTS: At baseline, percentages of intrinsic apoptosis were 13.8% and 11.1% in elderly and young people, respectively, both significantly higher than children (6.3%). A decrease of 1.7% and 2.3% in intrinsic apoptosis of lymphocytes was found in the supplemented groups of young and elderly people compared with their control groups (all p values <0.001), but no significant decrease in children. Moreover, percentages UV-induced apoptosis significantly decreased by 1.4%, 1.9% and 3.1% in children, young and elderly people, respectively, compared with control groups after the trial. There were considerable increments in concentrations of plasma ß-carotene, retinol, tocopherol, ascorbic acid and selenium in all three treated groups after the supplementation. CONCLUSIONS: Young and elderly people have a higher intrinsic apoptosis than children, which was improved by antioxidant supplementation. UV-induced damage was attenuated by the supplementation in all three age groups.

Primary ovarian leiomyosarcoma associated with Brenner tumor.

BACKGROUND: Primary ovarian leiomyosarcoma (POL) is rare. To the best of our knowledge, POL associated with a Brenner tumor has not been previously documented. CASE: A case of POL associated with a Brenner tumor is reported. Although the poorly differentiated component of the tumor was negative for SMA, the presence of spindle cells in the higher differentiated component with fascicle arrangement and immunoreactivity for SMA and strong staining of a poorly differentiated component for desmin and vimentin established the diagnosis. CONCLUSION: This case indicates that since malignant tumor cells may lose some antigen markers, thorough sampling and immunohistochemistry are necessary. EMA-immunopositivity only could not preclude the diagnosis of leiomyosarcoma.

Anemia prevalence among pregnant women and birth weight in five areas in China.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the current prevalence of anemia among pregnant women in different areas of China and the association with birth weight and educational level. METHODS: A total of 6,413 women aged 24-37 in the third trimester of pregnancy from five areas were randomly selected from all gravidas who gave birth in the hospitals from 1999 to 2003. Blood hemoglobin concentration (Hb) was measured by the cyanomethemoglobin method; Hb <110 g/l was considered as anemia. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of anemia was 58.6%, ranging from 48.1 to 70.5% in the five areas. There was a significant difference in the prevalence of anemia between women who have mental jobs and those who have physical jobs (52.3 vs. 61.1%, p < 0.01). The prevalence of anemia depended on the level of education: with 52.9, 62.4 and 66.5%, for college, secondary school and primary education, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.005). Results showed that higher birth weight was associated with Hb concentrations ranging from 90 to 140 g/l, whereas lower birth weight occurred below 80 g/l and above 140 g/l Hb. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of anemia in Chinese pregnant women was high both in rural areas and towns. Area of residence, education level and type of job influenced the prevalence of anemia. Low maternal Hb concentrations influenced birth weight.

The kinetics of repair of oxidative DNA damage (strand breaks and oxidised pyrimidines) in human cells.

Single cell gel electrophoresis is a sensitive method for detecting DNA strand breaks. Cells embedded in agarose are converted to nucleoids by treating with detergent and high salt. DNA breaks render the nucleoid DNA susceptible to extension by electrophoresis, forming 'comets'. We find that when DNA breakage resulting from H2O2 treatment is examined, freshly isolated normal human lymphocytes are relatively resistant compared with transformed human cells. When incubated after treatment with H2O2, HeLa cells repair most strand breaks within 1 h, and a substantial fraction of the oxidised pyrimidines (detected by converting them to DNA breaks with endonuclease III) within 4 h. However, lymphocytes are less proficient at repair; during incubation for 4 h after treatment with H2O2, no detectable removal of endonuclease III-sensitive sites is seen. While the addition of deoxyribonucleosides promotes completion of repair of UV damage by lymphocytes, it has no significant effect on repair of oxidative damage.