Magnetic Nanoparticle-Based Biosensing Assay Quantitatively Enhances Acid-Fast Bacilli Count in Paucibacillary Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

A new method using a magnetic nanoparticle-based colorimetric biosensing assay (NCBA) was compared with sputum smear microscopy (SSM) for the detection of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in sputum samples. Studies were made to compare the NCBA against SSM using sputum samples collected from PTB patients prior to receiving treatment. Experiments were also conducted to determine the appropriate concentration of glycan-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (GMNP) used in the NCBA and to evaluate the optimal digestion/decontamination solution to increase the extraction, concentration and detection of acid-fast bacilli (AFB). The optimized NCBA consisted of a 1:1 mixture of 0.4% NaOH and 4% N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NALC) to homogenize the sputum sample. Additionally, 10 mg/mL of GMNP was added to isolate and concentrate the AFB. All TB positive sputum samples were identified with an increased AFB count of 47% compared to SSM, demonstrating GMNP's ability to extract and concentrate AFB. Results showed that NCBA increased AFB count compared to SSM, improving the grade from "1+" (in SSM) to "2+". Extending the finding to paucibacillary cases, there is the likelihood of a "scant" grade to become "1+". The assay uses a simple magnet and only costs $0.10/test. NCBA has great potential application in TB control programs.

Evaluating eight newly identified susceptibility loci for nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate in a Mesoamerican population.

BACKGROUND: Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) is among the most frequently occurring congenital malformations worldwide. The number of genetic loci identified as being involved in NSCL/P etiology was recently increased by a large genome-wide meta-analysis of European and Asian samples. This meta-analysis confirmed all six previously recognized genetic susceptibility loci and identified six novel ones. METHODS: To investigate which of these 12 loci contribute to NSCL/P risk in an independent sample of distinct ethnicity, we performed a case-control association analysis in a sample of the Mesoamerican population. A total of 153 individuals with NSCL/P (cases) and 337 unaffected controls were included. Top single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at 8 of the 12 loci (1p22.1, 1p36, 2p21, 3p11.1, 8q21.3, 13q31.1, 15q22, and 20q12) were analyzed using mass spectroscopy and restriction-length-fragment polymorphism analyses. In a previous study, we had analyzed the remaining four NSCL/P susceptibility regions (IRF6, 8q24, 10q25, and 17q22) in the same sample. RESULTS: Single-marker association analyses applying allelic, dominant, and recessive models revealed nominal significant associations for four of the eight loci, with two additional loci showing at least a trend of association in the hypothesized direction. CONCLUSION: In combination with results from our previous study using the same sample, our data suggest that the majority of the known NSCL/P susceptibility regions identified to date also confer risk for this malformation in the Mesoamerican population. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 100:43-47, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Evaluating SKI as a candidate gene for non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate.

Non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) is one of the most common of all congenital malformations and has a multifactorial etiology. Findings in mice suggest that the v-ski sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (SKI) gene is a candidate gene for orofacial clefting. In humans, a significant association between rs2843159 within SKI and NSCL/P has been reported in patients from the Philippines and South America. In the South American patients, the association was driven by the subgroup of patients with non-syndromic cleft lip only (NSCLO). Here we investigated the association with rs2843159 in a Mayan Mesoamerican population (172 NSCL/P patients and 366 controls). In addition, we analyzed the phenotypic subgroups NSCLO and non-syndromic cleft of lip and palate (NSCLP). A trend towards association between rs2843159 and NSCL/P was observed in the Mayan cohort (P = 0.097), and we found a stronger association in the NSCLP subgroup (P = 0.072) despite a limited sample size. To investigate whether other common variants within the SKI gene contribute to NSCL/P susceptibility in European and Asian populations, we also analyzed genotypic data from two recent genome-wide association studies using set-based statistical approaches. These analyses detected a trend toward association in the European population. Our data provide limited support for the hypothesis that common SKI variants are susceptibility factors for NSCL/P.

Genetic risk factors for nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate in a Mesoamerican population: Evidence for IRF6 and variants at 8q24 and 10q25.

INTRODUCTION: Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) is one of the most common of all birth defects. NSCL/P has a multifactorial etiology that includes both genetic and environmental factors. The IRF6 gene and three further susceptibility loci at 8q24, 10q25, and 17q22, which were identified by a recent genome-wide association scan (GWAS), are confirmed genetic risk factors for NSCL/P in patients of European descent. METHODS: A case-control association study was performed to investigate whether these four risk loci contribute to NSCL/P in a Mesoamerican population using four single nucleotide polymorphisms to represent IRF6 and the three novel susceptibility loci. A total of 149 NSCL/P patients and 303 controls of Mayan origin were included. RESULTS: Single marker analysis revealed a significant association between NSCL/P and risk variants in IRF6 and the 8q24 and 10q25 loci. In contrast to previous findings, the association at the 8q24 locus was driven solely by homozygote carriers of the risk allele. This suggests that this locus might act in a recessive manner in the Mayan population. No evidence for association was found at the 17q22 locus. This may have been attributable to the limited power of the sample. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that IRF6 and the 10q25 and 8q24 loci confer a risk for the development of NSCL/P in persons of Mayan origin.