Pre-existing medical conditions associated with Vibrio vulnificus septicaemia.

Vibrio vulnificus (Vv) can result in severe disease. Although pre-existing liver disease is a recognized risk factor for serious infection, the relative importance of other comorbidities has not been fully assessed. We analysed reports of Vv infections submitted to CDC from January 1988 to September 2006 in order to assess the role of pre-existing conditions contributing to severe outcomes. A total of 1212 patients with Vv infection were reported. Only patients with liver disease [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 5.1)] were more likely to become septic when exposure was due to contaminated food. Patients with liver disease (aOR 4.1), a haematological disease (aOR 3.2), or malignancy (aOR 3.2) were more likely to become septic when infection was acquired via a non-foodborne exposure. As such, patients with these pre-existing medical conditions should be advised of the risk of life-threatening illness after eating undercooked contaminated seafood or exposing broken skin to warm seawater.

Micro-RNAs in thyroid neoplasms: molecular, diagnostic and therapeutic implications.

Micro-RNAs (miRNAs) belong to a class of small non-coding messenger RNA species that have emerged as potent regulators of a variety of biological processes including oncogenesis. They serve as master regulators with a single miRNA capable of regulating as many as 100 different target genes. Thyroid carcinomas encompass a wide spectrum ranging from well-differentiated thyroid carcinomas to poorly differentiated and anaplastic carcinoma. Currently, a considerable degree of interobserver variability exists in the morphological diagnosis of certain types of thyroid carcinomas especially the follicular pattern neoplasm. The prediction of progression of these differentiated carcinoma to more aggressive forms like poorly differentiated and anaplastic types is of considerable interest to physicians and pathologists for determining prognosis and making therapeutic decisions. Several investigators have proposed a more cohesive approach to thyroid cancer diagnosis incorporating molecular and proteomics based tools in addition to the conventional morphological diagnosis. In this context, miRNAs serve as an important diagnostic tool, and several studies have demonstrated their utility as class identifiers especially in the context of follicular thyroid carcinoma, papillary thyroid carcinoma and anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. Larger studies and/or meta-analyses could further delineate their role in predicting cancer progression and prognosis. In the same vein, miRNAs and their target genes could be targeted for novel therapeutics in the future.

A radiotracer probe to study metal interaction with human lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes.

The electrophilic Ag+ ion was found to destroy completely the enzymatic activity of lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme LDH-1 while other transition metal ions reduced its activity in varying degrees. A radiotracer probe involving 110mAg-labeled silver ion was used to understand the mechanism of denaturation of LDH and also to determine the number of active sites, if any, for substrate binding with the enzyme. Purified LDH-l was reacted with 110mAg-labeled silver ion and the mixture was passed through the sephadex G-75-120 gel to separate the 110mAg-LDH complex that might be formed during the reaction. The resulting elution curve revealed that a stable complex was formed. From the total radioactivity of 110mAg bound LDH, the specific activity of labeled Ag+ and the amount of LDH used the ratio of the number of moles of Ag+ reacted with 1 mol of LDH was computed. This was found to be approximately 4.0, indicating that there are four binding sites in LDD, probably one on each subunit. Kinetic studies of LDH catalysis of L-P reaction in the presence and absence of Ag+ ion suggest that silver ion is involved in competitive inhibition and that the interaction conforms to the "lock-and-key" model. The inhibition of catalysis by other metals is presumably of a noncompetitive type.

Lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes in diabetic patients.

Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isoenzyme profiles in human platelets and the sera of patients with type I and II diabetes mellitus and vascular complications, as well as normal subjects were measured utilizing a recently established, modified micromethod. LDH-3 was the predominating species in platelets (37.5 +/- 3.0%), with LDH-2, 1, 4 and 5 following in decreasing order of concentration. The LDH-3/LDH-4 ratio in platelets varied from 6.2 to 1.38. Type I and type II diabetic patients with vascular complications showed a significantly higher ratio for LDH-3/LDH-4 (3.99 +/- 1.20 for DM I, 2.16 +/- 0.25 for DM II patients) than the mean ratio for normal subjects (1.14 +/- 0.08). This platelet-specific LDH isoenzyme pattern may be the result of frequent in vivo platelet-vessel wall interactions in the diabetic patients whose platelets are known to be hyperaggregable in in vitro test systems. Since non-diabetic patients patients with vascular complications also displayed a similarly elevated LDH-3/LDH-4 ratio, a wider classification is preferable, although the measurement of the LDH isoenzyme pattern will be helpful in assessing diabetic vascular complications.

Effect of nasal and oral breathing on exercise-induced asthma.

The effect of nasal as well as oral breathing during level-ground running for 6 min on the post exercise bronchial response was studied in fifteen people (five asthmatics with exercise liability, five asthmatics with no such liability and five normals). Each patient did the exercise twice; once with the nose clipped and once with the mouth closed. FEV1 was measured before exercise, immediately after exercise and at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 min thereafter. A fall in FEV1 of 20% or more from the basal level was taken as evidence of bronchoconstriction. When the patients were required to breath only through the nose during the exercise, the post-exercise bronchoconstrictive response was markedly reduced as compared with the response obtained by oral breathing during exercise, indicating a beneficial effect of nasal breathing. Nasal breathing was beneficial as compared with oral breathing in normals as well. In the five asthmatics with no exercise liability no appreciable difference was observed. This study suggests that the oropharynx and nasopharynx play important roles in the causation of exercise-induced asthma.

Dual asthmatic responses to prosopis juliflora.

Case histories of two asthmatic patients who are allergic to the pollen allergen of Prosopis juliflora, a perennial tree abundantly seen in Delhi and northern India, are presented. Both developed immediate (Type I) as well as late (Type III) responses to intradermal, as well as inhalation, provocation tests. Prior inhalation of disodium cromoglycate inhibited the dual asthma response to inhalation tests but did not inhibit the response to intradermal tests.