SOX9 gene shows association with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis predisposition in Northwest Indians

BACKGROUND

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a common structural deformity of the spine affecting adolescent individuals globally. The disorder is polygenic and is accompanied by the association of various genetic loci. Genetic studies in Chinese and Japanese populations have shown the association of genetic variants of SOX9 with AIS curve severity. However, no genetic study evaluating the association of SRY-Box Transcription Factor 9 (SOX9) variants with AIS predisposition has been conducted in any Indian population. Thus, we aimed to investigate the association of the genetic variants of the SOX9 along with 0.88 Mb upstream region with AIS susceptibility in the population of Northwest India.

METHODS

In total, 113 AIS cases and 500 non-AIS controls were recruited from the population of Northwest India in the study and screened for 155 genetic variants across the SOX9 gene and 0.88 Mb upstream region of the gene using Global Screening Array-24 v3.0 chip (Illumina). The statistical significance of the Bonferroni threshold was set at 0.000322.

RESULT

The results showed the association of 11 newly identified variants; rs9302936, rs7210997, rs77736349, rs12940821, rs9302937, rs77447012, rs8071904, rs74898711, rs9900249, rs2430514, and rs1042667 with the AIS susceptibility in the studied population. Only one variant, rs2430514, was inversely associated with AIS in the population, while the ten variants were associated with the AIS risk. Moreover, 47 variants clustered in the gene desert region of the SOX9 gene were associated at a p-value ≤ 0.05.

CONCLUSION

The present study is the first to demonstrate the association of SOX9 enhancer locus variants with AIS in any South Asian Indian population. The results are interesting as rs1042667, a 3' untranslated region (UTR) variant in the exon 3 and upstream variants of the SOX9 gene, were associated with AIS susceptibility in the Northwest Indian population. This provides evidence that the variants in the enhancer region of SOX9 might regulate its gene expression, thus leading to AIS pathology and might act as an important gene for AIS susceptibility.

Bacterial Isolates and Their Antimicrobial Susceptibility Profile in Osteomyelitis Patients: An Experience From a Tertiary Care Center in a Hilly Area of Uttarakhand

Osteomyelitis, an infection related to bone and bone marrow, is very diverse in its pathophysiology and clinical presentation; hence, it is considered one of the most difficult-to-treat infections. The present study is aimed at assessing the microbiological profile of osteomyelitis and related antimicrobial susceptibility patterns in patients attending a tertiary care center in Uttarakhand, India, over a period of one year (January to December 2019). In aerobic culture, 58/105 (55.2%) bacterial isolates were detected. In addition, Staphylococcus aureus was the most common isolate, and amongst Gram-negative bacilli, most isolates that grew on culture were Escherichia coli (22.4%). Out of 21 S. aureus isolates, methicillin resistance was detected in nine [9/21 (42%)] cases, which is a matter of concern. Hence, proper training and application of antimicrobial stewardship are the need of the hour so that clinicians can initiate targeted therapy as early as possible.

Clinico-epidemiological profile of Influenza A H1N1 cases at a tertiary care institute of Uttarakhand

Introduction:

The swine (H1N1) virus responsible for worldwide pandemics since 2009 is now causing seasonal epidemics. Since then alarming spikes of swine flu cases have been reported from Uttarakhand every year. There are limited studies conducted in this Himalayan belt to evaluate the clinical and epidemiological profile of the patients admitted in tertiary care hospitals.

Aims & Objectives:

This study aims to summarize the clinical and epidemiological attributes of swine flu and to approximate the burden of Influenza A H1N1 (Swine Flu) cases in this Himalayan belt.

Material and Methods:

Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of influenza A H1N1 cases from October 2018 to April 2019 were retrospectively and descriptively analyzed using data from the Medical Records Section and the isolation ward at Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences; Shri Mahant Indiresh hospital.

Results:

A total of 1126 (51.6%) patients were tested of which 30% (338) patients were found to be H1N1 positive. Maximum cases and positivity were detected in the months of January (26.4%), February (50.3%), and March (14.8%), and the patients in the age groups of 41–50 (21.9%) and 51–60 years (19.3%) accounted for majority of the cases. The most common symptoms were fever (85.8%), cough (82.2%), sore throat (82%), and breathlessness (71.3%). A case fatality ratio of 10.9% was observed. A significant statistical association (p value < 0.00001) was reported between co-morbid conditions and death.

Conclusion:

According to the results of this study, close caution should be exercised in case of patients infected with H1N1 particularly those with co-morbidities.