Epidemiology and transmission of hepatitis B and C viruses in Kazakhstan.
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AIM: To investigate the epidemiology of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the two major ethnic groups in Kazakhstan. METHODS: A cross-sectional prospective study of HBV and HCV seroprevalence was performed among individuals born in Kazakhstan with no history of chronic hepatitis or liver disease. RESULTS: There were 290 volunteers (140 Russians and 150 Kazakhs) aged 10 to 64 years, males accounted for 46%. Active HBV infection (HBsAg positive) was present in 3.8%, anti-HBc in 30%. The prevalence was similar in females and males (33% vs 25%) (P = 0.18). The prevalence of anti-HBc increased from 19% in 10-29 years old volunteers to 53% in 50-years and older volunteers. The prevalence of HBV infection was higher in married than in single adults (38% vs 26%, respectively) (P = 0.2) and more common in Kazakhs (35%) than in Russians (24%) (P = 0.07). HCV infection was present in 9 subjects (3.2%), 5 of them also were positive for anti-HBc in the absence of HBsAg. CONCLUSION: The frequency of active HBV infection (3.8%) coupled with a high prevalence of HBV exposure in those > 50 years of age increases with age, which suggests that horizontal transmission likely relates to the use of contaminated needles. The low prevalence of HCV infection suggests that HBV and HCV are acquired differently in this group of subjects. (+info)
Endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene intron 4, 27 bp repeat polymorphism and essential hypertension in the Kazakh Chinese population.
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To investigate the relationship between 27 bp repeat polymorphism in intron 4 in the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS4) gene and essential hypertension in the Kazakh Chinese population, 151 patients with essential hypertension and 138 healthy people were selected from the Boertonggu countryside of Shawan region in the Xinjiang uygur autonomous region of China in 2006. The polymorphism of eNOS in the two groups was detected with polymerase chain reaction assays and the genotype frequencies in each group were calculated following the Hardy-Weinberg law. Four and five tandem 27 bp repeats were designated as "a" and "b", respectively. It was found that the frequencies of b/b, b/a and a/a genotypes of the eNOS4 gene were 84.06%, 15.22% and 0.72% in the control group, and 81.46%, 15.89% and 2.65% in the hypertension group, respectively. The frequencies of gene "a" and "b" were 91.67% and 8.33% in the control group and 89.40% and 10.60% in the hypertension group, respectively. It was found that plasma eNOS activity was not associated with genotypes and alleles of eNOS gene. Plasma eNOS activity in the hypertension group was significantly decreased compared with the control group (P<0.01). The results suggest that eNOS4 gene polymorphisms are unlikely to be the major genetic susceptibility factors for essential hypertension in the Xinjiang Kazakh population. However, a positive association between plasma eNOS activity and essential hypertension has been revealed. (+info)
In central Asia, the great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus) is the main host for the bacterium Yersinia pestis, the cause of bubonic plague. In order to prevent plague outbreaks, monitoring of the great gerbil has been carried out in Kazakhstan since the late 1940s. We use the resulting data to demonstrate that climate forcing synchronizes the dynamics of gerbils over large geographical areas. As it is known that gerbil densities need to exceed a threshold level for plague to persist, synchrony in gerbil abundance across large geographical areas is likely to be a condition for plague outbreaks at similar large scales. Here, we substantiate this proposition through autoregressive modelling involving the normalized differentiated vegetation index as a forcing covariate. Based upon predicted climate changes, our study suggests that during the next century, plague epizootics may become more frequent in central Asia. (+info)
Influence of household demographic and socio-economic factors on household expenditure on tobacco in six New Independent States.
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BACKGROUND: To identify demographic and socio-economic factors that are associated with household expenditure on tobacco in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, and Tajikistan. METHODS: Secondary analysis of the data available through the World Bank Living Standards Monitoring Survey conducted in aforementioned countries in 1995-2000. The role of different variables (e.g. mean age of household members, household area of residence, household size, share of adult males, share of members with high education) in determining household expenditure on tobacco (defined as tobacco expenditure share out of total monthly HH consumption) was assessed by using multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: Significant differences were found between mean expenditure on tobacco between rich and poor - in absolute terms the rich spend significantly more compared with the poor. Poor households devote significantly higher shares of their monthly HH consumption for tobacco products. Shares of adult males were significantly associated with the share of household consumption devoted for tobacco. There was a significant negative association between shares of persons with tertiary education within the HH and shares of monthly household consumption devoted for tobacco products. The correlation between household expenditures on tobacco and alcohol was found to be positive, rather weak, but statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Given the high levels of poverty and high rates of smoking in the New Independent States, these findings have important policy implications. They indicate that the impact and opportunity costs of smoking on household finances are more significant for the poor than for the rich. Any reductions in smoking prevalence within poor households could have a positive economic impact. (+info)
Ultrasound-detected thyroid nodule prevalence and radiation dose from fallout.
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Two new species of Perichaena (Myxomycetes) from arid areas of Russia and Kazakhstan.
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Two new myxomycete species from dry steppe and desert communities of the Caspian Lowland (Russia) and central Kazakhstan are described and illustrated. They are placed tentatively within genus Perichaena, which does include species with a reduced capillitium and single-layered peridium. Both species were found repeatedly in moist chamber cultures; P. heterospinispora appeared on leaf litter and twigs, whereas P. polygonospora occurred on leaf litter and weathered dung of rodents. Both species have spore ornamentation that is unique for members of genera Licea and Perichaena. The spore ornamentation of the first species includes scattered large, pyramid-like spines 0.9-1.2 microm high that sometimes have enlarged ends. Among these spines the spore surface is covered by evenly and densely distributed warts that are visible only by SEM. The second species is characterized by angular spores with a coarse network of rounded ridges. The areas among these ridges bear scattered composite warts 0.3-0.5 microm high that sometimes coalesce to form clusters but more often are distributed evenly and densely and are visible only by SEM. The stability of the taxonomic characters of both species was confirmed by several collections from different regions obtained in 2 y. The morphology of the fructifications of the two myxomycetes was examined with both scanning electron and light microscopy, and micrographs of all relevant features are presented. (+info)
Thyroid nodules, polymorphic variants in DNA repair and RET-related genes, and interaction with ionizing radiation exposure from nuclear tests in Kazakhstan.
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