Effects of medication with ivermectin, chloroquine and artemether on plasma nitrate / nitrite levels in calves naturally infected with onchocerca gutturosa

In a comparative study involving the use of Ivermectin, Chloroquine and Artemether against Onchocerca gutturosa in calves, the plasma nitrate /nitrite concentration was measured. Following treatment and clearance of skin mf of O. gutturosa, the plasma nitrate/ nitrite concentrations, nor the stable end product of Nitric Oxide [NO] breakdown, rise significantly although it showed short peaks following reduction in dermal mf counts but no clear correlation was detected

Inhibition of alanine and aspartate aminotransferases by beta-nitropropionic acid

The inhibition of serum alanine and aspartate aminotransferases [SALT and SAST] by beta nitropropionic acid [beta NPA], toxic metabolite of some fungi higher plants] in vitro was studied. The results indicated that both SALT and SAST were competitively inhibited by beta NPA and the enzymes recovered their original activity by dialysis, indicating that the inhibitory effect of beta NPA is reversible. The inhibition of both SALT and SAST by beta NPA was found to be slow and showed the characteristic of a first order reaction up to 30 minutes. The rate constants characterizing this inhibition, namely: the binding constant [k[B]] [90 uM and 225 uM for SALT and SAST, respectively] and bimolecular velocity of inhibition ki [666 and 714 [M min][-1] for SALT and SAST, respectively were determined. Kn [rate of nitrification of the enzymes] for SALT and SAST were 0.06/min and 0.18/min, respectively

Parenteral use of iron and ascorbic acid [vitamin C] in haemodialysis patients

The aim of this work was to study the effect of supplementation of iron and vitamin C therapy to hemodialysis patients, hoping that this therapy is effective in the treatment of anaemia in these patients. In this work, 40 stable hemodialysis patients suffering from severe to moderate anemia not receiving any form of replacement therapy [i.e., neither erythropoietin [EPO] nor iron], were selected and divided into two groups: The first group was treated by injection with ferrosac 100 mg/5ml twice a week for 3 months, and the second group was treated by injection with 500 mg/2.5ml of vitamin C in combination with 100 mg/5ml ferosac twice a week for three months. The results of this study indicated that: There was a significant decrease in both urea and creatinine in hemodialysis patients after i.v. treatment of ferosac alone [100 mg/5ml] [group I] and combined ferosac [100 mg/5ml] with ascorbic acid [500 mg/2.5ml] [group II] twice weekly for 3 months. There was a significant increase in hemoglobin concentration and serum iron in both hemodialysis patient groups [I and II] after treatment, the highly increase markedly occurred in group II rather than group I after treatment. Moreover, there was a significant decrease in serum ferritin concentration in group I and a more pronounced decrease in group II after treatment, indicating the importance of vitamin C in decreasing the serum ferritin level and therefore the better correction of anemia

Effect of the carbamate [physostigmine] on the activity of nitric oxide synthase in different parts of rat brain [invivo studies]

Physostigmine [eserine] is the methyl carbamic ester of phenolic trimethyl ammonium compound. It is a powerful inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase enzyme activity and used in some therapeutic preparation. In this work, experiments were carried out in-vivo to study the intraperitoneal [i.p.] infusion of eserine on the activity of nitric oxide synthase [NOS] enzyme, obtained from whole and five different parts of rat brain, namely: basal ganglia, frontal cortex medulla oblongata, pons, and cerebellum. In this work ,two experiments were carried Experiment A: to study the dose dependence of i.p. infusion of eserine on NOS activity. Experiment B: to study the time dependence post-infusion of constant dose of eserine [the dose which caused 50% inhibition of the enzyme activity: 150]. The results showed that the "inhibition of the enzyme occurred in each part studied, and the inhibition increased with increasing the infused dose of eserine, and the time post i.p. infusion, i.e., the inhibition is dose and time dependent. The highest inhibition occurred in the pons and medulla oblongata extracts; these parts are responsible for the reflex centers of cough and vital centers

Impact of helicobacter pylori infection on the activities of urease and lipase enzymes in patients with giardiasis

The study of the effect of Giardia lamblia and Helicobacter pylori organisms coexistence on the activities of urease and lipase enzymes was the aim of this work which was done through choosing 50 cases of giardiasis in addition to 10 normal individuals chosen as a control group [free from giardiasis]. It is well known that H. pylori is considered one of the most important causes of gastric and duodenal inflammations which could predispose to ulcers and hypochlorhydria leading to increased susceptibility to giardiasis as it is known that HCl acts as a chemical barrier to microbes. The biochemical tests were done to investigate the activity of both urease and lipase enzymes extracted from the gastric juice of patients and controls. A significant increase in urease activity in the group having combined infection [giardiasis and H.pylori] than the group infected with G.lamblia alone and the control group was found. The same findings were obtained regarding the lipase activity. In the present work, both infections H. pylori and G. lamblia coexisted in 75% of epigastric pain cases which could be explained on the basis that both organisms predispose to each other

Psychological morbidity in primary health care in Oman. A preliminary study

To study the applicability of simple field measurements of physical fitness in a sample of Omani boys and their relationships to selected variables. Two field measures of physical fitness-the time to complete 1.6-km run/walk and the sum of 5 skin fold thicknesses-were correlated with personal and family physical activity-related and other variables in a sample of 109 Omani boys aged 9-11 years. Obesity in parents, especially in the mother, showed significant correlation with both fitness measures. The waist/buttocks ratio showed no significant correlation with the 1.6-km time. The number of siblings and siblings sharing a room, number of T.V-watching hours and the number of servants in the family showed no correlation with the chosen fitness indices. The results of this pilot study indicate that simple field fitness tests can be used in children and they can yield valuable information related to physical fitness. The same protocol used in this study could be applied to a national study in Oman