About the Authors

Kaoru Midorikawa

Affiliation Department of Environmental and Molecular Medicine, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Mie, Japan

Douangdao Soukaloun

Affiliation Mahosot Hospital, Ministry of Health, Vientiane, Lao PDR

Kongsap Akkhavong

Affiliation National Institute of Public Health, Ministry of Health, Vientiane, Lao PDR

Bouavanh Southivong

Affiliation Department of Health Care, Ministry of Health, Vientiane, Lao PDR

Oudayvone Rattanavong

Affiliation Mahosot Hospital, Ministry of Health, Vientiane, Lao PDR

Vikham Sengkhygnavong

Affiliation Mahosot Hospital, Ministry of Health, Vientiane, Lao PDR

Amphay Pyaluanglath

Affiliation Mahosot Hospital, Ministry of Health, Vientiane, Lao PDR

Saymongkhonh Sayasithsena

Affiliation Mahosot Hospital, Ministry of Health, Vientiane, Lao PDR

Satoshi Nakamura

Affiliation Laboratory of Epidemiology and Public Health, Graduate School of Nursing Science and Faculty of Nursing, Hiroshima Bunka Gakuen University, Kure, Hiroshima, Japan

Yutaka Midorikawa

Affiliation Department of Medical Nutrition, Faculty of Health, Suzuka University of Medical Science, Suzuka, Mie, Japan

Mariko Murata

mmurata@doc.medic.mie-u.ac.jp

Affiliation Department of Environmental and Molecular Medicine, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu, Mie, Japan

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: KM. Performed the experiments: KM KA BS VS SN YM. Analyzed the data: KM MM. Wrote the paper: KM MM. Setup for the experiments: DS OR AP. Obtained statistics data: SS.