Hepatitis A (HAV) infection is caused by the hepatitis A virus which is transmitted through the fecal-oral route. Life long protective antibodies are present after infection. The number of cases of adult hepatitis A has progressively been increasing during the last several decades in Bangladesh. In addition, the pattern of age-specific seroprevalence of anti-HAV has changed with economic growth. The prevalence of anti-HAV in 20-40 year age range has declined rapidly during the last 3 decades. As a result, this age groups has a high risk for HAV infection and clinically overt hepatitis A is increasing in adolescents and adult. The aim of the present study were to assess whether the proportion of adults with acute HAV infection has been increasing over the years and analyze the seroprevalence of immunoglobulin M(IgM) anti-HAV antibodies in young adults below the age of 20 years as well as in cases of chronic liver disease. Sera collected from 530 patients with acute and chronic liver disease attends the Somorita Hospital Ltd. during the previous 2 years and 6 months (Jan. 2008-Jun. 2010) were tested for various serological markers of acute and chronic hepatitis. In addition, 530 normal healthy attendants of the patients above the age of 20 years were tested for IgM anti-HAV as controls. Of 530 patients with acute hepatitis (13.42%) were positive for immunoglobulin M. The patients who were IgM anti-HAV negative were found to be hepatitis B (106 patients), hepatitis C, (10 patients), hepatitis E (150 patients) and unclassified (273 patients). Although the frequency of HAV infection among young adult (< 20 age) had increased (33.33% to 42.35%) in the 2 years and 6 months period, the frequency of HAV infection among adults had also increased (15.38% to 28.13%) during the same period. This study should be helpful for the identification of high risk population for vaccination of hepatitis A.

An elevated serum homocysteine concentration is associated with an increased risk of coronary, cerebral, and peripheral vascular disease. The objective of the study was to evaluate the association of serum homocysteine level with hypertension (HTN). This cross sectional analytical study was conducted at Sir Salimullah Medical College & Mitford Hospital and National Health Care Network Dhaka, Bangladesh over a duration of 21 months from July 2012 to May 2014. Fifty HTN patients were included as study subjects and age and sex matched fifty non-HTN healtlhy controls were included. All the clinical measurements were taken and serum Hcy was measured for all study subjects. In this study, females were predominant in both groups, mean age of the HTN patients was 41.0±5.6 years and non-HTN healthy subjects was 38.2±5.2 years. BMI and FBG were found higher in HTN group than that of non-HTN group but the differences were not statistically significant. Systolic and diastolic BP were found significantly higher in HTN group than that of non-HTN group. Serum Hcy level was significantly higher in HTN group (19.93±4.12 μmol/L) than that of non-HTN group (13.20±1.88 μmol/L). This study depicted that serum Hcy had significant correlation with SBP and DBP in HTN. In conclusion, it was seen that elevated serum Hcy level is associated with hytpertension. Bangladesh J Med Biochem 2018; 11(1): 22-25

Among the non-communicable diseases, CVD is the number one cause of mortality all over the world. Hypertension is an important contributor to cardiovascular diseases, stroke and kidney diseases. The study was done to evaluate the association of serum uric acid and atherogenic index of plasma with hypertension. A total of 100 individuals were selected as study subjects based on predefined enrollment criteria. Among them 50 diagnosed cases of hypertension were selected as cases and 50 normotensive healthy individuals as controls. Serum uric acid and serum lipid profile were measured in all study subjects. Atherogenic index of plasma was calculated by the formula log (TG/HDL-C). The study population mostly belonged to 36 to 45 years of age group. The mean age of hypertensive patients was 40.78±4.00 years and that of controls was 39.58±4.12 years. The study found that the mean levels of serum TG (205.24±56.74 mg/dl), TC (225.44±60.67 mg/dl), LDL-C (134.34±49.58 mg/dl) in hypertensive patients were significantly higher than those of controls. The mean AIP in the hypertensive patients was (0.68±0.19) significantly higher (p<0.001) than that of controls (0.43±0.22). The mean serum uric acid level in hypertensive patients (7.05±1.31 mg/dl ) was found to be significantly higher (p<0.001) than that of controls (4.84±1.27 mg/dl). The study shows a positive linear correlation of serum uric acid with TG (r=0.455, p=0.001), TC (r=0.504, p=0.001), LDL-C (r=0.425, p=0.002) and negative correlation with HDL-C (r= - 0.158, p=0.274) in hypertensives. The hypertensive subjects showed a positive significant (r= 0.437, p= 0.002) correlation between AIP and serum uric acid. From the study it seems that hyperuricemia and high AIP are associated with hypertension.Bangladesh J Med Biochem 2016; 9(1): 5-10