Aim:  To estimate the incidence of musculoskeletal pain and rheumatic disorders in a Bangladeshi rural community. Methods:  This study was conducted in six villages near Dhaka from January 2001 to June 2002. Door‐to‐door case finding by interviewers was followed by interviewing and examination of positive respondents by trained doctors. The respondents with inflammatory arthropathies were reviewed 5 years later, in December 2006. Results:  Four hundred and forty‐one (M = 163, F = 278) out of 2685 adults (M = 1324, F = 1361) developed new musculoskeletal pain yielding an incidence rates of 10.9/100 person‐years (PY) (M = 8.2, F = 13.6). The incidence was highest in the 35–44‐year age group in both genders. It was highest in housewives, followed by weavers and cultivators. The spine (7.5/100 PY) was the most common affected part followed by knees (6.5), shoulder (6.2) and neck (6.2). The most common cause of new musculoskeletal pain was non‐specific low back pain, followed by fibromyalgia and knee osteoarthritis. Forty‐one subjects (M = 17, F = 24) developed inflammatory joint or spinal pain (1000/100,000 PY). The incidence of rheumatoid arthritis, combined spondyloarthropothies, ankylosing spondylitis, reactive arthropathy and psoriatic arthritis were 120 (M = 101, F = 147), 150 (M = 252, F = 49), 75 (M = 151, F = 0), 50 (M = 101, F = 0) and 25 (M = 0, F = 49) per 100,000 PY, respectively. Thirty‐one cases had undiagnosed arthropathies (770/100,000 PY). Seven were unavailable in December, 2006 and one died. The remaining 23 were symptom‐free. Conclusions:  The incidence of musculoskeletal pain and rheumatic disorders is considerable in this Bangladeshi rural community. Common incident disorders are non‐specific low back pain, fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis of knees. Inflammatory arthropathies are not common. The majority of undiagnosed arthopathies undergo spontaneous lasting remission.

The soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceri (Foc) causes vascular wilt of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), resulting in substantial yield losses worldwide. Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transformation (ATMT) has served as a resourceful tool for plant-pathogen interaction studies and offers a number of advantages over conventional transformation systems. Here, we developed a highly efficient A. tumefaciens mediated transformation system for Foc. In addition, a binary vector for constitutive expression of red fluorescent protein (DsRed-Express) was used to study developmental stages and host-pathogen interactions. Southern hybridisation was performed to confirm the transformation event and the presence of T-DNA in selected hygromycin resistant transformants. Most of the transformants showed single copy integrations at random positions. Microscopic studies revealed significant levels of fluorescent protein, both in conidia and mycelia. Confocal microscopy of chickpea roots infected with the transformed Foc showed rapid colonisation. These studies will allow us to develop strategies to determine the mechanisms of Foc-chickpea interaction in greater detail and to apply functional genomics for the characterisation of involved genes at the molecular level either by insertional mutagenesis or gene knock-out.

The development of a model for focal axonal injury in the optic nerve of the adult guinea-pig has allowed a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the response of the retinal ganglion cell soma to this type of injury. Large and medium sized retinal ganglion cells show classic 'central chromatolysis' in about 30% of ganglion cells between three and seven days after injury, a high proportion of which undergo degeneration between seven and 14 days. Small ganglion cells and small neurons do not demonstrate any morphological response to stretch injury of the optic nerve. However, a small number of larger ganglion cells demonstrate enlargement of the cell soma and nucleolus together with reconstitution of the rough endoplasmic reticulum between seven and 14 days after stretch injury. We suggest that these cells are either recovering from or regenerating after a non-disruptive lesion to their axons. We suggest that some of these morphological changes parallel documented regenerative responses in peripheral/extrinsic neurons after injury to their axons. We conclude that the time course of the 'axon reaction' after stretch injury to axons is longer than that obtained after crush or transection. We provide good morphological evidence that the level of injury after application of non-disruptive mechanical strain to axons is less severe than in the former two models of axonal injury and that a proportion of damaged neurons do not die but rather demonstrate either/or recovery or a regenerative response.

Background:Escherichia coli is a major extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)–producing organism responsible for the rapid spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) that has compromised our ability to treat infections. Baseline data on population structure, virulence, and resistance mechanisms in E. coli lineages from developing countries such as Bangladesh are lacking.Methods: Whole-genome sequencing was performed for 46 ESBL–E. coli isolates cultured from patient samples at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b)-Dhaka. Sequence data were analyzed to glean details of AMR, virulence, and phylogenetic and molecular markers of E. coli lineages.Results: Genome comparison revealed presence of all major high-risk clones including sequence type 131 (ST131) (46%), ST405 (13%), ST648 (7%), ST410 (4.3%), ST38 (2%), ST73 (2%), and ST1193 (2%). The predominant ESBL gene and plasmid combination were blaCTX–M–15 and FII-FIA-FIB detected in diverse E. coli phylogroups and STs. The blaNDM–5 (9%) gene was present in prominent E. coli STs. One (2%) mcr-1–positive ST1011 E. coli, coharboring blaCTXM–55 gene, was detected. The extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli genotype was associated with specific E. coli lineages. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based genome phylogeny largely showed correlation with phylogroups, serogroups, and fimH types. Majority of these isolates were susceptible to amikacin (93%), imipenem (93%), and nitrofurantoin (83%).Conclusion: Our study reveals a high diversity of E. coli lineages among ESBL-producing E. coli from Dhaka. This study suggests ongoing circulation of ST131 and all major non-ST131 high-risk clones that are strongly associated with cephalosporin resistance and virulence genes. These findings warrant prospective monitoring of high-risk clones, which would otherwise worsen the AMR crises.

Four vanadium(III) complexes of the general formula [V(maltol)(2)(N-N)]ClO(4), where N-N is 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy) (1); 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) (2); dipyrido[3,2-d:2',3'-f]quinoxaline (dpq) (3), and dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine (dppz) (4), have been synthesized and characterized by IR, UV-visible, NMR spectroscopies, and electrospray ionization mass spectra (ESI-MS). The complexes exhibit the typical (1)H NMR spectra for paramagnetic V(III) species. The structures of complexes 1, 2, and 3 were characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. All complexes are monomeric and cationic containing V(III) species ligated to one neutral polypyridyl ligand and two monoanionic bidentate maltolate ligands with a distorted octahedral geometry. The complexes show an irreversible redox peak around +0.80 V versus Ag/AgCl corresponding to one-electron oxidation of V(III) to V(IV). The time-resolved UV-visible spectral changes for the complexes during the electrolysis in acetonitrile solution at +1.0 V are consistent with one-electron oxidation of the complexes to yield the stable V(IV) species. All complexes cleave plasmid pBR322 DNA without the addition of any external agents. In vitro insulin mimetic activity against insulin responsive RIN 5f cells indicates that complex 1 has similar activity to insulin while the others have moderate insulin mimetic activity.

Background: In Bangladesh, treatment for urinary tract infection has become increasingly difficult due to antibiotic resistance. In addition, the prescription of age and gender-specific drugs is still far from being practiced in Bangladesh. We are examining trends of antibiotic resistance per age and gender in patients with urinary tract infection (UTI) caused by the most frequent agent, Escherichia coli. Methods: We determined the resistance of 1663 E. coli isolates obtained from urine cultures. A sensitivity study using the Kirby-Bauer method was carried out to identify the antibiotic resistance trends. Results: Imipenem with 1.9% resistance of all isolates found to be the lowest percentage of resistance. Meropenem (2.8%), amikacin (2.8%), colistin (2.9%), and nitrofurantoin (15.8%) showed low resistance percentages. The sensitivity analysis suggests that age and gender (area under curve ¼ 0.67) should be taken into consideration to prescribe amikacin. The increasing odds ratios (OR) by age groups suggest that amikacin is a less effective agent for older patients with UTIs. Moreover, nitrofurantoin (OR ¼ 1.45, 95% confidence interval (CI) ¼ 1.07-1.95) and colistin (OR ¼ 2.09, CI ¼ 1.13-3.76) were less effective against isolates obtained from males compared to isolates obtained from females. Meropenem was effective against bacteria obtained from all age groups and genders. On the other hand, efficacy of imipenem was lower in isolates obtained from adults older than 40 years (OR: 0.44 for < ¼ 18 years, OR ¼ 0.47 for 19-40 years, OR ¼ 0.86 for 41-60 years; reference: > ¼ 61 years). Conclusion: In Bangladesh, meropenem, imipenem, amikacin, colistin, and nitrofurantoin are suitable therapeutic alternatives against urinary tract pathogens. Among the oral agents, amikacin, colistin, and nitrofurantoin should be prescribed, taking consideration of age and gender. These results will assist physicians in prescribing effective primary care antibiotics for UTI patients and encouraging the implementation of health policies for a safe prescription of antibiotics.

Clinical characteristics and serotype distribution of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolated from paediatric diarrhoeic patients over a three-year period in two geographically diverse areas, Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Cape Town, South Africa, were compared. Both Dhaka and Cape Town patients had similar rates of diarrhoea, vomiting and fever. However, the Dhaka patients were younger (11.8 vs. 13.0 months), had more boys than girls infected (male/female ratio 1.78:1 vs. 1.25:1), had more predisposing conditions (26% vs. 15%) and had more additional stool pathogens co-isolated with C. jejuni/coli than the Cape Town patients. While some C. jejuni serotypes were common to both areas, i.e., O:4, other serotypes were present in one location, but not the other. Differences in clinical presentations and serotype distribution in Dhaka and Cape Town are suggestive of different reservoirs for Campylobacter, and different patterns of infection.Keywords: Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter coli, Serotyping, DiarrhoeaDOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjm.v23i2.875 Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 23, Number 2, December 2006, pp 121-124

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a frequent cause of congenital infection in humans in all regions of the world. In contrast to most congenital viral infections, congenital CMV infection and disease have been consistently demonstrated in populations with a high seroprevalence. Three hundred pregnant women were studied prospectively in their 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimester to determine the seroprevalence and seroconversion of CMV in pregnancy. After birth, babies were also tested for anti CMV IgM to determine the rate of birth prevalence. Anti CMV IgG and IgM tests were performed by chemiluminescence methods. All 300 (100%) pregnant women were anti CMV IgG positive and 180 (60%) were subsequently anti CMV IgM positive during different trimesters of pregnancy. Birth prevalence of CMV IgM antibody was 1.3% among babies of anti CMV IgM positive mothers whereas none in CMV IgM negative mothers (OR 1.01, 95% CI .996-1.027).It may be concluded that CMV IgG seroprevalence is high among Bangladeshi pregnant women and the rate of CMV reactivation is also high during pregnancy. Despite protection by maternal immunity a certain percent of babies acquire congenital CMV infection.