Hepatoprotective Effect of Dried Red Jujube Fruit Extract Against Acetaminophen-Induced Acute Hepatotoxicity.

Background A liver injury could impair the integration of the body's organ system, which may cause complications that can lead to death. The dried red jujube fruit extract has the potential to protect the liver from toxic substances through its antioxidant properties. Aims To determine and analyze the hepatoprotective effect of dried red jujube fruit extract on aminotransferase levels against acetaminophen-induced acute hepatotoxicity. Methods Male Wistar rats were divided into five groups. The negative control group (G1) received carboxymethylcellulose sodium (CMC-Na) 1%. The positive control group (G2) received acetaminophen. The treatment group G3 received dried red jujube fruit extract 70 mg/kg BW + acetaminophen, G4 received dried red jujube fruit extract 140 mg/kg BW + acetaminophen, and G5 received dried red jujube fruit extract 280 mg/kg BW + acetaminophen. Dried red jujube fruit extract was given for 10 consecutive days. Acetaminophen (3 g/kg BW) was given on the ninth day. Blood samples were collected, and aminotransferase levels were measured on the 11th day. Results Kruskal-Wallis comparison test showed significant differences (p < 0.01) between all groups on alanine aminotransferase (ALT; p = 0.003) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST; p = 0.001) levels. Mann-Whitney post hoc test showed significant differences (p < 0.01) between G2:G3, G2:G4, and G2:G5 groups on ALT and AST levels. Pearson correlation test showed a significant negative correlation (p < 0.01; r = -1) between all given doses of dried red jujube fruit extract on ALT (p = 0.000; r = -0.778) and AST (p = 0.000; r = -0.774) levels. Conclusion The dried red jujube fruit extract has a hepatoprotective effect on aminotransferase levels against acetaminophen-induced acute hepatotoxicity at 70 mg/kg BW, 140 mg/kg BW, and 280 mg/kg BW (the most effective dose), and there was a negative correlation between all doses and the aminotransferase levels.

Whole-Genome Sequence of an Avian Influenza A/H9N2 Virus Isolated from an Apparently Healthy Chicken at a Live-Poultry Market in Indonesia.

We isolated an avian influenza A/H9N2 virus from an apparently healthy chicken at a live-poultry market in January 2018. This is the first report of a whole-genome sequence of A/H9N2 virus in Indonesia. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that intrasubtype reassortment of genome segments is involved in the genesis of the A/H9N2 virus.

Evaluation du devenir des enfants infectés par le VIH suivis au Togo

L'objectif de l'étude était de décrire les caractéristiques cliniques, immunologiques, thérapeutiques et évolutives des enfants sous traitement antirétroviral (TArv) au Togo. Il s'agit d'une étude transversale descriptive portant sur 870 dossiers du 1er janvier 2001 au 31 décembre 2010 dans 40 sites de prise en charge médicales au Togo. L'étude a porté sur les données sociodémographiques, cliniques, biologiques et évolutives. L'âge médian était de 5 ans avec un intervalle compris entre 7 semaines et 15 ans. Les stades cliniques 3 et 4 de l'OMS étaient retrouvés respectivement chez 47,60 % (870/414) et 12,30 % (870/107) en début de traitement. Les affections opportunistes observées au moment de l'initiation du traitement antirétroviral chez les enfants étaient essentiellement : les affections pulmonaires (436 cas), cutanées (260 cas), buccales (151 cas) et les diarrhées (140 cas). La moyenne du taux de CD4 était de 485,165 cel/µl avec un écart type de 548, 248. Le Taux de survie à 5 ans de l'enfant sous TArv au Togo a été de 93,81 %. L'état clinique reste un critère important pour le dépistage et la mise sous traitement antirétrovirale dans le contexte pédiatrique africain

Identification of Helicobacter pylori infection in symptomatic patients in Surabaya, Indonesia, using five diagnostic tests.

SUMMARY The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in Indonesia is controversial. We examined the H. pylori infection rate in 78 patients in a hospital in Surabaya using five different tests, including culture, histology, immunohistochemistry, rapid urease test, and urine antibody test. Furthermore, we analysed virulence factors in H. pylori strains from Indonesia. The H. pylori infection rate was only 11.5% in all patients studied, and 2.3% of Javanese patients and 18.0% of Chinese patients were infected (P = 0.01). Although severe gastritis was not observed, activity and inflammation were significantly higher in patients positive for H. pylori than in patients negative for H. pylori. Among genotypes identified from five isolated strains, cagA was found in four; two were vacA s1m1. All cagA-positive strains were oipA 'on' and iceA1 positive. We confirmed both a low H. pylori infection rate and a low prevalence of precancerous lesions in dyspeptic patients in a Surabaya hospital, which may contribute to the low incidence of gastric cancer in Indonesia.

Evaluation of the use of rapid urease test: Pronto Dry to detect H pylori in patients with dyspepsia in several cities in Indonesia.

AIM: To evaluate Pronto Dry examination in patients with dyspepsia. METHODS: The study was conducted in patients with dyspepsia who underwent endoscopic examination in several endoscopic centers of several cities in Indonesia from January 2003 until April 2004. Biopsies for histopathologic examination were fixed with formalin and sent to Histopathologic Department to be analyzed and confirm the presence of H pylori infection. If H pylori was found positive, the density was calculated semi quantitatively. Histopathologic examination from gastric biopsy samples was interpreted based on the updated Sydney system classification. RESULTS: Of 550 patients, 309 (56%) were male and 241 (44%) were female with ages ranging from 15 to 82 years. Mean age was 44.98 +/- 14.46 years. Mean age of male patients was 44.35 +/- 13.85 years and mean age of female patients was 45.78 +/- 15.19 years. Evaluation of endoscopic results showed gastric ulcer in 36 cases (6.5%) and duodenal ulcer in 20 cases (3.6%). Normal endoscopic finding was found in 45 cases (8.2%) and minimal disorder of gastritis and duodenitis were found in 246 cases (44.7%). One case of gastric cancer was identified. Of 56 cases which were positive based on the criteria used, 39 patients were positive with Pronto Dry and 17 patients were negative with Pronto Dry. Overall sensitivity and specificity of Pronto Dry were 69.7% and 95.7% respectively. Positive predictive value was 66.1% and negative predictive value was 96.4% and overall accurate rate was 92.9%. CONCLUSION: Pronto Dry seems promising as a diagnostic tool to detect H pylori more rapidly and accurately.

Viral load in Indonesian patients with chronic liver disease and in blood donors infected with different subtypes of hepatitis C virus.

The viral load of different hepatitis C virus (HCV) subtypes, including the globally distributed HCV-1b and the unique Indonesian subtype HCV-1c, was analyzed using serum samples obtained from Indonesian blood donors and patients with chronic liver disease. The mean viral load of HCV-1c was comparable with that of HCV-1b, suggesting that HCV-1c is as pathogenic as HCV-1b. On the other hand, the mean viral load of HCV-2a was lower than that of HCV-1b or HCV-1c, with this result being consistent with previous observations. Interestingly, some HCV-2a strains were associated with a high viral load that was almost equivalent to that of HCV-1b and HCV-1c. This result implies the possibility that there exists a minor fraction of HCV-2a strains that cause higher levels of viremia compared with the majority of ordinary HCV-2a strains.

Prevalence of GB virus C/Hepatitis G virus infection among various populations in Surabaya, Indonesia, and identification of novel groups of sequence variants.

A molecular epidemiological study was performed to investigate the prevalence of GB virus C/hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV) infection among various populations in Surabaya, Indonesia. The prevalence of GBV-C/HGV RNA, determined by reverse transcription-PCR for a portion of the NS3 region of the viral genome, was 2.7% (4 of 150) among randomly collected blood donor sera, which were all negative for both hepatitis B virus surface antigen and antibodies against hepatitis C virus (HCV). On the other hand, the prevalence among anti-HCV-positive blood donors was 17.8% (13 of 73), with the ratio being significantly higher than that observed with the anti-HCV-negative blood donors (P < 0.001). A high prevalence of GBV-C/HGV infection was also observed among patients with chronic liver disease, such as chronic hepatitis (5.7%), liver cirrhosis (11. 5%), and hepatocellular carcinoma (7.0%), and patients on maintenance hemodialysis (29.0%). No correlation was observed between GBV-C/HGV viremia and serum alanine aminotransferase levels in the populations tested, suggesting the possibility that GBV-C/HGV does not cause apparent liver injury. Phylogenetic analysis of sequences of a portion of the 5' untranslated region and the E1 region of the viral genome identified, in addition to a previously reported then novel group of GBV-C/HGV variants (group 4), another novel group of variants (group 5). This result suggests that GBV-C/HGV can be classified into at least five genetic groups. GBV-C/HGV isolates of group 4 and group 5 were each shown to comprise approximately 40% of the total Indonesian isolates.

Differential prevalence of hepatitis C virus subtypes in healthy blood donors, patients on maintenance hemodialysis, and patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in Surabaya, Indonesia.

Determination of the prevalence of liver disease caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV) of various genotypes helps provide an understanding of the virulences of these genotypes. Differences in the prevalences of these genotypes are known to exist in the various geographical regions of the world. Hence, we performed seroepidemiological and molecular epidemiological analyses of HCV in Surabaya, Indonesia. The prevalences of anti-HCV antibodies were 2.3, 76.3 and 64.7% in healthy blood donors, patients on maintenance hemodialysis, and patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), respectively. HCV-2a was the most common (52%) among the HCV clones obtained from blood donors; this was followed by HCV-1b (15%), HCV-1a (7%), and HCV-1d (7%), a unique Indonesian subtype. The high prevalence of HCV-2a in blood donors was further supported by serotyping analysis that could discriminate HCV type 2 (HCV-2a and -2b) from HCV type 1 (HCV-1a, -1b, and -1d). HCV-1a, -1b, and -1d were strongly associated with elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in blood donors, suggesting a possibly more pathogenic feature of those subtypes than HCV-2a. In patients on maintenance hemodialysis, HCV-1a and -1b (each 31%) were among the most common subtypes, and in contrast to the case with blood donors, HCV-1a, -1b, and -1d were found in those with normal ALT as well as those with elevated ALT levels. Impaired immune responses of hemodialyzed patients might be responsible for the apparently decreased hepatocytic injury caused by infection with HCV type 1. In patients with HCC, HCV-1b (57%) was the most common; this was followed by HCV-1d (19%) and HCV-2a (5%). Subtype prevalence was not different between HCC patients with advanced liver cirrhosis and those without advanced cirrhosis.