Surveillance of antibodies to rubella virus in school girls in Kaliobiya

This study was undertaken to determine the level of rubella virus antibodies in school girls at puberty stage [age 10-14 years], in kaliobiya. A total of 350 sera were examined for rubella specific I[g]g antibodies by ELISA test. The sero positivity was considered when anti rubella I[g]g titre was more than 10 iu/ml. It was found that the sero negativity rate among school girls was high [36%]. The sero positive girls [64%] were variable in their detectable antibodies titre as 24.2% of them showed low titre [10-50 iu/ml], 19.6% showed moderate titre [50-100 iu/ml] while 56.2% showed high titre [> 100 iu/ml]. Also, it was observed that the sero negativity percentage decreased with age as it delclined from 50% at age of 10 years to 21.7% at age of 14 years. We concluded that the level of anti rubella I[g]g antibodies was low in high percentage of school girls and mandatory screening of all girls at puberty prior to marriage must be practiced. Egyptian health authorities should evaluate the policy of integration of rubella vaccine into the expanded program on immunization

Serum and urinary calcium levels in different forms of gestational hypertension

To assess the significance of measrments of serum and urinary calcium in differentiation between different forms of gestational hypertension, serum calcium, 24-hour urinary calcium/creatinine ratio and urinary calcium/creatinine ratio in random samples were measured in 31 pregnant women in the third trimester. They were classified into the following 4 groups: group I: normal pregnant women as a control group [n=8], group II: pregnant women with transient hypertension [n=7], group III: pregnant women with chronic hypertension "with history of hypertension before pregnancy" [n=7] and group IV: pregnant women complicated with pre-eclampsia "hypertension+ proteinuria > 300 mg/24 hour" [n=9]. According to the results obtained, serum calcium levels showed nonsignificant differences between the four studied groups while the mean urinary calcium excertion in the 4 studied group was 213 +/- 56, 210 +/- 52, 198 +/- 48 and 70 +/- 17 mg/24 hour, respectively showing a marked decreased in the pre-eclamptic patients. The mean calcium/creatinine ratio in random urine samples showed also significant decreases [173 +/- 41, 164 +/- 33, 161 +/- 42 and 58 +/- 16 mg/gm, respectively]. We concluded that hypocalcuria was a marked sign in all of our preeclamptic patients. Determination of 24 hour urinary calcium excretion or calcium/creatinine ratio in random urine samples could be a reliable index of pre-eclampsia

Which hormone is the best for diagnosis of polycystic ovary disease?

To study which hormone is the best for diagnosis of polycystic ovary disease [PCO], luteinizing hormone [LH], follicle stimulating hormone [FSH], testosterone, androstenedione and estradiol were assessed by radioimmunoassay in twenty four women with clinical and ultrasound diagnosis of polycystic ovary disease. Fourteen healthy women were selected as a control group. Blood samples were withdrawn in the early follicular phase [day 2-3] and sera were separated and frozen until assayed. There were significant increase in the levels of LH, LH/FSH ratio, testosterone and androstenedione in PCO group when compared to the control group. These levels were in the abnormal range for 50%, 62.5% 96% and 75% of patients respectively. So, the most frequently abnormal hormone was testosterone. There was no significant difference in FSH and estradiol between the two groups. We concluded that, the best single hormone for diagnosis of PCO was testosterone. Combination with any of LH, LH/FSH ratio or androstenedione increased the sensitivity as biochemical markers for PCO disease up to 100%

Study of serum angiotensin converting enzyme activity in children with acute and chronic liver diseases

Serum angiotensin converting enzyme [SACE] was determined beside other biochemical hepatic markers in 34 children with liver disease. They were classified into 3 groups: group I: consisted of 12 children suffering from acute viral hepatitis, group II: consisted of 13 children with compensated bilharzial hepatosplenomegally and group III: consisted of 9 children with decompensated bilharzial liver fibrosis. 12 apparently healthy children represented the control group. A significant increase in serum angiotensin converting enzyme activity was observed in all patient groups. This increase was much marked in children of group III with good correlation with other traditional biochemical hepatic markers. We concluded that SACE activity increases in acute and chronic liver disease and could be used as an index of severity of liver impairments especially in chronic liver diseases