MethPanel: a parallel pipeline and interactive analysis tool for multiplex bisulphite PCR sequencing to assess DNA methylation biomarker panels for disease detection.

SUMMARY: DNA methylation patterns in a cell are associated with gene expression and the phenotype of a cell, including disease states. Bisulphite PCR sequencing is commonly used to assess the methylation profile of genomic regions between different cells. Here we have developed MethPanel, a computational pipeline with an interactive graphical interface to rapidly analyse multiplex bisulphite PCR sequencing data. MethPanel comprises a complete analysis workflow from genomic alignment to DNA methylation calling and supports an unlimited number of PCR amplicons and input samples. MethPanel offers important and unique features, such as calculation of an epipolymorphism score and bisulphite PCR bias correction capabilities, and is designed so that the methylation data from all samples can be processed in parallel. The outputs are automatically forwarded to a shinyApp for convenient display, visualization and remotely sharing data with collaborators and clinicians. AVAILABILITYAND IMPLEMENTATION: MethPanel is freely available at https://github.com/thinhong/MethPanel. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Prevalence and associated factors of asymptomatic leishmaniasis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Asymptomatic leishmaniasis is believed to play important role in maintaining the transmission of Leishmania spp. within endemic communities. Therefore, the efforts to eliminate leishmaniasis are daunting if we cannot manage asymptomatic leishmaniasis well. To clarify the global prevalence and factors associated with the asymptomatic Leishmania infection, we assessed the prevalence of asymptomatic leishmaniasis by a systematic review followed by meta-analyses. In addition, factors associated with the asymptomatic leishmaniasis versus symptomatic were also analyzed. We included all of the original articles alluding to the human asymptomatic leishmaniasis that was confirmed by at least one laboratory diagnosis method regardless of age, sex, race, and ethnicity of the patients, study design, publication date or languages. In total, 111 original articles were chosen for the data extraction. Based on our meta-analyses of the original articles reporting asymptomatic leishmaniasis mostly in endemic areas, the prevalence of asymptomatic leishmaniasis was 11.2% [95% confidence interval (CI) 8.6%-14.4%] in general population, 36.7% [95% CI 27.6%-46.8%] in inhabitants living in the same or neighboring household to the symptomatic patients, and 11.8% [95% CI 7.1%-19%] in HIV infected patients. Among individuals with leishmaniasis, 64.9% [95% CI 54.7%-73.9%] were asymptomatic and males were more susceptible to develop symptoms, with OR=1.88, 95% CI 1.19-2.99, P=0.007. Meta-regression analysis showed no significant change in the prevalence of asymptomatic leishmaniasis during the last 40 years.

Efficacy of kinesio taping in treatment of shoulder pain and disability: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Kinesio tape is an elastic therapeutic tape used for treating sports injuries and various other disorders. A systematic review and network meta-analysis approach was used to synthesise all related evidence on the clinical effectiveness of kinesio taping for the treatment of shoulder pain. METHODS: A literature search was performed using 10 major databases. Randomised clinical trials reporting usage of kinesio taping for shoulder pain have been included. Quality and risk of bias were assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration's quality assessment tool. Meta-analysis was conducted to calculate standardised mean differences and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI). The corresponding 95% CI of pooled effect size were calculated using a fixed-effects or random-effects model based on the level of heterogeneity. In addition, meta-regression was used to assess the influence of underlying shoulder disease on the efficacy of kinesio taping. RESULTS: This systematic review and meta-analysis included 12 studies, with a total of 555 participants. Pairwise comparisons inferred that kinesio taping only showed significant improvement of shoulder pain and disability when combined with exercise. However, kinesio taping did not produce better results than placebo or treatment with steroids. The duration of treatment and underlying shoulder pathology did not influence the efficacy of kinesio taping. CONCLUSION: There is insufficient evidence to support the use of kinesio taping in clinical practice as a treatment for shoulder pain. However, there is limited evidence of its benefit as a complementary treatment in shoulder pain syndromes. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO CRD42017065881.