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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Breed classification of Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) and Thai native chickens using synchrotron radiation-based Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and genotyping by sequencing.

Lao PDR harbors substantial genetic diversity in native chicken populations, representing an important resource for sustainable production and long-term food security. This study aimed to classify five Lao native chicken breeds-Ou, Black Bone, Horn Chou, Yolk, and Chae-and to discriminate them from a Thai native breed, Leung Hang Khao (LK), using integrative genotype-based approaches. Blood samples were collected from 50 LK and Lao native chickens (32 Ou, 10 Black Bone, 9 Horn Chou, 121 Yolk, and 41 Chae). Genomic DNA was extracted and analyzed using synchrotron radiation-based Fourier-transform infrared (SR-FTIR) spectroscopy to characterize biochemical composition, while genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) was employed to identify genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). SR-FTIR analysis revealed highly significant differences among breeds in nucleotide-associated functional groups, including thymine, adenine, guanine, cytosine, as well as DNA backbone and deoxyribose components (P < 0.001). Multivariate analyses demonstrated that principal component analysis (PCA) of SR-FTIR spectra effectively discriminated chicken breeds, while hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) further resolved them into two major clusters with distinct sub-clusters, reflecting variation in DNA biochemical composition. In contrast, GBS analysis identified 1484 common SNPs; however, PCA based on SNP data showed limited resolution in clearly separating breeds, despite revealing similar clustering trends. Overall, the results highlight the strong discriminatory power of SR-FTIR spectroscopy for rapid and effective classification of native chicken breeds at the molecular level, outperforming SNP-based differentiation under the current marker density. This study provides novel insights into the application of synchrotron-based spectroscopic techniques in poultry genetics and contributes valuable baseline information for the conservation and utilization of Lao native chicken genetic resources.

Breed classification

Artemether-lumefantrine for the treatment of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Laos: a therapeutic efficacy study coupled with genomic and in vitro phenotypic analyses.

BACKGROUND: Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) have played a crucial role in decreasing the impact of malaria worldwide. Since 2005, artemether-lumefantrine (AL) has been the main first-line treatment for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Laos. Herein, we aimed to study the efficacy of AL in the context of malaria elimination in Laos. METHODS: Between Aug 1, 2019, and June 11, 2023, AL efficacy was evaluated in four provinces of southern Laos: Attapeu, Champassack, Salavan, and Savannakhet. Adults and children (aged 1-60 years) with microscopically confirmed P falciparum malaria received oral AL twice a day for 3 days, with follow-up on days 7, 14, 21, and 28. The primary outcome was PCR-adjusted adequate clinical and parasitological response (ACPR) by day 28. Resistance to dihydroartemisinin (DHA) and lumefantrine (LM) was assessed by an in vitro phenotypic analysis, and mutations in P falciparum kelch13 (pfkelch13), P falciparum multidrug resistance 1 (pfmdr1), P falciparum plasmepsin 2 (pfpm2), and P falciparum chloroquine resistant transporter (pfcrt) were characterised in parasites collected from enrolled patients. Safety outcomes included the frequency and nature of adverse events and serious adverse events. FINDINGS: A total of 198 patients (median age 16 years [IQR 10-28]; 124 [63%] male and 74 [37%] female) were initially enrolled, of whom three were lost to follow-up, resulting in 195 patients who received the 3-day AL regimen. At day 28, the PCR-adjusted ACPR was 96% (95% CI 92-98), with a treatment failure rate of 2% (1-5) and a reinfection rate of 2% (1-5). Among the four PCR-confirmed recrudescent isolates, one showed markedly reduced LM susceptibility (LM 50% inhibitory concentration [IC50] 59&#xb7;9 nM, 2&#xb7;5 times higher than the median IC50 of other isolates) and high artemisinin resistance in vitro (ring-stage survival survival rate 35&#xb7;8%), which was associated with the pfkelch13 R539T mutation and day-3 microscopy-positive parasitaemia. Among 190 isolates with successfully determined pfkelch13 sequencing, nine (5%) carried the pfkelch13 mutation R539T and 43 (23%) carried the C580Y mutation, and both were associated with day-3 microscopy-positive parasitaemia (p=0&#xb7;044). No amplification of pfmdr1 or pfpm2, nor any mutations in pfmdr1 and pfcrt, were associated with treatment failure. INTERPRETATION: Our findings indicate the potential emergence of LM resistance in Laos. Although AL remains efficacious, vigilance for decreasing efficacy and close monitoring of LM efficacy should be considered to support the country's goal of eliminating malaria by 2030. Importantly, none of the known pfmdr1 or pfcrt haplotypes were uniquely associated with treatment failure, including the isolate with the highest LM IC50, underscoring the need to identify reliable molecular markers for LM resistance. FUNDING: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and The Global Fund.

Humans

Causation and epidemiological features of proliferative lip and facial lesions in Lao goats.

Past surveys and studies have identified a syndrome of lip and facial dermatitis as common in Lao goats and identified Orf virus (ORFV) as the likely cause. To more definitively determine the cause of this syndrome, a matched case-control study was implemented in 70 smallholder goat farms and a large-scale goat holding from Savannakhet province, Laos. Forty-one scab samples from goats with lip and facial dermatitis (cases) and 41 paired samples from unaffected animals (controls) were collected from 31 goat holdings over 12&#x2009;months. Samples were tested using quantitative PCR assays targeting possible pathogens causing such lesions. The prevalence of PCR-positive samples in case and control goats was 100% and 95.1%, respectively, for ORFV (P&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.15) and 19.5% and 29.3% (P&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.3) for Dermatophilus congolensis. Pseudocowpox virus and bovine popular stomatitis virus were not detected in any samples. There was a clear difference between the log10 genome copies (GC) per &#xb5;L DNA extract of ORFV in positive samples from cases (7.00&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;0.17) and controls (2.62&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;0.18, P&#x2009;<&#x2009;0.0001). This was not true for D. congolensis with similar GC detected in the case and control goats. More than 4 log higher GC in affected cases identifies ORFV as the likely cause of the syndrome in Lao goats with little role for D. congolensis. Phylogenetic analysis showed no genetic variation of ORFV in the study samples and close similarity to sequences from China. The findings suggest that orf disease has a sporadic distribution, mostly occurring in goats during the first 6-months of life.

Animals

Compound Heterozygous Hemoglobin Minneapolis-Laos and Codon 41/42 (-TTCT) in a Thai Female Adult: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Thalassemia is a prevalent genetic disorder in Southeast Asia. The Hemoglobin Minneapolis-Laos variant is very rarely reported with only two previously published reports that profile a total of three patients. Here, we present the first reported case of compound heterozygous &#x3b2; zero (&#x3b2;0)-thalassemia and Hemoglobin Minneapolis-Laos in a 46-year-old Thai female. She presented at Siriraj Hospital (Bangkok, Thailand) with chronic microcytic anemia, which is a more severe phenotype than would be expected from either trait alone. Initial hemoglobin electrophoresis via high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis revealed elevated hemoglobin A2 (5.5% and 6.3%, respectively), which is a finding consistent with a &#x3b2;-thalassemia trait, but this finding failed to explain the full extent of her anemia. Next-generation sequencing was then performed to investigate for a congenital red blood cell disorder. The results identified the following two mutations in the &#x3b2;-globin gene (HBB): heterozygous &#x3b2;0-thalassemia codon 41/42 (-TTCT), and HBB c.356T&#x2009;>A, the latter of which is consistent with hemoglobin Minneapolis-Laos. This case highlights the importance of advanced genetic testing to diagnose rare hemoglobin variants that cannot be identified by conventional investigation and further contributes to our understanding of this rare combination's clinical phenotype.

Humans

Folk concepts of mental disorder among the Lao: continuities with similar concepts in other cultures and in psychiatry.

Folk concepts for mental disorder were studied among rural Lao people. While predominatly inferring etiology (e.g. spirit-caused disorder), certain terms also emphasized particular descriptive psychopathology or behavioral abnormality. Preventive strategies were stressed for insanity due to "excessive worry' or "broken taboo'. These broad folk categories of disorder bore considerable similarity to some psychiatric and neurologic categories within medicine. These includes psychosis, mania, neurosis, organic brain syndrome, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and childhood autism. Lao folk terms for mental disorder also closely resembled those of other southern Asian cultures, although illiterate tribal peoples appeared to have fewer terms than literate peasant peoples. Folk terms from more distant regions had broad similarity to those of southeast Asia, but lacked the specificity found within the region.

Attitude

An addiction treatment program in Laos: the first year's experience.

In late 1972 a treatment program for narcotic addicts was begun in Vientiane, Laos. Medical and social treatment modalities were emphasized: withdrawal from narcotic drugs, care for chronic health problems, a highly structured milieu program with explicit rules, and careful discharge planning with family counseling. Patients were accepted on a voluntary basis only. The first year's patient population were mostly married, employed, addicted to opium, and from rural areas. They comprised a diversity of ethnic groups. A smaller group of young, single, male heroin addicts (a type of addict new to Laos) also appeared in this group of patients. This treatment program proved highly acceptable to a large number of addicted people from various age groups and ethnic backgrounds. It was successfully undertaken by medical personnel who had minimal or no experience in the addiction field prior to work at this facility. Among opium addicts, twice-a-day methadone dosage for withdrawal treatment was superior to once-a-day dosage. Opium addicts required a longer detoxification regimen than did heroin addicts.

Adult

The effects of lao on aldehyde, oxidase activity and cross-reacting-material in Drosophila melanogaster.

In Drosophila melanogaster aldehyde oxidase occurs in at least two forms that can be separated electrophoretically. The mutant allele lao (low aldehyde oxidase activity) causes a deficiency of the major form of this enzyme. Immunoelectrophoretic analyses suggest that lao homozygotes produce aldehyde oxidase cross-reacting-material in nearly wild-type levels. Although aldehyde oxidase from the mutant stock is heat labile. properties such as Km and pH optima are not different from the normal enzyme.

Aldehyde Oxidoreductases

Influence of opium availability on addiction rates in Laos.

Crude rates of opium addiction were determined in 1972-1974 in ten communities of Laos, representing eight different ethnic groups and three provinces. In six rural communities, data were obtained by a house-to-house survey, and in four urban communities by opium den registration. Communities raising opium poppy as a cash crop had highest crude rates of addiction (7.0-9.8 addicts per 100 people). Thos involved in opium commerce had intermediate rates (4.1-5.5). Where neither opium production nor commerce was present, the communities had the lowest rates of addiction (1.8-2.3).

Agriculture

"Folk" criteria for the diagnosis of mental illness in rural Laos: on being insane in sane places.

"Folk" criteria for identifying the mentally ill, as distinguished from folk theories about the causes of mental illness, have been comparatively neglected in cultural psychiatry. The authors describe the criteria by which villagers in Laos labeled 35 subjects as baa (insane). Unprovoked assaultive or destructive behavior, social isolation, self-endangerment due to neglect of personal needs, nonviolent but socially disruptive or inappropriate behavior, and inability to do productive work were found to be important folk criteria. The authors emphasize that folk criteria for mental illness are determined primarily by the persistence of socially dysfunctional behavior rather than by disturbances in thought and affect.

Adult

Clearance of falciparum parasitaemia with a single dose sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in Vientiane, Laos.

A total of 49 semi-immune Laotians aged 3 to 49 years, with falciparum malaria were treated with a single dose of sulfadoxine pyrimethamine (1500 mg, 75 mg, adult dose), in Vientiane, Laos. On day 7 after treatment the 49 cases were asymptomatic with complete disappearance of patent asexual parasitaemia. The result is compared with that obtained from treating 48 similar cases with a standard dose of chloroquine over 3 days.

Adolescent

Microfilaraemia survey in Vientiane, Laos.

During the period June 1977-January 1978 a microfilariaemia survey was conducted for the first time in 27 villages (population: 9,300) of Vientiane province of Laos. A total of 2,339 persons, 1,372 males, 967 females, mostly adults, were blood tested between 2000--2400 hours; one thick smear, approximately 20 c.mm, was collected from each one and stained with 10% Giemsa for 30 minutes; only one positive was detected with microfilaria of W. bancrofti in a 22-year-old male; unusually the sheath was well stained. Two cases of elephantiasis of the left leg in two middle-aged women were also diagnosed during the clinical survey. All the three cases were probably infected in the north-eastern province of Houa Phanh.

Adolescent

"Folk" explanations of mental illness in rural laos.

To obtain "folk" explanations of specific cases of mental illness the authors interviewed 35 baa(insane) Laotian individuals and their relatives and neighbors. They obtained 54 explanations; 15 focused on supernatural causes, 15 on physical causes, 14 on social problems, and 10 on psychological states. Although 31 theories (57%) focused on etiologic factors familiar to clinical psychiatrists, many self-evident factors (such as familial prevalence) were not mentioned. Except for 3 cases, responsibility for the illness was attributed to factors outside the subject's control. This view of mental illness absolves the baa person from blame and ensures support from the social group.

Brain Diseases