Alcohol abuse is an important public health problem, with major implications in patients with a preexisting liver pathology of viral origin. Hepatitis C, for example, is one of the diseases in which alcohol consumption can lead to the transition from a fairly benign outline to a potentially life-threatening liver disease.Alcohol abuse is usually identified on the basis of clinical judgment, alcoholism related questionnaires, laboratory tests and, more recently, biomarkers. Also on this list of tests, carbohydrate deficient transferrin (CDT) is widely available and useful for determining recent alcohol consumption, particularly when corroborated with elevation of other liver-associated enzymes. Clinicians should be aware of the indications and limitations of this test in order to better evaluate alcohol consumption in their patients.

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A case of L3 (Burkitt cell) leukemia with chromosome 1 abnormality but no detectable abnormalities of chromosomes 8 or 14 is reported. This is the first time that L3 leukemia has been shown to be associated with a primary abnormality of chromosome 1. The implications of these findings relative to the development of B-cell ALL and the role of chromosome 1 in human neoplasia is discussed.

In Africa, a child dies every 30 seconds from malaria, a vector-borne parasitic disease caused by Plasmodium spp, with higher mortality and severe forms of disease more frequently associated with Plasmodium falciparum infection. By looking at the natural resistance to malaria conferred by sickle cell trait, we hypothesize that a malaria therapeutical vaccine targeting the erythrocyte stage of the parasite through erythrocyte sickling could reduce parasite density and control the progression and severity of disease, thus decreasing the morbidity and mortality associated with severe forms of malaria.

There is a sample evidence that allergic disorders such as asthma, rhinitis and atopic dermatitis are mediated by oxidative stress. Excessive exposure to reactive oxygen and nitrogen species is the hallmark of oxidative stress and leads to damage of proteins, lipids and DNA. Oxidative stress occurs not only as a result of inflammation but also from environmental exposure to air pollution and cigarette smoke. The specific localization of antioxidant enzymes in the lung and the rapid reaction of nitric oxide with reactive oxygen species, such as superoxide, suggests that antioxidant enzymes might also function as cell-signalling agents or regulators of cell signalling.