Thyroid dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Jordan

To investigate the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction and autoimmunity in type 2 diabetic patients. The study was conducted at the National Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Genetics, Jordan University Hospital, Amman, Jordan, between March 2000 and September 2000. A group of 908 type 2 diabetic patients [T2DM] were recruited in the study and underwent investigations for thyroid functions; free thyroxine [FT4], free tri-iodothyronine [FT3] and thyroid stimulating hormone [TSH]. Six hundred had performed thyroid autoantibodies, thyroid peroxidase antibodies [TPOab] or antimicrosomal antibodies [AMA] and thyroglobulin antibodies [Tgab]. They were compared with 304 non-diabetics, of those 282 had performed thyroid antibodies. Fifty-three [5.9%] of diabetic patients were known to have thyroid disease. As a direct result of screening, new thyroid disease cases were diagnosed in 6.6% of the patients. Thus, the overall prevalence of thyroid disease was found to be 12.5%. The most common was subclinical hypothyroidism [4.1%]. In the control group, the prevalence of thyroid disease was 6.6%. The most common was subclinical hypothyroidism [5%]. There was a significant difference between diabetics and control subjects p=0.0064. Positive TPOab was found in 8.3% of T2DM patients [N=600] versus 10.3% in the control group [N=282] p=0.412. Positivity for both TPOab and Tgab was found to be 2.5% of T2DM versus 6% of the control subjects p=0.0155. This study suggests that diabetic patients should be screened for asymptomatic thyroid dysfunction

Familial mediterranean fever mutation frequencies and carrier rates among a mixed Arabic population

Familial Mediterranean Fever [FMF] is an autoinflammatory periodic disorder characterized by febrile and painful attacks due to inflammation involving the serosal membranes. The gene implicated in this disorder, MEFV, has been cloned and mutations in its coding regions have been identified. We aimed at identifying the frequency of MEFV, mutations and carrier frequency in a mixed Arabic population. We identified 29 prob and s from 29 unrelated sibships segregating the disorder and representing the affected individual cohort. We screened 200 anonymous deoxyribonucleic acid [DNA] samples, representing a healthy adult cohort, for the mutations found to be common in the affected individual cohort. We also, screened anonymous DNA samples from 4 Arabic countries, namely, Egypt [231], Syria [225], Iraq [176] and the Kingdom of -Saudi Arabia [107] thus enlarging our healthy adult cohort. The study was carried out between 1999 and 2002 at Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid and the University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan. Out of the 58 alleles of the 29 prob and s, only 31 mutations were identified and M694V and V726A are the most common. The mutation E148Q was the most common among the healthy adult cohort, but was not present in affected individuals. The collective mutant allele frequency "q" was 0.101. The expected carrier rate was 18.1% [one in 5.5] while the observed carrier rate was 18.4% [one in 5.4]. E148Q has reduced penetrance and thus, a proportion of the individuals genetically affected with FMF remain asymptomatic. M694I and M680I are more prevalent in the affected individuals cohort, which points to their higher penetrance. The overall carrier rate is one in 5, but the selective heterozygote advantage could not be demonstrated in this study due to the relatively small sample size

Comparison of four methods for the detection of cytomegalovirus antibody and prevalence of cytomegalovirus infection among Jordanian blood donors

Four tests, a latex agglutination test [LA], two enzyme immunoassays [EIA], and an indirect fluorescent antibody [IFA] were compared for the detection of antibody against cytomegalovirus [CMV]. Blood samples that were obtained from 200 healthy Jordanian blood donors were used in this comparison. The latex agglutination test [Becton-Dickinson] was shown to be the best of all tests used, demonstrating a sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values of 100%. Abbott Enzyme immunoassay demonstrated high sensitivity [98.9%] but lower negative predictive value [83.3%] than the latex agglutination. Though demonstrating high sensitivity, Eurogenetics EIA and Electronucleonics IFA were less specific [80% and 60% respectively] and had lower negative predictive values [72.7% and 75% respectively]. Moreover, the latex agglutination ranked first in terms of other important considerations such as turnaround time, requirement for equipment, and technical demand. Testing of 598 additional blood samples obtained from healthy Jordanian blood donors by the Latex agglutination test revealed 578 positive samples. This indicates a prevalence of 96.7% of CMV infection among Jordanian blood donors

Effects of aflatoxin B1 on serum and pituitary prolactin levels in male rats

Aflatoxin B1a secondary fungal metabolite and a major contaminant of human and animal foodstuffs, is one of the most potent carcinogen known. A decrease in milk production was recently observed in dairy cows when they consumed aflatoxin B[1] contaminated feed. In this study, the effect of aflatoxin, B[1] on serum and anterior pituitary prolactin levels was examined in male rats. Aflatoxin B[1] in doses of 0.7 and 1.4 mg/kg body weight decreased serum prolactin levels after 30,60 and 120 min of injection with no significant changes in pituitary prolactin levels. In contrast, 2.8 mg/kg body weight of aflatoxin B[1] increased pituitary prolactin levels and produced no significant changes in serum prolactin levels. Similarly, chronic administration of aflatoxin B[1] resulted in an increase in pituitary prolactin levels and no significant changes in serum prolactin levels. It is suggested that affatoxin B[1] decreases milk production by modulating, at least in part, prolactin release from the anterior pituitary gland

improved method for the preparation of poly [adenosine diphosphate-ribose] with twenty units length chain

Poly [adenosine diphosphate-ribose [Poly [ADP-ribose]] is a novel biopolymer with a promising application in clinical diagnostic procedures. Goat and calf thymus glands and severa' established cell lines were assessed as a source for the preparation of tritiated3 H-poly [ADP-ribose]. Comparing the perparations from the different cell sources with respect to yield and chain length, it was observed that Hela cell nuclei and calf thymus were better than nuclei prepared from goat thymus, CLA4, K562 and L1210 cell lines. Although Hela cell nuclei were slightly better, preparations from calf thymus nuclei were preferred as they are more readily available, cheap and easier to handle. In this preparation [3H] nicotinamide dinucleotide [NAD] was used as a precursor. The polymer was purified by enzymic digestion, phenol extraction and chromatography on aminoethyl cellulose, hydroxylapatite and Sephadex-G25. Thin layer chromatography, following digestion of the polymer with snake venom diesterase, showed that it has an average chain length of twenty units

Incidence of antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus in patients with lymphoproliferative diseases

Epstein-Barr virus [EBV] antibody prevalence and titers were determined in 17 patients with Burkitt's lymphoma [BL], 12 patients with Hodgkin's disease [HD], 48 patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia [ALL], 28 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma [NHL], seven patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia [CLL] and 112 healthy controls. The patients showed increased incidence of high antibody titers to viral capsid antigen [VCA] and EBV early antigen [EA]. There were no significant differences in the prevalence of antibodies to capsid antigen in patients [90%] and in control [86%], but the geometric means of antibody to VCA and to EA were 2.5 to five fold higher in patients than in the control group. The results reflect the high incidence of EBV infection in Jordan

Immunoglobulins and histaminopexic power of sera in children with popular urticaria

The present study was carried out on 100 children with papular urticaria attending the Outpatient Clinic of El-Shatby Hospital for sick children in Alexandria University. This group was matched with 100 healthy children of the same age group. Immunologic study revealed high serum IgE level in all age groups among diseased children, serum IgA level was significantly low in children in the group 2-6 years. Immunoglobulins G, M and D showed no relevant changes in association with papular urticaria; a significantly low histaminopexic power has been found in association with papular urticaria above the age of one year

Serum and urinary diastase in vitamin D deficiency rickets

The present work was done on 20 infants and children with clinical, biochemical and radiological manifestations of active rickets. Ten normal control subjects with no clinical or biochemical evidence of rickets were included. The ages of both samples ranged between 6 and 30 months. The serum diastase in rachitic group ranged between 22 and 260 diastase units/dl with a mean value 97.45 diastase units/dl. In urine it ranged between 30-300 diastase units/dl with a mean value of 117 diastase units/dl. Comparing these values with those of normal controls revealed no significant difference in serum and urine diastase

study of antidiuretic hormone and aldosterone in children with grand epilepsy as influenced by drug therapy

This study was conducted on thirty children with grand mal epilepsy attending the paediatric neurology clinic of the Alexandria University Hospital for Sick Children, all of them were new untreated cases. The diagnosis was built up on both clinical and electroencephalographic grounds. Children were divided into two major groups; the first group received CBZ as the sole drug of therapy, the second group received sodium vaiproate as the sole antiepileptic drug. Serum and urinary sodium, potassium, osmolality, serum aldosterone and plasma ADH were determined for all the cases before initiation of therapy and three months later. Twenty normal age matched children without personal or family history of epilepsy or febrile convulsions were included in this study as controls and subjected to the same laboratory investigations

Effect of long term corticosteroid therapy on the eyes of Egyptian children with rheumatic heart disease and nephrotic syndrome

This study was carried out on 64 children; 10 cases served controls and 54 cases, with different etiological diagnoses, were on prolonged prednisone therapy for periods ranging from 1 1/2 months to seven years. Of these cases 29.6% developed PSC, most of the cases were bilateral and symmetrical and were correlated to the dose and duration of steroids. It was also noted that PSC tends to occur in nephrotic syndrome patients with stunted height and good weight while in rheumatic heart diseases it tends to develop in cases with lower limits of normal for their height and weight. It is recommended that ophthalmological examinations be carried out in a regular pattern in patients receiving long term oral steroid therapy

Zinc levels in plasma and erythrocytes in children from birth to five years

The plasma and erythrocyte zinc levels were determined in 90 healthy children from birth to 5 years of age [including 25 low birth weight neonates], using an emission spectrographic technique. Zinc levels were higher in preterm than in full term newborns. The levels were highest during the first year. This was related to breast feeding. Relatively low levels of erythrocyte zinc were noted in preschool children and call for further studies on zinc nutrition in this age group

effect of locally applied idoxuridine [IDU] on antibody production in herpetic stomatitis

A group of 32 patients with herpetic stomatitis treated with locally applied IDU was studied concerning the humoral immunity. This is compared with a similar group treated with 1% solution of gentian violet. It is shown that IDU is highly effective and reduces the healing time to the half. It does not affect the host defence system and the antibody production is not altered

Clinical versus biochemical and radiological data in assessing activity of vitamin D deficiency rickets

The present work included the study of three groups of rachitic children and a control group of ten healthy children. The number of cases in the rachitic groups was 20, 20 and 23 and they were studied one month, after the first, second and third mega dose of vitamin D respectively. Clinical manifestations in the form of broadening of the distal ends of both forearm and leg bones with positive Marfan's sign, persisted after complete biochemical and radiological healing. Deformities mainly in the form of bow legs and occasionally knees persisted after complete biochemical and radiological healing. These findings point to the possible harmful effect of administration of vitamin D on clinical ground only to rachitic infants