ABSTRACT
Objectives:To detect Leishmania species in human patients, animal reservoirs and Phlebotomus sandflies in Waziristan, Pakistan.Methods:Tissue smears and aspirates from 448 cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) suspected patients were analyzed. To sort out role of the reservoir hosts, skin scrapings, spleen and liver samples from 104 rodents were collected. Furthermore, buffy coat samples were obtained from 60 domestic animals. Sandflies were also trapped. All human, animals and sandfly samples were tested by microscopy, kinetoplastic PCR and internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) PCR followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism for detection of Leishmania species.Results:An overall prevalence of 3.83% and 5.21% through microscopy and ITS1 PCR respectively was found. However, the statistically non-significant correlation was found between area, gender, and number of lesions. The presence of rodents, sandflies, domestic animals and internally displaced people increased the risk of CL. Using ITS1-PCR-RFLP, Leishmania tropica (L. tropica) was confirmed in 106 samples while 25 of the isolates were diagnosed as Leishmania major (L. major). Similarly, 3/104 rodents were positive for L. major and 14 pools of DNA samples containing Phlebotomus sergenti sandflies were positive for L. tropica. None of samples from domestic animals were positive for leishmaniasis.Conclusions:In the present study, L. tropica and L. major are found to be the main causative agents of CL in study area. Movement of internally displaced people from CL endemic areas presents a risk for nearby CL free areas. To the best of our knowledge, we report for the first time L. major infection in rodents (Rattus rattus) and L. tropica in Phlebotomus sergenti sandflies trapped in Waziristan, Pakistan.
ABSTRACT
Background: The metabolism of several trace elements has been reported to alter in diabetes mellitus and these elements might have specific roles in the pathogenesis and progress of this disease. Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate serum levels of copper, zinc, chromium, magnesium and manganese in type 2 diabetic patients and their possible association with age, glycemic status and duration of diabetes. Methodology: The comparative study included 116 type 2 diabetic patients and 40 non-diabetic subjects. Fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c were determined by the glucose oxidase method and affinity chromatography respectively. The element concentrations were measured by means of an atomic absorption spectrophotometer after microwave-induced acid digestion. Results: Mean (±SD) Mg and Zn levels were significantly reduced in blood samples of diabetic patients as compared to control subjects (p<0.0001-<0.05). The alterations observed in serum levels of copper and manganese was not significant among diabetic and normal subjects. Glycemic status, duration of diabetes and age did not effect the trace elements concentrations. Conclusion: The results confirm that deficiency and efficiency of some essential trace metals may play a role in the development of diabetes mellitus.