The Relationship between Anthropometric Indices and Breast Cancer in Central Iran.

Background: Anthropometric indices have a debatable relationship with breast cancer (BC) among different ethnicity. In the current study, we have evaluated the relationship between anthropometric indices and BC in Iranian participants. Methods: Between 2012 and 2014, a total of 7,805 women were enrolled from different mammography centers in Isfahan province, Iran. For each participant, a detailed questionnaire was filled out and anthropometric indices were measured by trained technicians. We used logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for BC risk associated with anthropometry measurements, stratified on menopausal status. Results: In the postmenopausal group, weight ≥68 kg compared to weight <61.75 kg was associated with decreased risk of BC (OR = 0.78; 95% CI: 0.63-0.97). Postmenopausal women with Waist-Hip Ratio (WHR) ≥ 0.85 compared to WHR < 0.77 were at increased risk of BC (OR = 1.36; 95% CI: 1.07-1.73). Both premenopausal and postmenopausal women had a decreased risk of BC with higher Obesity Index (OI) and Relative Weight. Conclusion: Ethnicity appears to play an important role in the discrepancies between results of different studies about the correlation of anthropometric features with BC.

Disparities in HIV Clinical Outcomes among a Cohort of HIV-Infected Persons Receiving Care-Mississippi.

Increasing patients' cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) count and achieving viral suppression are the ultimate goals of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) care and treatment, yet disparities in these HIV clinical outcomes exist among subpopulations of HIV-infected persons. We aimed to assess potential disparities in viral suppression and normal CD4 count among HIV-infected persons receiving care in Mississippi using Mississippi Medical Monitoring Project (MMP) data from 2009 to 2014 (N = 1233) in this study. Outcome variables in this study were suppressed, recent and durable viral load, and normal CD4 count. Patients' characteristics in this study were race, gender, age, annual income, education, insurance, and length of diagnosis. Descriptive statistics, Chi square tests, and logistic regression analyses were conducted using the SAS 9.4 Proc Survey procedure. Our findings indicate that those aged 50 years or older were more likely to have suppressed recent viral load (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) = 2.4) and durable viral loads (aOR = 2.9), compared to those aged 18-24 years. In addition, women were more likely to have a normal CD4 count than men (aOR = 1.4). In conclusion, we found that age and gender disparities in HIV clinical outcomes may be used to develop and implement multifaceted interventions to improve health equity among all HIV-infected patients.

Otitis Media with Effusion in Children and the Impact of Risk Factors on Serum Cytokine Levels.

INTRODUCTION: To evaluate the role of allergic-type and infectious-type cytokines in children with chronic otitis media with effusion (OME). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We investigated serum levels of interleukins (IL)-4, IL-5, and IL-13, along with interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 35 children with OME and 28 healthy controls. RESULTS: Children with OME had significantly higher levels of IL-5 in comparison with the control group, ranging from 1 pg/ml in cases to 0.04 pg/ml in controls (P=0.009). However, after adjusting for confounding variables, there was no significant difference in serum levels of IL-13, IL-4, IFN-γ, or TNF-α between the two groups (P=0.287, P=0.627, P=0.793, and P=0.217, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggest that in comparison with the control group, serum IL-5 levels were elevated in OME cases.