Given the medical and social significance of Helicobacter pylori infection, timely and reliable diagnosis of the disease is required. The traditional invasive and non-invasive conventional diagnostic ...techniques have several limitations. Recently, opportunities for new diagnostic methods have appeared based on the recent advance in the study of H. pylori outer membrane proteins and their identified receptors. In the present study we assess the way in which outer membrane protein–cell receptor reactions are applicable in establishing a reliable diagnosis. Herein, as well as in other previous studies of ours, we explore the reliability of the binding reaction between the best characterized H. pylori adhesin BabA and its receptor, the blood antigen Lesup.b. For the purpose we developed surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and double resonance long period grating (DR LPG) biosensors based on the BabA–Lesup.b binding reaction for diagnosing H. pylori infection. In SPR detection, the sensitivity was estimated at 3000 CFU/mL—a much higher sensitivity than that of the RUT test. The DR LPG biosensor proved to be superior in terms of accuracy and sensitivity—concentrations as low as 10sup.2 CFU/mL were detected.
Immediately following their deposition into the mammalian host by an infected sand fly vector, Leishmania parasites encounter and are engulfed by a variety of cell types. From there, parasites may ...transit to other cell types, primarily macrophages or dendritic cells, where they replicate and induce pathology. During this time, Leishmania cells undergo a dramatic transformation from the motile non-replicating metacyclic stage to the non-motile replicative amastigote stage, a differentiative process that can be termed amastigogenesis. To follow this at the single cell level, we identified a suite of experimental 'landmarks' delineating different stages of amastigogenesis qualitatively or quantitatively, including new uses of amastigote-specific markers that showed interesting cellular localizations at the anterior or posterior ends. We compared amastigogenesis in synchronous infections of peritoneal and bone-marrow derived macrophages (PEM, BMM) or dendritic cells (BMDC). Overall, the marker suite expression showed an orderly transition post-infection with similar kinetics between host cell types, with the emergence of several amastigote traits within 12 hours, followed by parasite replication after 24 hours, with parasites in BMM or BMDC initiating DNA replication more slowly. Lipophosphoglycan (LPG) is a Leishmania virulence factor that facilitates metacyclic establishment in host cells but declines in amastigotes. Whereas LPG expression was lost by parasites within PEM by 48 hours, >40% of the parasites infecting BMM or BMDC retained metacyclic-level LPG expression at 72 hr. Thus L. major may prolong LPG expression in different intracellular environments, thereby extending its efficacy in promoting infectivity in situ and during cell-to-cell transfer of parasites expressing this key virulence factor.
Globally, nearly 3 billion people rely on solid fuels for cooking and heating, the vast majority residing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The resulting household air pollution (HAP) is a ...leading environmental risk factor, accounting for an estimated 1.6 million premature deaths annually. Previous interventions of cleaner stoves have often failed to reduce exposure to levels that produce meaningful health improvements. There have been no multicountry field trials with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stoves, likely the cleanest scalable intervention.
This paper describes the design and methods of an ongoing randomized controlled trial (RCT) of LPG stove and fuel distribution in 3,200 households in 4 LMICs (India, Guatemala, Peru, and Rwanda).
We are enrolling 800 pregnant women at each of the 4 international research centers from households using biomass fuels. We are randomly assigning households to receive LPG stoves, an 18-month supply of free LPG, and behavioral reinforcements to the control arm. The mother is being followed along with her child until the child is 1 year old. Older adult women (40 to
of age) living in the same households are also enrolled and followed during the same period. Primary health outcomes are low birth weight, severe pneumonia incidence, stunting in the child, and high blood pressure (BP) in the older adult woman. Secondary health outcomes are also being assessed. We are assessing stove and fuel use, conducting repeated personal and kitchen exposure assessments of fine particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter
(
), carbon monoxide (CO), and black carbon (BC), and collecting dried blood spots (DBS) and urinary samples for biomarker analysis. Enrollment and data collection began in May 2018 and will continue through August 2021. The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02944682).
This study will provide evidence to inform national and global policies on scaling up LPG stove use among vulnerable populations. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP6407.
The effect of natural gas use on indoor radon concentrations was studied in the dwelling of two cities in Cyprus using an AlphaGUARD radon detector. The radioactivity concentration of .sup.222Rn ...capsule natural gas samples were measured, and the contribution of natural gas consumption to generate indoor .sup.222Rn in residential houses was calculated. The average values of the indoor .sup.222Rn concentrations were found between 42.16 and 146.47 Bq m.sup.-3 in CNG and LPG samples, respectively. The obtained annual effective dose and excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) have been compared with the world average values specified by the WHO and UNSCEAR reports.
Background: Biomarkers of exposure, susceptibility, and effect are fundamental for understanding environmental exposures, mechanistic pathways of effect, and monitoring early adverse outcomes. To ...date, no study has comprehensively evaluated a large suite and variety of biomarkers in household air pollution (HAP) studies in concert with exposure and outcome data. The Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) trial is a liquified petroleum gas (LPG) fuel/stove randomized intervention trial enrolling 800 pregnant women in each of four countries (i.e., Peru, Guatemala, Rwanda, and India). Their offspring will be followed from birth through 12 months of age to evaluate the role of pre- and postnatal exposure to HAP from biomass burning cookstoves in the control arm and LPG stoves in the intervention arm on growth and respiratory outcomes. In addition, up to 200 older adult women per site are being recruited in the same households to evaluate indicators of cardiopulmonary, metabolic, and cancer outcomes. OBJECTIVES: Here we describe the rationale and ultimate design of a comprehensive biomarker plan to enable us to explore more fully how exposure is related to disease outcome. Methods: HAPIN enrollment and data collection began in May 2018 and will continue through August 2021. As a part of data collection, dried blood spot (DBS) and urine samples are being collected three times during pregnancy in pregnant women and older adult women. DBS are collected at birth for the child. DBS and urine samples are being collected from the older adult women and children three times throughout the child's first year of life. Exposure biomarkers that will be longitudinally measured in all participants include urinary hydroxy- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic chemical metabolites, metals/metalloids, levoglucosan, and cotinine. Biomarkers of effect, including inflammation, endothelial and oxidative stress biomarkers, lung cancer markers, and other clinically relevant measures will be analyzed in urine, DBS, or blood products from the older adult women. Similarly, genomic/epigenetic markers, microbiome, and metabolomics will be measured in older adult women samples. Discussion: Our study design will yield a wealth of biomarker data to evaluate, in great detail, the link between exposures and health outcomes. In addition, our design is comprehensive and innovative by including cutting-edge measures such as metabolomics and epigenetics.
Given the growing severity of particulate matter (PM) and greenhouse gas pollution, the Korean government recently began supporting the use of eco-friendly vehicles, such as electric vehicles and ...hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. However, the uptake of these vehicles has been slower than anticipated because of the high purchase price and lack of infrastructure. Therefore, the Korean government has eased restrictions on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vehicles to encourage the vast majority of consumers to purchase LPG vehicles, expecting that they will serve as a stepping stone to switch from internal combustion engine vehicles to their eco-friendly counterparts. However, there have been only a few studies on consumer preferences for LPG vehicles in consideration of this amendment. To analyze consumer preferences for all fuel types, including LPG, this study used a discrete choice experiment combined with a reference-dependent model. The results showed a loss aversion tendency and asymmetric preferences among consumers with regard to vehicle choice. Based on these results, a simulation analysis was conducted to predict the future market share and PM pollution level. The findings indicated that the government's LPG vehicle deregulation policy could achieve positive PM reduction effects in the short term but none in the long term.
•Forecast a market share by fuel type and derive PM emission reduction level.•Use the discrete choice experiments and a reference-dependent model.•Find loss aversion parameter and asymmetric preference for vehicle attributes.•The consumers are reluctant to switch to eco-friendly vehicles and compact cars.•LPG vehicles have a positive effect on PM reduction only in the short term.
Background The Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) trial aims to assess health benefits of a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cookfuel and stove intervention among women and children ...across four low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We measured exposure contrasts for women, achievable under alternative conditions of biomass or LPG cookfuel use, at potential HAPIN field sites in India, to aid in site selection for the main trial. Methods We recruited participants from potential field sites within Villupuram and Nagapattinam districts in Tamil Nadu, India, that were identified during a feasibility assessment. We performed. (i) cross-sectional measurements on women (N = 79) using either biomass or LPG as their primary cookfuel and (ii) before-and-after measurements on pregnant women (N = 41), once at baseline while using biomass fuel and twice - at 1 and 2 months - after installation of an LPG stove and free fuel intervention. We involved participants to co-design clothing and instrument stands for personal and area sampling. We measured 24 or 48-h personal exposures and kitchen and ambient concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) using gravimetric samplers. Results In the cross-sectional analysis, median (interquartile range, IQR) kitchen PM2.5 concentrations in biomass and LPG using homes were 134 mug/m3 IQR:71-258 and 27 mug/m3 IQR:20-47, while corresponding personal exposures were 75 mug/m3 IQR:55-104 and 36 mug/m3 IQR:26-46, respectively. In before-and-after analysis, median 48-h personal exposures for pregnant women were 72 mug/m3 IQR:49-127 at baseline and 25 mug/m3 IQR:18-35 after the LPG intervention, with a sustained reduction of 93% in mean kitchen PM2.5 concentrations and 78% in mean personal PM2.5 exposures over the 2 month intervention period. Median ambient concentrations were 23 mug/m3 IQR:19-27). Participant feedback was critical in designing clothing and instrument stands that ensured high compliance. Conclusions An LPG stove and fuel intervention in the candidate HAPIN trial field sites in India was deemed suitable for achieving health-relevant exposure reductions. Ambient concentrations indicated limited contributions from other sources. Study results provide critical inputs for the HAPIN trial site selection in India, while also contributing new information on HAP exposures in relation to LPG interventions and among pregnant women in LMICs. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.Gov. NCT02944682; Prospectively registered on October 17, 2016. Keywords: HAPIN trial, LPG intervention, Household air pollution, PM.sub.2.5, Personal exposures, Pregnant women, India
Probiotic fermentation of plant-based materials can lead to the generation of various bioactive substances via bacterial metabolites and the biotransformation of phenolic compounds. We compared the ...metabolic differences between fermentation by Limosilactobacillus fermentum KCTC15072BP (LFG) and fermentation by Lactiplantibacillus plantarum KGMB00831 (LPG) in guava leaf extract (0%, 0.5%, and 2% (w/v))-supplemented medium via non-targeted metabolite profiling. By performing multivariate statistical analysis and comparing the different guava leaf extract groups, 21 guava-derived and 30 bacterial metabolites were identified. The contents of guava-derived glucogallin, gallic acid, and sugar alcohols were significantly higher in LFG than they were in LPG. Similarly, significantly higher contents of guava-derived pyrogallol, vanillic acid, naringenin, phloretin, and aromatic amino acid catabolites were obtained with LPG than with LFG. LFG led to significantly higher antioxidant activities than LPG, while LPG led to significantly higher antiglycation activity than LFG. Interestingly, the fermentation-induced increase in the guava-leaf-extract-supplemented group was significantly higher than that in the control group. Thus, the increased bioactivity induced by guava fermentation with the Lactobacillaceae strain may be influenced by the synergistic effects between microbial metabolites and plant-derived compounds. Overall, examining the metabolic changes in plant-based food fermentation by differentiating the origin of metabolites provides a better understanding of food fermentation.
The association between prenatal household air pollution (HAP) exposure and childhood blood pressure (BP) is unknown.
Within the Ghana Randomized Air Pollution and Health Study (GRAPHS) we examined ...time-varying associations between
) maternal prenatal and
) first-year-of-life HAP exposure with BP at 4 years of age and, separately, whether a stove intervention delivered prenatally and continued through the first year of life could improve BP at 4 years of age.
GRAPHS was a cluster-randomized cookstove intervention trial wherein
pregnant women were randomized to one of two stove interventions:
) a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stove or improved biomass stove, or
) control (open fire cooking). Maternal HAP exposure over pregnancy and child HAP exposure over the first year of life was quantified by repeated carbon monoxide (CO) measurements; a subset of women (
) also performed one prenatal and one postnatal personal fine particulate matter (
) measurement. Systolic and diastolic BP (SBP and DBP) were measured in
4-y-old children along with their
exposure (
). We examined the effect of the intervention on resting BP
-scores. We also employed reverse distributed lag models to examine time-varying associations between
) maternal prenatal and
) first-year-of-life HAP exposure and resting BP
-scores. Among those with
measures, we examined associations between
and resting BP
-scores. Sex-specific effects were considered.
Intention-to-treat analyses identified that DBP
-score at 4 years of age was lower among children born in the LPG arm (LPG
; 95% CI:
,
) as compared with those in the control arm, and females were most susceptible to the intervention. Higher CO exposure in late gestation was associated with higher SBP and DBP
-score at 4 years of age, whereas higher late-first-year-of-life CO exposure was associated with higher DBP
-score. In the subset with
measurements, higher maternal postnatal
exposure was associated with higher SBP
-scores.
These findings suggest that prenatal and first-year-of-life HAP exposure are associated with child BP and support the need for reductions in exposure to HAP, with interventions such as cleaner cooking beginning in pregnancy. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP13225.
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure has been linked to diverse human health impacts. Little is known about the potential heterogeneous impacts of PM2.5 generated from different indoor fuel ...sources and how exposure differs between personal and indoor environments. Therefore, we used PM2.5 collected by one stationary sampler in a kitchen and personal samplers (female and male participants), in homes (n = 24) in Kheri, India, that used either biomass or liquified petroleum gas (LPG) as primary fuel sources. PM2.5 samples (pooled by fuel type and monitor placement) were analyzed for oxidative potential and chemical composition, including elements and 125 organic compounds. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos were acutely exposed to varying concentrations of PM2.5 and behavioral analyses were conducted. We found relatively high PM2.5 concentrations (5–15 times above World Health Organization daily exposure guidelines) and varied human health-related chemical composition based on fuel type and monitor placement (up to 15% carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon composition). Altered biological responses, including changes to mortality, morphology, and behavior, were elicited by exposure to all sample types. These findings reveal that although LPG is generally ranked the least harmful compared to biomass fuels, chemical characteristics and biological impacts were still present, highlighting the need for further research in determining the safety of indoor fuel sources.
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