Chao-Ling Wang

The Effectiveness of a Training Program on Reducing Needlestick Injuries/Sharp Object Injuries among Soon Graduate Vocational Nursing School Students in Southern Taiwan

The Effectiveness of a Training Program on Reducing Needlestick Injuries/Sharp Object Injuries among Soon Graduate Vocational Nursing School Students in Southern Taiwan: Ya‐Hui Yang, et al. Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan—Needlestick/ sharp injuries (NSIs/SIs) are a serious threat to medical/ nursing students in hospital internships. Education for preventing NSIs/SIs is important for healthcare workers but is rarely conducted and evaluated among vocational school nursing students. We conducted an educational intervention for such students after their internship rotations before graduation. This program consisted of a lecture to the students after the internship training and a self‐study brochure for them to study before their graduation. This study used the pre‐test questionnaires completed by all students and the post‐test questionnaires completed by 107 graduates after work experience as licensed nurses to assess the effectiveness of the intervention. After educational intervention, the incidence of NSIs/SIs decreased significantly from 50.5% pre‐test to 25.2% post‐test, and the report rate increased from 37.0% to 55.6%, respectively. In conclusion, this intervention significantly reduced the incidence of NSIs/SIs and increased the report rate of such events.

The association of the blood lead level and serum lipid concentrations may be modified by the genetic combination of the metallothionein 2A polymorphisms rs10636 GC and rs28366003 AA

BACKGROUND Lead in blood can stimulate lipid oxidation in phosphatidylcholine and increase peroxidation in lipids. Metallothionein (MT) is a cysteine-rich protein that can influence the detoxification of heavy metals and scavenge oxidative stress for free radicals. One of the most expressive functional genes in humans is the MT2A gene. OBJECTIVE This study aims to determine if the association of the blood lead level and lipid biomarkers was influenced by MT2A polymorphisms. METHODS We recruited 677 participants after informed consent was obtained. All the samples collected were analyzed for lipid biomarkers and blood lead levels and were genotyped for MT2A polymorphisms by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. A short questionnaire collected the medical history and alcohol and cigarette consumption information. The data were used for descriptive analyses and linear regression models. RESULTS The investigation revealed that lead elevated concentration increased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) by multiple linear models. The carriers of the rs10636 GC-rs28366003 AA genetic combination may be less susceptive to lead elevated concentration on HDL-C than other types. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the association of the blood lead level and HDL-C may be modified by the MT2A genetic combination: the rs10636 GC-rs28366003 AA genotype could play a protective role in lead elevated concentration on HDL-C in humans.

The threshold of the delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) activities reduced by lead (Pb) exposure could be 10 μg/dL without modification of ALAD G177C genotypes in Chinese Han Taiwanese.

Background: Lead inhibits the enzymes in the heme biosynthesis, mainly the δaminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) activities. The aims of this study was to establish ALAD activity assay in Taiwan and analyzed the effects of lead exposure on hematological system and the ALAD activity with the modification of the ALAD genotypes. Methods: Among 121 lead workers and 117 non-exposed workers, the data were from health examination. ALAD activity was determined by the standardized method of the European Community. ALAD genotyping was using a method of PCR-RFLP. For finding a threshold effect, we used generalized additive models (GAM) and scatter plots with smoothing curve, in addition to multiple regression methods. Results: There were 229 ALAD1-1 homozygotes, 9 ALAD1-2 heterozygotes were identified, and none of ALAD22 homozygote. Lead workers had significantly lower ALAD activity than non-exposed group (41.6 ± 22.1 vs. 63.3 ± 14.0 U/L, p-value < 0.001). The results of multiple regressions showed the blood lead level (BLL) was profound factor associated with ALAD activity inversely. The possible threshold of BLL affecting ALAD activity was around 10 μg/dL. Conclusions: ALAD activity was inhibited by blood lead, which could be a threshold of 10 ug/dL, which ALAD activity may be adopted as a biomarker of health examination for lead workers.

Toxic Metals Increase Serum Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Levels, Modified by Essential Elements and Different Types of Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Promoter Single-nucleotide Polymorphisms.

Background: Lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and arsenic (As) could cause health issues through oxidative stress that is indicated in the elevated tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-&agr;). However, some of the essential elements—selenium (Se), zinc (Zn), cobalt (Co), and copper (Cu)—are cofactors or structural components of antioxidant enzymes. It is suggested that single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the TNF-&agr; gene have different TNF-&agr; responses. This study aims to evaluate the effect of serum TNF-&agr; levels through the interactions between toxic metals and essential elements and how the interactions between the toxic metals and TNF-&agr; SNPs (−1031 T > C, −863 C > A, −857 C > T, −308 G > A, −238 G > A) influence serum TNF-&agr; levels. Methods: Blood samples were collected from 455 workers who carried out annual health examinations and multielements determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). TNF-&agr; levels were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). TNF-&agr; promoter SNPs were analyzed by specific primer probes using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods. Results: Increasing blood Pb, Cd, and As levels were associated with elevated TNF-&agr; levels. The interaction between Pb and Cu decreased TNF-&agr; levels and so did the interaction between Cd and Se. In the interaction between Pb and SNPs, individuals with AA/AG (−308 G > A) and AA/AG (−238 G > A) had higher serum TNF-&agr; levels. However, lower TNF-&agr; levels were noted in those individuals with AA/CA (−863 C > A). In the interaction between As and SNPs, workers with AA/AG (−238 G > A) had synergic effect with As and induced higher serum TNF-&agr; levels. Conclusions: Blood Cu and Se were antagonists of toxic metals (Pb, As, and Cd) through lower serum TNF-&agr; levels. Variant types of TNF-&agr; SNPs (−308 G > A, −238 G > A) and wild type of −863 CC would be more susceptible to toxic metals.

Distinct subpopulations of hepatitis C virus infectious cells with different levels of intracellular hepatitis C virus core protein

Chronic infection by hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major risk factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Despite the clear clinical importance of virus‐associated HCC, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely unclarified. Oxidative stress, in particular, DNA lesions associated with oxidative damage, plays a major role in carcinogenesis, and is strongly linked to the development of many cancers, including HCC. However, in identifying hepatocytes with HCV viral RNA, estimates of the median proportion of HCV‐infected hepatocytes have been found as high as 40% in patients with chronic HCV infection. In order to explore the gene alternation and association between different viral loads of HCV‐infected cells, we established a method to dissect high and low viral load cells and examined the expression of DNA damage‐related genes using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction array. We found distinct expression patterns of DNA damage‐related genes between high and low viral load cells. This study provides a new method for future study on virus‐associated gene expression research.