Search results for "Latvia."
showing 10 items of 1313 documents
Women's socioeconomic position in ontogeny is associated with improved immune function and lower stress, but not with height
2020
AbstractImmune function, height and resource accumulation comprise important life history traits in humans. Resource availability models arising from life history theory suggest that socioeconomic conditions influence immune function, growth and health status. In this study, we tested whether there are associations between family income during ontogeny, adult height, cortisol level and immune response in women. A hepatitis B vaccine was administered to 66 young Latvian women from different socioeconomic backgrounds, and blood samples were then collected to measure the level of antibodies that the women produced in response to the vaccination. Cortisol levels were measured from plasma sample…
Human Leukocyte Antigens Class II Alleles Affecting the Response to 5–7 Year Antiretroviral Therapy in A Latvian Cohort
2019
Abstract Antiretroviral therapy (ART) aims at suppressing viral replication and strengthening immune system in patients with HIV-1. Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) are among factors responsible for effectiveness of ART. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of HLA Class II alleles on the response to long-time ART, assessed by a change in CD4+ T-cell count in relation to viral load. The sample included 69 patients (17 females and 52 males) aged 20 to 50 with HIV-1 infection, who were undergoing ART in the Latvian Centre of Infectious Diseases. The median period of observation was 5.7 years. CD4+ T-cell count and viral load were analysed at the baseline and end of the period of obs…
Retrospective Serological Evidence of High Exposure of Globally Relevant Zoonotic Parasite Toxoplasma Gondii in The Latvian Population
2019
Abstract Toxoplasmosis is an important infection caused by the single-celled parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which is a zoonotic parasite causing widespread human and animal diseases, mostly involving the central nervous system. Humans can acquire toxoplasmosis by ingestion of raw or undercooked meat containing T. gondii tissue cysts, ingestion of oocysts shed by infected felids via contaminated food or water, and by vertical transmission to the fetus through the placenta from the mother during pregnancy. The aim of the present study was to determine the seroprevalence of specific anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies using a large set of clinical diagnostic laboratory data obtained over a 14-y…
Evaluation of the RYR1 gene genetic diversity in the Latvian White pig breed
2016
The ryanodine receptor 1 (RYR1) is a calcium ion channel in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of skeletal muscle. Multiple polymorphic loci have been identified in the RYR1 gene in human and animals and some of them are associated with certain phenotypes. However, there are still few data on the RYR1 genetic variability in pig and only the missense mutation Arg615Cys, associated with the malignant hyperthermia, porcine stress syndrome and meat quality, has been studied in several commercial and local breeds. Aim. To genotype the rs344435545 (C1972T, Arg615Cys), rs196953058 (T8434C, Phe2769Leu) and rs323041392 (G12484A, Asp4119Asn) in the Latvian local pig breed Latvian White and to evaluate the ev…
First Report on the Latvian SARS-CoV-2 Isolate Genetic Diversity
2021
Remaining a major healthcare concern with nearly 29 million confirmed cases worldwide at the time of writing, novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused more than 920 thousand deaths since its outbreak in China, December 2019. First case of a person testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection within the territory of the Republic of Latvia was registered on 2nd of March 2020, 9 days prior to the pandemic declaration by WHO. Since then, more than 277,000 tests were carried out confirming a total of 1,464 cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the country as of 12th of September 2020. Rapidly reacting to the spread of the infection, an ongoing sequenci…
A phase I dose-escalation study of IMAB362 (Zolbetuximab) in patients with advanced gastric and gastro-oesophageal junction cancer
2018
Introduction IMAB362 (Zolbetuximab) is a chimeric monoclonal antibody that binds to Claudin-18.2, a target antigen specific to cancer cells. In vitro, IMAB362 mediates cell death through antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and complement-dependent cytotoxicity; thus, IMAB362 may serve as a potent, targeted immunotherapeutic agent. Methods This first-in-human phase I study enroled adult patients (N = 15) with advanced gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction cancer into five sequential single dose-escalation cohorts (33, 100, 300, 600, and 1000 mg/m2) following a 3 + 3 design. Safety/tolerability, including determination of maximum tolerated dose and recommended phase II dose, were the pr…
Experienced Migratory Bats Integrate the Sun's Position at Dusk for Navigation at Night.
2019
Summary From bats to whales, millions of mammals migrate every year. However, their navigation capacity for accomplishing long-distance movements remains remarkably understudied and lags behind by five decades compared to other animals [ 1 , 2 ]—partly because, unlike for other taxa, such as birds and sea turtles, no small-scale orientation assay has so far been developed. Yet recently, bats became a model to investigate which cues mammals use for long-range navigation, and, surprisingly for nocturnal animals, sunset cues, and particularly polarized-light cues, appear to be crucial for calibration of the magnetic-compass system in non-migratory bats [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. This does not appear to ho…
Population Genetics of Latvians in the Context of Admixture between North-Eastern European Ethnic Groups
2018
Abstract This article presents a review on population genetics of Latvians, which alongside Lithuanians are the two extant Baltic speaking populations. The article provides a description of genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data and contains a comparative analysis of the results of studies performed on classical autosomal genetic markers, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and the non-recombining part of the Y chromosome (NRY), with data on neighbouring populations. The study also covers data of recently performed ancient DNA (aDNA) studies carried out on samples from the territory of today’s Latvia. The results of population genetic studies have shown a mixture of eastern and western…
Decreased Time to Treatment Initiation for Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Patients after Use of Xpert MTB/RIF Test, Latvia
2016
This test decreased time to treatment initiation by 66%–84%.
EAST/SeSAME syndrome: Review of the literature and introduction of four new Latvian patients.
2018
EAST (Epilepsy, Ataxia, Sensorineural deafness, Tubulopathy) or SeSAME (Seizures, Sensorineural deafness, Ataxia, Mental retardation, and Electrolyte imbalance) syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive syndrome first described in 2009 independently by Bockenhauer and Scholl. It is caused by mutations in KCNJ10, which encodes Kir4.1, an inwardly rectifying K+ channel found in the brain, inner ear, kidney and eye. To date, 16 mutations and at least 28 patients have been reported. In this paper, we review mutations causing EAST/SeSAME syndrome, clinical manifestations in detail, and efficacy of treatment in previously reported patients. We also report a new Latvian kindred with 4 patients. In co…