Patterns of Variation in Botanical Supplement Use among Hispanics and Latinos in the United States

In the United States (US), botanical dietary supplements are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration under the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act. The Act defines dietary supplements as “a product (other than tobacco) that is intended to supplement the diet that bears or contains one or more of the following dietary ingredients: an herb or other botanical, a vitamin, amineral, an amino acid, a dietary substance for use by man to supplement thediet by increasing the total daily intake, or a concentrate, metabolite,constituent, extract, or combinations of these ingredients”.

Botanical supplements are popular in the US; national surveys estimate that approximately 18% of the US population uses botanical supplements. The literature supports a wide body of prevalence data on botanical supplement use in the general population, but less is known about use patterns in minority populations, including Hispanics/Latinos. Among studies in these populations, prevalence estimates vary widely and the reasons for these large variations are obscure. Due to the increasing population of Hispanic/ Latino patients and the biological activity of botanical supplements, it is important that health care and public health professionals understand their likelihood of botanical use. Read more................

Lower Plasma Zinc Levels in Hyperglycemic People Living with HIV in the MASH cohort

Zinc deficiency is prevalent among people living with the human immunodeficiency virus (PLWH). This may be due to the preferential use of zinc by human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) for viral replication, altered zinc metabolism and/or inadequate dietary zinc intake. Low plasma zinc levels directly affect the immune system because zinc is an important co-factor in the maturation of CD4 cells, which are part of the T-cell system of the immune system. In addition, zinc is important for many catalytic enzymatic activity and protein/DNA synthesis. Due to its importance and pervasiveness in all tissues, zinc deficiency has many adverse effects such as impairing the reconstitution of the immune function in PLWH.

In 1996, antiretroviral therapy (ART) was first used to successfully control the HIV viral load  and become the standard of treatment for HIV. The treatment, however, has been associated with hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes. As a result, PLWH are at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes and subsequently cardiovascular disease after initiation of ART. While HIV infection is associated with numerous micronutrient deficiencies, ART has been shown to normalize plasma levels of some micronutrients after initiation. However, micronutrients such as zinc, selenium and vitamin A have not been shown to increase after ART initiation. Read more...................

Sexual Violence and Associated Factors among Female Students of Madawalabu University in Ethiopia

In the last few years, World Health Organization (WHO) has made statements about the public health importance of violence against women. These statements result from a growing recognition that violence represents a serious violation of women’s human rights, is an important cause of injury, and also risk factor for many physical and psychological health problems. Violence against women (VAW) defied as: “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women” 

Since women are more focused than men (95% versus 5%), gender based violence is frequently used interchangeably with violence against women. Worldwide, an estimated one in three women are physically or sexually abused; and one in five experienced rape or attempted rape in their lifetime. Moreover, the most common and universal occurring form of VAW is that perpetrated by intimate partner. Read more..............

Chemical Genetics to Study Plasmodium Kinases

Malaria is one of the major infectious diseases of the developing world that continues to spell havoc on mankind. There have been an estimated 584,000 deaths in 2013due to malaria infection. Although the disease is completely curable with the available drugs, the recent reports on emergence of resistance against the front line drug, artemisinin combination therapies in Southeast Asia is gravely worrisome. There is an urgent need to validate new drugs that can be used to control malaria infection and also novel targets that can be used in drug discovery programs against malaria.

Protein kinases have been well documented to play critical roles in almost all important physiological processes of eukaryotes and prokaryotes. They have been extensively used as drug targets to treat various human ailments including cancer. Since, protein kinases play indispensable roles in physiological processes inside a cell, studying their function using conventional gene knock-out approach may not be straight forward. Moreover, knock-down of protein levels using various post-transcriptional and post-translational approaches have their own limitations such as matching the exact timing of the knockdown in enzyme levels to the functional activity inside the cell, residual level of enzyme left and side-effects of the agent used for knock-down.  Read more................

Global Situation and Trends of HIV, Influenza and Marburg Viruses

HIV, Influenza and Marburg diseases are classified under emerging infectious diseases. Emerging Infectious Diseases are diseases that have recently increased in incidence or in geographic or host range such as tuberculosis, cholera, dengue fever, malaria, japanese encephalitis, yellow fever and west nile fever, OR are diseases caused by new variants due to evolution but are assigned to known pathogens such as the Human Immunodeficiency virus, new strains of Influenza virus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Ebola. Molecular mechanisms and cellular processes involved in disease pathogenesis, including transmission dynamics and epidemiology, of pathogens that cause reemerging infectious diseases like Marburg, Ebola, and Cholera have yet to be understood. 

Emerging diseases caused by novel or unrecognized pathogens such as Hantavirus, or those whose transmission modes are under study, such as Ebola and Nipah present yet another challenge. The mechanisms of disease emergence involve a multiplicity of factors in addition to those at molecular and cellular levels. In addition to virus genetic variation (mutation, reassortment, and recombination), they also include environmental, ocean and air circulation patterns, extreme weather events as well as the ecological and demographic factors that increase the vulnerability of the people to previously unfamiliar microbes. Read more.....................

Domestic Dog Vaccination to prevent the spread of Rabbis Virus

Approximately 60000 are dying every year due to rabbis in Asian and African countries due to sheer negligence in taking post prophylaxis treatment. Although the urban centers are far better in handling rabbis, rural and remote areas are still facing challenge. Since canine rabies virus  spreads mostly through the domestic dogs, dog vaccination at regular intervals could eliminate rabbis related deaths completely. Modern rabies vaccines produced on cell cultures or embryonated eggs are both safe and efficacious. At present, most of Asian countries have moved towards modernrabies vaccine usage, either through imports or local production. 

In Thailand, discontinuation of sheep brain vaccine (Semple vaccine) production in 1989 and of suckling mouse brain (Fuenzalida) vaccine in 1993, and importation of increasing quantities of modern vaccines have played a major role in the drastic reduction in the number of cases of human rabies in the country. Due to the high cost of modern cell culture rabies vaccines, outdated nerve tissue origin rabies vaccines are still administered to most socioeconomically disadvantaged people who are at an increased risk of exposure. Additionally, most modern cell culture rabies vaccines are imported into developing countries and because many countries impose an extra importation tax to them, the cost of treatment is increased. Read more.............

Enhance the FDA's Postmarketing Drug Surveillance System of Adverse Effects through the Electronic Healthcare Data

In Drug Administration (FDA), a Federal Agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, before marketing (open to the public use). The FDA has a systematic premarketing risk identification and assessment system and makes decisions to approve or not approve a drug to treat a specific condition, based on a benefit-risk analysis for the intended population. Once approved,drugs move swiftly into the market place for use by prescribers and patients. 

The FDA also has a postmarketing drug surveillance and risk assessment system with intention to identify unexpected short- and long-term risks of approved drugs or products, which currently relies primarily on two methods of adverse event reporting to the FDA. One is the direct, voluntary reporting by health professionals and consumers. The other is a mandated reporting by pharmaceutical manufacturers that is mainly based on the voluntary submission of reports from medical facilities, health professionals, and consumers, so-called MedWatch program. The spontaneous case reports from health professionals like the MedWatch program are important, but may miss over 90% of all cases with rare toxic events. Read more.....................

Gender Differences in Community-acquired Meningitis in Adults: Clinical Presentations and Prognostic Factors

Community-acquired meningitis can be caused by several treatable and untreatable infectious etiologies (e.g., bacterial, viral, and fungal infections), but most commonly the etiology is unknown. Studies show that risk factors for bacterial meningitis include age, immunosuppression, genetic susceptibility, and anatomical defects. Mortality and morbidity for bacterial meningitis is high, with risk factors for a poor outcome including systemic compromise and a low level of consciousness . Outcome largely depends on rapid initiation of an effective empiric treatment, adjusting for age, systemic symptoms, and antimicrobial resistance.

While there is some understanding of the effect of age and other risk factors on susceptibility to community-acquired meningitis, there are no studies exploring gender differences in community-acquired meningitis. The purpose of this study is to investigate gender differences in clinical presentation, laboratory and imaging results, etiologies and prognostic factors in male and female patients with community-acquired meningitis. Read more...................

Targeting Mycothiol Biosynthesis and Mycothiol-Dependent Detoxification for the Treatment of Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that dates back to ancient and historical times. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the primary organism responsible for TB, the number two single agent infectious disease killer worldwide behind HIV. In spite of the fact that there are currently effective drugs for the treatment of TB available, this disease continues to be a global problem. In 2011, there were an estimated 8.7 million new cases of TB and 1.4 million deaths attributedto TB worldwide. 

Treatment of TB is difficult, requires multidrug therapy for extended periods of time (6-9 months), and is often unsuccessful. The difficulty in TB treatment is attributed to the slow growth rate and resilience of the M. tuberculosis organism in adapting to changes in oxygen and nitric oxide levels, pH, metal ion concentrations, and available nutrients that allow for mycobacterial survival in host macrophages , as well as the high degree of drug resistance associated with M. tuberculosis.  Read more...................

The Most Effective Therapeutic Regimen for Patients with Severe Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) Infection

The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was first detected in June 2012 in Saudi Arabia. Since then the virus is predominantly detected in the Arabian Peninsula. Other countries were also involved, but the majority of their affected cases were linked to travel to the Arabian Peninsula or caused by a contact with travelers. In Kuwait, one of the Arabian Peninsula countries,despite active surveillance and vigilance, only three cases have been discovered so far. In this report we describe our experience and findings highlighting the virological response to the different treatment regimens adopted in managing both patients.

 Method: Clinical samples were screened for MERS-CoV by real-time RT-PCR targeting the upstream of the E gene (upE). Positive results were confirmed by real-time RT-PCR targeting the open reading frame 1a gene (ORF 1a). Viral RNA was extracted from the samples using MagNA Pure LC Total Nucliec Acid Isolation Kit (Roche). ModularDx Kits Corona SA1 up E-gene and Corona Orf1a (TibMolBiol) were utilized in a LightCycler 2.0 real-time PCR system (Roche) for the investigations. Viral load was determined by extrapolation from the standard curves constructed with different dilutions of positive controls included in each kit [2]. Except for the first sample from both patients 1 and 2 which were bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, tracheal aspirations were the only samples processed for viral load estimation.  Read more...............

Cancer Mortality in Older Mexican Individuals (2000 – 2010)

After cardiovascular disorders, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the world. It affects both genders, and its economic impact is greater than any other cause of death in the world. The total economic impact of premature death and disability from cancer worldwide was $895 billion in 2008. This data represents 1.5% of the world’s gross domestic product. 

Among the risk factors for cancer, age is one of the most important; cancer incidence and cancer-related mortality rises exponentially after 50 years of age. Due to increases in birth rate and life expectancy, the number of older individuals is currently increasing around the world. With this trend, the prevalence of cancer is likely to rise. This fact has important implications for the implementation of preventive strategies and treatment for cancer in older age groups. In older individuals, some cancers may be more aggressive or more indolent than in younger adult age groups. Read more..............

Water Born Disease that Affects Sport Persons

Skin eruptions in the recreational waters are the most common reason that accounts for illness and diseases for the sport persons. Chemicals and the microbial present in the water are causing many cutaneous diseases. Skin diseases are top among them and swimmers encounter several dermatology related challenges. Dermatologist’s familiarityin this regards goes a long way in safeguarding the swimmer’s health within andoutside water. 

Swimmer’s itch:  It is also known as cercarial dermatitis, schistosome dermatitis, clam-digger’s itch, caused by larvae (cercariae) from the fluke family Schistosomatidae occurring worldwide with the exception of Antartica. It occurs in fresh water mainly. Birds & rodents are the definitive hosts who excrete ova contaminated with immature cercaria which then matures within snails. Larvae released from snails then infects humans. Release of proteolytic enzymes by cercaria helps in penetration through stratum corneum. These larvae eventually die within the human skin. Sensitization to cercaria occurs in two weeks after first contact due to release of immunogenic enzymes and subsequent exposure causes lesions within hours. Read more....................

Immunogenic and Protective Properties of Recombinant Proteins Based on Meningococcal Iga1 Protease

At present, meningitis is a frequent neuroinfection, and the most widely distributed bacteria-caused meningitis (up to 56%) is a socially dangerous disease. Due to existence of vaccines against meningitis caused by the meningococcus serogroups A, C, Y, W135 which are based on their capsular polysaccharides  and to creation of the protein-based polycomponent serogroup B monovaccine, there is a possibility ofpreventing the meningococcal infection caused by the epidemically mostdangerous serogroups. 

However, all currently used vaccines are, as a rule, targeted rather narrowly against a specific infectious agent. Besides, such vaccination creates for a human organism an enormous antigenic load, and therefore, it is necessary to search for variants of a polyvalent vaccine which would be capable of protecting against the variety of circulating and permanently mutating meningococcus strains.  Thus, the search for new approaches for preventing the meningococcal infection is still urgent.The bacterial IgA1 protease (IgA1pr) which is the major virulence factor of many pathogens was earlier proposed as a basis for such polyvaccine. Read more................. 

Does Plasmodium falciparum have an Achille’s Heel?

Does Plasmodium falciparum the parasite that causes the most severe form of malaria leading to the death of a child every 60 second  have an Achilles? heel that can be exploited therapeutically? The answer seems to be yes even though the bug enjoys three layers of protection by the red cell membrane (RCM), the parasitophorous vacuole membrane(PVM), and the parasite plasma membrane (PPM). 

On the basis of the molecular structure of the bug’s? PPM and the quantitative mechanics of its major intrinsic membrane protein interacting with erythritol, I hypothesize that erythritol  the generally considered safe sugar substitute  could be the weapon needed to deliver a fatal attack on the heel of the parasite that is responsible for about a million deaths a year. Currently, all malaria drugs used or researched for are intricate compounds that have strong side effects and induce drug-resistance in the parasites . Researchers have not considered the possibility that the benign erythritol can kill or impede the growth of P. falciparum. Read more.........................

On the Origin of Syphilis and Contemporary Views of Disease Dynamics

Despite syphilis being a disease of antiquity, diagnosis and treatment remains problematic globally due to a complex biologic pathogen/host relationship and the spread of the disease embedded in human behavior. First documented as anindependent disease in 1495, the origin of syphilis has been ambiguous for over500 years. In the past century, there have been several approaches to investigate the origins of syphilis, but without definitive outcome. A viable syphilis control option became available in the 20th century with the discovery of penicillin, leading to cost effective and safer treatment compared to prior use of mercury- and arsenic-containing compounds. 

However, despite the availability of antibiotics that can successfully treat syphilis, the disease waxes and wanes at various times and among certain social groups or settings, due in part to risky sexual behavior, a complex clinical presentation (multiple clinical stages including a latent stage where there are no clinical signs), diagnostic challenges and spontaneous healing or unnoticed lesions resulting in failure to seek clinical care or sexual partners not being referred for treatment.  Read more.................

The Re-Emergence of Whooping Cough in Sfax (Southern Tunisia)

Whooping cough (pertussis) is a highly contagious human respiratory infection caused by Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella parapertussis . Despite the widespread use of the pertussis vaccine has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the incidence of whooping cough around the world, a resurgence of this bacterial infection noted in many countries have marked the two last decades and pertussis continues to be a public health concern even in countries with high vaccination coverage.

In 2008, about 195000 children under the age of 5 died from this disease in the world which represented 2% of all deaths in this age group. In 2010, WHO estimated the global incidence of pertussis of 50 million cases per yea. Waning immunity after natural infection or vaccination has been considered as one of the major reasons for the observed epidemiologic trend. In fact, according to a review of the literature, the infection-acquired immunity against pertussis disease and the vaccine-induced immunity wane after 4–20 years and 4–12 years, respectively. Read more......................

Low HIV/AIDS Knowledge among Hispanic Adolescents

The highest worldwide incidence of HIV acquisition, which accounts for approximately half of new infections (N=780,000 in 2012), occurs in individuals between 15-24 years of age. HIV is the second leading cause of death among young individuals worldwide. This global incidence is similar to that of the U.S. population in which 13-29 year olds account for as much as 40% of newinfections. Moreover, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is not equally distributed geographically, but is more prominent in the southern states, and particularly in Florida where the prevalence of HIV among Hispanics is nearly twice the national rate.

Moreover, Florida ranks second in terms of HIV/ AIDS prevalence in the 13-19 year old segment of the population, with the highest rate in Miami-Dade county. Individuals at highest risk for HIV/AIDS should be prioritized and targeted for prevention intervention. In this regard, it is noteworthy that prevention programs have been largely successful in reducing infection incidence, yet the rate of decline has been lower among Hispanics/ Latinos compared to white non-Latino youth. Complementing these alarming trends, Hispanic youth have the third highest rates of sexually transmitted infections such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis.  Read more.............

Arthritis through Geologic Time and its Environmental Implications

The geometric increase in prevalence of spondyloarthropathy through geologic and again in recent times was considered a possible indication of an as yet unknown organismal benefit. Spondyloarthropathy is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by sacroiliac or zygapophyseal joint erosions or fusion or vertebral bridging through the anulus fibrosus. First observed as isolated occurrencesin the Cretaceous, prevalences as high as 50% were noted in the North AmericanPaleocene. 

The affected groups in the Paleocene were evolutionary dead ends, a fate that could even be potentially attributed to this disease.The disease surfaced again in the North American Eocene in two evolutionary lines (Equidae and Rhinoceridae) and demonstrated increased population penetrance over geologic time. Now we find the identical scenario in Europe and Asia. Paleocene occurrence has been documented in a single individual from Asia, a member of the same family afflicted in the North American Eocene. Read more...............