Celiac disease (CD; also known as celiac sprue, gluten-sensitive enteropathy, and nontropical sprue) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disorder characterized by abnormalities in the small intestine caused by permanent intolerance to dietary gluten or related proteins from wheat and rye 1 . Although few CD patients may suffer primarily from gastrointestinal symptoms, CD may be related with extra-intestinal disorders 2 . Genetic, immunological and environmental factors have been attributed for the disease. Till date, the etiology of CD has not yet been fully elucidated. However, CD has shown a strong genetic relation with HLA (human leucocyte antigen) class II gene, contributing no more than 40% to the disease risk, which shows involvement of genetic components in the development of CD 3,4 . Recently published genome-wide association study (GWAS) has identified several non-HLA genes as new susceptibility factors for CD. So far, 39 loci with 57 independent association signals have been defined and many of these loci harbour genes associated with immunity 5

No abstract

The association of interleukin-6 (IL-6)-174G > C (rs1800795) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) with the risk of acquiring rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a relevant issue because of conflicting and consensus lacking reports published in literature. We investigated IL-6-174G > C promoter polymorphism in 34 RA patients, attending a tertiary care hospital in north India. We also performed a meta-analysis, of the previously published studies reporting this genetic relationship, in overall population, and independently in Asian and Caucasian ethnicities to further elucidate this association. A total of 13 studies, including the current one, involving 3291 RA cases and 3812 controls were analyzed. Out of the 13 studies, 6 were from Asian, 6 from Caucasian and 1 from a mixed population. Our case-control study showed significant association of IL-6-174G > C SNP with increased RA risk: allelic (OR = 3.750, 95% CI = 1.800-7.813, p < 0.001); dominant (OR = 2.800, 95% CI = 1.167-6.721, p = 0.021); and recessive (OR = 36.72, 95% CI = 2.004-672.7, p = 0.015). The meta-analysis revealed the increased RA risk associated with IL-6-174G > C SNP in overall population: allelic (OR = 1.650, 95% CI = 1.169-2.329, p = 0.004); homozygous (OR = 1.380, 95% CI = 0.906-2.101, p = 0.133); heterozygous (OR = 1.559, 95% CI = 1.001-2.428, p = 0.049); dominant (OR = 1.663, 95% CI = 1.078-2.567, p = 0.022); and recessive (OR = 1.366, 95% CI = 0.964-1.935, p = 0.079). Subgroup analysis also showed this polymorphism to be associated with increased RA risk in Asian population: allelic (OR = 3.724, 95% CI = 1.361-10.190, p = 0.010); dominant (OR = 3.823, 95% CI = 1.320-11.074, p = 0.013); and recessive (OR = 4.357, 95% CI = 1.634-11.623, p = 0.003), but not in Caucasian population. This meta-analysis shows that IL-6-174G > C SNP is significantly associated with increased RA risk in overall, and specifically in Asian population.

Background: Basic Life Support [BLS; including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)] is a part of medical skills utilized in case of an emergency medical care to save human lives. It is well established that the young students can become major healthcare supportive workforce for a community including the cases of emergency. Therefore, adequate knowledge of BLS is necessary for all the university attending students. This study evaluated the awareness of BLS knowledge and attitude towards BLS training among the students of Jazan University, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A self-administered survey questionnaire using cross-sectional design was employed. Results: Out of 360 participants, the majority were male students (84.2%). The participants have mediocre knowledge of BLS, and their mean score was 7.83 out of 14. The knowledge score, i.e., correct response of male and female students was almost similar. Not a single student answered all the questions correctly. About 28% participants had received BLS training previously during their study course and showed better BLS knowledge (mean score 10.41) in comparison with the other participants. In contrast with the students of health science related courses, the highest mean knowledge score (11.5) was opted by the students of emergency medical services, whereas the lowest score (6.58) was opted by the students of nursing background. Conclusions: Overall, a majority of the students of Jazan University did not have complete knowledge of BLS (CPR). The outcomes of this study will be helpful for education and healthcare service providers of the Saudi kingdom as a whole and for Jazan region.

MBL2 gene encodes mannose-binding lectin, is a member of innate immune system. Earlier studies revealed that MBL2 gene variants, rs1800451, rs1800450, rs5030737, rs7096206, rs11003125 and rs7095891 are associated with impaired serum level and susceptibility to TB, but their results are inconsistent. A meta-analysis was performed by including 22 studies (7095 TB-patients and 7662 controls) and data were analyzed with respect to associations between alleles, genotypes and minor allele carriers to evaluate the potential association between MBL2 polymorphisms and TB risk. Statistically significant results were found only for the homozygous variant genotype (CC vs. AA: p = 0.045; OR = 0.834, 95% CI = 0.699 to 0.996) of rs1800451 and showed reduced risk of TB in overall population. However, other genetic models of rs1800450, rs5030737, rs7096206, rs11003125, rs7095891 and combined rs1800450, rs1800451, rs5030737 polymorphisms of MBL2 gene did not reveal any association with TB risk. Stratified analysis by ethnicity showed decreased risk of TB in African population for rs1800450 and rs1800451. Whereas, no association was observed between other MBL2 polymorphisms and TB risk in all the evaluated ethnic populations. In conclusion, MBL2 rs1800450 and rs1800451 polymorphisms play a protective role in TB infection and reinforce their critical significance as a potential genetic marker for TB resistance.