The dendritic cell subsets myeloid dendritic cells (mDCs) and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) play an important role in HIV pathogenesis. While pDCs play a major role in the innate immune response, mDCs are important for induction of the antigen-specific immune response. We studied pDCs and mDCs at different stages of HIV infection, and found that there were decreased percentages of pDCs and mDCs in the advanced stage of the disease (p < 0.0001), and that slow progressors did not show as great a decrease as more healthy individuals. Persons who had acquired infection within the last year showed a normal mDC percentage but a lower pDC percentage (p = 0.0092) than healthy individuals (0.16%). pDC percentages in those with late-stage disease did not revert to normal after successful antiretroviral therapy (ART), whereas mDC percentages reverted to levels comparable to those seen in the healthy population (0.08% pre-ART to 0.18% post-ART; p < 0.0001). The pDC population had high levels of apoptotic markers in those with recent (p = 0.0025) and advanced (p = 0.0012) HIV infection, with no difference in their migratory capacity from controls and slow progressors, indicating that apoptosis is the major mechanism of declining pDC numbers in the circulation. mDCs showed increased levels of apoptotic markers (p = 0.0012), as well as migration (p = 0.03), in those with advanced-stage disease compared to controls, suggesting that both migration and apoptosis contribute to the decline seen in mDCs in the circulation. The irreversible loss of pDCs due to apoptosis seen early in HIV infection may be responsible for an impaired innate anti-HIV immune response. However, the presence of functionally-competent pDCs in slow progressors implies that the loss of pDCs early in infection may be critical to control of HIV infection through innate immune mechanisms, and may influence the progression of disease.

Congenital hypothyroidism is a more common pediatric endocrine disorder and also most common preventable cause of mental retardation. Early diagnosis by measuring Thyroid hormones thyroxine (T4), Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) levels and prompt treatment is crucial in improving intellectual outcome and for growth of the baby. There are several perinatal factors which influence cord blood TSH, T4 values which has to be considered while interpreting the results. Umbilical cord blood samples were collected for assessment of TSH and T4 in 100 newborns. The influence of birth weight and gestational age on T4 & TSH levels was assessed. On comparing mean TSH and T4 levels among preterm and term infants, it was found that there was statistically significant difference in the mean TSH levels between term and preterm infants. Difference in mean T4 levels among low birth weight and normal birth weight infants was statistically significant. To conclude Birth weight & gestational age have influence on Cord blood TSH and T4 levels and a caution in their interpretation should be considered.

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Int. J. Adv. Res. 7(1), 868-875 874 suggesting the possible involvement of APOE in regulating bone turnover markers. More studies are required at molecular level to understand the impact of APOE alleles in osteoporosis.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a gram negative bacterium that naturally colonizes the gastric epithelium, which causes chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer disease. Recent studies have shown that it may interfere with many biological processes and influence the occurrence of many diseases outside the stomach. Many studies have proposed a link between H. pylori infection and atherosclerosis. Atherogenic Index of Plasma (AIP) has been considered as a strong marker to predict the risk of atherosclerosis. The present study was done to assess the correlation between AIP and other lipid indices with H. pylori infection. The study comprised of 50 biopsy proven H. pylori cases and 50 age-sex matched controls. Blood samples were collected in fasting state and analyzed for total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), HDL-cholesterol (HDL) and LDL-cholesterol and the lipid indices were calculated. Lipid indices like AIP, CRI 1 & 2 & AC were significantly higher in H. pylori infected cases compared to controls. Hence these lipid indices can be used for identifying individuals at higher risk of cardiovascular diseases in H. pylori infected patients.