ABSTRACT
We report a case of a young Chinese male presenting with sequential, painless, bilateral visual loss in Hong Kong. He was diagnosed to have Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy with genetic workup showing G11778A mutation with over 80% heteroplasmy. He was started on idebenone treatment 11 months after onset of the binocular disease. To our best knowledge, this is the first case of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy treated with idebenone in Hong Kong. The recent evidence of the diagnosis and treatment of this devastating disease is reviewed.
Subject(s)
Antioxidants/therapeutic use , Optic Atrophy, Hereditary, Leber/diagnosis , Ubiquinone/analogs & derivatives , Adolescent , Antioxidants/administration & dosage , Diagnosis, Differential , Hong Kong , Humans , Male , Optic Atrophy, Hereditary, Leber/drug therapy , Ubiquinone/administration & dosage , Ubiquinone/therapeutic use , Visual AcuityABSTRACT
Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the chemical and nutritional values of 5 tannin-free fava bean (FB) cultivars (FB9, FB10, FB13, FB17, and FB24) on growth, visceral organ size, and blood clinical chemistry of broiler chicks fed a corn-soybean meal 48 (SBM48) diet containing 30% tannin-free FB. In the first experiment, 49 Hy-line roosters, 55 wk of age, were individually precision-fed 30 g of each FB cultivar and soybean meal 44 (SBM44). Protein, methionine, and lysine contents of the FB seeds (0.005% tannin) were 27.7, 0.23, and 1.98% of DM, respectively. The AMEn of all FB cultivars was 2,839 kcal/kg and higher (P < 0.05) than SBM44. The true lysine digestibility of FB10 (94.1) was higher (P < 0.05) than FB9 (89.0%) and FB24 (89.2%), but comparable with the other fava beans. The FB cultivar's true methionine digestibilities were similar among each other and to SBM44. In a battery feeding trial, 6 corn-SBM48 diets containing 0 (control) or 30% of FB9, FB10, FB13, FB17, or FB24 seeds were each fed to Ross 308 1-wk-old male broiler chicks for 14 d. The determined FB nutrient values were used in formulating FB-containing diets. Birds fed FB-containing diets had better (P < 0.05) weight gain and feed conversion than those of the control. When compared with the control birds, relative weights of abdominal fat pad and liver were reduced (P < 0.05) by 30% inclusion of all dietary FB varieties, except for FB17 and FB13, respectively. Broiler chicks fed the FB13 diet had plasma thrombocyte and white blood cell (WBC) differential counts higher (P < 0.05) than those fed the FB10 diet and WBC count higher (P < 0.05) than the birds fed the FB17 diet. In conclusion, tannin-free FB was lower in protein, methionine, and lysine, but higher in AMEn, compared with SBM44. Moreover, FB seeds, especially FB10, can be included in a broiler chick diet with no adverse effects on performance, but FB13 increased WBC count.
Subject(s)
Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena , Chickens/growth & development , Diet/veterinary , Digestion/drug effects , Vicia faba/chemistry , Vicia faba/metabolism , Animal Feed/standards , Animals , Blood Chemical Analysis/veterinary , Chickens/blood , Hematologic Tests/veterinary , Male , Organ Size , Tannins/analysisABSTRACT
Allele frequencies for the 15 STR loci included in the PowerPlex 16 kit were obtained from a sample of 247 unrelated Chinese in Hong Kong.
Subject(s)
Alleles , Gene Frequency , Tandem Repeat Sequences , China/ethnology , Genetic Variation , Genetics, Population , Hong Kong , Humans , Polymerase Chain ReactionABSTRACT
Outbreaks of skin infections due to Staphylococcus aureus continue to be a major problem in newborn nurseries. In this report, we described how the staphylococcal skin infections were controlled in the nursery during the last 5 1/2 years. An outbreak of staphylococcal skin infection (totally 29 cases) developed in January 1985, and declined dramatically to 3 cases in March of the same year when 3% hexachlorophene (HCP) bathing was used (period 1-January 1985 to March 1985). The infections increased to 30 cases in May when HCP bathing was discontinued and was replaced by baby soap baths (period 2-April 1985 to May 1985). Once again, HCP bathing (period 3-June 1985 to January 1987) was reinstituted and infection rate was reduced. After discontinuation of HCP (period 4-February 1987 to March 1987), another outbreak of staphylococcal skin infection reappeared. It was controlled again with HCP bathing (period 5-April 1987 to April 1988). Daily baby soap baths were continued during period 6 (May 1988 to October 1988), and skin infections increased again. Finally in period 7 (November 1988 to June 1990), daily baby soaps were reinstituted and a triple dye was applied daily to the cord and to the surrounding skin (1 inch diameter) until discharge. During this period, staphylococcal skin infections was reduced to 1-4 cases and no more outbreaks occurred. Our data confirmed that 3% HCP bathing of newborns reduced the infection rate of Staphylococcus aureus during an endemic period, and supported that triple dye may be an alternative to HCP for preventing staphylococcal skin infection in a newborn nursery.
