Association of serum homocysteine with vitamin B12 and folate levels in women with pre-eclampsia in a tertiary health care center in Nepal.

BACKGROUND: Pre-eclampsia is a syndrome that chiefly includes the development of new-onset hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Pre-eclampsia is one of the major causes of mortality and morbidity in Nepal. Hyperhomocysteinemia may be a cause of the endothelial dysfunction provoked by oxidative stress in pre-eclampsia. This study was designed to evaluate the association of homocysteine with Vitamin B12 and folate in patients with pre-eclampsia. METHOD: An observational cross sectional study was performed in the Gynecology and Obstetrics Department of TUTH involving seventy two subjects with pre-eclampsia. Blood pressure, urinary protein levels, serum homocysteine, Vitamin B12 and folate levels were compared in both mild and severe forms of pre-eclampsia. Concentration of Vitamin B12 and folate were measured using Vitros ECI and homocysteine was measured using CLIA. SPSS 23.0 was used to analyze the data. Tests were performed with Mann Whitney Test and Spearman's rank correlation test. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: This study showed no significant difference in age and weeks of gestation in both mild and severe forms of pre-eclampsia. Mean concentration of homocysteine was higher (13.1 ± 6.4 micromol/L) in severe Pre-eclampsia as compared to mild cases (7.6 ± 2.8 micromol/L). Mean concentration of folate was lower in severe cases (35.4 ± 24.1 micromol/L) when compared with mild cases of pre-eclampsia (57 ± 23.4 micromol/L). CONCLUSION: Homocysteine levels were increased in severe Pre-eclampsia when compared with mild pre-eclampsia and this finding can be used to predict and prevent complications in patients with pre-eclampsia.

Antibiosis of Burkholderia ubonensis againist Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent for melioidosis.

Melioidosis, caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, is an enigmatic infectious disease that afflicts individuals in many tropical and developing regions. Treatment is hampered by the organism's innate antibiotic resistance and the disease's non-pathognomic presentation. Recently, added attention has been given to this organism due to its classification as a potential biowarfare agent. Therefore, methods of preventing acquisition of infection are needed. We investigated antagonism between Burkholderia spp and B. pseudomallei derived from the same ecological niche in a melioidosis endemic region in Papua New Guinea. Isolates of environmentally derived non-pseudomallei Burkholderia spp (n=16) were screened for antibiosis against 27 B. pseudomallei isolates. Three isolates subsequently identified as B. ubonensis produced specific antagonistic activity against all B. pseudomallei isolates tested. The antagonistic compound in a cell-free state was obtained from a representative producing strain, with subsequent biological characterization revealing a pepsin sensitive peptide moiety consistent with a bacteriocin-like compound. To our knowledge, this is the first report of antagonistic activity demonstrated by near-neighbor Burkholderia against B. pseudomallei. This antagonism may be important in the micro-ecology of B. pseudomallei, and could also have application in the biocontrol of this pathogen.