effect of the plant Furcraea gigantea on Biomphalaria alexandrina snails and Schistosoma mansoni miracidia and cercariae

Crude saponins and ethanol extracts were significantly more potent than the water extracts at LC50 28 ppm and 80 ppm, respectively, against B. alexandrina. Boiled water extract was approximately twice as potent than cold water extract. B. alexandria was less susceptible to the plant than B. truncatus. The boiled water extract LC50 for B. alexandrina and B. truncatus were extract 280 ppm and 210 ppm, respectively. The crude saponins were as lethal to snail eggs as to the adult snails. Miracidia and cercaria were also affected by the plant extracts, although the value of this observation in practical control terms may be limited

Atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis in elderly non-insulin dependent diabetics

The purpose of this study was to utilize the renal duplex sonography as a noninvasive tool to identify the prevalence and the aspects of atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis [ARAS] in the elderly NIDDM population. In this study, 135 consecutive elderly NIDDM patients [39 F/96 M] aged greater than 55, of whom 76 were hypertensives, were studied as well as 20 elderly nondiabetic cases matched for sex [3 F/17 M] and age, of whom 10 patients were hypertensives, as a control group. The prevalence of ARAS in NIDDM patients was 7.4%, 1 F/9 M, 8 of whom were hypertensives. ARAS was bilateral in four cases. In the non- diabetic group, unilateral ARAS was diagnosed in an elderly hypertensive male [5%]. It was concluded that ARAS is frequent in elderly NIDDM [7.4%], this potentially curable renovascular disease must be evaluated by color duplex sonography, especially in patients with long duration of diabetes, elevated blood pressure, long duration of hypertension, presence of peripheral vascular disease and renal dysfunction

Should we routinely check for hepatitis B and C in patients with lichen planus or cutaneous vasculitis?

The study aimed to determine the prevalence of HBs-Ag and anti-HCV antibodies in a group of 43 patients with lichen planus and 19 patients with cutaneous vasculitis versus 30 controls. The results showed that 12 [27.9%] patients with lichen planus were positive for HBs-Ag, 9 [20.9%] were positive for anti-HCV antibodies and 3 [7%] were positive for both. In cutaneous vasculitis patients, 3 [15.8%] were HBs-Ag-positive, 7 [36.8%] were anti-HCV-positive and 3 [15.8%] were positive for both. In the control group, 8 [26.7%] were HBs-Ag positive, 3 [10%] were anti-HCV-positive and 1 [3.3%] was positive for both. These values were not statistically significant