North American Journal of Medicine and Science
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Brief Communication: Perinatal Transmission of Hepatitis B and Prevention Strategy
Get PDFHepatitis B is a disease of global significance. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that this virus currently infects 350 million people worldwide, and over three quarters of those affected are of Asian ethnicity.1 Hepatitis B is an important cause of progressive liver failure or liver cancer, complications that kill approximately 1 million people globally. In endemic regions such as Asia and Africa, HBV infection is often acquired early in life, either vertically from perinatal transmission or horizontally from contact with other infected individuals.2 In Asia, perinatal transmissions account for at least 25% of chronic hepatitis B; moreover, the transmission rates can increase to about 90% for mothers with high serum HBV DNA titers.2 Since HBeAg positive chronic hepatitis B is associated with higher levels of HBV replication, the perinatal transmission rates were as high as 80-90% among HBeAg-positive women compared to 10-20% among HBeAg-negative women.3Universal screening of all pregnant women during their pregnancy is essential to identify the ones with the highest risk of transmitting HBV to their infants
Bronchial Carcinoid Tumor in a Young Man with Neurofibromatosis. Case Report and Review of the Literature
Get PDFIntroduction: Neurofibromatosis 1 is a relatively common autosomal dominant disease characterized by the occurrence of distinctive skin pigmentation (café-au-lait spots and axillary/groin freckling) and multiple neuroectodermal and mesenchymal lesions (e.g. neurofibroma). Patients with NF1 also have a predilection for other types of tumors, such as carcinoid tumors in the duodenum, particularly in the periampullary region
Potential Clinical Usefulness of Endothelial Adhesion Molecules in Predicting Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Get PDFEarly endothelial dysfunction is a common antecedent of the metabolic or insulin resistance syndrome and may thus play an etiologic role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus and associated complications. Elevated circulating levels of some endothelial adhesion molecules including e-selectin, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (icam-1), and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (vcam-1) may reflect structural microvascular changes related to the pathophysiological processes of impaired insulin action and secretion. Elevated levels of soluble cellular adhesion molecules have been related to insulin resistance and other metabolic syndrome components. Evidence from prospective studies indicates that endothelial biomarkers, particularly e-selectin, may independently predict risk of type 2 diabetes among nondiabetic individuals in multiple populations. Circulating levels of endothelial adhesion molecules appear to have clinically significant prognostic value beyond inflammatory marker-crp in predicting future risk of type 2 diabetes
Brief Communication: Erythema Migrans in Lyme Disease
Get PDFJD is a 44 year old White male who was seen in urgent care because of painful swelling behind his left knee for 2 days. He described the area as red and itchy for which he applied aquaphor. He had no history of insect bites or trauma and had no associated symptoms like fatigue, fever, chills, headache, dizziness, rhinorrhea, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, muscle aches or joint aches. He had an uncomplicated vasectomy 1 week prior and otherwise had no health issues. His family history was unremarkable. He was not on any medications, both prescribed and over the counter. He never smoked or used illicit drugs. He consumed a drink or two of beer a week. He is married with 2 children, lives in a western suburb ofMassachusetts. He works as a software engineer and is otherwise very active. He is a volunteer for his son’s boys scout troop and just came from outdoor camping inNew Hampshire...
The Discovery of a Pseudo SNP and its Usage in Gender Test
Get PDFSingle Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) technology has been widely used in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Quality control procedures usually includes testing minor allele frequency, hardy–weinberg equilibrium, call frequency, and concordance rate. However, little effort has been reported to validate a SNP itself. Here we report how a SNP is found not to be actual polymorphic at one locus, instead from two sequences on two different chromosomes. [N A J Med Sci. 2009;2(2):41.
Changes in Incidences of Gastric Cardiac-gastroesophageal Junctional and Sub-cardiac Carcinomas in Nanjing of China: A 20-year Retrospective Study from a Single Tertiary Medical Center
Get PDFBackground: The incidence of gastric cancer is decreasing worldwide in recent decades, which is credited to higher living standers and improved healthcare. It remains unclear whether it is true in the mainland China where rapid industrialization has been taken place over the past 30 years. The aim of this study was to investigate the relative and absolute incidence of gastric cardiac cancer occurring in the gastric cardiac-gastroesophageal junctional (GCG) and sub-cardiac (GSC) regions in the Nanjing metropolitan area of China over a 20-year period. Materials and Methods: Patient pathology reports were reviewed for the diagnosis of adenocarcinoma on gastroduodenoscopic biopsies collected from 1982 through 2001. All reports and corresponding histology slides were retrieved and reviewed to confirm the diagnosis and tumor locations. The patients were sub-grouped into 5 time segments, ie, 1982-1985, 1986-1989, 1990-1993, 1994-1997, and 1998-2001. Within each segment, we collected and analyzed statistically the data on tumor locations (GCG vs GSC), patients’ ages and sexes over time
High Altitude Disease: Consequences of Genetic and Environmental Interactions
Get PDFHigh altitude disease (HAD) is a pathological effect of high altitude on humans, caused by acute exposure to low partial pressure of oxygen at high altitude. Millions of people who live at, or ascend to, altitudes above 2,500 m, are at risk for acute mountain sickness (AMS) and chronic mountain sickness (CMS). Among these populations, there are distinct patterns of adaptation to the environment, lowlanders are more susceptible to HAD than highlanders when they are exposured to hypoxia, Andean highlanders have higher incidence rate of HAD than Tibetans and Sherpas. People originating from the same sea level have different response to hypoxia. These situations showed that the incidence of HAD has a certain genetic background. With the development of modern research techniques, there is more and more evidences that indicates that the pathogenesis of HAD is associated with some mutant form of hypoxia-related genes, number and function of the genes encoding protein, such as HIF1A,EPO,EDN1,NOS3, and also associated with human leukocyte antigen (HLA)(define it
Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome
Get PDFObesity has become a serious global public health problem. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 1.7 billion people around the world are overweight and 310million are obese.1 Within the US, two sources of data are available on the prevalence of obesity. One is from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS). These data come from self-reported heights and weights, obtained by telephone interviews. Given the tendency of underestimation of one’s weight and overestimation of one’s height, the result is likely an underestimate of the actual prevalence of obesity. Nonetheless, according to the BRFSS data, 25% of the population in most states were obese in 2007, and some exceeding 30%. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys data are obtained by direct measurement of heights and weights. According to the most recent data released in November 2007, over 72million American adults are obese, and this represents 33.3% of men and 35.3% of women of the American adult population
Cystic Renal Oncocytoma: A Case Report with Review of the Literature
Get PDFRenal oncocytomas are benign, predominantly asymptomatic tumors that are usually found incidentally. These tumors are typically solid, well-circumscribed, homogenous tan-brown lesions, often with a central fibrous scar. Histologically, the tumor cells are arranged in solid compact nests, acini and tubules of variable size, all within a hypocellular hyalinized stroma. In the literature, there are only five cases of cystic renal oncocytoma reported. Herein we present a case of cystic renal oncocytoma with the unusual gross appearance of multiloculation. It was found incidentally on imaging studies in the upper pole of the right kidney. Grossly, it was a well-circumscribed 1.5 cm mass with a multiloculated cystic cut surface. Microscopically, the oncocytic cells were arranged along the septae that divided the mass into multiloculated cysts. Immunohistochemical staining of the tumor showed expression of kidney-specific cadherin in all the neoplastic cells, CK7 expression in 45% and PAX-2 expression in 60% of these cells. RCC and vimentin showed no reactivity within the tumor. The morphological features and immunohistochemical studies confirmed the diagnosis of a cystic renal oncocytoma
F2-isoprostanes and Its Metabolite and Breast Cancer Risk
Get PDFFree Radicals and F2-isoprostanes (F2-IsoPs) Free radicals or reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been implicated as the causes for many human diseases or conditions, including cancer and many other age-related diseases.1-3 However, previous studies have been primarily conducted in animal models3 and results remain controversial.3,4 To develop a reliable non-invasive approach to measure human levels of oxidative stress has long been one of the most critical needs in free radical research.5 In 1990, Dr. Jackson Roberts, II and Dr. Jason Morrow, first discovered F2-isoprostanes (F2-IsoPs), a unique series of prostaglandin (PG)-like compounds that are formed from the free-radical-catalyzed peroxidation of arachidonic acid in situ in phospholipids.6 In recent years, F2-IsoPs have been widely utilized in many epidemiologic and clinical trial studies to evaluate level of lipid peroxidation, one central feature of oxidative stress and free radical damage.7 In 2005, a multi-lab validation study, the Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress Study, was organized by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).8 In the study, F2-IsoPs has been found to be the most accurate oxidative stress biomarker9.