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Avian malaria (caused by Plasmodium spp.) and avian malaria-like infections (caused by Haemoproteus spp.) are widespread and can seriously affect the health of their bird hosts, especially of immunologically naïve individuals. Therefore, these parasites have long been in the focus of bird-parasite studies. However, the species richness and diversity of these protozoan species have only been revealed since the use of molecular techniques. Diversity and prevalence of these parasites among different bird species and even between populations of a species show a large variation. Here, we investigated prevalence of avian malaria and avian malaria-like parasites in two distant populations of a non-migratory wetland specialist passerine, the bearded reedling (Panurus biarmicus). While previous studies have shown that reed-dwelling bird species often carry various blood parasite lineages and the presence of the vectors transmitting Plasmodium and Haemoproteus species has been confirmed from our study sites, prevalence of these parasites was extremely low in our populations. This may either suggest that bearded reedlings may avoid or quickly clear these infections, or these parasites cause high mortality in this species. The remarkably low prevalence of infection in this species is consistent with earlier studies and makes bearded reedlings a possible model organism for investigating the genetic or behavioural adaptations of parasite resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a case-control study involving 27 children with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on regular hemodialysis (HD) (mean age: 8 years; 15 male, 12 female), and 20 healthy age- and sexmatched controls, vitamin D levels were found to be significantly lower in children with ESRD as compared to controls, while soluble IL-2 receptor (SIL-2R) was significantly higher among patients as compared to controls. A significant positive correlation was found between serum 25(OH)D3 and serum IL-10, and a non-significant negative correlation was found between serum 25(OH)D3 levels and SIL-2R. The authors state, "We conclude that the serum levels of vitamin D are lower in children with ESRD than in age-matched controls, and that it is significantly positively related to the anti-inflammatory IL-10 and negatively related to the proinflammatory SIL-2R. Further studies are required to throw more light on the role of vitamin D supplementation in children with ESRD in maintaining immune balan ce." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cites a study from the U.S., which investigated the influence of host genetics on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 infection. Examination of repeatedly exposed seronegative (ES) individuals for polymorphism in multiple genes; Detection of higher frequency of homozygous C-C chemokine receptor 50-Delta32 polymorphism in ES than in HIV-1 seropositive individuals; Identification of novel variants in the dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule-3-grabbing nonintegrin repeat region.