Employment Status of Patients Receiving Maintenance Dialysis - Peritoneal and Hemodialysis: A Cross-sectional Study

The long-term dialysis therapy for end-stage renal disease takes a heavy toll of quality of life of the patient. Several factors such as fatigue and decreased physical capability, impaired social and mental functioning, contribute to this forlorn state. To meld maintenance dialysis treatment with a regular employment can be a serious test. A cross-sectional study of employment of patients on hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis in a state government tertiary institute in South India was performed between June 2015 and December 2015. Patients who completed 3 months of regular dialysis were only included in the study. The number of patients on hemodialysis was 157 and on peritoneal dialysis was 69. The employment status before the initiation of dialysis was 60% (93 out of 155) and 63.7% (44 out of 69) in hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis, respectively. After initiation, the loss of employment was observed in 44% (41 out of 93) in hemodialysis and 51.2% (26 out of 44) in peritoneal dialysis (P = 0.2604). Even though there was fall of absolute number of job holders in both the blue and white collar jobs, the proportion of jobholders in the white collar job holders improved. On univariate analysis, the factors which influenced the loss of employment were males, age between 50 and 60 years, number of comorbidities >2, illiteracy and blue collar versus white collar job before the initiation of dialysis. The majority of patients had the scores above 80 on Karnofsky performance scale and the majority belonged upper and middle classes than lower classes on modified Kuppuswamy's socioeconomic status scale; however, the loss of employment was also disproportionately high. There appeared a substantial difference in the attitude of the patients toward the employment. There was no difference between hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis in the loss of employment of our patients.

First Report of Iris yellow spot virus Infecting Allium tuberosum in India

Allium tuberosum L., commonly known as garlic chives, is an important spice in northeastern India as well as in many other parts of the world. Iris yellow spot virus (IYSV; genus Tospovirus, family Bunyaviridae) is an important pathogen of onion (4) and other related Alliums such as garlic (3) and leek (2). During April 2013, symptoms potentially induced by IYSV such as chlorotic and straw-colored spindle-like lesions were observed on leaves of A. tuberosum accession Hanzong Winter (CGN 20779) plants in the wild species garden at the Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research (DOGR), Rajgurunagar, Pune, Maharashtra, India. Ten plant samples of A. tuberosum were randomly collected from the wild species garden and the upper, middle, and lower portions of the leaves were pooled and tested by double-antibody sandwich (DAS)-ELISA using a commercially available kit (Agdia Inc., Elkhart, IN) for IYSV. All of them showed positive results for IYSV incidence. Total RNA from the ELISA positive leaf samples of A. tuberosum was extracted using the RNeasy Plant Mini kit (Qiagen GmbH, Hilden, Germany). The primer pair IYSV-F (5'-TCAGAAATCGAGAAACTT-3') and IYSV-R (5'-TAATTATATCTATCTTTCTTGG-3') (1) was used for RT-PCR. The primer pair was specific to amplify 797 bp of the nucleocapsid (N) gene of IYSV. The amplified product derived from A. tuberosum isolate was purified by QIAquick PCR Purification Kit (Qiagen) and cloned using the vector pDrive (Qiagen). The recombinant clone was sequenced (Accession No. KF624624). Sequence analysis performed on CLC Main Workbench Version 6.8.4 confirmed that the fragment was of IYSV. Nucleotide sequence comparison of our virus with other IYSV isolates revealed that the highest nucleotide identity (99%) was with the IYSV garlic isolate (HM173691) from India. Further, maximum 96% protein identity was with IYSV onion isolate (ACA09432) and garlic isolate (ADK56108) from India. To our knowledge, this is the first report of IYSV naturally occurring on A. tuberosum in India. It is evident from previous studies that IYSV causes significant losses in onions (1) and from this study, that its symptoms have direct impact on quality of garlic chives. Further detailed studies are required to assess the magnitude of the impact of IYSV infection on yield and quality of A. tuberosum. References: (1) A. Bulajic et al. Plant Dis. 93:976, 2009. (2) M. C. Córdoba-Sellés et al. Plant Dis. 91:1365, 2007. (3) S. J. Gawande et al. Plant Dis. 94:1066, 2010. (4) B. Mandal et al. Plant Dis. 96:468, 2012.

First Report of Leek yellow stripe virus in Allium sativum in Western India

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is an important bulbous spice crop in India as well as other parts of world. Garlic is well known for its medicinal properties. Degeneration due to viral infections is one of the important constraints in exploiting its yield potential. Leek yellow stripe virus (LYSV), genus Potyvirus, family Potyviridae, is a prominent virus known to infect garlic worldwide (4). During July 2013, potyvirus-like symptoms such as mosaic, streaking, stunting, mottling of leaves were observed on garlic cv. G-41 and landrace Ranibennur local, collected from Karnataka, India, and maintained at the Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Rajgurunagar, Pune, India. The incidence of symptomatic plants was estimated at 70% for Ranibennur local and 68% for cv. G-41. The symptomatic leaves were sampled diagonally from the field. Twenty symptomatic plants per cultivar with each sample was composited from young, middle, and lower (basal) leaves of the plant. These samples were tested by double-antibody sandwich (DAS)-ELISA for LYSV using commercially available kit (Agdia Inc., Elkhart, IN). ELISA-positive plants were further subjected to molecular studies. Total RNA from the infected leaf samples were extracted by RNeasy Plant Mini kit (Qiagen GmbH, Hilden, Germany) and assayed by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR using primer pair LYSV-F 2 (5'-GCACCATACAGTGAATTGAG-3') (1), LYSV-R (5'-GCCTCGCGCGCTCTAA-3') (3) to amplify 874 bases of partial Nib and partial coat protein gene. The amplified product of 874 bp derived from A. sativum isolate was purified (QIAquick PCR Purification Kit, Qiagen) and cloned using vector pDrive (Qiagen). The recombinant clones were sequenced and submitted in NCBI database (GenBank Accession No. KF850539). The sequence analysis performed on CLC Main Workbench Version 6.8.4 gave confirmation of LYSV. Further, phylogenetic analysis of the 874-nt sequence revealed the highest nucleotide identity (80 to 82%) with LYSV isolates (DQ925453, JN127339, AB005611, and JX429965). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of natural infection of garlic by LYSV in western India. LYSV is known to cause direct losses in garlic and other related Allium spp. Up to 54% reduction in bulb weight was observed due to single infection of this virus (2). Hence, our first report about this virus has significant impact on garlic production scenario, if this virus found to be widespread in the country. For this, additional surveys and genotype screenings are needed to obtain a better understanding of the potential impact of LYSV on garlic production in India. References: (1) H. Fidan and S. Baloglu. Plant Dis. 93:672, 2009. (2) H. Lot et al. Plant Dis. 82:1381, 1998. (3) P. Lunello et al. J. Virol. Methods. 118:15, 2004. (4) H. R. Pappu et al. Plant Dis. 89:205, 2005.

Central hypothyroidism associated with retinoid X receptor-selective ligands

BACKGROUND

The occurrence of symptomatic central hypothyroidism (characterized by low serum thyrotropin and thyroxine concentrations) in a patient with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma during therapy with the retinoid X receptor-selective ligand bexarotene led us to hypothesize that such ligands could reversibly suppress thyrotropin production by a thyroid hormone-independent mechanism and thus cause central hypothyroidism.

METHODS

We evaluated thyroid function in 27 patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma who were enrolled in trials of high-dose oral bexarotene at one institution. In addition, we evaluated the in vitro effect of triiodothyronine, 9-cis-retinoic acid, and the retinoid X receptor-selective ligand LGD346 on the activity of the thyrotropin beta-subunit gene promoter.

RESULTS

The mean serum thyrotropin concentration declined from 2.2 mU per liter at base line to 0.05 mU per liter during treatment with bexarotene (P<0.001), and the mean serum free thyroxine concentration declined from 1.0 ng per deciliter (12.9 pmol per liter) at base line to 0.45 ng per deciliter (5.8 pmol per liter) (P<0.001) during treatment. The degree of suppression of thyrotropin secretion tended to be greater in patients treated with higher doses of bexarotene (>300 mg per square meter of body-surface area per day) and in those with a history of treatment with interferon alfa. Nineteen patients had symptoms or signs of hypothyroidism, particularly fatigue and cold intolerance. The symptoms improved after the initiation of thyroxine therapy, and all patients became euthyroid after treatment with bexarotene was stopped. In vitro, LGD346 suppressed the activity of the thyrotropin beta-subunit gene promoter in thyrotrophs by as much as 50 percent, an effect similar to that of triiodothyronine and 9-cis-retinoic acid.

CONCLUSIONS

Hypothyroidism may develop in patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma who are treated with high-dose bexarotene, most likely because the retinoid X receptor-selective ligand suppresses thyrotropin secretion.

Microtuberization in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)

Twenty-two genotypes of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) were induced to form microtubers under six in vitro culture conditions. Cultures maintained under a short photoperiod (10 h of 6-12 μmol m^-2 s^-1) and low temperatures (day 20°±2°C and night 18°±2°C) had both a higher yield (255 mg/plantlet) and a greater number (2/plantlet) of microtubers than those maintained under long days (16 h of 38-50 μmol m^-2 s^-1) combined with high temperatures (day 28°±2°C and night 25°±2°C) (yield 207 mg/plantlet; microtuber number, 0.9/plantlet), over a wide range of genotypes. After the plantlets had been cultured under long days for an initial period of 60 days, continuous darkness advanced microtuberization by 2-3 months in various genotypes. Under short-day and low-temperature conditions the addition of 6-benzylaminopurine increased microtuber yield from 255 mg/plantlet to 645 mg/plantlet and average microtuber weight from 115 mg to 364 mg. A similar pattern was observed under conditions of long days and high temperature, and continuous darkness and low-temperature. Microtubers produced under light had a greater number of eyes (maximum average: 5.96/microtuber) than those produced in the dark (maximum average: 3.50/plantlet). The genotype × cultural conditions interactions were significant indicating the importance of developing genotype-specific protocols to maximize microtuberization.

Overproduction of DNA cytosine methyltransferases causes methylation and C --> T mutations at non-canonical sites

Multicopy clones of Escherichia coli cytosine methyltransferases Dcm and EcoRII methylase (M. EcoRII) cause an approximately 50-fold increase in C --> T mutations at their canonical site of methylation, 5'-CmeCAGG (meC is 5-methylcytosine). These plasmids also cause transition mutations at the second cytosine in the sequences CCGGG at approximately 10-fold lower frequency. Similarly, M. HpaII was found to cause a significant increase in C --> T mutations at a CCAG site, in addition to causing mutations at its canonical site of methylation, CCGG. Using a plasmid that substantially overproduces M. EcoRII, in vivo methylation at CCSGG (S is C or G) and other non-canonical sites could be detected using a gel electrophoretic assay. There is a direct correlation between the level of M. EcoRII activity in cells, the extent of methylation at non-canonical sites and frequency of mutations at these same sites. Overproduction of M. EcoRII in cells also causes degradation of DNA and induction of the SOS response. In vitro, M. EcoRII methylates an oligonucleotide duplex containing a CCGGG site at a slow rate, suggesting that overproduction of the enzyme is essential for significant amounts of such methylation to occur. Together these results show that cytosine methyltransferases occasionally methylate cellular DNA at non-canonical sites and suggest that in E. coli, methylation-specific restriction systems and sequence specificity of the DNA mismatch correction systems may have evolved to accommodate this fact. These results also suggest that mutational effects of cytosine methyltransferases may be much broader than previously imagined.

Cloning and characterization of the gene encoding the DsaV methyltransferase

A gene encoding the M.DsaV methyltransferase was cloned and characterized. The enzyme methylates the internal cytosines in the 5'-CCTGG recognition sequence, as determined by a novel rapid method employing 3H label and exonuclease III.

Determination of methylation specificity of DsaV methyltransferase by a simple biochemical method

We have developed a simple new method that can identify the base methylated by a sequence-specific DNA methyltransferase and have used it to identify the cytosine that is methylated by DsaV methyltransferase (M. DsaV) within its recognition sequence 5'-CCNGG. The method utilizes the fact that exonuclease III of E. coli does not degrade DNA ends with 3' overhangs and cannot hydrolyze a phosphorothioate linkage. DNA duplexes containing phosphorothioate linkages at specific positions were methylated with M. DsaV in the presence of [methyl-3H] S-adenosylmethionine and were subjected to exonuclease III digestion. The pattern of [methyl-3H] dCMP release from the duplexes was consistent with the methylation of the internal cytosine in CCNGG, but not of the outer cytosine. To establish the accuracy of this method, we confirmed the known specificity of EcoRII methyltransferase by the method. We also confirmed the specificity of M. DsaV using an established biochemical method that involves the use of a type IIS restriction enzyme. Methylation of CCWGG (W = A or T) sequences at the internal cytosines is native to E. coli and is not restricted by the modified cytosine restriction (Mcr) systems. Surprisingly, the gene for M. DsaV was significantly restricted by the McrBC system. We interpret this to mean that M. DsaV may occasionally methylate at sequences other than CCNGG or may occasionally methylate the outer cytosine in its recognition sequence.

DsaV methyltransferase and its isoschizomers contain a conserved segment that is similar to the segment in Hhai methyltransferase that is in contact with DNA bases

The methyltransferase (MTase) in the DsaV restriction--modification system methylates within 5'-CCNGG sequences. We have cloned the gene for this MTase and determined its sequence. The predicted sequence of the MTase protein contains sequence motifs conserved among all cytosine-5 MTases and is most similar to other MTases that methylate CCNGG sequences, namely M.ScrFI and M.SsoII. All three MTases methylate the internal cytosine within their recognition sequence. The 'variable' region within the three enzymes that methylate CCNGG can be aligned with the sequences of two enzymes that methylate CCWGG sequences. Remarkably, two segments within this region contain significant similarity with the region of M.HhaI that is known to contact DNA bases. These alignments suggest that many cytosine-5 MTases are likely to interact with DNA using a similar structural framework.

Early generation selection for agronomic characters in a potato breeding programme

A random sample of seedlings representing high, medium and poor vigour was studied for tuber colour, tuber shape, eye depth, tuber cracking, tuber yield per plant, average tuber weight and number of tubers per plant in four successive generations (F1, F1, F1C2, and F1C3). Based on the performance of vigour groups in various generations and inter-generation correlation coefficients, we propose a procedure for the elimination of unproductive genotypes early in the breeding programme. The data indicates that seedlings of poor vigour can be discarded at the seedling stage prior to transplantation in the field. The rejection of clones on the basis of tuber colour, tuber shape, eye depth and tuber cracking can also be initiated at the seedling stage. For tuber yield and average tuber weight a negative selection (rejection of poor phenotypes) is suggested from the first clonal generation and for number of tubers, from second clonal generation, until statistically sound replicated trials can be conducted for carrying out positive selection.

The use of transmission ultrasonics to assess bone status in the human newborn

The applicability of transmission ultrasonics as a method for assessment of bone status in human newborns was investigated in two studies. Sound transmission velocity (SCV) through the intact distal radius and ulna was compared to midshaft bone mineral content (BMC) and to midshaft mechanical breaking strength (MBS) in 13 postmortem newborns [gestational age (GA) = 20 to 41 wk]. Midshaft MBS, ranged from 1 to 16 kg; BMC, which ranged from 84 to 88 mg/cm in the term infant, was consistent with previous reported photon absorptiometric data. SCV in the distal radius and ulna was correlated with midshaft MBS (r = 0.69 to 0.82) and BMC (r = 0.85 to 0.93) and increased exponentially with midshaft MBS and BMC. GA was correlated with SCV (r = 0.90 to 0.95). Log GA was correlated with midshaft MBS (r = 0.87 to 0.96) and BMC (0.97 to 0.99) in each of the four measured bones. In the second study, SCV through the distal radius and ulna was measured in 85 live newborns ranging in GA from 28 to 43 wk. SCV increased linearly with GA (r = 0.71 to 0.77). These data demonstrate that SCV through the distal radius and ulna increases linearly with GA and that SCV through the distal bones of the forearm is reliably related to midshaft BMC and MBS during the third trimester of gestation. Transmission ultrasonic measurement of SCV provides a rapid, reproducible, nonionizing, and noninvasive method for assessing bone strength and mineralization in human neonates.