No abstract

Diagnostic, IV.

PS was strongly associated with mortality from PTB in the study cohort. Estimation of PS at the start of treatment for newly diagnosed PTB patients could be a useful tool in case management in resource-limited countries.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of persistent pollutants that are detected in maternal serum and umbilical cord, suggesting that fetal exposure also needs to be considered. The effects of dioxin-like PCB congeners 3,3',4,4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB77) and 3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB126) and a non-dioxin-like compound 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (PCB153) on the expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), known to maintain blood flow to the fetus, in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were investigated. The mRNA levels of eNOS, aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A1 in cells treated with 5 µM PCBs for 24 hours were analysed by real-time RT-PCR. Cells were also treated with α-naphthoflavone (α NF), an AhR antagonist or ICI 182780, an estrogen receptor (ER) antagonist, one hour prior to PCB exposure, to observe the effects of these receptors on eNOS modulation. Each PCB increased the eNOS mRNA level by 4.5-fold that was markedly inhibited by αNF. ERs were also suspected of altering eNOS levels because ICI 182780 treatment resulted in a decrease in the eNOS level. These results suggest that the eNOS mRNA expression increases due to the action of PCBs related to both AhR and ERs in HUVECs, and that maternal PCB exposure could influence fetal circulation. Human & Experimental Toxicology (2007) 26, 811— 816

Objective There are no rules to predict the time to infectivity negative conversion based on sputum smear conversion or culture conversion during chemotherapy in smear-positive tuberculosis patients. We aimed to develop and validate rules of sputum smear grades and cavitations in the lungs due to tuberculosis. Methods This study was a retrospective cohort study that consisted of development (n=158, 64±19 years of age) and validation (n=214, 63±20 years of age) steps in different cohorts. We developed a rule with pretreatment smear grades and the existence of cavitations in the lungs due to tuberculosis as independent variables and the duration to infectivity negative conversion as the dependent variable in a Cox hazard model. The smear grade indicating the pretreatment bacterial load was classified into four grades according to the Japanese guidelines. The presence of cavitations was assessed on X-ray. Infectivity conversion was defined according to the criteria of the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: a patient is currently receiving proper treatment and shows clinical improvement and sputum smears and cultures in any combination are consecutively negative three times. Results We developed an "Infectivity Conversion Score" classifying each patient with a smear grade of I though IV and assessing the existence of cavitations in the lungs due to tuberculosis. The median time to infectivity conversion in the validation cohort was 13, 22, 35 and 50 days for Infectivity Conversion Scores I through IV, respectively (p<0.001). Conclusion We developed and validated Infectivity Conversion Scores.