Randomised controlled trial of weekly chloroquine to re-establish normal erythron iron flux and haemoglobin recovery in postmalarial anaemia.

Objective: To determine if low-dose weekly chloroquine (CQ) therapy improves recovery from malaria-associated anaemia.

Design: Proof of concept randomised clinical trial.

Setting: West Kiang District, Lower River Region, The Gambia.

Accelerating the development of a safe and effective HIV vaccine: HIV vaccine case study for the Decade of Vaccines.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the etiologic agent that causes AIDS, is the fourth largest killer in the world today. Despite the remarkable achievements in development of anti-retroviral therapies against HIV, and the recent advances in new prevention technologies, the rate of new HIV infections continue to outpace efforts on HIV prevention and control. Thus, the development of a safe and effective vaccine for prevention and control of AIDS remains a global public health priority and the greatest opportunity to eventually end the AIDS pandemic.

Helicobacter pylori infection and circulating ghrelin levels - a systematic review.

Background: The nature of the association between ghrelin, an orexigenic hormone produced mainly in the stomach, and Helicobacter pylori (H pylori), a bacterium that colonises the stomach, is still controversial. We examined available evidence to determine whether an association exists between the two; and if one exists, in what direction.

Methods: We reviewed original English language studies on humans reporting circulating ghrelin levels in H pylori infected and un-infected participants; and circulating ghrelin levels before and after H pylori eradication.

Curbing the menace of antimicrobial resistance in developing countries.

Several reports suggest that antimicrobial resistance is an increasing global problem; but like most pandemics, the greatest toll is in the less developed countries. The dismally low rate of discovery of antimicrobials compared to the rate of development of antimicrobial resistance places humanity on a very dangerous precipice. Since antimicrobial resistance is part of an organism's natural survival instinct, total eradication might be unachievable; however, it can be reduced to a level that it no longer poses a threat to humanity.

Iron delocalisation in the pathogenesis of malarial anaemia.

There is consensus that the pathophysiology of malaria-associated anaemia is multifactorial, but the precise mechanisms behind many of the haematological changes during malaria remain unclear. In this review, we attempt to build a composite picture of the pathophysiology of malarial anaemia using evidence from experimental, human and animal studies. We propose that cytokine- and hepcidin-mediated iron delocalisation, a principal mechanism in the anaemia of inflammation, plays an important role in the aetiology of malarial anaemia, and can explain some of the clinical and laboratory findings.

Haptoglobin genotype, anaemia and malaria in Gambian children.

Objective: To retest our previous finding that the haptoglobin (Hp) 22 genotype is associated with seasonal anaemia, and to investigate the role of malaria in this effect.

Methods: Haemoglobin (Hb) and peripheral parasitaemia were assessed at pre- and post-malarial season cross-sectional surveys in rural Gambian children aged 10-72 months. Between the surveys, active longitudinal surveillance was conducted to detect febrile episodes.

Haplotype association between haptoglobin (Hp2) and Hp promoter SNP (A-61C) may explain previous controversy of haptoglobin and malaria protection.

Background: Malaria is one of the strongest recent selective pressures on the human genome, as evidenced by the high levels of varying haemoglobinopathies in human populations-despite the increased risk of mortality in the homozygous states. Previously, functional polymorphisms of Hp, coded by the co-dominant alleles Hp1 and Hp2, have been variously associated with several infectious diseases, including malaria susceptibility.

Methodology/principal Findings: Risk of a clinical malarial episode over the course of a malarial transmission season was assessed using active surveillance in a cohort of Gambian children aged 10-72 months.

Acceptability of female-controlled HIV/STI prevention options by Nigerian professionals - an exploratory study.

The attitudes of working professionals, particularly in the healthcare sector, may play a large role in the acceptance or otherwise of female-controlled HIV/STI prevention options. In 2002, we conducted an exploratory study on the perceptions surrounding female-controlled HIV/STI prevention options, principally the acceptability of a female condom or a vaginal microbicide, among a small sample of Nigerian professionals. A self-administered structured questionnaire was given to 50 persons representing four professions.