Understanding three approaches to reporting sudden unexpected infant death in the USA.

INTRODUCTION: In the USA each year, there are approximately 3400 sudden unexpected infant (<1 year of age) deaths (SUID) which occur without an obvious cause before an investigation. SUID includes the causes of death (COD) undetermined/unknown, sleep-related suffocation/asphyxia and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS); these are often called SUID subtypes. Three common ways SUID subtypes are grouped (SUID subtype groups) include International Classification of Diseases (ICD) Codes, SUID Case Registry Categories or Child Death Review (CDR)-Assigned Causes. These groups are often used to monitor SUID trends and characteristics at the local, state and national levels. We describe and compare the characteristics of these three SUID subtype groups. DISCUSSION: SUID subtype groups are distinct and not directly interchangeable. They vary in purpose, strengths, limitations, uses, history, data years available, population coverage, assigning entity, guidance documentation and information available to assign subtypes. CONCLUSION: Making informed decisions about which SUID subtype group to use is important for reporting statistics, increasing knowledge of SUID epidemiology and informing prevention strategies.

Untangling the Impacts of Climate Change on Waterborne Diseases: a Systematic Review of Relationships between Diarrheal Diseases and Temperature, Rainfall, Flooding, and Drought.

Global climate change is expected to affect waterborne enteric diseases, yet to date there has been no comprehensive, systematic review of the epidemiological literature examining the relationship between meteorological conditions and diarrheal diseases. We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Collection for studies describing the relationship between diarrheal diseases and four meteorological conditions that are expected to increase with climate change: ambient temperature, heavy rainfall, drought, and flooding. We synthesized key areas of agreement and evaluated the biological plausibility of these findings, drawing from a diverse, multidisciplinary evidence base. We identified 141 articles that met our inclusion criteria. Key areas of agreement include a positive association between ambient temperature and diarrheal diseases, with the exception of viral diarrhea and an increase in diarrheal disease following heavy rainfall and flooding events. Insufficient evidence was available to evaluate the effects of drought on diarrhea. There is evidence to support the biological plausibility of these associations, but publication bias is an ongoing concern. Future research evaluating whether interventions, such as improved water and sanitation access, modify risk would further our understanding of the potential impacts of climate change on diarrheal diseases and aid in the prioritization of adaptation measures.

α1-adrenergic receptors positively regulate Toll-like receptor cytokine production from human monocytes and macrophages.

Catecholamines released from the sympathetic nervous system in response to stress or injury affect expression of inflammatory cytokines generated by immune cells. α(1)-Adrenergic receptors (ARs) are expressed on innate immune cell populations, but their subtype expression patterns and signaling characteristics are not well characterized. Primary human monocytes, a human monocytic cell line, and monocyte-derived macrophage cells were used to measure expression of the proinflammatory mediator interleukin (IL)-1ß responding to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the presence or absence of α(1)-AR activation. Based on our previous findings, we hypothesized that α(1)-AR stimulation on innate immune cells positively regulates LPS-initiated IL-1ß production. IL-1ß production in response to LPS was synergistically higher for both monocytes and macrophages in the presence of the selective α(1)-AR agonist (R)-(-)-phenylephrine hydrochloride (PE). This synergistic IL-1ß response could be blocked with a selective α(1)-AR antagonist as well as inhibitors of protein kinase C (PKC). Radioligand binding studies characterized a homogenous α(1B)-AR subtype population on monocytes, which changed to a heterogeneous receptor subtype expression pattern when differentiated to macrophages. Furthermore, increased p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation was observed only with concurrent PE and LPS stimulation, peaking after 120 and 30 min in monocytes and macrophages, respectively. Blocking the PKC/p38 MAPK signaling pathway in both innate immune cell types inhibited the synergistic IL-1ß increase observed with concurrent PE and LPS treatments. This study characterizes α(1)-AR subtype expression on both human monocyte and macrophage cells and illustrates a mechanism by which increased IL-1ß production can be modulated by α(1)-AR input.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of ambient temperature and diarrhoeal diseases.

BACKGROUND: Global climate change is expected to increase the risk of diarrhoeal diseases, a leading cause of childhood mortality. However, there is considerable uncertainty about the magnitude of these effects and which populations bear the greatest risks. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review using defined search terms across four major databases and, additionally, examined the references of 54 review articles captured by the search. We evaluated sources of heterogeneity by pathogen taxon, exposure measure, study quality, country income level and regional climate, and estimated pooled effect estimates for the subgroups identified in the heterogeneity analysis, using meta-analysis methods. RESULTS: We identified 26 studies with 49 estimates. Pathogen taxa were a source of heterogeneity. There was a positive association between ambient temperature and all-cause diarrhoea (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.07; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03, 1.10) and bacterial diarrhoea (IRR 1.07; 95% CI 1.04, 1.10), but not viral diarrhoea (IRR 0.96; 95% CI 0.82, 1.11). These associations were observed in low-, middle- and high-income countries. Only one study of protozoan diarrhoea was identified. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in temperature due to global climate change can and may already be affecting diarrhoeal disease incidence. The vulnerability of populations may depend, in part, on local pathogen distribution. However, evidence of publication bias and the uneven geographical distribution of studies limit the precision and generalizability of the pooled estimates.

Pro-inflammatory responses in human monocytes are beta1-adrenergic receptor subtype dependent.

Stress induced circulating catecholamines are hypothesized to selectively activate adrenergic receptors (ARs) on immunocompetent cells modulating their inflammatory response to trauma or environmental toxins. We characterized changes in expression of a pro-inflammatory cytokine modulated by beta-AR activation in human primary and immortalized monocytes that had been simultaneously stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Results from cytokine antibody arrays demonstrated that half-maximal effective concentrations of the selective beta-AR agonist isoproterenol (Iso) qualitatively increased LPS-mediated expression of the soluble cytokine, interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta). Semi-quantitative immunoblot techniques confirmed a synergistic increase of IL-1beta production in both LPS stimulated THP-1 cells and primary human monocytes co-incubated with Iso. Immunoblot techniques as well as radioligand binding studies were also used to characterize the heterogeneous expression of beta(1)- and beta(2)-AR subtypes on THP-1 cells. beta-AR activation is classically associated with generation of cAMP in many tissues and cell types. Therefore, using the method of Schild, we generated Iso concentration-response curves in the presence of fixed subtype-selective beta-AR antagonist concentrations to demonstrate that beta(1)-AR activation was exclusively linked with the generation of cAMP in THP-1 cells. Furthermore, use of a selective kinase inhibitor demonstrated that Iso potentiated the expression of soluble IL-1beta through activation of cAMP-dependent protein kinase A. Finally, discriminating concentrations of subtype-selective beta-AR antagonists revealed that beta(1)-AR stimulation alone accounted for the synergistic production of IL-1beta in LPS stimulated monocytes co-incubated with Iso. These results demonstrate a unique synergistic pro-inflammatory response mediated through a beta(1)-AR cAMP-dependent mechanism in LPS-challenged monocytic cells.

Differential ability of a thiazolidinedione PPARgamma agonist to attenuate cytokine secretion in primary microglia and macrophage-like cells.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) agonists are known to inhibit select pro-inflammatory changes in models of CNS and systemic inflammation. Recent reports suggest that these anti-inflammatory effects are due to mechanisms other than canonical nuclear receptor-mediated transcriptional alteration. Using primary microglia and the monocytic cell line, THP-1, we demonstrate that rosiglitazone, a PPARgamma-activating thiazolidinedione, decreases pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion as measured by ELISA. Cells were pre-treated with various thiazolidinediones, including rosiglitazone, prior to stimulation with lipopolysaccharide or phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) to stimulate cytokine production. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) secretion was significantly inhibited in both primary microglia and THP-1 cells differentiated for 72 h in the presence of PMA to induce a macrophage-like phenotype. No reduction in TNFalpha secretion was observed in undifferentiated THP-1 cells with rosiglitazone pre-treatment. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay revealed no significant difference in PPARgamma activation between PMA-differentiated and undifferentiated THP-1 cells. When PMA-differentiated and undifferentiated THP-1 cells were treated with the irreversible PPARgamma antagonist, GW 9662, a significant, dose-dependent decrease in TNFalpha secretion was observed. These results suggest that the anti-inflammatory benefit of PPARgamma ligands occur independently of classical PPARgamma activation.