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BackgroundThis project will use a multilevel longitudinal cohort study design to assess whether changes in Community Tobacco Environmental (CTE) factors, measured as community compliance with tobacco control policies and community density of tobacco vendors and tobacco advertisements, are associated with adolescent tobacco use in urban India. India's tobacco control policies regulate secondhand smoke exposure, access to tobacco products and exposure to tobacco marketing. Research data about the association between community level compliance with tobacco control policies and youth tobacco use are largely unavailable, and are needed to inform policy enforcement, implementation and development.MethodsThe geographic scope will include Mumbai and Kolkata, India. The study protocol calls for an annual comprehensive longitudinal population-based tobacco use risk and protective factors survey in a cohort of 1820 adolescents ages 12-14 years (and their parent) from baseline (Wave 1) to 36-month follow-up (Wave 4). Geographic Information Systems data collection will be used to map tobacco vendors, tobacco advertisements, availability of e-cigarettes, COTPA defined public places, and compliance with tobacco sale, point-of-sale and smoke-free laws. Finally, we will estimate the longitudinal associations between CTE factors and adolescent tobacco use, and assess whether the associations are moderated by family level factors, and mediated by individual level factors.DiscussionIndia experiences a high burden of disease and mortality from tobacco use. To address this burden, significant long-term prevention and control activities need to include the joint impact of policy, community and family factors on adolescent tobacco use onset. The findings from this study can be used to guide the development and implementation of future tobacco control policy designed to minimize adolescent tobacco use.

In context of the ongoing multi-centric HPV vaccine study in India, unvaccinated married women (N = 1484) aged 18–23 years were recruited in 2012–2015 as age-matched controls to the vaccinated women and followed up yearly. We assess type-specific prevalence, natural history and potential determinants of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in these unvaccinated women. Cervical samples were collected yearly for at least four consecutive years. A Multiplex Type-Specific E7-Based polymerase chain reaction assay was used to detect 21 HPV types. HPV prevalence was 36.4% during 6 years. Most common HPV types were 16 (6.5%) and 31 (6.1%). Highest persistence were observed for HPV 35 (62.5%) and 52 (25%). New HPV acquisition rate was 5.6/1000 person-months of observation (PMO), highest for HPV 16 (1.1/1000 PMO). Type-specific clearance rates ranged between 2.9–5.5/100 PMO. HPV 16 and/or 18 infections were 41% (95% CI 4–63%) lower among women with 2-<3 years between marriage and first cervical sample collection compared to those with <2 years. HPV prevalence and acquisition rates in young Indian women were lower than their Western counterparts. HPV 16 infections being most common shows the importance and potential impact of HPV vaccination in India. Women with 2–3 years exposure had reduced risk possibly due to higher infections clearance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accumulated in vitro evidence indicates that many tumors induce T-cell apoptosis as a mechanism of inhibiting antitumor activity. This downregulation of cell-mediated immune functions occurring at the late stages of the disease may be causally related to the thymic involution, because the thymus is the major site of T-cell maturation, extensive proliferation, and differentiation. Our results showed that in Erhlich's ascites carcinoma cell (EAC)-bearing mice, the number of EAC was inversely proportional to the thymocyte count in the host's thymus, which is the primary immune organ. Further studies indicated the presence of tumor-induced thymocyte apoptosis in EAC bearers. Black tea prolonged the survival of the tumor bearer by successfully restricting tumor progression as well as protecting the thymus from tumor insult. In fact, black tea inhibited thymic apoptosis while inducing programmed cell death of EAC. Interestingly, the tea regulated the oxidant status differentially in EAC and thymocytes--i.e., it reduced the EAC-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in the thymus while activating the same in the EAC. A similar effect of black tea was obtained when thymocytes were cultured in the presence of cell-free ascitic fluid, thereby indicating that black tea could directly reduce oxidative stress, an activity independent of its tumoricidal property. As a result, the maturation block in thymocyte subpopulations in tumor bearers was ameliorated significantly in black tea-treated animals. Our results demonstrate that black tea protects thymocytes in the tumor bearer by regulating the intracellular ROS in tumor cells and thymocytes differentially, thereby strengthening its candidacy in future anticancer therapeutic regimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deals with a study which investigated the effect of the pigment curcumin on the expression of integrin, tissue inhibitor metalloproteinase-2, nonmetastatic gene 23, E-cahedrin, adhesion and metalloproteinase activity. Methods; Results; Discussion.

Background: While recommending a human papillomavirus (HPV) single-dose vaccination schedule in 2022, the World Health Organization highlighted the need for long-term follow-up studies to monitor waning of protection. We report on vaccine efficacy against HPV infections in 1-, 2-, and 3-dose schedules and protection against cervical precancers at a median follow-up of 12 years postvaccination., Methods: This randomized multicenter study in India was originally designed to vaccinate unmarried girls aged 10-18 years with either 2 or 3 doses of quadrivalent HPV vaccine. A ministerial decree to halt vaccination in trials resulted in the creation of cohorts receiving different doses, including just a single dose. Cohorts were assessed for incident and persistent infections by genotyping cervical samples collected yearly for 4 consecutive years after participants were married. Cervical screening with an HPV test was initiated at age 25 years for married participants. Age- and site-matched unvaccinated married women were recruited to be compared with vaccinated cohorts. Vaccine efficacy was assessed using proportional incidence ratios., Results: The number of participants in the 1-, 2- (at 0 and 6 months), and 3-dose cohorts was 4949, 4980, and 4348, respectively. Of the recipients, 71%-82% in the different cohorts were eligible to provide samples for genotyping. Vaccine efficacy against persistent HPV 16 and 18 infection was 92.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 87.0% to 95.0%) in 3022 recipients of the single dose; and comparable with that observed in the 2-dose arm (94.8%, 95% CI = 90.0% to 97.3%) and the 3-dose arm (95.3%, 95% CI = 90.9% to 97.5%). No high-grade precancer associated with HPV 16 and 18 was detected among vaccinated participants compared with 8 precancers detected among the unvaccinated women., Conclusion: This observational cohort study has established that a single dose of HPV vaccine provides high protective efficacy against persistent HPV 16 and 18 infections and associated neoplasia 15 years postvaccination., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press.)