Correlation between brain neurotransmitters and insulin sensitivity: Neuro-preservative role of resveratrol against high fat, high fructose-induced insulin resistance

Insulin resistance (IR) is a major public health problem that can lead to many dangerous medical disorders and earlymortality. This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of resveratrol (RSV) to counteract the neuro-complicationsaccompanying high fat, high fructose (HFHF) diet experimentally induced-IR in rats. IR was induced by the ingestion ofHFHF diet for 70 days, 80 juvenile rats were used, and the treatments were given orally for the diet latest 10 days. Rats’general behavior was assessed by open field test (OFT) and forced swimming test (FST). On biochemical level; neurocomplications were assessed by measuring brain levels of monoamines and their metabolites as well as the levels of8-hydroxyguanosine (8-OHDG), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced and oxidizedglutathione (GSH and GSSG) and nitric oxide (NOx). Oral RSV (20 and 40 mg/kg p.o) increased the activity ofthe rats in the OFT and decreased the immobility period in the FST in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, RSVreduced monoamines turnover, elevated GSH, and reduced GSSG, NOx, MDA, 8-OHDG, and TNF-α (p < 0.05).RSV exhibited neuro-protective activities against HFHF-induced IR, thus it can be recommended as a favorable dailydietary supplement for treating the neuronal side effects related to IR.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices related to avian influenza among a rural community in Egypt

Avian influenza [AI] is currently a threat to global health. Prevention and control largely depend on population awareness and behavior. Is to assess the rural community knowledge, attitudes, and practice [KAP] related to AI prevention and control. A household survey, using an interviewing questionnaire and observational checklist, was conducted in Bahetim district, Qalubeya Governorate. Of the total 399, 41.1% were dealing with poultry, of them 26% were raising poultry at their home. Vaccination of birds were reported by 66.6% of the respondents, hand washing regularly with water and soap by 54.6%, and by going far away from infected birds by 51.3% . Nearly 50% mentioned that AI disease cannot be transmitted from person to person and that AI is transmitted to human through contact with sick birds. Regarding their score level, 75.7% of the respondents had fair knowledge level, 87.5% had positive attitude towards prevention and control of AI and 58.1% had fair practice level. Younger persons, those who had completed secondary or higher level of education, those living in nuclear family had better knowledge and positive attitudes towards AI prevention and control [p<0.05], while age, sex, and education level did not affect their healthy behavior and sanitary practices. The level of community knowledge and practices about AI disease was moderate, but their attitudes were positive. Therefore, designing and implementing health educational programs about AI to improve the community practices should have the priority to encourage people to take a more active role

Seroprevalenc of HIV/AIDS among pregnant Sudanese women

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the Sudan is 1.6-6.0%. With the advent of peace, the disease is expected to be on the rise. The objective of the study is to assess the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in pregnant Sudanese women so as to prevent Mother-to-Child Transmission. In a pilot study conducted at antenatal clinics in 5 Sudanese Teaching Hospitals, five teams were trained in the basic skills of counseling, diagnosis and management of HIV/AIDS. Rapid Test [Uni-gold HIV-1/HIV-2], Serodia HIV-1/2, and Western blot [INNP-LIA HIV-1/2 SCORE] tests were used. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS was found to be 0.8%. This pilot study led to establishment of seven Antenatal clinics for prevention of mother_to-child transmission in different parts of the country. Qualified teams composed of an Obstetrician, Paediatrician, pharmacist, Social worker, Health visitor, midwife, Laboratory Technician and a counselor provided counseling, testing and management for pregnant women and children of HIVpositive mothers. 57793 pregnant women attended antenatal clinics during the period August 2007-August 2008. Out of these 25941 [44.9%] were counseled; however only 5959 [23.0%] accepted to be tested for HIV. 39 positive cases were found, making the prevalence rate of 0.65%. Patients were managed and the babies were given antiretroviral treatment. Breast feeding was advised. Although the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is about 1.6-6% in the country, it is still low in pregnant women. A great effort should be done on Voluntary Counseling and Testing [VCT]; and effective preventive measures should be taken

Regional necrotizing fasciitis and its outcome

Necrotizing fasciitis, a devastating progressive destructive infection of subcutaneous tissue and fascia, is a surgical emergency with a high mortality and morbidity. To analyze the location of necrotizing fasciitis, mode of presentation, microbiological characteristics, comorbid conditions, morbidty and mortality, records were reviewed retrospectively of all ninety-five patients admitted with necrotizing fasciitis to the surgical intensive care unit of Hamad General Hospital between January 1995 and February 2005. Fifteen patients died [15.1%]. All patients had leucocytosis and fever on admission with a mean SOFA score varying from 8 to 10.3 according to the type of necrotizing fasciitis involved [Type 1 or 2] and the regions affected. All received aggressive fluid replacement therapy and all underwent debridement at least twice. The most common comorbid condition was Diabetes mellitus. Type 1 necrotizing fasciitis was common in gluteal, cervical and perineal regions; Type 2 was common in chest, axilla, leg and foot regions. Necrotizing fasciitis of the chest, axilla and gluteal regions had the highest mortality while necrotizing fasciitis of the perineum and genitalia had the lowest mortality

Body fat distribution, serum leptin, and insulin resistance in obese subjects with obstructive sleep Apnoea

Obstructive sleep apnoea [OSA] is strongly associated with obesity and is characterized by endocrine and metabolic changes. The aim of the present study is to clarify whether there is interrelationship between body fat, serum leptin, glucose-insulin metabolism and OSA

Subjects and measurements: We studied 23 obese subjects with OSA [13 males,and 10 females; age mean 36 +/- 4.4 years; BMI: 31.7 +/- 3.6 kg/m2; WHR: 1.2 +/- .25 in males and 0.81+.5 in females ;Apnoea Index "AI"[ 9.2 +/- 6.1] event/hour of sleep by means of overnight polysomnography; fasting glucose[109.8 +/- 21.4 mg/dL] ; fasting insulin[18.6 +/- 7.1 uU/L ]; IR[6.7 +/- 2.8]; fasting leptin[577.69 +/- 201.6 ng/ml]. Results were compared with those of 10 healthy normal weight subjects[6 males,4 females; age mean 36.8 +/- 4.4 years; BMI: 25 +/- 0.24 kg/m2; WHR: 0.86 +/- 0.01; AI: 2.1 +/- 1.1 event/hour; fasting glucose[71.7 +/- 2.8 mg /dL ]; fasting insulin[15.3 +/- . 48 uU/L ]; IR[4.6 +/- . 17]; fasting leptin [42.4 +/- 11.5 ng/ml]

Results: Anthropometric measurements of OSA subjects were highly significantly greater than controls; body weight [P<0.003]; BMI [P<0.00]; waist [P<0.000]; and WHR [P<0.000]. Fasting glucose levels; fasting plasma insulin; IR and leptin levels were significantly higher in OSA subjects than controls [P<0.000, 0.03, 0.002; and 0.000] respectively. Overnight polysomnography revealed significant difference between OSA subjects and controls as regards AI [P<0.001]. The major dependent outcome variable was the apnoea index [AI], "the average number of apnoeas per hour of sleep determined by overnight polysomnography". OSA was defined as AI >/= 5. Highly significant correlation between AI and WHR [P<0.00]; Fasting insulin [P<0.04]; IR [P<001] and Leptin [P<0.000] were detected. Also leptin concentrations correlated with fasting insulin [P<0.02]; IR [P<0.00] and WHR [P<0.000] besides the AI

In Conclusion: There is strong bidirectional, feed-forward pernicious correlation detected between OSA in one side and each of visceral obesity, leptin, and IR; also between leptin, obesity, and IR. This association may contribute to the pathological manifestations and somatic sequale of this condition. Leptin could have major role linking OSA with various metabolic abnormalities detected in obese subjects. High circulating leptin found in this study, suggests that both obesity and OSA may be caused by a leptin resistant state. Among obese subjects, it is visceral fat [WHR], rather than generalized obesity [BMI] that predisposes to OSA

Relationship between cutaneous lesion of necrolytic acral erythema and hepatitis C virus

Hepatitis C [HCV] is a plus strand RNA virus. The plus-strand RNA enters hepatocytes and produces minus-strand RNA that serves as a templates in virus proliferation. HCV infection can be associated with disorders of various organs other than the liver, including the skin. Necrolytic acral erythema [NAE] have been reported to occur in setting of chronic HCV infection which belongs to the family of necrolytic erythemas which characterized clinically by erythematous lesions that frequently develop blisters and microscopically by epidermal necrolytic changes involving mostly the upper part of the epidennis. The aim of this study was to examine HCV-infected patients for the presence of viral genome within the lesional cutaneous biopsy sample of NAE and to find the relationship between it and HCV infection. The study included 8 [5 males and 3 females] anti-HCV-positive patients with NAE. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase-chain reaction [RT-PCR] was performed to detect; HCVRNA plus strand in all sera samples and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells [PBMC] for certain cases and HCV-RNA plus and minus strands in cutaneous lesional biopsy samples of NAE. Although all patients were sero-positive for HCV antibodies, RT-PCR could only detect HCV genome in the sera of 5/8 patients [62.5%]. The HCV diagnosis in the 3 subjects who tested negative was established on the basis of detectable MCV genome in J'BMC. RT-PCR could not detect, the HCV-RNA plus strand in 6/8 [75%] of skin tissue biopsies and the HCV-RNA minus strand in all skin biopsies. Conclusion; the absence of MCV-RNA minus strand in tissue samples indicates that the skin lesion of NAE is not a site of HCV proliferation and that, HCV is not the primary cause of NAE per se. Further studies of lesional and non-lesional cutaneous biopsy specimen from HCV-infected patients with NAE are needed to evaluate the inter-relationship between HCV and NAE

longitudinal study of Schistosome intermediate host snail populations and their trematode infection in certain areas of Egypt

The seasonal variation of Biomphalaria alexandrina and Bulinus truncatus populations and their infection rates with schistosome and other trematode cercariae were studied longitudinally in four water courses located in Giza and Fayoum governorates. The abundance of both species varied from year to year and according to the type of habitat. The mean prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni in Biomphalaria was 0.29% and that of S. Haematobium in Bulinus was 1.36%. The seasonal variations of age structure of the two vector snails were monitored throughout the survey period. Infection rates with schistosome and other trematodes among Bulinus and Biomphalaria increased with the increase in snail size. Data suggested the occurrence of an antagonistic interaction between schistosome and non- human cercariae, especially echinostome in infected snails

Abdominal wound disruption: a retrospective study

The occurrence of abdominal wound dehiscence is studied in a group of patients including 2205 patients treated via laparotomy over a period from June 1987 to Sept. 1991 in the Department of General Surgery; Assiut University Hospital. The incidence, age, sex, primary disease which required surgery, operations performed, preoperative and postoperative factors, of disruption, morbidity and mortality, have been analysed. The incidence of dehiscence was 2.2% [50 cases], the average age was 50 years and the condition occurred more frequently in males than females, the ratio being 1.27:1. Factors predisposing to abdominal wound disruption in our patients were; wound sepsis in 35 patients, distension in 29 patients, anaemia and malnutrition in 13 patients. The indication for the original operation in patients with dehiscence was emergent in 28 patients [56%] and elective in 22 [44%]. Right paramedian incision was used in 38 patients [76%]. Left paramedianin 9 patients [18%], and midline incision in 3 cases [6%]. Disruption occurred most commonly in the second postoperative week: 20 cases [40%] in the ninth postoperative day, 15 cases [30%] in the tenth day; 7 patients [14%] in the eighth day and 8 cases [16%] in the 5th to 7th day. No cases were recorded before the fifth or after the tenth postoperative days. After repair 38 patients [75%] recovered uneventfully and 12 patients [25%] died. We noticed that 8 out of the 12 died patients proved to have advanced malignant diseases

Hepaticojejunostomy for bile duct injuries after cholecystectomy

This study included 19 patients [11 females and 8 males]. The patients presented with jaundice [6 cases] or external biliary fistula [13 cases] after previous cholecystectomy operation. The patients were subjected to ultrasonographic examination and fistulography was done in patients presented with a fistula. Hepaticojejunostomy was done in all cases: In 3 cases simple loop hepaticojejunostomy and in the remaining 16 cases Roux en Y hepaticojejunostomy was carried out. A stent was used in all cases and left in place for 6 weeks then they were removed. Complications occurred in form of leakage closed spontaneously in one case and subphrenic collection in another case. Follow up of the patients revealed no complications. We advise the use of hepaticojejunostomy for restoration of bile flow after injuries of the bile ducts as it is safe, easy to construct and could be done in most cases