Correlation between cytokine expression levels and formation of symmers' periportal fibrosis in Schistosomiasis

This study has been conducted on 23 Sudanese patients with Schistosomiasis mansoni, eight of whom were positive for Symmers' fibrosis. Twenty three DNA samples, obtained from these patients, were examined for polymorphism in promoter regions. introns and leader sequences for various cytokines. The cytokines and polymorphs tested included: TNF-alpha, TGF-beta 1, IL-10, IL-6 and IFN-gamma. Cytokine expression levels obtained from hand analysis on the electrophoresis gel allowed for profiling of the patients tendency to be pro- or anti- inflammatory when challenged. Pro- inflammatory cytokines are TGF-beta 1 and IL- 10. As seen in the results, the only noticeable difference between the two groups was in IFN-gamma levels, where nearly all the samples [87.5%, 7/8] positive for Symmers' fibrosis expressed high levels of the cytokine, whereas only 58.3 [7/12] expressed low levels of IFN-gamma in samples negative for Symmers' fibrosis. In conclusion, when comparing cytokine expression levels with liver fibrosis, no strong correlation could be found The relative risk values obtained were low and implied that there was no significant correlation between the expression levels ct TGF-beta 1 IL-10 and TFN-gamma and the production of Syinmers' fibrosis

Prevalence of imported West African Trypanosomiasis among prison inmates and displaced people in Khartoum state

The problem of sleeping sickness in the Sudan and its effect on the human population is a big worry to those working in the health care service. These facts directed the present work to estimate of the prevalence of Sleeping Sickness in prison inmates and displaced people of different age and sex groups in Khartoum state, and to evaluate and compare serological techniques versus parasitological methods in the effective diagnosis of the infection. A total of 365 individuals have been screened, during the period of August 1999 to February 2000 for sleeping sickness using serological technique [CATT = Card Agglutination Test for Trypanosomiasis] and conventional parasitological technique [3% Giemsa Stain]. Direct agglutination serology was further investigated by a serial dilution of the serum using the CATT buffer [phosphate buffered saline solution, pH 7.2]. A total of 365 patients were screened 154 were prison inmates in the four major prisons in Khartoum State. Out of the 365 screened individuals, 102 were positive by the conventional direct smear. The study has shown that prevalence of Sleeping sickness is 32% and 26% among men and women, respectively. The prevalence of the disease among different age groups in the four camps showed that it was high among people of the ages 15-45 years [38 positive cases], and low in people of the ages 1-14 years [2 positive cases]