The relationship between depression and cardiovascular disease

Evidence from epidemiological studies has established that depression is a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and that the comorbidity of depression with pre-existing CVD worsens the prognosis for sufferers of CVD. Depression has also been associated with other behaviours that impact on CVD, such as medication non-compliance, and an unwillingness to adopt an exercise program, that reduce the likelihood of successful rehabilitation from CVD. Published literature on the current knowledge of the association between depression and CVD is reviewed in this paper.

More rapid and severe disease outbreaks for aquaculture at the tropics : implications for food security

1. Aquaculture is replacing capture fisheries in supplying the world with dietary protein. Although disease is a major threat to aquaculture production, the underlying global epidemiological patterns are unknown. 2. We analysed disease outbreak severity across different latitudes in a diverse range of aquaculture systems. 3. Disease at lower latitudes progresses more rapidly and results in higher cumulative mortality, in particular at early stages of development and in shellfish. 4. Tropical countries suffer proportionally greater losses in aquaculture during disease outbreaks and have less time to mitigate losses. 5. Synthesis and applications. Disease can present a major problem for food production and security in equatorial regions where fish and shellfish provide a major source of dietary protein. As the incidences of some infectious diseases may increase with climate change, adaptation strategies must consider global patterns in disease vulnerability of aquaculture and develop options to minimize impacts on food production.

“I call it the blame and shame disease”: a qualitative study about perceptions of social stigma surrounding type 2 diabetes

Abstract
Objectives While health-related stigma has been the subject of considerable research in other conditions (obesity and HIV/AIDS), it has not received substantial attention in diabetes. The aim of the current study was to explore the social experiences of Australian adults living with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), with a particular focus on the perception and experience of diabetes-related stigma.

Design A qualitative study using semistructured interviews, which were audio recorded, transcribed and subject to thematic analysis.

Setting This study was conducted in non-clinical settings in metropolitan and regional areas in the Australian state of Victoria. Participants were recruited primarily through the state consumer organisation representing people with diabetes.

Participants All adults aged ≥18 years with T2DM living in Victoria were eligible to take part. Twenty-five adults with T2DM participated (12 women; median age 61 years; median diabetes duration 5 years).

Results A total of 21 (84%) participants indicated that they believed T2DM was stigmatised, or reported evidence of stigmatisation. Specific themes about the experience of stigma were feeling blamed by others for causing their own condition, being subject to negative stereotyping, being discriminated against or having restricted opportunities in life. Other themes focused on sources of stigma, which included the media, healthcare professionals, friends, family and colleagues. Themes relating to the consequences of this stigma were also evident, including participants’ unwillingness to disclose their condition to others and psychological distress. Participants believed that people with type 1 diabetes do not experience similar stigmatisation.

Conclusions Our study found evidence of people with T2DM experiencing and perceiving diabetes-related social stigma. Further research is needed to explore ways to measure and minimise diabetes-related stigma at the individual and societal levels, and also to explore perceptions and experiences of stigma in people with type 1 diabetes

Phylogenetic analysis of beak and feather disease virus across a host ring-species complex

Pathogens have been hypothesized to play a major role in host diversity and speciation. Susceptibility of hybrid hosts to pathogens is thought to be a common phenomenon that could promote host population divergence and subsequently speciation. However, few studies have tested for pathogen infection across animal hybrid zones while testing for codivergence of the pathogens in the hybridizing host complex. Over 8 y, we studied natural infection by a rapidly evolving single-strand DNA virus, beak and feather diseases virus (BFDV), which infects parrots, exploiting a host-ring species complex (Platycercus elegans) in Australia. We found that host subspecies and their hybrids varied strikingly in both BFDV prevalence and load: both hybrid and phenotypically intermediate subspecies had lower prevalence and load compared with parental subspecies, while controlling for host age, sex, longitude and latitude, as well as temporal effects. We sequenced viral isolates throughout the range, which revealed patterns of genomic variation analogous to Mayr's ring-species hypothesis, to our knowledge for the first time in any host-pathogen system. Viral phylogeny, geographic location, intraspecific host density, and parrot community diversity and composition did not explain the differences in BFDV prevalence or load between subpopulations. Overall, our analyses suggest that functional host responses to infection, or force of infection, differ between subspecies and hybrids. Our findings highlight the role of host hybridization and clines in altering host-pathogen interactions, dynamics that can have important implications for models of speciation with gene flow, and offer insights into how pathogens may adapt to diverging host populations.

Prevalence of beak and feather disease virus in wild Platycercus elegans: comparison of three tissue types using a probe-based real-time qPCR test

The detection of avian viruses in wild populations has considerable conservation implications. For DNA-based studies, feathers may be a convenient sample type for virus screening and are, therefore, an increasingly common technique. This is despite recent concerns about DNA quality, ethics, and a paucity of data comparing the reliability and sensitivity of feather sampling to other common sample types such as blood. Alternatively, skeletal muscle tissue may offer a convenient sample to collect from dead birds, which may reveal viraemia. Here, we describe a probe-based quantitative real-time PCR for the relative quantification of beak and feather disease virus (BFDV), a pathogen of serious conservation concern for parrots globally. We used this method to test for BFDV in wild crimson rosellas (Platycercus elegans), and compared three different sample types. We detected BFDV in samples from 29 out of 84 individuals (34.5%). However, feather samples provided discordant results concerning virus presence when compared with muscle tissue and blood, and estimates of viral load varied somewhat between different sample types. This study provides evidence for widespread infection of BFDV in wild crimson rosellas, but highlights the importance of sample type when generating and interpreting qualitative and quantitative avian virus data.

Foot-and-mouth disease in red deer - experimental infection and test methods performance

Summary: The aim of this study was to evaluate a number of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) test methods for use in red deer. Ten animals were intranasally inoculated with the FMD virus (FMDV) O UKG 11/2001, monitored for clinical signs, and samples taken regularly (blood, serum, oral swabs, nasal swabs, probang samples and lesion swabs, if present) over a 4-week period. Only one animal, deer 1103, developed clinical signs (lesions under the tongue and at the coronary band of the right hind hoof). It tested positive by 3D and IRES real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) in various swabs, lesion materials and serum. In a non-structural protein (NSP) in-house ELISA (NSP-ELISA-IH), one commercial ELISA (NSP-ELISA-PR) and a commercial antibody NSP pen side test, only deer 1103 showed positive results from day post-inoculation (dpi) 14 onwards. Two other NSP-ELISAs detected anti-NSP serum antibodies with lower sensitivity. It also showed rising antibody levels in the virus neutralization test (VNT), the in-house SPO-ELISA-IH and the commercial SPO-ELISA-PR at dpi 9, and in another two commercial SPO-ELISAs at dpi 12 (SPO-ELISA-IV) and dpi 19 (SPO-ELISA-IZ), respectively. Six of the red deer that had been rRT-PCR and antibody negative were re-inoculated intramuscularly with the same O-serotype FMDV at dpi 14. None of these animals became rRT-PCR or NSP-ELISA positive, but all six animals became positive in the VNT, the in-house SPO-ELISA-IH and the commercial SPO-ELISA-PR. Two other commercial SPO-ELISAs were less sensitive or failed to detect animals as positive. The rRT-PCRs and the four most sensitive commercial ELISAs that had been used for the experimentally inoculated deer were further evaluated for diagnostic specificity (DSP) using 950 serum samples and 200 nasal swabs from non-infected animals. DSPs were 100% for the rRT-PCRs and between 99.8 and 100% for the ELISAs.

Application of the Ceditest® FMDV type O and FMDV-NS enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for detection of antibodies against foot-and-mouth disease virus in selected livestock and wildlife species in Uganda

Diagnosis and control of Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) requires rapid and sensitive diagnostic tests. Two antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits, Ceditest® FMDV-NS for the detection of antibodies against the nonstructural proteins of all FMDV serotypes and Ceditest® FMDV type O for the detection of antibodies against serotype O, were evaluated under African endemic conditions where the presence of multiple serotypes and the use of nonpurified vaccines complicate serological diagnosis. Serum samples from 218 African buffalo, 758 cattle, 304 goats, and 88 sheep were tested using both kits, and selected samples were tested not only in serotype-specific ELISAs for antibodies against primarily FMDV serotype O, but also against other serotypes. The FMDV-NS assay detected far more positive samples (93%) than the FMDV type O assay (30%) in buffalo (P < 0.05), with predominant antibodies against the South African Territories (SAT) serotypes, while the seroprevalence was generally comparable in cattle with antibodies against serotype O elicited by infection and/or vaccination. However, some districts had higher seroprevalence using the FMDV type O assay indicating vaccination without infection, while 1 cattle herd with antibodies against the SAT serotypes had far more positive samples (85%) using the FMDV-NS versus the FMDV type O (10%), consistent with the latter test's lower sensitivity for antibodies against SAT serotypes. Based on the current investigation, the FMDV type O ELISA may be limited by the presence of SAT serotypes. The FMD NS assay worked well as a screening test for antibodies against all FMDV serotypes present in Uganda; however, as long as nonpurified vaccines are applied in the region, this test cannot be used to differentiate between vaccinated and infected animals.

Molecular basis of copper transport: cellular and physiological functions of Menkes and Wilson disease proteins (ATP7A and ATPB)

Eukaryotic cells prevent copper-induced, free radical damage to cell components by employing copper-binding proteins and transporters that minimize the likelihood of free copper ions existing in the cell. In the cell, copper is actively transported from the cytoplasm during the biosynthesis of secreted coppercontaining proteins and, as a protective measure, when there is an excess of copper. In humans, this is accomplished by two related copper-transporting ATPases (ATP7A and ATP7B), which are the affected genes in two distinct human genetic disorders of copper transport, Menkes disease (copper deficiency) and Wilson disease (copper toxicosis). The study of these ATPases has revealed their molecular mechanisms of copper transport and their roles in physiological copper homeostasis. Both ATP7A and ATP7B are expressed in specific brain regions and neurological abnormalities are important clinical features in Menkes and Wilson disease.

Evidence-based nutrition and cardiovascular disease in the Asia-Pacific region

The Asia-Pacific region is undergoing a major change in both food and health patterns, with a connection between the two more than likely. Evidence for certain traditional Asia-Pacific foods as protective agents against chronic non-communicable disease and cardiovascular disease (CVD), in particular, is growing at a time when their usage diminishes. The nature of the evidence to establish relevant Asia-Pacific food-health linkages will include randomised placebo-controlled clinical trials, but is much more extensive and meaningful. Okinawans have probably achieved one of the most successful food cultures from a health point of view and serve as a reference point for the Asia-Pacific region. The expert working party has produced, in November 2000, the 'Okinawan Recommendations on Nutrition and CVD in the Asia-Pacific region'.

Hormone replacement therapy and cardiovascular disease

The authors examine the most recent research concerning the risks and benefits of oestrogen or combined oestrogen-progestin therapy in postmenopausal women.