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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

The Burden Of Moderate-To-Heavy Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections Among Rural Malaysian Aborigines: An Urgent Need For An Integrated Control Programme, Init Ithoi Dec 2011

The Burden Of Moderate-To-Heavy Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections Among Rural Malaysian Aborigines: An Urgent Need For An Integrated Control Programme, Init Ithoi

Init Ithoi

Background: Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections, among the most common neglected tropical diseases, continue to be a major threat to the health and socioeconomic wellbeing of infected people especially children in developing countries. Methods: A cross-sectional study among 254 aboriginal schoolchildren was conducted in order to determine the current prevalence and intensity of infections and to investigate the potential risk factors associated with moderate-to-heavy burden of STH infections among these children. Results: Overall, 93.7% of children were found to be infected with one or more STH species. The prevalence of trichuriasis, ascariasis and hookworm infections were 84.6%, 47.6% and 3.9%, respectively. …


The Enzymes Of Lactose Biosynthesis. I. Purification And Properties Of Udpg Pyrophosphorylase From Bovine Mammary Tissue, Victoria Steelman, K. Ebner Nov 2011

The Enzymes Of Lactose Biosynthesis. I. Purification And Properties Of Udpg Pyrophosphorylase From Bovine Mammary Tissue, Victoria Steelman, K. Ebner

Victoria J. Steelman

No abstract provided.


Hexosamine Biosynthesis Pathway Flux Contributes To Insulin Resistance Via Altering Membrane Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-Bisphosphate And Cortical Filamentous Actin, P. Bhonagiri, G. R. Pattar, E. M. Horvath, K. M. Habegger, Ann Mccarthy, J. S. Elmendorf Oct 2011

Hexosamine Biosynthesis Pathway Flux Contributes To Insulin Resistance Via Altering Membrane Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-Bisphosphate And Cortical Filamentous Actin, P. Bhonagiri, G. R. Pattar, E. M. Horvath, K. M. Habegger, Ann Mccarthy, J. S. Elmendorf

Ann Marie McCarthy

We recently found that plasma membrane phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2))-regulated filamentous actin (F-actin) polymerization was diminished in hyperinsulinemic cell culture models of insulin resistance. Here we delineated whether increased glucose flux through the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP) causes the PIP(2)/F-actin dysregulation and insulin resistance induced by hyperinsulinemia. Increased HBP activity was detected in 3T3-L1 adipocytes cultured under conditions closely resembling physiological hyperinsulinemia (5 nm insulin for 12 h) and in cells where HBP activity was amplified by 2 mm glucosamine (GlcN). Both the physiological hyperinsulinemia and experimental GlcN challenge induced comparable losses of PIP(2) and F-actin. In addition to protecting against …


A Policy Change Strategy For Head Lice Management, K. Andresen, Ann Mccarthy Oct 2011

A Policy Change Strategy For Head Lice Management, K. Andresen, Ann Mccarthy

Ann Marie McCarthy

The purpose of this project was to formulate an effective change strategy for head lice management in a group of five separate school districts within one county. Despite a desire to use evidence to support their practice, school nurses often encounter educational system barriers that prevent independent management of health conditions. The use of collaborative community relationships, identification of underlying hierarchy structures in school policy development, and targeted system education were the catalysts for changing beliefs and ultimately policy within these school districts. The focus of this project was to develop a policy change strategy for head lice. The strategy …


Agricultural Health In The Gambia I: Agricultural Practices And Developments, R. Kuye, K. Donham, S. Marquez, W. Sanderson, L. Fuortes, R. Rautiainen, M. Jones, Kennith R. Culp Oct 2011

Agricultural Health In The Gambia I: Agricultural Practices And Developments, R. Kuye, K. Donham, S. Marquez, W. Sanderson, L. Fuortes, R. Rautiainen, M. Jones, Kennith R. Culp

Kennith R. Culp

This manuscript reports results of our study to characterize the historical developments of agricultural practices in The Gambia and related health risks of farm workers. It surveys the various factors that shape production agriculture in the country and examines the degrees to which hand tools, animal traction, motorized traction and manual labour all contribute to the inherent hazards of farm work. The principal objective of this study is to lay the ground work for detailed research of occupational health hazards in Gambian agriculture; and development of policies and programmes to promote the health of Gambian farmers. The authors of this …


A Novel Homeobox Gene Pitx3 Is Mutated In Families With Autosomal-Dominant Cataracts And Asmd, E. Semina, R. Ferrell, H. Mintz-Hittner, P. Bitoun, W. Alward, R. Reiter, C. Funkhauser, Sandra Daack-Hirsch, J. Murray Oct 2011

A Novel Homeobox Gene Pitx3 Is Mutated In Families With Autosomal-Dominant Cataracts And Asmd, E. Semina, R. Ferrell, H. Mintz-Hittner, P. Bitoun, W. Alward, R. Reiter, C. Funkhauser, Sandra Daack-Hirsch, J. Murray

Sandra Daack-Hirsch

We report here the identification of a new human homeobox gene, PITX3, and its involvement in anterior segment mesenchymal dysgenesis (ASMD) and congenital cataracts in humans. The PITX3 gene is the human homologue of the mouse Pitx3 gene and is a member of the RIEG/PITX homeobox gene family. The protein encoded by PITX3 shows 99% amino-acid identity to the mouse protein, with 100% identity in the homeodomain and approximately 70% overall identity to other members of this family. We mapped the human PITX3 gene to 10q25 using a radiation-hybrid panel. A collection of 80 DNA samples from individuals with various …


Impaired Fgf Signaling Contributes To Cleft Lip And Palate, B. Riley, M. Mansilla, J. Ma, Sandra Daack-Hirsch, B. Maher, L. Raffensperger, E. Russo, A. Vieira, C. Dode, M. Mohammadi, M. Marazita, J. Murray Oct 2011

Impaired Fgf Signaling Contributes To Cleft Lip And Palate, B. Riley, M. Mansilla, J. Ma, Sandra Daack-Hirsch, B. Maher, L. Raffensperger, E. Russo, A. Vieira, C. Dode, M. Mohammadi, M. Marazita, J. Murray

Sandra Daack-Hirsch

Nonsyndromic cleft lip and palate (NS CLP) is a complex birth defect resulting from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Several members of the FGF and FGFR families are expressed during craniofacial development and can rarely harbor mutations that result in human clefting syndromes. We hypothesized that disruptions in this pathway might also contribute to NS CLP. We sequenced the coding regions and performed association testing on 12 genes (FGFR1, FGFR2, FGFR3, FGF2, FGF3, FGF4, FGF7, FGF8, FGF9, FGF10, FGF18, and NUDT6) and used protein structure analyses to predict the function of amino acid variants. Seven likely disease-causing mutations …


Characterization Of A Novel Gene Disrupted By A Balanced Chromosomal Translocation T(2;19)(Q11.2;Q13.3) In A Family With Cleft Lip And Palate, K. Yoshiura, J. Machida, Sandra Daack-Hirsch, S. Patil, L. Ashworth, J. Hecht, J. Murray Oct 2011

Characterization Of A Novel Gene Disrupted By A Balanced Chromosomal Translocation T(2;19)(Q11.2;Q13.3) In A Family With Cleft Lip And Palate, K. Yoshiura, J. Machida, Sandra Daack-Hirsch, S. Patil, L. Ashworth, J. Hecht, J. Murray

Sandra Daack-Hirsch

Cleft lip with or without cleft palate is a common birth defect that is genetically complex. The nonsyndromic forms have been studied genetically using linkage and candidate-gene association studies with only partial success in defining the loci responsible for orofacial clefting. Loci for nonsyndromic cases have been suggested on 2p13, 4q31, 6p24, 17q21-q24, and 19q13.2. Recently, we identified a family in which cleft lip and palate segregated in two of three generations with a balanced chromosomal translocation t(2;19)(q11. 2;q13.3). We used a positional-cloning strategy to identify a novel gene disrupted by the translocation on chromosome 19. Eight rare (q 0.01) …


Complete Sequencing Shows A Role For Msx1 In Non-Syndromic Cleft Lip And Palate, P. A. Jezewski, A. R. Vieira, C. Nishimura, B. Ludwig, M. Johnson, S. E. O'Brien, Sandra Daack-Hirsch, R. E. Schultz, A. Weber, B. Nepomucena, P. A. Romitti, K. Christensen, I. M. Orioli, E. E. Castilla, J. Machida, N. Natsume, J. C. Murray Oct 2011

Complete Sequencing Shows A Role For Msx1 In Non-Syndromic Cleft Lip And Palate, P. A. Jezewski, A. R. Vieira, C. Nishimura, B. Ludwig, M. Johnson, S. E. O'Brien, Sandra Daack-Hirsch, R. E. Schultz, A. Weber, B. Nepomucena, P. A. Romitti, K. Christensen, I. M. Orioli, E. E. Castilla, J. Machida, N. Natsume, J. C. Murray

Sandra Daack-Hirsch

MSX1 has been proposed as a gene in which mutations may contribute to non-syndromic forms of cleft lip and/or cleft palate. Support for this comes from human linkage and linkage disequilibrium studies, chromosomal deletions resulting in haploinsufficiency, a large family with a stop codon mutation that includes clefting as a phenotype, and the Msx1 phenotype in a knockout mouse. This report describes a population based scan for mutations encompassing the sense and antisense transcribed sequence of MSX1 (two exons, one intron). We compare the completed genomic sequence of MSX1 to the mouse Msx1 sequence to identify non-coding homology regions, and …


Nod2, Rip2 And Irf5 Play A Critical Role In The Type I Interferon Response To Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, Amit K. Pandey, Yibin Yang, Zhaozhao Jiang, Sarah M. Fortune, Francois Coulombe, Marcel A. Behr, Katherine A. Fitzgerald, Christopher M. Sassetti, Michelle A. Kelliher Jul 2011

Nod2, Rip2 And Irf5 Play A Critical Role In The Type I Interferon Response To Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, Amit K. Pandey, Yibin Yang, Zhaozhao Jiang, Sarah M. Fortune, Francois Coulombe, Marcel A. Behr, Katherine A. Fitzgerald, Christopher M. Sassetti, Michelle A. Kelliher

Katherine A. Fitzgerald

While the recognition of microbial infection often occurs at the cell surface via Toll-like receptors, the cytosol of the cell is also under surveillance for microbial products that breach the cell membrane. An important outcome of cytosolic recognition is the induction of IFNalpha and IFNbeta, which are critical mediators of immunity against both bacteria and viruses. Like many intracellular pathogens, a significant fraction of the transcriptional response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection depends on these type I interferons, but the recognition pathways responsible remain elusive. In this work, we demonstrate that intraphagosomal M. tuberculosis stimulates the cytosolic Nod2 pathway that responds …


Myd88-Dependent Il-1 Receptor Signaling Is Essential For Gouty Inflammation Stimulated By Monosodium Urate Crystals, Chun-Jen Chen, Yan Shi, Arron Hearn, Katherine A. Fitzgerald, Douglas T. Golenbock, George W. Reed, Shizuo Akira, Kenneth L. Rock Jul 2011

Myd88-Dependent Il-1 Receptor Signaling Is Essential For Gouty Inflammation Stimulated By Monosodium Urate Crystals, Chun-Jen Chen, Yan Shi, Arron Hearn, Katherine A. Fitzgerald, Douglas T. Golenbock, George W. Reed, Shizuo Akira, Kenneth L. Rock

Katherine A. Fitzgerald

While it is known that monosodium urate (MSU) crystals cause the disease gout, the mechanism by which these crystals stimulate this inflammatory condition has not been clear. Here we find that the Toll/IL-1R (TIR) signal transduction adaptor myeloid differentiation primary response protein 88 (MyD88) is required for acute gouty inflammation. In contrast, other TIR adaptor molecules, TIRAP/Mal, TRIF, and TRAM, are not required for this process. The MyD88-dependent TLR1, -2, -4, -6, -7, -9, and -11 and IL-18 receptor (IL-18R) are not essential for MSU-induced inflammation. Moreover, MSU does not stimulate HEK cells expressing TLR1-11 to activate NF-kappaB. In contrast, …


Lps-Tlr4 Signaling To Irf-3/7 And Nf-Kappab Involves The Toll Adapters Tram And Trif, Katherine A. Fitzgerald, Daniel C. Rowe, Betsy J. Barnes, Daniel R. Caffrey, Alberto Visintin, Eicke Latz, Brian G. Monks, Paula M. Pitha, Douglas T. Golenbock Jul 2011

Lps-Tlr4 Signaling To Irf-3/7 And Nf-Kappab Involves The Toll Adapters Tram And Trif, Katherine A. Fitzgerald, Daniel C. Rowe, Betsy J. Barnes, Daniel R. Caffrey, Alberto Visintin, Eicke Latz, Brian G. Monks, Paula M. Pitha, Douglas T. Golenbock

Katherine A. Fitzgerald

Toll-IL-1-resistance (TIR) domain-containing adaptor-inducing IFN-beta (TRIF)-related adaptor molecule (TRAM) is the fourth TIR domain-containing adaptor protein to be described that participates in Toll receptor signaling. Like TRIF, TRAM activates interferon regulatory factor (IRF)-3, IRF-7, and NF-kappaB-dependent signaling pathways. Toll-like receptor (TLR)3 and 4 activate these pathways to induce IFN-alpha/beta, regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), and gamma interferon-inducible protein 10 (IP-10) expression independently of the adaptor protein myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88). Dominant negative and siRNA studies performed here demonstrate that TRIF functions downstream of both the TLR3 (dsRNA) and TLR4 (LPS) signaling pathways, whereas the …


Alcohol And Hepatitis C Virus--Interactions In Immune Dysfunctions And Liver Damage, Gyongyi Szabo, Jack Wands, Ahment Eken, Natalia Osna, Steven Weinman, Keigo Machida, Joe Wang Mar 2011

Alcohol And Hepatitis C Virus--Interactions In Immune Dysfunctions And Liver Damage, Gyongyi Szabo, Jack Wands, Ahment Eken, Natalia Osna, Steven Weinman, Keigo Machida, Joe Wang

Gyongyi Szabo

Hepatitis C virus infection affects 170 million people worldwide, and the majority of individuals exposed to HCV develop chronic hepatitis leading to progressive liver damage, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular cancer. The natural history of HCV infection is influenced by genetic and environmental factors of which chronic alcohol use is an independent risk factor for cirrhosis in HCV-infected individuals. Both the hepatitis C virus and alcohol damage the liver and result in immune alterations contributing to both decreased viral clearance and liver injury. This review will capture the major components of the interactions between alcohol and HCV infection to provide better understanding …


Seroepidemiology Of Toxoplasmosis In Renal Patients Seroepidemiology Of Toxoplasmosis In Renal Patients, Init Ithoi Mar 2011

Seroepidemiology Of Toxoplasmosis In Renal Patients Seroepidemiology Of Toxoplasmosis In Renal Patients, Init Ithoi

Init Ithoi

Toxoplasmosis is an important parasitic disease in immunosuppressed patients. This prospective study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence, associated risk factors and the incidence of clinically confirmed toxoplasmosis among renal patients at the University of Malaya Medical Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We interviewed 247 renal patients, each of whom answered an epidemiological questionnaire, and collected blood samples for measurement of anti-Toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies by ELISA. Overall seroprevalence of latent toxoplasmosis was observed in 126 (51%) renal patients. Race (Malays), marital status (married) and primary level of education, were all factors associated with a greater chance of Toxoplasma infection. …