Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes in Sickle Cell Trait: a Prospective Cohort Study Evaluating Clinical and Haematological Parameters in Postpartum Mothers and Newborns.

Background: Sickle cell trait (SCT) is a congenital condition caused by the inheritance of a single allele of the abnormal haemoglobin beta gene, HbS. Carriers of SCT are generally asymptomatic, and they do not manifest the clinical and haematological abnormalities of sickle cell anaemia (SCA). However, there is evidence that they display some symptoms in stressful situations. Pregnancy is a stressful physiological event, and it is not clear if SCT adversely affects pregnancy outcomes, particularly in those from developing countries where people regularly suffer from nutritional insufficiency. Objective: This study aims to investigate pregnancy outcomes in Sudanese women with SCT. Subjects and methods: Pregnant women with (HbAS, n=34) and without (HbAA, n=60) SCT were recruited during their first trimester at El Obeid Hospital, Kordofan, Western Sudan. Following appropriate ethical approval and informed consent from the participants, detailed anthropometric, clinical, haematological, obstetric, and birth outcome data were registered. In addition, blood samples were collected at enrolment and at delivery. Results: At enrolment in the first trimester, the SCT group did not manifest SCA symptoms, and there was no difference in the haematological parameters between the SCT and control groups. However, at delivery, the women with SCT, compared with the control group, had lower levels of hemoglobin (Hb, p=0.000), packed cell volume (PCV, p=0.000), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH, p=0.002) and neutrophil counts (p=0.045) and higher mean corpuscular volume (MCV, p=0.000) and platelet counts (p=0.000). Similarly, at delivery, the babies of SCT women had lower birth weight (p=0.000), lower Hb (p=0.045), PCV (p=0.000), MCH (p=0.000), and higher neutrophil (p=0.004) and platelet counts (p=0.000) than the babies of the healthy control group. Additionally, there were more miscarriages, stillbirths, and admissions to the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) in the SCT group. Conclusions: The study revealed that SCT is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, including maternal and neonatal anaemia, low birth weight, and increased risk of stillbirth, miscarriage, and admission to SCBU. Therefore, pregnant women with SCT should be given appropriate pre-conceptual advice and multidisciplinary antenatal and postnatal care.

Isolation, Extraction, Purification, and Characterization of Fibrinolytic Enzyme from Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Estimation of the Molecular Weight of the Enzyme.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa was isolated from injuries of patients' wounds and burns, and to ensure that the isolate was belonging to P. aeruginosa, several tests were performed, such as staining techniques, a biochemical test, morphological test, Vitek 2 system, and sensitivity test. The results of the gram stain test showed rod pink gram-negative bacteria, demonstrating that the isolate belonged to P. aeruginosa. Growth optimization of bacterial was performed by assessing different combinations of pH and temperatures. It is revealed that the best conditions for increasing the number of bacteria were achieved at 37°C with the bacterial number of 5.53×108 and pH 6 with the bacterial number of 5.87×108. Fibrinolytic enzyme is an agent that lysis fibrin clots. This fibrinolytic factor has prospective use to treat cardiovascular diseases, such as stroke and heart attack. Cardiovascular diseases have attracted worldwide attention for their elevation morbidity and mortality. Fibrinolytic enzyme was extracted by centrifugation at 10000 × g at 4°C for 10 min, the supernatant was kept and the pellet having bacterial cells was discarded. Purification of the fibrinolytic enzyme was achieved using salt precipitation, ion exchange, and gel filtration chromatographic techniques. The results showed that the gel filtration chromatography had optimal specific activity and purification fold at 562.6 U/ml, and the final specific activity of the purified enzyme increased 4.1 times. The molecular weight of the fibrinolytic enzyme was determined at26 kDa by gel filtration chromatography. The purified fibrinolytic enzyme had optimum activity atpH 7 and40°C.The pH stability for the enzyme activity was found in pH 6-7 and the range of 10-40°C.

Field evaluation of two rapid diagnostic tests for Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A during the 2006 outbreak in Niger.

The Pastorex((R)) (BioRad) rapid agglutination test is one of the main rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for meningococcal disease currently in use in the "meningitis belt". Earlier evaluations, performed after heating and centrifugation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples, under good laboratory conditions, showed high sensitivity and specificity. However, during an epidemic, the test may be used without prior sample preparation. Recently a new, easy-to-use dipstick RDT for meningococcal disease detection on CSF was developed by the Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire in Niger and the Pasteur Institute in France. We estimate diagnostic accuracy in the field during the 2006 outbreak of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A in Maradi, Niger, for the dipstick RDT and Pastorex((R)) on unprepared CSF, (a) by comparing each test's sensitivity and specificity with previously reported values; and (b) by comparing results for each test on paired samples, using McNemar's test. We also (c) estimate diagnostic accuracy of the dipstick RDT on diluted whole blood. We tested unprepared CSF and diluted whole blood from 126 patients with suspected meningococcal disease presenting at four health posts. (a) Pastorex((R)) sensitivity (69%; 95%CI 57-79) was significantly lower than found previously for prepared CSF samples [87% (81-91); or 88% (85-91)], as was specificity [81% (95%CI 68-91) vs 93% (90-95); or 93% (87-96)]. Sensitivity of the dipstick RDT [89% (95%CI 80-95)] was similar to previously reported values for ideal laboratory conditions [89% (84-93) and 94% (90-96)]. Specificity, at 62% (95%CI 48-75), was significantly lower than found previously [94% (92-96) and 97% (94-99)]. (b) McNemar's test for the dipstick RDT vs Pastorex((R)) was statistically significant (p<0.001). (c) The dipstick RDT did not perform satisfactorily on diluted whole blood (sensitivity 73%; specificity 57%).Sensitivity and specificity of Pastorex((R)) without prior CSF preparation were poorer than previously reported results from prepared samples; therefore we caution against using this test during an epidemic if sample preparation is not possible. For the dipstick RDT, sensitivity was similar to, while specificity was not as high as previously reported during a more stable context. Further studies are needed to evaluate its field performance, especially for different populations and other serogroups.

Protective effects of Echinacea on cyproterone acetate induced liver damage in male rats.

The study was planed to evaluate the effect of Echinacea (E.) on liver toxicity in rats treated with Cyproterone Acetate (CA). Rats were divided into 5 groups treated for 2 and 4 weeks, 1-control 2- Echinacea (63 mg/kg/day), 3-CA (25 mg/kg/day), 4-E.+CA and 5-E. for 1 week before E.+CA. All treatments were administered via an oral tube with the same mentioned doses. Rats treated with CA or E.+CA exhibited a significant increase in liver gamma glutamyl transpeptidase and malondialdehyde as compared with the control group. A marked decrease was recorded in all treated groups in comparison with the control with respect to glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase. All treatments caused an increase in serum IGG and IGM in comparison with the control value. WBCs showed an increase after E. and CA treatment. While RBCs count and heamatocrit value showed a significant decrease in CA and E+CA treated rats in comparison with the control after four weeks of treatment. These data suggested that, E. possesses a protective effect on the liver against the CA toxicity by increasing auto immunity and blood picture components. Also the E. antioxidant properties exerted counteracting effects on the CA induced oxidative stress.

Lignocellulolytic enzyme production by aquatic hyphomycetes species isolated from the Nile's delta region.

Twenty-six species of aquatic hyphomycetes were isolated from woody sources (unidentified wood segments, leaf skeletons and neck of leaves and bark) in the North River Nile (Delta region). Alatospora acuminata, Anguillospora crassa, Flagellaspora penicillioides, Lunulospra curvula, Tetracladium marchalianum and Triscelophorus monosporus were the most common species. Temperature was the highest physico-chemical parameter affecting the aquatic hyphomycetes occurrence. Twelve species of hyphomycetes, isolated from woody substrates, were screened for their ability to produce extracellular lignocellulolytic enzymes on solid media. The enzymes tested included: endoglucanase, endoxylanase, beta-glucosidase, laccase, peroxidase, polyphenoloxidase, tyrosinase and beta-xylosidase. Three species, A. acuminata, F. penicillioides, T. monosporus, were positive for all tested enzymes. Also, A. longissima was positive for all enzymes except lignin-peroxidase. The ability to produce cellulase was 100% for all species while only, four species were positive for lignin-peroxidase. The ability of the species to produce other lignocellulotic enzyme ranged from 50% to 83%. Freshwater hyphomycetes have been shown to produce a rich array of enzymes able to degrade the polysaccharides of plant debris.