ABSTRACT
Apoptosis is an essential physiological process that regulates cellular proliferation. Here, we explored the effect of DNA sequence variation within the BCL-2 gene on prostate cancer susceptibility in three clinical populations, consisting of 428 African Americans, 214 Jamaicans and 218 European Americans. We observed a 70% reduced risk for prostate cancer among the European Americans who had possessed two copies of a promoter variant -938C/A. Additionally, common BCL-2 haplotypes appeared to influence prostate cancer risk; however, studies in larger data sets are needed to confirm our findings. Our data suggest that inherited BCL-2 variants may be associated with a decrease in prostate cancer susceptibility.
Subject(s)
Carcinoma/genetics , Genetic Predisposition to Disease , Genetic Variation , Germ-Line Mutation , Prostatic Neoplasms/genetics , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2/genetics , Adult , Black or African American/genetics , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Case-Control Studies , Gene Frequency , Genotype , Haplotypes , Humans , Inheritance Patterns , Jamaica/ethnology , Linkage Disequilibrium , Male , Middle Aged , Models, Biological , Open Reading Frames , Regulatory Elements, Transcriptional , White People/geneticsABSTRACT
We wished to obtain potential users' perspectives on vaginal microbicides from a population of women at high risk for HIV. We conducted a face-to-face survey of convenience samples (total n = 743) of drug-using women and female sexual partners of male injection drug users in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Providence, Rhode Island, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Ninety percent of respondents said that they would be very likely to use microbicides with paying partners and 78% with primary partners (p = 0.001). High hypothetical likelihood of use was expressed even after several potential product characteristics (e.g., causes minor vaginal irritation or burning) were rated as unacceptable. Latinas had significantly higher predicted likelihood of use with primary (p = 0. 001) and paying partners (p = 0.018) than blacks and whites. Eighty percent of respondents preferred products that enhance sexual pleasure by providing additional lubrication or "wetness." More than 80% of respondents said that they would want their primary partners to know of their microbicide use, and 42% (p = 0.001) said that they would want their paying partners to know. Women's concern about a paying partner's violent response to suggested use of risk reduction measures was inversely related to predicted likelihood of microbicide use (p = 0.045). Microbicides should be assessed in the context of the potential users' actual relationships and cultures. Achieving broad acceptability among drug-involved women will require a range of products.
Subject(s)
Anti-Infective Agents/administration & dosage , Attitude , HIV Infections/prevention & control , Sexually Transmitted Diseases/prevention & control , Substance-Related Disorders , Administration, Intravaginal , Adolescent , Adult , Black or African American/psychology , Data Collection , Female , Hispanic or Latino/psychology , Humans , Middle Aged , Puerto Rico , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
Antisera from dengue patients and dengue virus infected rabbits recognized octapeptides corresponding to linear amino acid sequences in the envelope protein of dengue 2 (Jamaica 1409). Although no peptide was recognized by sera from all dengue infected hosts, two peptides (216LPLPWLPG223 and 448FSGVSWTM455) were recognized by sera from all dengue 2 infected rabbits. One of these 448FSGVSWTM455 was also recognized by sera from both the dengue 2 patients tested. No peptides were identified which reacted exclusively with all dengue 2 infected animals. Use of a mouse monoclonal antibody (1B7) enabled identification of two regions (50AKQPATLR57 and 127GKVVLPEN134) and possibly a third (349GRLITVNP356) in the envelope protein of dengue 2 likely to be involved in haemagglutination inhibition and virus neutralization in vitro.