An adequate alpha-tocopherol status is important for females at reproductive age. We studied the dietary intake and sources of alpha-tocopherol and alpha- and gamma-tocopherol status indicators in 14–19-year-old girls in Central Mozambique. We also explored factors associated with alpha- and gamma-tocopherol status. The participants (n 508) were from the cross-sectional ZANE Study that was conducted in 2010. We recruited two separate samples, one in January–February and the other in May–June. We collected venous blood samples and conducted 24 h dietary recall interviews. At the time of blood sampling, 11 % of participants were pregnant and 10 % were lactating. In the total sample, both seasons combined, the median intake of alpha-tocopherol was 6⋅7 mg/d, the mean plasma alpha- and gamma-tocopherol concentrations were 13⋅5 and 0⋅75 μmol/l, respectively, and the prevalence of vitamin E inadequacy (alpha-tocopherol <12 μmol/l) was 36⋅7 % (95 % CI: 31⋅9–42⋅0 %). Season and lactation status were significant predictors of alpha-tocopherol status regardless of which the three indicators (plasma concentration, alpha-tocopherol:total cholesterol ratio, gamma-tocopherol:alpha-tocopherol ratio) were used. Being a lactating mother was negatively associated and having a blood sample taken in January–February, when the main sources of alpha-tocopherol were mango and dark green leafy vegetables, was positively associated with alpha-tocopherol status. In conclusion, vitamin E inadequacy was common in Central Mozambique, and the status may fluctuate due to seasonal changes in the diet. We suggest that lactating mothers are specifically at risk of poor alpha-tocopherol status in resource-poor settings.

We examined the impact of the neonatal hepatitis B immunization programme, first provided to all neonates born to mothers screened positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in late 1983, on the age-specific prevalence of HBsAg carriage in teenage mothers managed in 1998–2008. HBsAg carriage was found in 2·5%, 2·7%, 8·8% and 8·0% of mothers aged ⩽16, 17, 18, and 19 years, respectively (P = 0·004), which was also correlated with advancing age (P = 0·011). While neither difference nor correlation with age was found in mothers born before 1984, the prevalence of 1·2%, 1·5%, 7·1% and 8·3%, respectively, was significantly different among (P = 0·008) and correlated with (P = 0·002) age in mothers born 1984 onwards. Regression analysis indicated there was a significantly higher incidence of HBsAg carriage from age 17 onwards (adjusted odds ratio 2·55, 95% confidence interval 1·07–6·10, P = 0·035), suggesting that the protective effect of the vaccine declined in late adolescence.

Abnormalities in both adenylyl cyclase (AC) and phosphoinositide (PI) signalling systems have been observed in the post-mortem brain of suicide victims. Cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CREB) is a transcription factor that is activated by phosphorylating enzymes such as protein kinase A (PKA) and protein kinase C (PKC), which suggests that both AC and PI signalling systems converge at the level of CREB. CREB is involved in the transcription of many neuronally expressed genes that have been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression and suicide. Since we observed abnormalities of both PKA and PKC in the post-mortem brain of teenage suicide victims, we examined if these abnormalities are also associated with abnormalities of CREB, which is activated by these phosphorylating enzymes. We determined CRE–DNA binding using the gel shift assay, as well as protein expression of CREB using the Western blot technique, and the mRNA expression of CREB using a quantitative reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR) technique in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), and hippocampus obtained from 17 teenage suicide victims and 17 matched normal control subjects. We observed that the CRE–DNA binding and the protein expression of CREB were significantly decreased in the PFC of teenage suicide victims compared with controls. There was also a significant decrease in mRNA expression of CREB in the PFC of teenage suicide victims compared with control subjects. However, there were no significant differences in CRE–DNA binding or the protein and mRNA expression of CREB in the hippocampus of teenage suicide victims compared with control subjects. These results suggest that the abnormalities of PKA, and of PKC, observed in teenage suicide victims are also associated with abnormalities of the transcription factor CREB, and that this may also cause alterations of important neuronally expressed genes, and provide further support of the signal transduction of abnormalities in suicide.