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Major Global Health Problem (major + global_health_problem)
Selected AbstractsSurprises from the crystal structure of the hepatitis C virus NS2-3 protease,HEPATOLOGY, Issue 6 2006Jerome Gouttenoire Ph.D. Hepatitis C virus is a major global health problem affecting an estimated 170 million people worldwide. Chronic infection is common and can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer. There is no vaccine available and current therapies have met with limited success. The viral RNA genome encodes a polyprotein that includes 2 proteases essential for virus replication. The NS2-3 protease mediates a single cleavage at the NS2/NS3 junction, whereas the NS3-4A protease cleaves at 4 downstream sites in the polyprotein. NS3-4A is characterized as a serine protease with a chymotrypsin-like fold, but the enzymatic mechanism of the NS2-3 protease remains unresolved. Here, we report the crystal structure of the catalytic domain of the NS2-3 protease at 2.3 Å resolution. The structure reveals a dimeric cysteine protease with 2 composite active sites. For each active site, the catalytic histidine and glutamate residues are contributed by one monomer, and the nucleophilic cysteine by the other. The carboxy-terminal residues remain coordinated in the 2 active sites, predicting an inactive postcleavage form. Proteolysis through formation of a composite active site occurs in the context of the viral polyprotein expressed in mammalian cells. These features offer unexpected insights into polyprotein processing by hepatitis C virus and new opportunities for antiviral drug design. [source] Biosecurity and the international response to HIV/AIDS: governmentality, globalisation and securityAREA, Issue 3 2010Alan Ingram A growing critical literature examines the rise of biosecurity. HIV/AIDS has been mentioned in this literature as a biosecurity issue, but despite its importance as a major global health problem, the ways in which HIV/AIDS might be considered a matter of biosecurity have not been explored in depth. This article addresses this issue, particularly in relation to the international response to HIV/AIDS, through the conceptual prism of governmentality and in relation to concerns about globalisation and security. Following a discussion of the relevance of governmentality to research on the intersections between globalisation and security, the article considers biosecurity and the international response to HIV/AIDS in terms of modes of problematisation and institutionalisation. In terms of problematisation, it argues that while some biosecurity issues and HIV/AIDS have been addressed as emergencies, the characteristics of anticipation, preparedness, emergence and pre-emption, which are central to the dominant formation of biosecurity, are less relevant to HIV/AIDS. As the article shows, the two fields have also been institutionalised in rather distinct ways. It therefore cautions against regarding the international response to HIV/AIDS as a biosecurity intervention. In conclusion, the article identifies three broad avenues for further research: unpacking the politics of global health and security during recession; engaging with theoretical debates around governmentality; and engaging with problems of space. [source] Genetic variation and susceptibility to infection: the red cell and malariaBRITISH JOURNAL OF HAEMATOLOGY, Issue 3 2008D. J. Weatherall Summary There is now convincing evidence that the extremely high frequencies of certain genetic disorders of the red cell involving haemoglobin, the red-cell membrane, or its metabolic pathways reflect relative resistance to malaria over thousands of years. At least some progress has been made towards an understanding of the cellular mechanisms involved, although much remains to be learnt. As well as the extremely valuable information that this field is providing about how exposure to infection has moulded the current structure of the human genome, recent research in this field is starting to provide some valuable new approaches to the better control of parasitic and other infections that remain a major global health problem. [source] Reduced fat oxidation and obesity risks among the Buryat of Southern Siberia,AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2009William R. Leonard Over the last 20 years, obesity and associated metabolic diseases have emerged as major global health problems. Among urbanizing populations of developing regions of the world, childhood undernutrition often coexists with adult overnutrition, a phenomenon known as the "dual nutritional burden". A recent work (Frisancho 2003: Am J Hum Biol 15:522,532) suggests that linear growth stunting in early childhood may contribute to adult obesity by reducing the body's ability to oxidize fat. We test central aspects of this model drawing on data from 112 adult Buryat herders (53 males; 59 females) from Southern Siberia. The results are consistent with the predictions of the model, but only for women. Shorter Buryat women (height-for-age Z -scores , ,1) have significantly lower fasting fat oxidation levels compared to their taller counterparts. Shorter women are also significantly heavier and fatter, and have higher serum lipid levels. Among all Buryat women, reduced fat oxidation is significantly correlated with percent body fatness, serum triglyceride levels, and serum leptin levels, after controlling for relevant covariates. Additionally, Buryat women with high dietary fat intakes and low fat oxidation are significantly fatter and have higher lipid and leptin levels than those with low fat intakes and high fat oxidation. These results suggest that developmental changes in fat oxidation may play a role in the origins of obesity among populations with high rates of linear growth stunting. Further longitudinal research is necessary to elucidate the pathways through which early-life undernutrition may increase risks for adulthood obesity and cardiovascular disease. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||