Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Chronic Airway Diseases.

INTRODUCTION: The global burden of chronic airway diseases represents an important public health concern. The role of oxidative stress and inflammation in the pathogenesis of these diseases is well known. The aim of this study is to evaluate the behavior of both inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers in patients with chronic bronchitis, current asthma and past asthma in the frame of a population-based study. METHODS: For this purpose, data collected from the Gene Environment Interactions in Respiratory Diseases (GEIRD) Study, an Italian multicentre, multicase-control study, was evaluated. Cases and controls were identified through a two-stage screening process of individuals aged 20-65 years from the general population. Out of 16,569 subjects selected from the general population in the first stage of the survey, 2259 participated in the clinical evaluation. Oxidative stress biomarkers such as 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG), 8-isoprostane and glutathione and inflammatory biomarkers such as Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide (FENO) and white blood cells were evaluated in 1878 subjects. RESULTS: Current asthmatics presented higher levels of FENO (23.05 ppm), leucocytes (6770 n/µL), basophils (30.75 n/µL) and eosinophils (177.80 n/µL), while subjects with chronic bronchitis showed higher levels of GSH (0.29 mg/mL) and lymphocytes (2101.6 n/µL). The multivariable multinomial logistic regression confirmed high levels of leucocytes (RRR = 1.33), basophils (RRR = 1.48), eosinophils (RRR = 2.39), lymphocytes (RRR = 1.26) and FENO (RRR = 1.42) in subjects with current asthma. Subjects with past asthma had a statistically significant higher level of eosinophils (RRR = 1.78) with respect to controls. Subjects with chronic bronchitis were characterized by increased levels of eosinophils (RRR = 2.15), lymphocytes (RRR = 1.58), GSH (RRR = 2.23) and 8-isoprostane (RRR = 1.23). CONCLUSION: In our study, current asthmatics show a greater expression of the inflammatory profile compared to subjects who have had asthma in the past and chronic bronchitis. On the other hand, chronic bronchitis subjects showed a higher rate of expression of oxidative stress biomarkers compared to asthmatic subjects. In particular, inflammatory markers such as circulating inflammatory cells and FENO seem to be more specific for current asthma, while oxidative stress biomarkers such as glutathione and 8-isoprostane appear to be more specific and applicable to patients with chronic bronchitis.

Prevalence of Suicide Ideation and its Relationship with Depression among Transgender Population.

OBJECTIVE: To record the prevalence of suicidal ideation in the transgender population and assess the relationship of depression with the suicidal ideation. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODOLOGY: The study group comprised of 156 transgender people of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Suicidal ideation was assessed by the scale for suicide ideation (SSI). Hamilton rating scale for depression (HAM-D) was used to look for the presence and severity of depression among the target population. Relationship of the age, smoking, family income, illicit substance use, and depression was studied with the presence of suicidal intent among these transgender population of twin cities. RESULTS: One hundred and fifty-six transgender people were included in this study. Mean age of the study participants was 39.26 ±4.28 years. Out of them, 89 (57.1%) had no suicidal ideations, while 67 (42.9%) had suicidal ideation. Fifty-seven (36.5%) did not showed depression, while 99 (63.5%) had depression on HAM-D. With binary logistic regression, depression and illicit substance were found to be significantly related to the presence of suicidal ideations in the target population (p <0.05). CONCLUSION: A high prevalence of suicidal ideation among the transgender population of twin cities was found in this study. Depression, illicit substance use, and other mental health illnesses should be screened routinely on this high risk population for early recognition and treatment.

Relationship Of Suicide Attempt With Depression And Other Socio-Demographic Factors Among The Transgenders.

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted assess the frequency of suicide attempt among the transgender population and analyse the relationship of depression and other socio-demographic factors with the suicide attempt Cross-sectional study. METHODS: The sample population comprised of one hundred and forty-eight transgender people of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Suicidal attempt was assessed by the simple question that "Have you ever performed an action with the intent to take your own life in your life time?" Answer of yes or no was recorded. Hamilton rating scale for Depression (HAM-D) was used to look for the presence of depression among the target population. Relationship of the age, smoking, family income, illicit substance use and depression was studied with the presence of suicidal attempt among these transgender population of twin cities of Pakistan. RESULTS: A total of 148 transgender people were included in the final analysis. Mean age of the study participants was 38.24±3.18. Out of these, 70.9% had no suicidal attempt in their whole life while 29.1% had one or more suicidal attempts during the course of their life. Twelve had more than one suicidal attempt while 19 had attempt in last one year. Fifty-five did not showed depression while 93 had depression on HAM-D. With binary logistic regression we found that presence of depression and low income had significant association with the presence of suicidal attempt among the target population. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed a high prevalence of suicidal attempts among the transgender population of twin cities of Pakistan. Routine screening for mental health problems should be performed on this high-risk group and adequate employment resources should be generated in order to enable them to earn their livelihood and prevent them from making attempts to take their own life.