Histoplasmosis Masquerading as Second Primary in Head and Neck Tumours - A Case Report.

Histoplasmosis is a chronic granulomatous disease seen in immunocompromised individuals, rarely immunocompetent patients. We report disseminated histoplasmosis involving adrenal glands and oral cavity with synchronous squamous cell carcinoma of right pyriform fossa. With early diagnosis and treatment he recovered well. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12070-023-03962-4.

Association of Agriculture Occupational Exposure With Diabetes and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in South Indian Villages: REDSI Study.

There has been a huge increase in diabetes and its associated cardiovascular complications over the last decade, predominantly in the middle- and low-income countries. In these countries, the majority live in rural areas. The Rural Epidemiology of Diabetes in South India (REDSI) study was aimed to analyze the prevalence of diabetes, cardiovascular risk factors, and its complications in rural farming and non-farming villages in Tamil Nadu, South India. A research survey on the prevalence of self-reported diabetes, cardiovascular risk factors (age, sex, obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, alcohol and tobacco use) and agricultural occupational exposure was executed among 106,111 people from 61 villages in the state of Tamil Nadu, South India, during 2015-2018. Overall, we observed a diabetes prevalence of 11.9% in rural South India. A nearly two-fold higher prevalence of diabetes was observed among the farming community (15.0%) compared to that among the non-farming population (8.7%). Logistic regression analyses revealed a strong association with agrochemical exposure (P < 0.0001) and diabetes prevalence among rural farming people. Our survey indicates a high prevalence of diabetes in rural South India particularly among the farming community. This survey in conjunction with other epidemiological and experimental studies raises the need for understanding the etiology of diabetes and other cardiovascular risk factors in rural communities.

Application of high-throughput next-generation sequencing for HLA typing of DNA extracted from postprocessing cord blood units.

Cord blood has become an acceptable source of hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation. HLA plays a major role in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Typing of cord blood samples for HLA alleles has been performed based on the serological and molecular methods. However, with the advent of next-generation sequencing technology, HLA typing becomes more accurate and unambiguous (upto intron level). Contamination of cord blood cells with erythropoietic cells poses a challenge in DNA extraction and downstream application. In the present study, DNA extracted from buffy coat of cord blood samples was typed for HLA-A, -B, -C, DRB1, and DQB1 alleles by Illumina miniseq and the sequences were aligned, phased, and mapped by MIA FORA software algorithms. Most frequent alleles found were HLA A*01:01:01 (17%), A*24:02:01 (15.1%), A*11:01:01 (13.6%), B*40:06:01 (10.7%), C*06:02:01 (17.7%), C*04:01:01 (14.2%), C*15:02:01 (11.4%), C*07:02:01 (10.7%), DRB1*07:01:01 (15.9%), DRB1*10:01:01 (10.2%), DQB1*06:01:01 (17.4%), DQB1*05:01:01 (12.4%), and DQB1*05:03:01 (10.4%). One null allele (A*24:11N), two novel alleles in B loci and three rare alleles (B*40:06:04, B*51:01:05, and C*01:44) were also identified in the present study. This study shows that high-throughput, unambiguous (third-field resolution) HLA typing can be performed on cord blood samples. In order to preserve the precious sample for future use, minimal amount of cord blood samples (postprocessing) could be used for HLA typing purpose.

Safety of imatinib in chronic myeloid leukemia in blastic crisis presenting as cholestatic jaundice.

Acute leukemia presenting as cholestatic jaundice is rare. It can occur due to granulocytic sarcoma compressing the bile ducts in case of acute myeloid leukemia. Rarely, diffuse infiltration of the liver sinusoids by the leukemic blasts can present as cholestatic jaundice. We report a case of chronic myeloid leukemia in lymphoid blast cell crisis presenting with severe cholestatic jaundice due to diffuse infiltration of the liver sinusoids with lymphoblasts. This patient tolerated imatinib well and, coinciding with the hematological response, there was marked reduction in the cholestasis due to blast clearance from the hepatic sinusoids. He was subsequently treated with combination chemotherapy and achieved morphological and cytogenetic remission.